I found a nice American L-2500 for a good price, but it's far away so I can't play it. Also, I am a lefty, so I can't just go to a nearby store to try one. I am looking for a 5 string with a nice tone, and with tone options, which is what draws me to the L 2500. I have a MIM Fender Jazz 4 string, which I like, and a Schecter Stilletto 5 string, which I do not like. It is active only electronics, and it just sounds muddy to me compared to the Fender.
Tell me about the tones of your L 2500, and also the feel of the neck (I like the Fender J bass neck, so that's my frame of reference). This L 2500 is beautiful (natural finish, birdseye maple fretboard), but I want it all, beautiful tone too! What do you think?

I found a nice American L-2500 for a good price, but it's far away so I can't play it. Also, I am a lefty, so I can't just go to a nearby store to try one. I am looking for a 5 string with a nice tone, and with tone options, which is what draws me to the L 2500. I have a MIM Fender Jazz 4 string, which I like, and a Schecter Stilletto 5 string, which I do not like. It is active only electronics, and it just sounds muddy to me compared to the Fender.
Tell me about the tones of your L 2500, and also the feel of the neck (I like the Fender J bass neck, so that's my frame of reference). This L 2500 is beautiful (natural finish, birdseye maple fretboard), but I want it all, beautiful tone too! What do you think?

Here's 2 clips of mine (a fretless model but still gives a good idea of the tone). The "L2500" one is from back when it was wearing roundwounds, the other with the guitars (also a G&L, my legacy special hardtail with me playing 2 of the 3 chords I know on guitar) is with its current Chrome flats.

As for the neck, the #10 neck that comes on the 2500 MIA is easily the most comfortable 5 string neck I've played. It's more of a "C" shape than a "D" so it's not a bit fat baseball bat. It's kind of like a P bass neck converted to 5 strings. Very nice...

LS

You can get a thumpy double bass tone if you attack your bass right and set the EQ right.
You can get a good precision bass tone quite easily (Top/Top/Mid), and a perfect slap bass tone (Bottom/Bottom/Top), and almost any tone you want.

This bass has given me anything from an all low-end dead sounding monster (not a bad thing) to a poppy slapper's tone. And this is on flatwounds. I have an L-2000 (American, January 2008) , so unless G&L changed something other than adding one string, this description is fairly accurate.

Thanks for your replies. I am in the process of getting an L 2500 MIA. I can't wait! I think the passive/active capability is one of the best features of a G & L.

... (Top/Top/Mid)...(Bottom/Bottom/Top)....

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is this "Top/Top/Mid" and "Bottom/Bottom/Top" of which you speak?

I'm just an old guy trying to keep up with the whippersnappers.

Ken...

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is this "Top/Top/Mid" and "Bottom/Bottom/Top" of which you speak?

I'm just an old guy trying to keep up with the whippersnappers.

Ken...

I interpret "Top/Top/Mid" to mean "neck pickup/series/active" and "Bottom/Bottom/Top" to mean "bridge pickup/parallel/active with treble boost". But I agree, that's a pretty confusing way to write it. :)

I love the L-2500 neck, but its very different from a MIM Jazz. i have a couple L-2500s (US & Tribute) for a long while before I realized that you can get much better basses in 4-string versions for less money. I rarely used the 5th string, so it just didn't make sense anymore, so I quit playing 5-ers.

FWIW, I played a fretless US L-2500 exclusively for over a year -- its an amazing instrument and I truly love it. I actually miss it, but as I mentioned, you can get much better 4-strings than 5-ers. If you don't need a 5 string, I don't think there's any reason to get one...I realized I didn't need the 5th for the stuff i do.

hope this works out for you....
EG

PS to my above post. I have both an MIM Jazz 4 string & 5 string.

My J-4 is a fretless & plays like a dream; I replaced the pickups with Lindy Fralin J pickups & a BadAss II bridge. Totally changed the sound. It is truly bad-ass now.

The 5 (fretted) is not nearly as good as a G&L tribute. I paid about the same for both & the G&L totally blows the MIM 5-er away.

hth.

I love the L-2500 neck, but its very different from a MIM Jazz. i have a couple L-2500s (US & Tribute) for a long while before I realized that you can get much better basses in 4-string versions for less money. I rarely used the 5th string, so it just didn't make sense anymore, so I quit playing 5-ers.

FWIW, I played a fretless US L-2500 exclusively for over a year -- its an amazing instrument and I truly love it. I actually miss it, but as I mentioned, you can get much better 4-strings than 5-ers. If you don't need a 5 string, I don't think there's any reason to get one...I realized I didn't need the 5th for the stuff i do.

hope this works out for you....
EG

Please explain why you believe that you can get 4 strings that are much better than 5 strings. I go back and forth between L-2000s (recent and vintage), L-2500s, and ASATs depending on the gig and honestly have no idea what you mean. IMO there is quite a bit of variation within each model and the truly great ones are no more likely to be 4's than 5's.

Here's 2 clips of mine (a fretless model but still gives a good idea of the tone). The "L2500" one is from back when it was wearing roundwounds, the other with the guitars (also a G&L, my legacy special hardtail with me playing 2 of the 3 chords I know on guitar) is with its current Chrome flats.

As for the neck, the #10 neck that comes on the 2500 MIA is easily the most comfortable 5 string neck I've played. It's more of a "C" shape than a "D" so it's not a bit fat baseball bat. It's kind of like a P bass neck converted to 5 strings. Very nice...

LS

Uncle Jane, I really dig the tone on Bop 1. Do you remember which pickup you were using? Was it the bridge by any chance?

John

Uncle Jane, I really dig the tone on Bop 1. Do you remember which pickup you were using? Was it the bridge by any chance?

John

It was the bridge PU by itself in series mode (switch forward towards the neck). For reasons I'm not sure of, there's very little difference in tone between series/parallel on my 2500 vs. my 90's L2000. There's a huge difference on the L2000, where it gets really thick and wooly in series mode. On the 2500 it just increases the output with hardly any detectable change in the tone itself. Maybe a wiring difference or something like that.

The tone knobs were both on full but I dont' remember if that was in active or passive mode. I always use my boss loop station as a buffer so I can use passive mode which is my preference. So that's probably passive. Active is just too hot for me, adds too much treble which I'm always trying to calm down anyway....

LS

It was the bridge PU by itself in series mode (switch forward towards the neck). For reasons I'm not sure of, there's very little difference in tone between series/parallel on my 2500 vs. my 90's L2000. There's a huge difference on the L2000, where it gets really thick and wooly in series mode. On the 2500 it just increases the output with hardly any detectable change in the tone itself. Maybe a wiring difference or something like that.

The tone knobs were both on full but I dont' remember if that was in active or passive mode. I always use my boss loop station as a buffer so I can use passive mode which is my preference. So that's probably passive. Active is just too hot for me, adds too much treble which I'm always trying to calm down anyway....

LS

Thanks, Uncle Jane!

John

Please explain why you believe that you can get 4 strings that are much better than 5 strings. I go back and forth between L-2000s (recent and vintage), L-2500s, and ASATs depending on the gig and honestly have no idea what you mean. IMO there is quite a bit of variation within each model and the truly great ones are no more likely to be 4's than 5's.

Good points. Here's why I said that.

The best G&L's I've owned have all been the early models, such as the L-2000e and (2) L-1000, and an early 2nd gen SB-2. I like the feel of the older necks more than the newer ones. Also, they seem to sound and play differently from newer models: I've got an '07 L-2000 LE from BABP with the single coil option and it is a fabulous bass, but I vastly prefer the feel and sound of my '81 L-2000e. Pretty much all the "vintage" stuff is only available in 4-string models. You're right that individual instruments can vary widely; you can find a beautiful old L-1000 that's a dog to play. Perhaps I've just been lucky.

I'm not as familiar with the market for lefty basses; for right-handed instruments, if you're patient, you can find decent deals on these...not as easy as it was even 2-3 years ago, but they're still out there. Perhaps that changes the equation because its harder to find the old leftys.

Hope this helps. Good luck with finding what's right for you.

I interpret "Top/Top/Mid" to mean "neck pickup/series/active" and "Bottom/Bottom/Top" to mean "bridge pickup/parallel/active with treble boost". But I agree, that's a pretty confusing way to write it. :)

Sorry on the late response, but that's exactly what I mean. ;)

I ended up getting an L 2500 from an ad posted on talkbass! It's US made, 3 tone burst with rosewood fretboard, lefty of course. It sound great! I can't believe the diversity of tones you can get from this bass. I'm hooked. I already put one of my other basses up for sale, and the other one might be next. The L 2500 is by far the best bass I've owned. As for lefty versions, I think G & L is one of the more lefty friendly companies. I've seen quite a few for sale, both Tribute and USA made versions. I posted a couple of pics. Thanks for all of your help.

Congrats! I recently bought a Tribute L2500 in the same finish. Played it all weekend and really digging it! I'm so impressed that I'm trying to find a deal on an American one!