NBD: G&L LB-100!

This could totally be defined as an impulse buy. It was not in the plans, it wasn't even in my mind. But after a poke lunch in Redmond, followed by ice cream, we headed to Redmond Town Center and decided to check out the Guitar Center. All I wanted was a speaker cable to be able to keep one at home as I only have 2 and those stay at Robb's house.

I headed back to the bass corner and saw an orange P-bass with a black pickguard. Then I realized it was a G&L LB-100, which I'd been thinking about for a minute. There are some great looking Tribute versions, at a not-bad price point of $599 or so, but, with two P's at home already, why would I need another one?

Anyway, I picked it off the wall and was stoked because it had flats on it. Interestingly enough, upon checking the headstock, I totally thought it would be a Tribute, but the price tag at $999 and the CLF s/n plate on the back of the headstock indicated otherwise. The front of the headstock, however, was mysterious. It totally had the G&L logo, but no LB-100 sticker. Instead, it simply said, "BASS."

First play of this bass

I plugged it into a nearby MarkBass amp and played it. And it was pretty sweet. Low action, nice flats, played well through that amp. It was different than either of my Fenders, but it definitely sounded like a P. It was in great condition, no major dings or anything on it. No scratchy pots, nothing weird. After playing a few minutes, I said, nope, I have a new car to make payments on, I don't need another bass, so I hung it back up.

In the meantime, Marci had found the speaker cables, so I took a walk to the back of the store with her. I figured I'd think about it. By the time I got back to their front desk, I decided to play it some more. I messaged my band, trying to have them talk some sense into me, which instead of doing that, they encouraged it.

So I bought it. Marci was down with it, so much so, she picked out an orange flowered strap for me to put on it. The sales guy went off to find a case for it; since the bass is a Fullerton model (I think?), it would've come with a nice case. At first, I didn't want a case, but he was gonna check, but it turned out he couldn't find it. No big deal, I have plenty of cases. I grabbed it and chucked it in the car without a case and off we went.

At the sales counter

In the car, off we go!

After cleaning my prep area, I took the strings off the headstock and got to work oiling the fretboard and cleaning the fingerprints off the guitar. At the store I noticed the strap peg on the front horn was loose, so I attempted to tighten it. When I did, it didn't sit flush because it seemed like the hole was drilled at a weird angle. I found a felt pad in my junk and put it there to make up the difference after I tightened it up. I thought about taking the neck off to check the dates of manufacture, but I didn't as I wanted to play it some more.

I plugged it into the aforementioned Ashdown and it sounded great! I think the action may be a little too low for heavy pick playing; the pick sound is very clicky if one of my EQ sliders is not zeroed out (don't know which freq). Fingerstyle, it sounds just fine. I compared with my other P basses and they all offer something unique and usable.

the BASS headstock

Shiny backside, check the strap

Lookin' tight before wiping it down!

Looking forward to busting it out with the Ashdown on Thursday at practice. In the meantime, will mess around with it at home!