I want to share some mod ideas with all of you. These are not the be all - end all. G&L basses are already excellent and don't need mods. L-1505's are the absolute perfect platform for the below mods because they are so very well built. I've got some experience with some of these mods and then others were a gigantic leap of faith=risk. I've done the exact same mods to two L-1505's and scored a bullseye each time - perfect results. Let me tell you that I prepped for these mods with: a whole lot of reading, corresponding with G&L tech support, listening, A/Bing various G&L basses against each other and my 75' P-Bass and a considerable amount of money saving. These mods were done all at once when the basses were brand spanking new. Now, I did not do the mods myself - I'm not up to that. I payed a tech to do them.
The mods are:
1) "football" jack = much more stable and reliable
2) no washers on the 2 toggle switches = a cosmetic preference
3) smaller knobs from Carvin = a cosmetic and ergonomic preference - G&L places the switches very close to the big knobs
4) copper shielding = we're familiar with the benefits
5) "bridge mod" as it's called on basses by leo dot com = WOW!, a huge improvement in: overall sustain and B string tone
6) absolutely no original electronics which means no battery at all, ever
7) simplified pickup switching - Each pickup has its own 3 position toggle
switch wired for single coil (bridge coils) or series or parallel.
8) re-arranged knob assignments - master volume, pan and Stellartone Tone Styler
9) Stellartone Tone Styler tone knob - notched model = a huge improvement and it's simple
10) an MFD neck pickup - this gives me a far fuller tone. I almost always use both pickups at 50/50. I do like neck only though. I use the volume full on all of the time. Is it muddy sounding in that position? - the answer is "NO". How could an MFD pickup sound muddy ??? It's perfect sounding in that position which is 2.25" (outside dimension) forward of the bridge pickup. The tech's routing accuracy is flawless. I've A/Bed my modded L-1505 against a L-2500 and I'm more than pleased with this pickup placement. I've tried neck pickup add-ons on lesser quality basses and ended up with lesser results. I knew where the neck pickup had to be placed and WOW, what a great improvement.
In summary, I'll reiterate that these mods are not the be all - end all. They were quite expensive actually but well worth the money and the prep effort on my part. Now, I have no "re-sale concerns." These mods work so well that I had them done on 2 L-1505's by the same tech. I've been gigging theses two basses for 3 years now and I tell you all that each and every mod was a 'bullseye" for me. Only one of the basses is pictured. I have an original 75' P-Bass which has mojo but it can't hold a candle to this G&L - not even close. Also, I don't relate to those who are so very concerned about "all original bla, bla, bla, ..." I washed my hands of that endless game when I sold my all original 77' Jazz Bass which had a weak sound compared to my modded basses. If it's not broke, don't fix it - well yes but, I knew what I wanted. And that's a very warm and round tone - that's nothing new. Leo's work needs no improvement - yet he did quite a bit of experimentation with his designs. It's nice that G&L basses are not so super popular. People spend much more money on many other elaborately designed basses. Let them, G&L basses are better.
