Fender fans who turned G&L

[Lowbrow]

I made this switch 1982 or so, replacing a stolen 1980 Precision with a new G&L L-1000.
It was a marked improvement all around, and my only instrument for about 10 years of very heavy use (I also got a spare a few years after #1).
About 1990 I returned to mostly Precision basses - the L-1000 was a little heavy for my aging and fridge-damaged back, and I also came into possession of a '61 P, which was super light and rivaled the L-1000 in quality.
I've stuck with P basses since, but still have my first G&L.

 

[deirdresm]

Good news for you: G&L introduces the Tribute Fallout - its newest short scale bass - gearnews.com.

Awesome! I may pick one up.

 

[filler83]

Just wanna showcase how tonally versatile these L2Ks can be. My playing isn't that great, but man does this thing sound awesome.

With the right preamps and tone shaping, they can do a decent Wal imitation, both for Tool:



And for other things like RHCP:


Also Anthony Kiedis is the cringiest vocalist of all time.

I've heard a lot of people say that the L2K is the closest you can get to a Wal without paying Wal prices...while they're two very different animals, I get where the comparison can come from. I've never owned or played a Wal so I don't really know.

I may have dialed out a little too much of the high end here, but you can do a pretty decent P-bass imitation as well:
This one could use a bit more clank, but ya live and learn


Same here...needs more clank but it does that kind of sticky, middy, warm, full P-tone very well:

Love the song selections! Don't see Bro Hymn very much played. Love it.

 

[Pet Sounds]

My 2 cents: The G&Ls I've owned and played have been very high-quality instruments, extremely well built with excellent components. But somehow I haven't bonded with most of them.

About 10-12 years ago, I bought first a USA L-2000, then a couple years later, I tried again with a Tribute L-2000. I got rid of both of them. In my opinion, they could cover virtually any tone possible -- but I didn't want the vast majority of those tones. Maybe I didn't spend enough time getting acclimated to the controls, but it seemed like it was difficult to dial in the sounds I wanted. Definitely not a plug-and-play bass like my preferred Precision Basses. I also had a USA SB-2, but the neck shape didn't really work for my hands and I didn't like the lack of a tone knob.

At present, I have a G&L JB, and I like it much better, probably because it's so much like a Fender. It looks and feels just like a Jazz Bass.

I once had a G&L ASAT Classic guitar. Again, it was well-made except it developed the worst fret sprout I've ever seen and had a very sticky gloss neck finish.

All of this is strictly my experience and YMMV. I would never say G&L doesn't make a quality instrument.

 

[LiquidFudge]

I bought a made in America G&L L-2000 about 23 years ago on the advice of a friend. I went through several amps, cabs, string types, and pedals, but I just kept playing my L-2000. It doesn't seem heavy to me. It never failed me and the finish still looks good although the truss rod nut is now stripped out. I love it.
Recently, I decided I wanted to get a P bass. After thoroughly looking at many different instruments, I ended up with a new G&L L-100 MIA. The more I play it, the more I like it. I just couldn't justify getting a Fender when in my opinion, the G&L cost a little less and is every bit as good, or arguably better, than the Fender P. Also, many more options available with G&L at a reasonable price.

 

[ghunter]

Summary...

1. If you NEED to play a Fender for the name or styling, G&L is not for you
2. If you want a simple bass, avoid the L-2000 and stick with a Precision/Jazz or the G&L equivalent LB/SB/JB models
3. The vast majority of us who made the leap to G&L are very happy with the prices and the quality

 

[TomB]

Summary...

1. If you NEED to play a Fender for the name or styling, G&L is not for you
2. If you want a simple bass, avoid the L-2000 and stick with a Precision/Jazz or the G&L equivalent LB/SB/JB models
3. The vast majority of us who made the leap to G&L are very happy with the prices and the quality

I’d add that the L-1000 has many of the virtues of the 2K without being overly complex.

 

[2saddleslab]

After more than a decade owning many early Fender slab P & Tele basses, all with maple necks, I decided to change things up and buy a custom G&L ASAT. I wanted to go beyond my comfort zone and try active, dual pickup, & rosewood. Ended up w/ 7 ASAT basses [and one L1K], many with custom binding, some semi hollow, w/ matching headstocks. Well built basses with amazing punchy tone.

Alas, I went full circle and back to my slab roots. But it was a fun G&L ride while it lasted.

 

[Skullheadrac]

Well, ended up pulling the trigger on an older G&L L2K

 

[Skullheadrac]

Also, just checked the neck and body. Bass is from 85. If it doesn't grow on me, might end up partying ways with it

 

[axxtion]

Back in the early '90s I played with the guys from the fender custom shop. I had moved over from Hawaii playing a lot in Waikiki and my go-to rig then was an Ibanez RB through a GK 400 and an EV. killer little rig. I kept teasing them that I shouldn't be playing these fender gigs playing this Japanese thing and that they should build me a bass. I wanted to switch to five string so they built me a custom shop five string p bass. To me, it was okay but I wasn't crazy about the 2x4 neck compared to the Ibanez. A year or so later I traded it for a 5-string Warwick thumb bolt on which I really liked and still have. Under a contract deal, fender still owed me one more bass, and I ended up with a fender five-string jazz bass which I didn't care for either. Years go by and many basses later, I finally picked up a G&l L-2500 USA from a collector who never really played it. I fell in love with the bass. It had that tight aggressive grind that I had been looking for for years. In the past 18 months I have bought four USA models and two tributes, all L2500's. The tributes use USA pickups and electronics and sound very close to the USA models one being Korean, the other is Indonesian with the second actually being the better of the two. I discovered Marty Bell finishing down in Vista who used to do the sparkle finishes for G&l and I have sent him one of the tributes to do in a silver metal flake both body and headstock and then waiting for them to get shipped back. I've added some pics of 3 of my USA models.