How did you get introduced and fall in love with G&Ls? Tell your story.

dagrev · #1 01-09-2009, 06:39 PM

Maybe this has been done (but I didn't find it) so forgive me if it's a rerun.

How was it that you came to the G&L fold? Tell your story about your first encounter with G&L.

I'll go first. About three years ago I had not played in about 20 years when my favorite bass was being used at church when there was a break-in one night and it was never seen again. (It was a 78 Pbass with an "A" neck. Man it played and sounded so good.) While looking to get prices for insurance and a replacement to play I ran across an L2K Blueburst w/RW at a local store. They were no longer going to be a G&L dealer and it was the last one and it was at a great price to get it gone. The quality was outstanding and just looked rich. It was beautiful and had so many options. I couldn't stop flipping switches and trying the different tones. It had the typical wide neck but boy it played so good. It felt so right to play and when I got it home and strapped it on it was a perfect fit. To date I've yet to play a better feeling bass.

I hated that my bass was stolen as it was the one that got most of the playing time years ago, but the whole thing got be interested in playing again so it was worth it. Painful but worth it. I own three G&Ls now (the L2K, a BABP LE L2K, and a JB-2). They are something else! Thanks Leo and George for a job well done!

So how about you?

dogbass · #2 01-09-2009, 06:55 PM

When I finally saved enough money to buy my first bass I went to the Sam Ash in Hempstead, NY. I remember there were alot of Fender's hanging on the wall that I was looking at, but the salesman told me about this new company that was run by Leo Fender himself. He showed me a L1K that had just arrived (serial number B000831). I bought it just to be different. It was the winter of 1981. It was many years later that I realized what an excellent choice I had made !

unclejane · #3 01-09-2009, 07:28 PM

I didn't think they were too exceptional at first. I bought my L2000 originally just to teach myself fretless, but didn't remember it being significantly different than a Fender at the time.

Well, turns out that's intentional, Leo Fender knew what he was doing

. Once I started playing my L2000, having had it with my fretted basses, I started liking it more and more.

It eventually dawned on me that the G&L would be the result if you were able to take your old precision or jazz down to LF's workshop and go "ok Leo, supe this thing up!"....

I still have my L2000 and just got an L2500 a few months ago. They're my main instruments...

LS

TomB · #4 01-09-2009, 07:33 PM

Sounds similar to my story...

I was playing full-time in 1980 and wanted something new & sturdy. I looked at Fenders but the quality seemed to have slipped big-time from my '63. Music Man was new & cool & enticing, but expensive ($700?), and I wasn't sure I wanted an active bass.

So I wandered into Wurlitzer in Boston & there were these gorgeous red, blue & green see-throughs behind glass... it was love at first sight and when I heard the company's story I was on board.

I picked up B001391, an L1K in natural, on Harlem Ave in Chicago in spring of '81. Still plays great, and I'm still a big booster many G&L's later. A sunburst '07 SB-2 is my #1 go-to 4-string even today.

Honk'n_down-low · #5 01-09-2009, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dogbass

When I finally saved enough money to buy my first bass I went to the Sam Ash in Hempstead, NY. I remember there were alot of Fender's hanging on the wall that I was looking at, but the salesman told me about this new company that was run by Leo Fender himself. He showed me a L1K that had just arrived (serial number B000831). I bought it just to be different. It was the winter of 1981. It was many years later that I realized what an excellent choice I had made !

My story is very close to this - I was looking for my first real bass now that I could carry a tune. Naturally wanted to get a Fender - the G&L just came out and there was a Buzz about them - the sales guitard basically convinced me to try one. I paid $500 if I remember correctly for L1K in Burst. I traded it later because it had neck problems - wish I had fixed it though - want to get another one like it - I know there are a few people here with some nice L1K's.

Right now I want an L2000 or an L2500 though.

TDR1138 · #6 01-09-2009, 08:05 PM

My dad's friend owned a country bar off the 55 Freeway down in SoCal (anyone down there remember the Crazy Horse?). One day, he was over at our house, and saw that I had started playing bass. So he told my dad that some rep had given him a bunch of guitars and basses to give out to some of the touring musicians a few years prior. He still had a bass sitting in his office.

About 6 months later, he and my dad went golfing. When they were done, he pulled out the bass and gave it to my dad. It's been my favorite ever since (and inspired me to buy a few more G&Ls)...

brucehum · #7 01-09-2009, 08:16 PM

I still am awaiting for my local shop to get a L2500 for me (it should be here February-March).

I want to upgrade my MIM Fender Precision Deluxe Special, Baja Series (a great bass). So I thought about a USA Fender Jazz... then, looking at Leo Fender's story, I discovered G&L, his last company, where he designed (according to himself) his best guitars. I also saw how people who have them love them (it is the same in the local Spanish forum I read), and that decided me to get one.

I contacted my local shop, and they said they didn't have G&L, because although they are great guitars and basses, they don't sell. But, they would ask for some for February-March. So I asked for an USA G&L L2500. I really don't mind the looks: I like them all!!

Now, if I just manage to wait 3 months...

mainsail · #8 01-09-2009, 08:17 PM

In 1999, I had to have the electronics, switches, pots and all the wiring replaced in my Gibson Ripper. Severe corrosion had taken out everything. The shop where I've had all my instruments serviced for the past 28 years, thought the corrosion may have been caused by the pickguard breaking down and releasing chemicals in the closed case.

Anyway, just couldn't get the bass back to what it was, so replaced it with a Fender American Jazz Bass Deluxe. Which was a fine instrument in its own right.

But after reading several reviews about the G&L basses, and after handling one at Buffalo Bros. I traded my Fender for my L2K.

That was in 02 and in the fall of 07, I added the L2.5k, which is my main bass now. But the L2k is going nowhere. It has the number 8 neck and I take it out periodically for a spin. Kinda like taking a sports cars for a run!

I'm hooked on the G&L product for life.

francisl2500 · #9 01-09-2009, 08:24 PM

my story... drive 100km to buy a 5'er ibanez style and i had 600/700$ to spread for that. The sellsman pluged me that trib. L2.5K in a 8x10 ampeg , cranked it up and hold his pants firmly. God it was a nice moment. Very far from my 1970 P bass and my first bass Gibson and my cort ( my what?). Played in store for an hour and bought it....

Francis

Assumer · #10 01-09-2009, 08:27 PM

Being a lefty not many around to play with. I took a chance on a used JB2 and the rest is history.

bassmanT · #11 01-09-2009, 08:46 PM

I thought I wanted a Ibanez SR500. I liked alot about it, but I started shopping around cause I wanted to get the best bang for my money. I tried a G&L SB and liked it but then I saw the l-2000 hanging on the wall. I heard all the different things that you can get out of those massive pickups, and I fell in love with it. I could not be happier.

oldrookie · #12 01-10-2009, 04:12 AM

Total newb stumbling around looking at gear. Went to a local shop and saw the Tribute L2000 in natural w/rosewood and fell in love, but didn't have the money.

Won a cash award at work and decided to celebrate by getting a really nice bass. Loved it, but then started playing fivers and decided to sell the T L2k and get a T L2.5k.

ljazz · #13 01-10-2009, 05:09 AM

Bought a SB1 brand new in '87, and was hooked. I still own and play it today.... in fact, it's my number 1 player. I've gone through a lot of others, including other G&L's, but always come back to it.

I have an '02 L2K that I've recently started to fall in love with. I've posted in some other threads about what it took to get my head around it..... but now that I have, I find myself reaching for it more and more frequently.

I also have an '02 SB2, but it really needs a new nut. I just haven't rushed to get it fixed 'cuz I'm not super crazy about 1 1/2" necks. Who knows?..... one day maybe I'll get around to it.

Ljazz

Thundersteel · #14 01-10-2009, 07:54 AM

I like supporting the underdog. I prefer G&L over Fender, as well as Heritage over Gibson. Both G&L and Heritage make superior, hand-made instruments that are of better quality and less expensive than their well-known counterparts.

lmfreeman9 · #15 01-10-2009, 08:17 AM

I started playing in the mid 80's when my best friend at the time taught me a few lines. I had a Gibson Thunderbird which was awkward and had developed a hairline crack so we went downtown to one of the many stores which no longer exist. The sales guy told us about Leo's new company while persuading me to trade up to a black '81 L-2000E. The previous owner had "attempted" to paint the head to match the body with laughable results but I forked over the Gibson and about $50 anyway.

I quit playing about 5 or 6 years later and traded the bass for a plumbing job but bought it back 2 years ago and brought the headstock back to original condition. (Except for the Series E on the decal, which G&L no longer has)
Does anyone out there have one?

It had been abused and also needed a fret job but it ROARS and although I have since bought other G&L basses, this one sounds unique and truly vintage in its tone.

Skarekrough · #16 01-10-2009, 11:09 AM

It's all duke's fault....

He'd send me these pics of these amazing looking G&L's.

I'm only human. I can't resist forever!

I'd owned a MIJ Fender for over ten years. Then I snapped up an L-1505 off of CraigsList thinking I would flip it and made the tragic mistake of tuning it up and plugging it on. Actually...come to think of it...I didn't even do that. Playing it unplugged with the neck and the low B was enough. The Fender wen't bye-bye within six months.

Nedmundo · #17 01-11-2009, 04:01 PM

In high school, college, and grad school, I played Peaveys exclusively. (I loved my T-40, but it got stolen in '86.) After grad school, I took almost ten years off from playing, and when I joined a band again I started to learn something about basses, partly because I could actually afford them. This eventually led me to Fenders. I have a few, which are in heavy rotation. I had tried a couple of G&L's, but they didn't make much of an impression.

A few years later, after my tonal preferences had developed more, I tried an L-2000 for the first time. I was blown away by the hard-hitting, full range tone that retained some vintage character. Then I tried an L-1500, which I liked even more, so I ordered one. It became a main stage bass in my last band, and has the best playability of all my basses. I added an SB-2 in 2007, and it's the only bass that's given my 2003 Jazz serious competition for the number one slot.

I haven't ditched my Fenders by any means, but I would NEVER want to be without a G&L in the arsenal.

quickervicar · #18 01-12-2009, 06:38 AM

As a stupid 18 year-old I went into Veneman's Music in MD looking for a PJ bass to replace my (crap) Hohner P-copy. I figured that whatever I get I'll replace the p'ups with a set of EMGs anyway. The salesman put an SB-2 into my hands & I liked it (but didn't know why). I mentioned the EMG idea to him and he just shook his head. "You can do what you want, but these pickups will absolutely stomp those EMGs." I didn't believe him at the time, but custom-ordered my SB-2 that day. Turns out he was right!

wyleeboxer · #19 01-12-2009, 12:04 PM

It was around 1995 and I was playing a 72 jazz and a JayDee, a freind of mine knew a guy over at the fullerton factory and said I could have any G&L bass for $300! Spent about 2 hours and I tried out a bunch basses right off the rack, and settled in on a Cherryburst ASAT... played it for 6 years straight, until I couldnt take the hornless neck dive strain it was putting on my wrist anymore. Since around 2001 or so Ive played and owned everything under the moon, Fender Jazz USA MIJ GL, Ibenez SR3006e, yamaha's, Schecter jazz usa (great bass btw), Azola Jazz bass (stollen

), ATK's, Fender P's, etc... picked up my ASAT a few months ago, plugged it in a realized what I had been missing with all the others, TONE! So, I replace the body with an L2000 body off ebay, and thats thats! Damn the money I could have saved if only I replaced the body years ago............

vroc38 · #20 01-12-2009, 02:10 PM

4-5 years ago I had a gig on drums. A guy comes to audition on bass with a L2K and his tone knocked me right off my chair. He got the gig and later showed up with an L2500. I took it for a spin during a break and that was all she wrote. It wasn't long before I had a L2500 of my own, and it wasn't long after that when the number of G&L cases in my house started to become a very real problem! If memory serves the G&L count is now at 13 and will probably rise again when the right fretless and L5000 come along.

I was one of those people that never even considered G&L because of the eyegouger. Needless to say that's no longer an issue.

This guy later had to choose between his L2500 and his now ex-wife. He definitely chose well.