NBD G&L, Project Parts, and the Updated Collection

[ch willie]

I love the JB-5 but haven't plugged it in yet. I'll post a vid or audio when I have time to play tonight.

Here it is with the rest of my bass collection. I owned and played one bass for 35 years, the Ric. It's been so great for recording to be able to get the bass tone I want.

I'm going to put the P rosewood on the J black body, the maple fb J neck onto the white Precision. One day, I might turn the black body into a PJ.

[DanTheBluesMan]

lol, loved the overlaid bodies and necks. certainly made for some 'what am I looking at?' moments

pretty impressive collection.

Last night I was reviewing my recordings from 2020. The few that I had bass on, I tried using a CLA (Chris Lord-Alge) bass plug by Waves. If you buy one plug-in, I'd recommend that one.

I can't wait to hear those tracks in my car. Probably lose some body panels

[ch willie]

Well, Dan, I'm tired of being helpless and paying a tech for all the things I can do if I'm careful and take my time. I've decided that unless there's a catastrophic guitar event, I'm going to start doing my own tech work. I had a list of 5 guitars I wanted my tech to work on, and as I wrote up the list, I realized that I could actually do any of the jobs, including putting side markers into the two righty necks I have for my Jazz B and Strat necks. I'm going to be watching vids to guite me.

[dirtdog]

Congrats willie. That’s a fine addition to that herd of basses. Or is it a gaggle

[ch willie]

Congrats willie. That’s a fine addition to that herd of basses. Or is it a gaggle

As heavy as these things are, they should be called a MURDER of basses.

So I played the G&L this morning (at 6am--oops, neighbors). It's so good. I love a good unmuffled but bassy bass. I can get it here as well as the raspier sounds. Now that my AmStd JB is a fretless, it sounds great, but I prefer the tone of the G&L. It's not superior, just closer to the tone I like.

G&L did an excellent setup job. Jim Steilberg did some fine adjustments for my playing style. My hands are going to have to get used to such a wide neck. And yet, I'm surprised that the 5th string isn't throwing me off. I haven't' yet grabbed the low D while thinking it was a G on the E strings. Once I get used to the neck width, it'll be easy for me to gllide around on it. It's got a satin finish and feels like speed wouldn't be an issue.

I don't know how hot the pups are, but they can get aggressive when I play aggressively but clean up well by lowering the volume or playing more softly, with less of a ham fist. I recorded a few licks this morning and then played them over the stereo. Even recording with a phone mic, you can hear the fullness, the depth of the bass but also it's clarity.

The finish is flawless, all parts in order. The bridge is solid and well designed as are the tuners and the rest of the hardware and plastic. I haven't looked it over with the magnifying glass yet, but from what I've seen, there are absolutely zero quality control issues.

I get a sense that G&L's parts and components are top grade, nothing to upgrade.

I can't wait to exploit that low B in one of the songs I'm working on now. If the govt had taken that and directed it towards the caves of Pakistan, they could have rumbled Bin Laden until his guts liquified.

[ch willie]

I finally had a chance to crank it up and almost screamed for joy. It's got the most enormous bass with that typical rasp, subtler on the bass string but still there. If I can capture its sounds when recording, I'll be a happy idiot. The lower B is fantastic, but I'm talking about the rest of it as well. It's so responsive to the touch. When I back off with fingers or a pick, the bass becomes rounder and "jazzier".

I took some more detailed pics of it.

Black abalone inlays--I love blocks, but I wanted something nice but subtle, just a frill



The bridge is a solid piece. Great sustain on the bass, whatever the reason.



I'm not used to the width, but I'll get there. It's not unreasonably wide for a 5 string. This is just my first experience with one.