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| G&L Detroit Muscle Series: R/T Collection |
"G&L has turned to Mitch Lanzini, owner of world famous Lanzini Body Works (featured on TV's Overhaulin' show) to provide expert guidance and ensure these high performance G&L's sport the exact paint hues for Sublime Green, Go Mango, Plum Crazy and Panther Pink on the ASAT Special, ASAT Classic Bluesboy 90, Fallout, Legacy, Legacy HB and LB-100 Bass."Prices of those old cars being as high as they are, I will never be able to afford one... but after a few email conversations and a phone call later, I was able to order a LB-100 bass in my favorite Mopar color, "Plum Crazy."
I phoned in my deposit to Greg at Rocket Music in VA, and he sent the order to G&L. In the following weeks I raised the remaining money by selling the last few bits of 6-string gear that was collecting dust in the closet. Then it was a matter of waiting for G&L to complete. Greg at Rocket Music Gave it a great setup then shipped it off to me right away.
Opening the case for the very first time
I spent Saturday running it through it's paces. This is my second LB-100, and I was concerned it would be kind of redundant aside from the special color. No need to worry however, as the two have quite different tones.
My older Himalayan Blue LB100 is HEAVY! However, it has a very vintage-sweet tone with a body that resonates like crazy! In contrast, the Plum Crazy LB100 is more of a medium/lightish weight with a very aggressive tone somewhere near the growl of a Jazz bass, but with more bottom end. At first I thought this all might be attributed to their looks influencing my perception, but when comparing with my other basses and trying to be as objective as possible, the purple bass is definitely more aggressive with the volume & tone wide open. Back off the two controls and we are back in the classic P-bass realm. When A/B-ing the two with controls full up, I have to cut the volume on the purple bass to approach the tone of the blue. This is wonderful news, and makes me very happy since I really don't like having redundancies in the stable.
On the down-side, the G&G cases that shipped with each bass couldn't be more different. The blue one is form fitted and doesn't allow the bass to move around at all-- when it's in, it's in-- very secure as it also supports the full length of the neck, with a storage compartment underneath.
Sadly, that is not the case with the purple bass, as it is a generic case that does not have any form fitting whatsoever, and allows the bass to slide about freely. At the top, near the headstock there is a small glovebox, and extending across the case from its edge is a flimsy thin block that the neck at the headstock rests in. The backside of most cases have metal feet, but again those too are missing from this new version.
It appears that G&L has been moving toward the generic fitting cases since early 2014. Overall, this is a small issue for me, as I only use the cases for storage at home, and transport them in my favorite gig-bags when I'm out playing with the band.
Currently, new G&L LB-100s can be found for a few hundred dollars less than Fender American Standard P-basses. This however, will be changing on 1 July when the "street price" of the LB-100 is set to increase 20%, thus pricing it much closer to Fender's model-- still though, the G&L is a great instrument at a very reasonable price.
If you decide you would like one for your very own, I highly recommend contacting Greg at Rocket Music. His prices are among the best anywhere, the customer service is top-notch, and the set-up he did on the instrument was excellent!
This will be my go-to bass during the summer, and the one that will be used to gauge other manufacturers basses-- a handy list of reviews can be found on my new "Reviews" page. 'Till then...
Stay tuned & in tune!~
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| L) Himalayan Blue. R) Plum Crazy |
My older Himalayan Blue LB100 is HEAVY! However, it has a very vintage-sweet tone with a body that resonates like crazy! In contrast, the Plum Crazy LB100 is more of a medium/lightish weight with a very aggressive tone somewhere near the growl of a Jazz bass, but with more bottom end. At first I thought this all might be attributed to their looks influencing my perception, but when comparing with my other basses and trying to be as objective as possible, the purple bass is definitely more aggressive with the volume & tone wide open. Back off the two controls and we are back in the classic P-bass realm. When A/B-ing the two with controls full up, I have to cut the volume on the purple bass to approach the tone of the blue. This is wonderful news, and makes me very happy since I really don't like having redundancies in the stable.
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| L) Himalayan Blue. R) Plum Crazy |
Sadly, that is not the case with the purple bass, as it is a generic case that does not have any form fitting whatsoever, and allows the bass to slide about freely. At the top, near the headstock there is a small glovebox, and extending across the case from its edge is a flimsy thin block that the neck at the headstock rests in. The backside of most cases have metal feet, but again those too are missing from this new version.
It appears that G&L has been moving toward the generic fitting cases since early 2014. Overall, this is a small issue for me, as I only use the cases for storage at home, and transport them in my favorite gig-bags when I'm out playing with the band.
If you decide you would like one for your very own, I highly recommend contacting Greg at Rocket Music. His prices are among the best anywhere, the customer service is top-notch, and the set-up he did on the instrument was excellent!
This will be my go-to bass during the summer, and the one that will be used to gauge other manufacturers basses-- a handy list of reviews can be found on my new "Reviews" page. 'Till then...
Stay tuned & in tune!~
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