Just bought me an L-1000 . . .

EthanTheHeathen · #1 05-04-2009, 12:09 PM

. . . and it is by far the best bass I've owned! Sounds HUGE.

I believe it's mahogany/ebony, lots of checking/vintage tint, but great frets and in perfect working order. Serial number is B000750. Does that mean it's an especially early one? Not sure . . .

Anyway, a question: I played an L-1000 the other day that didn't sound nearly as beefy as this one. It could have been the amp, but I played my new bass on some dinky amps and it sounded pretty huge, and the one from the other day was going through a Berg NV 2x15 (and a hefty pre-power setup), so blaming the amp seems unlikely.

Mine has a regular MFD, but the other one had a slot pole pickup (and a maple board and whatever other wood they used for bodies). Would the pickup make this big a difference? And maybe the woods too?

Anyway, just curious about the variance of the L1k's, and wanted to brag a little. Woo hoo!

cbass1 · #2 05-04-2009, 05:22 PM

uh...considering they started serial #'s at around 500, I would say YES yours is an early one. congrats. lemme know if you are ever interested in selling, I am looking for something along those lines

duke12 · #3 05-04-2009, 05:58 PM

The earliest L-1000s had what the G&Leeks call "large hex" pole pieces. These phase out in early 1981 and are replaced with the "slot" pole pieces. Slots give way to the "regular hex" pole pieces in 1983, I think (somebody will come along and correct me about this last part if I'm wrong...)

Your L-1000 (at least by the serial number) is definitely a 1980 and probably has large hex. The large hex looks like the regular hex from a distance, but if you compare the two, you'll see that one is bigger. I think the large hex and the slots are relatively similar in sound. Both sound different (and better, to my ears) than the later regular hex.

You also have the mahogany/ebony combination, which is often considered to be the heaviest of the G&L tone wood combinations, both in weight and in sonic punishment. I've had various configurations (even including a maple/maple) but the hog/ebony is incredible.

And yes, the Wunkay is an amazing feat of simplicity and bone-crushing tone.

elpezpr · #4 05-04-2009, 06:00 PM

You know... no pics... no bass...

EthanTheHeathen · #5 05-04-2009, 09:50 PM

Yeah, I'll probably geek out on some pics in the next couple of days.

And Duke, you're definitely right about this sucker being heavy in both respects - weighs a lot and will punch your face in when amplified.

duke12 · #6 05-04-2009, 10:10 PM

I got my large hex/hog/ebony 1980 Wunkay from Wilkins, and it's not quite 10 lbs, but it has some HUGE tone.....

El Tookay · #7 05-05-2009, 11:34 AM

My 82 maple board/ ash body is making a real case for itself to be in the #1 chair. As fugly as an 82 can get, but sounds monstrous.
Not a bad sound or note in it, and loud like an act of God.

jro · #8 05-05-2009, 12:34 PM

Hi Ethan, where did you find your L1K? Its got a beefier sound than mine? We'll have to compare at the next get together. I'm not sure what wood the body of mine is but the neck is maple. Anyhow, the important thing to me is that its not too heavy to play for 3 sets.

Regarding the L1k in general, does anyone else have an issue with hum in single coil mode on their L1K? I do sometimes and generally just switch to humbucking mode between songs but I was wondering about more shielding. Do cables make a difference?

EthanTheHeathen · #9 05-05-2009, 03:01 PM

Hey jro - Yeah, not sure why, but mine seems to be beefier (I got it at Willie's, by the way). It could have been the room, the amp settings, the way my ears were working that day, I don't know. I didn't mess around with yours too much, and I don't quite understand why I would have heard much of a difference. But my impression was that mine has more low end. We'll have to A-B them together sometime.