So, I been playing (and modifying) the heck out of my US L2500- I think it's the closest to the perfect bass I've ever played/ had at this point (it took alot of modification- but it had a hell of a lot going for it to begin with). I finally found my final piece- a used maple neck, but it is actually from a '90s L-5500 (hence my clever title....
) to replace the original rosewood- boarded neck (which is still in great condition, I just prefer maple or ebony).
The older G&L 5 string necks are alot nicer in my opinion than the newer breed- my new neck has a 1 and 7/8" nut spacing instead of the 1 and 3/4" of the original, I find the difference very noticeable and preferable! I do have very long fingers/ big hands though...Also, I was able to get much lower action on this new/old neck- it may be because the previous owner had the frets leveled at some point (something I will eventually do with the original neck, but it still got pretty low action). Lastly, I much prefer the older-style headstock with the 4+1 tuner arrangement and the sharper shape of the bottom curve (much more menacing
).
The new neck heel fit perfectly in the body route, but the older necks were about 1/4"-1/2" or so shorter on the last little piece of fretboard, so I had to move the bridge saddles back to compensate. The odd part is that the bass itself is actually slightly longer now due to the different headstock design.
The maple board did everything I expected that I was missing from the original rosewood board- there seems to be a much faster response to each note, which I was really missing in the more fast/ technical parts of my metal band's songs (the lower action helps for this somewhat as well...). There is also that added percussiveness that only maple boards seem to have, which really helps the bass cut through the mix. In conjunction with the "Single coil w/ bass boost", it adds a nice middy presence that was missing with the Rosewood. With the new neck, my favorite setting is "Single coil with bass boost" on the bridge pickup + parallel on the neck pickup w/ 100% neck volume and about 75% on the bridge. Also- active with treble all the way up and bass cut about 25%. It just hammers through a mix!
FYI for anyone that may ever do this in the future- these old necks with the 1 and 7/8" spacing use the exact same sized nut as Fender 5 string basses (1+7/8"*1/8"*1/4"), which you can buy pre-cut- though you can shave them down a little to get the perfect height (I actually over cut my first one). The newer 1 and 3/4" nut spaced necks don't seem to have a direct replacement (unless it's possible to order one straight from G&L?)- most 5 string basses have nuts that are both deeper and taller than the G&L. You could always cut your own- but if you're like me- you'll always overcompensate/ overcut....(I learned long ago that any sort of precision lutherie wasn't for me!).
Also, the Schaller tuners can be taken apart and reversed to go on either side of the headstock (so I didn't have to buy one more bass-side tuner), which is a pretty awesome idea!
Man, I love this bass- it really makes me want to get a complete 90s L2500 as a backup, I imagine the older solid- bodied 5 strings have a slightly different/ complementary sound to the newer ones.... Someone ought to sell/ trade me one of theirs for a backup! Or even an older L2000.....c'mon now!
Just thought I'd share- I am really more and more excited about this bass everytime I play it!
Karl
