L1000<>Pbass<>stingray - Page 2

**Chef** · #21 07-19-2009, 09:49 AM

I've had scads of L1000's now. Mostly, they've all fallen into a similar tone pallette; but, three were vastly different from the rest.
The black/maple I used to have. It was an 81-ish build date, but had a newer replacement pickup. This one felt thin, compared to some, sonically. One 1980 mahogany/rw; which really didn't sound anything like the deep rich hogs I'd had before.
And the CAR/maple I still have. Dunno what the body wood is, but it's much brighter and snappier than others I've had, while retaining the deep/rich thing.
The 1980 HOG/rw I still have embodies the quintessential L1000 thing, to my ear. Plenty of snap on top, rich mids and low mids, low end so big you have to roll tone off.

L1000's really don't sound anything like a P bass to me, which seems to be "some lows, some highs, big barky, woody mids." I have two 1972's, one ash/maple, one alder/maple, and a very nice blonde/maple 2006 MIM50's P. Apparently, r/w P's aren't my thing. Never had one, couldn't tell you why...

Stingrays: never had an old two band single H. No comment. Never had a Saber. Had a 2008 SR4HH which I wanted to love, but, it was big boomy lows, nasty glassy highs, and a huge hole in the middle. Hated it, sonically; loved it ergonomically. It was not terribly unlike my Lakland 5501...I kept that and loaded it with Nord DC5's and an LH3 preamp and now it rawks. I recently got a 2004 SR5H three band, and it's very different from the SR4HH. Dunno if that's because it's ceramic vs alnico, but it's big, wide, smooth...very snappy highs, a slight hole in the middle, but much more workable for me.

FWIW, I've had a bunch of L2X00's including two older L2000e; and while they're nice enough, they're not my thing. I've given up trying to make active G&L's work for me. I have a hard time quantifying why; as close as I can get is "there's just too much wool in the midrange." Kinda like the Eden WT series amps...there's just "hair in the middle there" that takes away some clarity I like. YMMV, they're great at what they do, etc. Just not my thing.

The L1000 has this, but to a much, much smaller degree...at least to my ear. Again, YMMV, you probably hear it different than me, etc.

El Tookay · #22 07-19-2009, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclejane

Ok now this is just out of control......... I definitely didn't need to be shown this......

LS

Impressive, ain't it? Pass the de-fibrilator....

Bassnut62 · #23 07-19-2009, 02:18 PM

i nearly always run my G&L Asat passive too. I agree that you get better tone that way. The active is too brutal IMO. I tend to use a few analogue pedals by EH and they tend to phart and tweep (technical terms those!) with active power going in.

loendmaestro · #24 07-19-2009, 06:06 PM

I too am a passive G&L guy. I find the active to be TOO much....

jetagegreg · #25 07-25-2009, 11:44 AM

I'm pretty much a (passive) alder/maple guy, but the mahogany G&L's are really special. I've played an L-1000 (hog/RW) and El Toro (hog/RW) and they both had this extra bassy, warm, something going on. I'm still holding out for a mahogany/ebony with bi-cut neck....

-GB

**Chef** · #26 07-25-2009, 12:12 PM

I bet you'll wait a while to find one in that combo with a bi-cut neck.
I've never had one, and I've had a lot of them.

jetagegreg · #27 07-25-2009, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef

I bet you'll wait a while to find one in that combo with a bi-cut neck.
I've never had one, and I've had a lot of them.

I've never seen one. I forsee some expensive neck-swapping in my future....

-GB

earlgray · #28 07-25-2009, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marco1977

I'm Speechless... The L1000 is THE sound i was looking for... for a long time also...

The body was alder, but is there a big difference in sound/weight between the mahogany ones?

I've got 2 pretty early L-1000's -- one is mahogany/maple and the other is (I think) ash & maple. Both have TI flats and tremendous tone.

In general, mahogany body basses tend to be heavy and mine is no exception. The mahogany L-1000 is a couple pounds heavier and has a "thicker" sound -- incredibly rich and full, with bottom galore. In a recording, it just thunders. In contrast, the ash body bass still has the wide bottom, but a bit more mids, making it ride nicely in a live mix. Lately, I've been rotating between the ash/maple L-1000 or a MM 30th anniversary (which has a 'hog body). Both are awesome, but the G&L just amazes me every gig at how good it can sound when I'm doing my job right.

hth...

Craig_S · #29 07-25-2009, 03:42 PM

My mahogany/ebony L-1000 has an amazing sound. There is a nice growl in there. It is nicely mid present, with more low end than a P, but the same sort of mid thing going on. I'm sure that is due to, at least partially, the pickup placement. It'll do the P thing pretty nicely, IMO, but it takes rolling off some of the lows. This is why I say it sounds like a P-Bass on steroids. It's one bad motor scooter! I love it.