G&L L2500 2008 bass sound clips, enjoy!

[unclejane]

If anyone's interested, I just got my MIA L2500 fretless and I can make some sound clips of it to give an idea of the fretless version's sound.

It's still not quite setup yet (just ordered a set of nut files today), and the strings are a little bit heavier guage than I like, but it seems to have a beastier sound than my L2000 (also MIA fretless).

The L2000 has a more Jaco like tone with less sustain, but the 2500 seems to give a slightly brighter sound with more sustain (should make it a little better for hard rock).

I suspect this is because the neck is thicker and it's overall just a heftier instrument (I also like lighter gauge strings than what's on here).

The other nice thing is the string spacing at the bridge is just perfect for finger picking.

What a monster tho......

LS

[lovenotfear]

Originally Posted by quickervicar

+1

ya i played a couple of G&L L2500's one in a pawn shop and one with a worped neck at sam ash, this was about a year ago , and both basses were at least several years old, the were american made, and the neck's were huge, i have long fingers so when i ordered a 2008 G&L L2500 i was ok with that, but to my surprise it was nice a comfy, not nearly as huge as the ones i had played previously, i took it to guitar center and compared it to a stingray 5, and the neck on the stringray was slightly bigger than my G&l.

[funkythumb]

Great thread guys. I'm becoming such a big G&L fan. I got my used 2002 L2500 MIA and the engineer at one of my gigs likes it more than my MTD 535, or Sadowsky Metro. Go figure.
I have one question. What kind of strings are you using? Which ones did you use on those recordings, which sounded great by the way. Great tonal quality!!!
thanks

[lovenotfear]

Originally Posted by funkythumb

Great thread guys. I'm becoming such a big G&L fan. I got my used 2002 L2500 MIA and the engineer at one of my gigs likes it more than my MTD 535, or Sadowsky Metro. Go figure.
I have one question. What kind of strings are you using? Which ones did you use on those recordings, which sounded great by the way. Great tonal quality!!!
thanks

thanks! and i used dr high beams on the sound clips, i used the string set with the .125 b string.

[driftersinc]

Unclejane, I'm waiting for your sound clips!

I have High Beam on my L2500, too and it sounds awesome!
But I'm gonna experiment it with TI soon and see how it goes. I've heard so much compliment about the TI here in TB, so I decided to give it a try!

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by driftersinc

Unclejane, I'm waiting for your sound clips!

I have High Beam on my L2500, too and it sounds awesome!
But I'm gonna experiment it with TI soon and see how it goes. I've heard so much compliment about the TI here in TB, so I decided to give it a try!

Ok, took a few days to get it setup, but finally got to record a brief clip today of my L2500 fretless.

This is the main lick from The Brothers Johnson's "aint we funkin' now", but fingerpicked since I really can't play slap (yet). I don't think I've learnt it exactly right and I embellished a bit at the end so ya'll can hear the low B string.

This is with the strings that came on the bass (some totally huge D'addario's but they seem to work well on this bass). The low part is played with both pickups together on I believe parallel mode (mode switch forward towards the neck) and the preamp on the bright setting. The little doubling part I did with just the bridge pickup so ya'll can get an idea of the sound of the higher notes with just the bridge PU.

Overall the bass has a different sound than my L2000 which is hard to describe. Of course the strings are still new on it which gives it a good rattle, but it seems like it's a smoother sound with more sustain....

LS

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by lovenotfear

the american G&L's just scream quality, they are cheaper than a stingray and every bit as good in the quality dept. and have allot more sounds to work with, don't take me wrong i like stingray's, but the G&L L2500 can literally fit any style of music, and the neck on the 2008 models for five strings is not fat at all in fact it felt just a tad more slim than a stingray 5 neck, maybe the difference you are hearing is that the newer tributes are basswood, and the american G&L's are ash, or alder, anyways get the american G&L's it is a great buy considering there are korean or Indonesian basses out there these days costing just as much as the american G&L's, with the american G&L you get allot of bang for your buck.

Personally, I think the G&L is a little higher in quality than the music man. The MM is a wonderful bass - I almost bought a sterling a while back - but the G&L has a couple refinements over the MM.

The G&L bridge is a little better than the MM bridge, which is still sort of just a piece of shaped sheet metal. The G&L is more solid and I think that gives the strings a firmer feel when plucking.

Also, the MM isn't quite as well balanced and has a little neck dive. The G&L is better in this regard.

I also mildly prefer how the G&L neck is made. My L2000 has the old bicut neck, which stays impeccably in tune and hasnt warped (it's about 10 years old now). I do have to tweak the torque rod about 1/8 of a turn from time to time to keep it right on the gnats ass, but I never have any problems with it.

My L2500 is a very recent model and the neck appears to be made a different way (they say it's been redesigned on G&L's website), but the "skunk stripe" method isn't used.

So I think they're very close in quality, but G&L has a slight edge. It was Leo Fender's finest effort in his opinion so I'm with Da Man on this one ...

LS

[lovenotfear]

Originally Posted by unclejane

Ok, took a few days to get it setup, but finally got to record a brief clip today of my L2500 fretless.

This is the main lick from The Brothers Johnson's "aint we funkin' now", but fingerpicked since I really can't play slap (yet). I don't think I've learnt it exactly right and I embellished a bit at the end so ya'll can hear the low B string.

This is with the strings that came on the bass (some totally huge D'addario's but they seem to work well on this bass). The low part is played with both pickups together on I believe parallel mode (mode switch forward towards the neck) and the preamp on the bright setting. The little doubling part I did with just the bridge pickup so ya'll can get an idea of the sound of the higher notes with just the bridge PU.

Overall the bass has a different sound than my L2000 which is hard to describe. Of course the strings are still new on it which gives it a good rattle, but it seems like it's a smoother sound with more sustain....

LS

wow! nice sound clip, cool arrangement!

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by lovenotfear

wow! nice sound clip, cool arrangement!

Tnx.
I should mention I was surprised to get such a well defined sound with both pickups on. My L2000 is a lot more muddy with both PU's. Perhaps that's because the 2500 is just bigger and has a stronger neck (my L2000 has the #8 neck on it)

The 2500 has colossally thick strings on it as well (I use the lightest guage I can find on my 2000, currently D'addario EXL 220's). I tried light guage strings when I was setting it up and they didn't sound right.

The heavy strings are significantly easier to intonate too, the light guage are kind of hair trigger on intonation (tho I'm used to it on the other bass).
I thought I'd dislike the fretlines on this bass because I'm so used to the blank fingerboard on the L2000. but I actually kind of like them now.....

But my overall conclusion - the 2500, like all of our G&L's, is a beast!

LS
LS

[lovenotfear]

Originally Posted by unclejane

Tnx.
I should mention I was surprised to get such a well defined sound with both pickups on. My L2000 is a lot more muddy with both PU's. Perhaps that's because the 2500 is just bigger and has a stronger neck (my L2000 has the #8 neck on it)

The 2500 has colossally thick strings on it as well (I use the lightest guage I can find on my 2000, currently D'addario EXL 220's). I tried light guage strings when I was setting it up and they didn't sound right.

The heavy strings are significantly easier to intonate too, the light guage are kind of hair trigger on intonation (tho I'm used to it on the other bass).
I thought I'd dislike the fretlines on this bass because I'm so used to the blank fingerboard on the L2000. but I actually kind of like them now.....

But my overall conclusion - the 2500, like all of our G&L's, is a beast!

LS
LS

i agree i always seems to play with both pickups on, the other settings are nice, but i keep coming back to using the bass with both pickups on.

[bassbrock]

I do the same as well, the majority of time I have both pickups on.

I the future I'm thinking of attempting a mod for a blend knob... that way rather than all neck, all bridge or all both, I can get slight variations of each.

[driftersinc]

Getting a blend knob is a good idea! Please share with us when you have it done!

[Doug Hodges]

very cool

[kikoamc]

My L-2500 in action!

http://www.goear.com/listen.php?v=1c2b99b

[kikoamc]

I use for this track

Both pickups
Paralell
passive mode
80% treble
100% bass

I use a Boss Cs-3 pedal an line6 studio GX to record.

[bassbrock]

Originally Posted by kikoamc

My L-2500 in action!

http://www.goear.com/listen.php?v=1c2b99b

Hi there kikoamc - I checked out your tracks and that was some nice playing. One thing though, it seems the track lacks some bottom end, as if it was missing some bass or something. I'm guessing this is probably due to the compression on the website that is hosting the audio file? Or was that the sound you were actually going for? Thanks!

[coltshockey81]

Hello everyone. I just got a l-2500 USA. I got rid of a fender Americans Standard Jazz bass for it and it is perfect out of the case. the setup was great and the sounds is just phenomenal. the body is ash with a natural finish and a maple neck with birds eye maple board. This bass is truly a work of art. I play it out of a GK 800rb and I couldnt be happier with the tone and versatility. I am an instant convert.