NBD: 1982 G&L (GandL) L2000

[RawOrange]

Just picked up this old L2000 from the local Craigslist. A guy had it from his dad who passed away 15 years ago, and it has been sitting in its case since then. The amazing thing is: it was set up perfectly even after all this time.

Tons of wear on it, but it just reeks of awesome. I love the finish checking and wear on the (birdseye maple) neck. It is exactly how a bass should be worn, by hours and hours of sweat and love.

The previous owner put the piece of plexiglass on the back of the body in order to protect it. It is held on by the screws for the battery compartment, so it is easily removable. I dig it though, it has kept the back looking beautiful after all of these years.

The tone is magnificent. I hadn't had an "E" series before, and it blows my other L2000s out of the water. So incredibly versatile.

Well, here are the obligatory pics

[jamersonburton]

Awesome man! I am starting to gas for one.......

[worxforme]

Nice find. Great looking bass.

[RawOrange]

Does anyone know what wood the body is? Thanks!

[thisSNsucks]

Originally Posted by RawOrange

Does anyone know what wood the body is? Thanks!

beautiful L-2K. Looks like Mahogany.

[theduke1]

most likely swamp ash
my 85 L1000 was it is the only bass I'm sorry I sold. I play 2500s now.

[RawOrange]

Originally Posted by thisSNsucks

beautiful L-2K. Looks like Mahogany.

That's what I thought. It's not as heavy as I would've expected for mahogany. Just under ten pounds.

[thisSNsucks]

Originally Posted by RawOrange

That's what I thought. It's not as heavy as I would've expected for mahogany. Just under ten pounds.

I had a L-1K that was mahogany and it was under 9lbs so it's totally possible.

[metron]

Awesome bass. Definitely mahogany.

[RawOrange]

It was incredible how much gunk was built up on the fretboard and body. It was obviously played quite a lot. And for good reason!

[Chef]

Ebony and mahogany.
Great combination, and I've had several of that vintage, in that wood combo.
IMO, "that's what G&L should sound like, and look like."
Most of mine were in that 9.5lb range, and though I've seen them much heavier, I haven't seen them lots lighter.

The back plate is an interesting idea.

The ones that have been played a lot, generally speaking, are the ones that were "worth playing a lot."
That one perhaps even more so, since it had been sitting dormant for so long.

[RedMoses]

I had an early L2500, great Bass, Sounded incredible and the build quality was fantastic, the most comfortable 5 string neck ive played. The only thing that got to me was the weight.

Congrats!

[RawOrange]

Originally Posted by Chef

Ebony and mahogany.
Great combination, and I've had several of that vintage, in that wood combo.
IMO, "that's what G&L should sound like, and look like."
Most of mine were in that 9.5lb range, and though I've seen them much heavier, I haven't seen them lots lighter.

The back plate is an interesting idea.

The ones that have been played a lot, generally speaking, are the ones that were "worth playing a lot."
That one perhaps even more so, since it had been sitting dormant for so long.

If I'm not mistaking, isn't that rosewood?

And it is undoubtedly true that this one was played because it was worth it. It plays amazingly and sounds just as great.

[Chef]

Ebony is not all "one dark piece."
All the early G&L I had with ebony boards looked very much like that, with nice stripes, dots, figuring.
I bet it was a lot darker before you cleaned it eh?

My 1980 L1000 was nearly black before I played the frets out from under it.
Micheal Dolan trued the fingerboard back up, and it came back all striped, just like yours.
It was mos-def ebony, I ordered it that way new.

You don't have any real closeups of the fingerboard, but it looks very dense, unlike rosewood which typically has more little "air pocket bubbles/dots in it...if that makes sense...

[RawOrange]

Originally Posted by Chef

Ebony is not all "one dark piece."
All the early G&L I had with ebony boards looked very much like that, with nice stripes, dots, figuring.
I bet it was a lot darker before you cleaned it eh?

My 1980 L1000 was nearly black before I played the frets out from under it.
Micheal Dolan trued the fingerboard back up, and it came back all striped, just like yours.
It was mos-def ebony, I ordered it that way new.

You don't have any real closeups of the fingerboard, but it looks very dense, unlike rosewood which typically has more little "air pocket bubbles/dots in it...if that makes sense...

That is very interesting! Learn something new everyday. You are very right, I thought it was ebony before I cleaned it, but after it looked so light I thought it couldn't be. Now that you say it though, it is much denser than any rosewood I've ever seen. I'll take some closer pics of the fretboard for you later- the figuring is very nice.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by RawOrange

If I'm not mistaking, isn't that rosewood?

It might be, '82 is when rosewood started to show up as the default "dark wood" boards. Both my '82 L-2000e's had rosewood boards.

Still, you can't go by the color, only the grain. Can't really see the grain in the pics.

Either way, great score on a power-house of a bass. I see it has the cool flat black hardware typical of '82. Nice!

[awesomesawyer]

it doesn't have the drippity-droopity headstock?

[Chef]

that started in 1984.
"eye-gouger" is the word for those in the know

[RawOrange]

Here are some better pictures of the fretboard:

[Chef]

I'd vote rosewood.
Sorry for the earlier mistake!