dmckee

22 hours ago, BillyBass said:

Classy indeed, good description.  Ordinarily, grey would be my last choice of colour for a bass, there is too much grey in my life as it is, when I look up at the sky.  These basses, however, really do look classy.

I totally agree. I’m not sure I would ever have chosen grey for a bass, but now that I have them, I think it really works for both of them. There’s a very subtle sparkle in there too. 😃

A couple of other early observations:

- the L2000’s neck is just lovely. I think the 1 5/8” medium C shape is perfect, as is the satin finish. (Interestingly, I don’t notice much difference between that and the Fallout’s slim C). 

- with previous L2000s I always ran with both pickups on, but since getting the Fallout I have discovered the joys of the neck pickup on its own, in passive mode. Like an L1000 I guess. The difference in tone between just neck or both pickups on seems more pronounced on this bass than I remember it being. Both are great sounds, but right now I wonder under what circumstances I’ll opt for using both pickups on…. 

4 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

A classy looking pair indeed. Good luck with the new purchase. Could be that someone in Anderton's is lying trapped under the 'beastie-bass' in some dark corner of their stockroom. Looks like you came out on top. 👍

Yeah. I don’t think this has always been the case, but from the limited ‘research’ I’ve done, the current batch of Tributes do seem to be VERY heavy.  This Fullerton one though - perfect. 

Just to follow up on my rambling GAS problem, for anyone vaguely interested….. I resolved it - by buying the Fullerton Deluxe L-2000. 😀

Had it out at a rehearsal tonight.  Very happy with it. Sounds and feels fantastic. I’d forgotten how much I love the body shape and the neck is beautiful. 
 

So, here it is with its wee brother. Turns out they came out the factory about 3 weeks apart. 
 

+1 for the G&L Fallout. 

I’m having a major G&L GAS problem (as a result of enjoying my Fallout so much) and I need help…. 

First, I thought I might buy a cheap JB-2. Ordered one from Andertons but it was really heavy and I was underwhelmed by the tone. So, the current rabbit hole is the L-2000, which I have had and liked before….

SO, Anderton’s have L2000 Tributes at  £449, but I’m worried they’ll be at least as heavy as the JB-2 was. (I had them weigh some SB-2 and they were over 11 lbs apparently!). 

OR, being a little silly, I could buy the Fallout’s big brother, the pearl grey L-2000 that’s in GG in Glasgow, at £1399. They weighed that one for me and it’s a decent 8.4lbs. BUT, that’s a lot of money and oddly it doesn’t seem the have the usual hard case you normally get with USA G&Ls. And I’d prefer a different colour this time, I think. 

OR, I wait and see if a CLF Research L-2000 pops up, as they seemed to be selling at reasonable prices when they were around. Just doesn’t seem to be any anywhere right now.

OR, I put my wallet away, stick with what I’ve already got and try and stop this madness. 😃

So, having never tried a JB-2, and seeing that crazy deal at Anderton’s, I thought I’d give one a go. But I’m picky about weight so I emailed and asked. “The pink one we have on the shop floor weighs 7.35lbs” I was told. I said “I’m thinking about a sunburst one”, and he said “they won’t vary by much”, so I go ahead and order. 

It arrived today. It weighs 10lbs 4oz. It is already back in the box. I have a very strong suspicion that the pink one does not weigh 7.35lbs. They are going to try to find a lighter one for me. We shall see…..

What’s the weight and how’s the balance on a strap? 

Everyone seems to love the JMJ, so I went and tried one in Merchant City in Glasgow. BUT, the neck dive was pretty bad. How normal is that? It strikes me that the geometry of the Mustang body (re strap button position in relation to the 12th fret) makes this more or less inevitable? Or am I wrong? I didn’t love the lack of body contours either I have to say. (I did really like the chunky neck though). 

I wanted to love it, but these things just put me off.  Is it possible to get a balanced (and body-contoured) Mustang 😃. Too much to hope for? Probably just not the bass for me…. 

3 hours ago, TeatroLirico said:

Anyone played a Chowny SWB-1 Scott Whitley Signature Fretless?

I was looking around for a short scale fretless and this one popped up. Pretty decent price too.

 

https://chownybass.com/product/swb-1-scott-whitley-signature-fretless/

 

 

I also fancy a short scale fretless but you certainly don’t come across many. I’ve never tried one of these. I wonder how balanced they are, given how short that top horn is? 

Yeah, I’ve been sticking with parallel too. String tension - I have mostly EB Cobalt flats on my other basses but I think the Labella’s slightly higher tension works well actually, as it compensates for the slightly floppier feel you’d normally get on a short scale.  It generally adds to that making it not TOO different from a 34” feel too, I think. The sustain is surprisingly good also. I got the 760FS-S (45-105). You could always try the slightly lighter 760FL-S. But hey, if they’re good enough for Ed Friedland…. 

I’d quite like to try the Fallout with something slightly livelier at some point - like Chromes maybe - but it’s all just so nice just now I don’t want to mess with it. We did some recording recently and our regular engineer said “that’s the best sounding bass you’ve ever had”. #shamelessplugalert

I’ve had my G&L Fallout USA for a 3 or 4 months now and I just love it. I have a set of Labella DTFs on it which gives me just the right combination of warm and mellow enough when played gently but also just enough attack when played with a plectrum.  

I’ve always had a soft spot for G&Ls but sometimes found that MFD too much, but with these strings, and being on a short scale, it’s just perfect. I especially love how rich and full the D and G strings sound. I think also, with the neck it has and the position of the bridge, although it is a short scale, it doesn’t feel TOO different compared to a 34”, which is cool.  (As an aside, I wish G&L would put their 1 5/8” neck on more of their basses). 

Interestingly, finding how much I was enjoying playing a short scale, I went off and tried the JMJ Mustang everyone raves about last week. It was fine, but the G&L is SO much better, I think. 

I bought it new (£1149 from GuitarGuitar) and out the factory, the fret edges needed a bit of attention (which is disappointing, especially for a USA instrument) but with that fixed, it’s all grand now. I don’t see much chat for the Fallout but def recommended. I’d quite like a fretless one too. 😃

On 22/03/2023 at 19:00, Lozz196 said:

Relic, it’s the Road Worn JMJ Sig Mustang. I’m not that fussed re fake relicing either way but this has been done quite nicely. I just needed  a smaller/lighter bass but also wanted Precision width neck and many of the Mustangs have Jazz width.

I have a bit of Mustang GAS but would also like the P width neck. Pity none of the cheaper ones have that….

2 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Same (well, all of it, except the nephew part, don't know who has mine now)... 

Here it is, with him. Grrrr. Maybe one day. 

I had a Jerry Jones Neptune Longhorn that I bought new in the early 2000s that I (stupidly) sold to my nephew after a few years. I had a regular Dano before that and the JJ was MUCH better. There are a few basses I regret selling and this one is probably at the top of that list. Annoyingly, he refuses to sell me it back!

20 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

Yup arrived on time curtesy of Guitarguitar ,great service. 

Very good quality of finish for such a reasonable price point. MIC great neck finish, no sharp frets, lovely gloss finish just like the Gibson necks does not appear to be sticky at all.

I could swear that the fretboard was rosewood but the spec states otherwise. No neck dive, a well balanced bass on strap or knee.

Tuners seem fine and the tailpiece and two bolt bridge offer more than enough intonation adjustment.

I don't feel the need to up grade the arrangement. I may possibly reverse the bridge to improve access to the intonation screwheads.

Pickups sound fantastic. Neck PU has that familiar and faithful EBO timbre, bold, woody, deep forceful drive ( think of Felix Pappalardi in Mountain) .

The TB Pro is positioned to offer both an EB3 honk ( think of Free's Mr Big) but also a driving Thunderbird vibe ( think of the Who & Entwistle). When the TB Pro is solo's there's even a smidgen of Stingray lurking.

I feel that the control VBT loom would benefit from a @KiOgon upgrade to exploit the full potential of the Pups. 

Weight is around 3.7Kgs. 

For £350 it's a handsome bass, sounds great, reminds me of the '67 I once owned and is very close to the '64 I always wanted.

I have read all the stuff regarding the p××s poor marketing launch but I am very content and pleased with this reissue that sounds and feels a great bass. BTW the neck profile is bang on like my Epiphone Alan Woody Rumble Kat. ( Forgot to say that the Newporter fits the Rumble Kat hard case "snugly")

Congrats Epiphone for offering such a great Newport reissue. 

Looks a bit like the Serek Midwestern. *Slight* difference in price though. 😬

Def one of my pet hates. 2 things:

- I put Hipshot Ultralite licensed tuners on a Fallout Tribute and it completely fixed the neck dive, and/or

- I had a little strap button extender made for a Fender Dimension once that also completely fixed its neck dive.

Oh, also, I have a Fullerton Deluxe Fallout now (which has a slightly lighter body that the Tribute had) and it had a tiny bit of neck heaviness, but a Dunlop Straplock button (and a bit of a homemade extension using Presta value nuts from bike inner tubes!) has pretty much fixed it.  It seems to be about a lot about where that strap button is in relation to the 12th fret. 

It’s possible I’m a bit obsessed by this problem…..

Agree with @Obrienp. I have a parallel/series/single coil 3-way switch fitted to my regular Stingray and mostly now use the series setting. Less of the typical Stingray sound than parallel obvs, but I like the fullness of it. (I also have the John East MMSR preamp in there btw, and a Nordy MM 4.2). 

Nice bass btw! Would love to try one. 

21 hours ago, martthebass said:

 

I've been pretty impressed with the neck on the Fallout, I thought it would be a bit wide (based on G&Ls I've had in the past) but I'd say it's somewhere between the JMJ Mustang and my 1.5" nut Mustang (Mikey way). Pretty comfortable overall.  Tonewise, it is a high output job, it's not that far off my US Sterling in series mode.  The OMG can be a bit much but I find it adds a bit of depth at lower volumes, normally on a gig though I'd be pretty much 90% on the parallel setting.  The single coil is a bit weedy to my ears but I'd expect that - never been a fan of Jazz type basses and I never run my Sterling single coil for the same reason.

 

The US ones are nicely made, easily up with US EBMM but I've never owned a Tribute so I can't comment there.

 

I've still got a hankering for a US Shortscale Ray but I can't really justify another shorty; if a Starry Night version came up though I might just crumble.

How does the JMJ compare to the Fallout btw? 

4 hours ago, ezbass said:

That colour scheme is really nicely understated; I like it. I for one would be interested in how this compares to the Wilcock MM.

Compared to the Wilcock…. The G&L neck is a little wider and chunkier, which I like. Not like L2000 Tribute baseball bat chunky - it’s 1 5/8” slim C, which I think is just right. Really nicely finished neck, and SO much better than the neck on the Tribute Fallout I had briefly. 

Tonally, also a bit chunkier! G&L in parallel feels more like Wilcock in series, then of course the G&L has OMG, which is almost too much! You can see why Ed Friedland got the 2 band passive EQ fitted to his Fallout.  And single coil is lighter and brighter. 

The Wilcock is a great bass too - both basses (with Labella 760s fitted) sound really sweet on the more acoustic-leaning project we’re working on just now, but I get the sense the G&L might hold its own better in rockier territory. I wish the G&L was as light as the Wilcock was though! 

Bought this little beauty yesterday. I liked the Tribute but this one is a real step up in terms of quality of finish (as you would expect). Lighter too, at 8.6lb. 

Lovely handmade short scale, made in 2020 I believe. You know the deal with Wilcocks and this one is no exception. Sounds great, plays really well, nice and light, balances perfectly, excellent condition, humbucker pickup, volume and tone (with push/pull for series/parallel). I've had a few things done to improve it: 

- Hipshot Kickass bridge fitted (as Viv seems to use on his new ones)

- new tort scratchplate made for it (and will send with the old one, pictured)

- cavity screened

- Dunlop strap locks fitted

- recent setup (and all work above) done by Chris McIntyre, here in Edinburgh

- currently has Status flats on it

It's a terrific bass but I've got a USA G&L Fallout coming and (given the Fallout's geometry) I just found I preferred it because it feels less different to my regular basses (if that makes sense!). 

My only minor criticism was I found the volume control didn't have much variation across its range (most seemed to happen near the start of the turn). I had Chris put a different pot in that didn't help, so I talked to Viv and he suggested the pot shown in the pic below. I haven't had a chance to get that fitted but will include it with the sale.  Will also include a Harley Benton lightweight shell case (not pictured). 

Would prefer pickup obviously, but could ship if necessary (once I can source a box). 

I saw Sigrid in the Usher Hall (Edinburgh) a few nights ago. Killer tunes and terrific bass from Liva Sværen. Adding bass has really lifted their overall sound (of course!). Fender P Elite I think, through a bunch of pedals by the sound of it.

8 hours ago, ezbass said:

Look out for a Wilcock MM coming to the marketplace perhaps?  

Yes, I think so! Can’t afford them both. 

Just in case anyone’s as obsessed as me (😬), GuitarGuitar have a G&L Fallout Fullerton Deluxe in shell pink (as featured in a Bass Whisperer review) coming in next week hopefully. 

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/210309367407025--gl-usa-fullerton-deluxe-fallout-bass-shell-pink-rosewood-finger

They also have a grey pearl one coming in, but my name’s against that. 😃

1 hour ago, LeftyJ said:

Ooh, I love that! That's the first time I see one with two pickups in that layout. They posted one earlier without a pickguard and with a true bridge pickup, but this is new to me. Very nice! 

 

Sorry for the poor resolution, it's the only pic I could find:

 

 

Interesting. They also posted this one recently. Wonder if we might see this become standard.