Removing /Replacing preamp in L2500

[synaesthesia]

This may be the believer's section for G & L but I have to say removing the preamp in my L2500 lefty is the best thing I 've done to it. The pickups breathe now and seemed to choke with the original preamp.

I have replaced the pickup selector and the coil selector with a dedicated on-on-oon switch for each ppickup , so that each pickup can be series/singlecoil/parallel. The bridge pickup singlecoil mode selects the coil nearer the bridge and the neck one selects the coil further from the bridge, so that you'd get humbucking when both singlecoils are on.

I've placed a dummy switch in the place of the passive/preamp on/boost switch.

I now use a Bartolini NTBT, with a volume control, a blend control and a stacked Bass/treble control.

I suppose when I have the time I could wire the dummy switch as a preamp bypass....

Am glad I got rid of the gunk in there, it is as if a screen has been removed and you hear the pickups clearly now. It cretainly solunds more versatile given the pickup options, and I must say the single coil sound is a welcome addition - gets the J vibe.

Sorry for the Blasphemy believers.

[spideyjg]

Originally Posted by synaesthesia

Sorry for the Blasphemy believers.

Removing MFDs is blasphemy. Changing preamps, switching schemes, or other mods that are reversible are OK in my book.

Using a router gets you tarred and feathered.

Jim

[Chef]

Hey, it's your bass mang, do what makes you happy.

I gotta say tho, I agree with Spidey on his points

[sunbeast]

I've done similar mods- except that I don't mind the preamps in my G&Ls, I play in passive most times anyway (although I do prefer the preamp on my early 80s L2000 to the one on my 2006 L2500)...One thing to consider when reversing the coil orientation on one of the pickups (in your case, the neck pickup)- the bottom of the pickup is grounded/shielded through the green wire on the pickup, so you should pull out the pickup and solder a new lead to the end of the coil with the green wire and ground the bottom of the pickup seperately or the pickup shielding on your neck pickup will not be grounded in either series or single coil mode...

I changed the volume to a stacked 500K setup to have volume control for both pickups, then used the extra pickup selector switch to have the 3-way coil selection like yours- I chose the inside coils for my single coil though. I did this mostly because the G&L L1000 that had a single coil mode used the bridgemost coil of the pickup (which was in the same position as the neck pickup on L2000s/L2500s) and I dug that sound. I tried it the other way on my L2500 for a time and preferred the inner coils. I also changed the 250K treble cut pot to a 500K push/pull that changes the series setting to "single coil with bass boost" when pulled- the 500K value change also gives more treble to work with. "Single coil with bass boost" sounds much superior to my ears to the standard series mode- the MFDs just sound kinda honky to me in series, whereas the bass boost mode is just very full and rich.

I personally see no problem with replacing/changing the electronics in G&Ls- they have alot to offer stock, and the pickups are simply amazing: but there are so many other options that do exist to take full advantage of those amazing pickups- to each his own, I say!

Karl