neepheid

You are entitled to your opinion and I thank you for pointing out that your contribution is an opinion. Can I offer some additional entries? I think that side to side adjustment built into saddles is a reasonable improvement - either by having the saddle on a thread like the Schaller 3D bridge or a sliding, lockable arrangement like the Hipshot A style. Also, G&L's Saddle Lock bridge is a good thing - set the saddles for intonation then lock them in place with the grub screw - kind of makes the grooves you speak of unnecessary. Also the rounded sides to that bridge make palm muting very comfortable. There are more "out there" ideas that I respect, like the "wedge" bridge on the Gibson Victory bass which instead of having two grub screws through the saddle for height adjustment had the saddle move against an opposing wedge shape - move the wedge back/forward and it lifts/lowers the saddle as it pushes against it or moves away from it. I always thought that was pretty clever.

Thanks Cap'n Obvious, how did we ever manage without you?

I've had a stellar January, I have to up the stakes in February. Visiting a guitar shop in a foreign country without incident is next on my list of achievements

Still some cracking deals out there for G&L Tribute basses, but the net's closing in and they'll soon be above your £400 threshold I reckon. Out of the ones which can be had for <£400 the SB-2 is my pick of the bunch followed by the Kiloton (Guitarguitar still doing both of them for £399). If you prefer Jazz basses then the JB-2 (think Jazz with a P body) can be had for £329 still at Andertons. I don't think these post Christmas sale prices will hang about much longer.

Oh, you'll be able to hear the differences, they won't be subtle! For reference I used to have a Tribute SB-2. One time I took it to a gig and the sound guy asked me if it was active. I highly doubt that would happen with an LB-100 (or a P bass for that matter)

Lucky to have stumbled upon the TC Electronic Mojomojo overdrive pedal. A guitar pedal, it was suggested in a few places that it played well with basses. I decided that assertion sounded so preposterous that it might just work. It did and it still does. My approach was not logical, I took a punt and it worked out.

That's a very eye-catching bass, lovely colour. Congrats.

It's Leo's progeny at the end of the day. I was considering turning my Tribute LB-100 into a quasi-SB-1 by putting a split MFD in, replacing the standard Alnico effort but since copper shielding it I'm starting to enjoy it for what it is so hopefully that GAS will subside. It helps that I don't have a Fender P to compare it to

Well it is basically a P bass. What did you expect or hope for from an LB-100 above and beyond a P bass?

Sorry, I don't have a definitive answer because I don't measure the action on my basses. I'm setting it up for me so I know what I like by feel and I pretty much lower it until fret buzz at the fingerboard extremities starts to become an issue then raise it back up slightly until that goes away.

January report - still in. Gear bought - 0 Basses sold - 1 Music shops visited without incident - 2 Bring on February

I think it's time to rename the thread, as it's no longer about the abstinence and become the Loopholes and Bargaining thread 2022

*rapid involuntary ejection of brewed beverage from mouth* £120? Bloody bargain - well done! I'd put up with the bridge pickup being there for £120...

I bought a G&L Tribute Lb-100 last month which sports a poplar body. Sounds great to me. Almost all of the sound of an electric bass comes from the pickup(s). The type of body wood is a structural and where visible through a clear or translucent finish, aesthetic choice.

I seem to recall gifts from other people are exempt?

Eminently feasible. I'm guessing it's a maple neck. The finish won't seep far into maple. You won't lose too much wood when removing the finish.

U ok hun?

I think the pickup in my LB-100 is OK actually. I'm a lot happier with it now that I've shielded it properly.

Nah, they're where you find silverskin pickled onions sandwiched between small cubes of cheese and pineapple. Perhaps I'm dating myself a little here

That's just plain wrong. Unless it's being shipped in a lead sarcophagus maybe? You know, to keep all the 5G out, really messes with a bass's mojo...

Please at least use cocktail sticks - they're made of tougher wood than matchsticks and they have the added benefit of being tapered. You only need to fill and redrill if the hole's got really bad or if it needs relocated.

I do all my own setups. I can do basic additional things like filling and redrilling holes which have gone bad (like strap buttons), soldering, pickup/preamp replacements, shielding. Have been known to attack basses with the drill press in order to fit additional switches, or bore out tuner holes for bigger tuners. I checked out at anything more involved - (re)finishing, fretwork, building a new bass from scratch... I've found a level I'm comfortable at claiming I'm reasonably competent at. Part of it is geographical isolation and the lack of choice of professional, and part of it was out of interest and a desire to learn how to do it. It's not for everyone, and that's OK too. I do believe that the basic rudiments of a bass setup are within the grasp of anyone willing to put their mind to it.

Google is my friend - https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-pickup-lounge/315368-north-parallel-south-wiring

It's your bass, you do you. Just be prepared to be underwhelmed by the differences between the three options you have picked - possibly to the point of wondering why you went to the trouble of doing it in the first place. That has been my experience of single coil vs. parallel humbucker. Of course, differences may become more apparent when it interacts with the neck pickup but in isolation, differences are slight. Yes, the switch should go between the bridge pickup and the blend pot. Annoyingly I haven't managed to find a north/parallel/south diagram yet. Here's a diagram for north/series/south - https://guitarelectronics.com/1-humbucker-1-volume-north-coil-humbucker-south-coil/ I'll keep digging. I suspect that north/parallel/south is either difficult to wire or so similar that no-one bothers. Also, you might need a certain type of switch in terms of poles, single/double throw and on/off positions...

Come to think of it, my tone can change within a song if you count stomping on an overdrive pedal at the chorus then disengaging it for the verses, for example. Does that qualify as caring how I sound and tailoring what I do to the music/band?