Upfront have two L2000s, both with 1½" nut and quartersawn — one Cherryburst (9½" radius), one Tangerine Metallic (12" radius) — and both 8.6 lbs
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Upfront have two L2000s, both with 1½" nut and quartersawn — one Cherryburst (9½" radius), one Tangerine Metallic (12" radius) — and both 8.6 lbs
Link? I'm not seeing them. I'd definitely consider those!
Edit: OK, I see the Tangerine Metallic through Reverb. New, and above the price point I'd like to spend. The one listed at GC for $1,375 was more in line with what I'm looking to spend.
Last edited:
Last edited:
My GC story is a little different. A year ago, I purchased an acoustic 4-string Martin at GC and had it shipped from the West Coast to the GC a few miles from my house. (Best I recall, the shipping was way cheaper that way but I'm not positive.) Picking it up, I noticed the box got stabbed with a fork lift, it appeared, and there was a large gouge in the box through to the hard case. The hard case was scratched in 1 place and pierced in another but the instrument was OK. (If it arrived at GC that way, I believe that GC should have reported it to the shipper, right there and then. Otherwise, one could ask whether my local GC warehouse crew did the damage.) Anyway, the assistant manager on duty said the most he could do was credit me for the (inexpensive) shipping.
I left it in the store manager's office and returned when he was on duty, bringing a hard copy of the closest replacement case (showing MSRP of $300). I pointed out I had purchased a case without holes to hold in humidity from the case humidifier I planned to purchase from them.
Store manager called the West Coast store, blamed them for not packing it better, and got them to apply a $300 refund to my credit card. I bought that humidifier and had the case repaired acceptably at a local luggage-repair shop for much less than $300.
If I had it shipped to my home then showed up at GC a few days later to complain, would I received the same treatment? No way to know, but I know I was in a LOT stronger bargaining position when the box had not left GC hands...
Fair point, that approach may have lent some bargaining power to your situ. Or not, who knows. I feel that if it were me, I'd have the same negotiating strength if I called the them immediately re the shipping damage, and to let them know I was coming to the store soon for a refund. And whether I'd want to keep the item at all, regardless of any partial refund they may offer, or that I might ask for (assuming I'd want to keep the item). If only the case or bag was screwed up, and I really liked the actual guitar, then I'd probably accept a partial refund if it was substantial enough.
OTOH, as you were willing to accept damaged goods (the guitar case) as long as it came with a partial refund, the scenario is unique to you. Factors involved are...was the Martin guitar new or used, how much did you pay for it in order to establish what a $300 rebate was worth relative to total cost, and how bad did you want to keep the Martin? I get your decision.
That's the beauty of dealing with GC for used gear, no hassle returns. Their not being philanthropic, they have to operate that way. Given their propensity for selling damaged used gear online (repeatedly, I might add), their appallingly sparse descriptions, pics, and utter lack of full disclosure, if they weren't super-liberal with their return policies eventually no one would buy anything from them at all. Advantage: Buyers. Yay.
By contrast, here's a slightly different approach from another nation-wide, albeit somewhat smaller, online used gear seller...Music Go Round.
Example: Couple weeks ago I bought a Peavey Axcelerator from MGR for $499 plus $70 shipping, but no sales tax. Total = $569 delivered. It arrived with a bad neck, so had to be returned/refunded. Mission accomplished, full refund incl all shipping costs. Happy me.
A week later I'm informed of another Axcelerator at GC used gear site for the same $499 plus $22 shipping, but with sales tax. I bought it. Total =$569 delivered.
Samo-samo, right? But here's the twist: MGR, according to their published return policy info as I read it, only offers to refund shipping costs if the item is damaged during shipping. Verbatim, and pertaining to any other reasons for returns, the buyer accepts responsibility for all shipping fees. If taken literally, that means MGR's normal shipping fee of $70 (to my locale) and the buyer's own return shipping cost are technically not included in MGR's refund amount.
I'm no attorney but I suspect MGR words their return policy that way to discourage frivolous purchases from non-serious buyers, and to give themselves wiggle room to deal with buyers on a one-to-one basis where refunds are concerned. It also appears that MGR stores can be individually owned via franchise, meaning that there may be differences in policy leeway from one store manager to the next. It's not entirely clear, but it may be possible to return an item for legitimate reasons, but get stuck for a buncha shipping costs (?).
OTOH, GC only charges buyers their corporate shipping rates, which usually run in the $20-30 range, conus. With that, if a buyer simply changes their mind for whatever reason, including buyer's remorse, or their Mom says they can't keep the thing, then they're only liable for the cheap $20-ish shipping cost. That's a huge difference between the two retailers.
NBD: 1984 L1K. Wish I could say I picked it up for a song, but it is what it is. Excellent condition and sounds awesome.
Happy St Paddy's everyone!
Today marks the 2 years anniversary of my deposit on a Custom Shop G&L.
It's all paid for long time ago.
Neck is done, body is done and painted several months ago but all I hear is crickets.
We'll see how much longer it's gonna take.
The dealer is great but G&L itself is the one holding it up.
Today marks the 2 years anniversary of my deposit on a Custom Shop G&L.
It's all paid for long time ago.
Neck is done, body is done and painted several months ago but all I hear is crickets.
We'll see how much longer it's gonna take.
The dealer is great but G&L itself is the one holding it up.
I've had my L2500 for a couple of months now, and I love it. Except that I wish it had more high end. Then I realized I had just assumed that series mode was the natural voice of the instrument. Turns out I like single coil and parallel just as much, and they sound great, just require some different control settings, etc.
Am I the only one who forgot about those modes? What settings do most of you use on your L2x00 basses? What types of music do you play them in? And have you noticed that they don't respond to eq in the same way Fender-type basses do?
Am I in the Matrix? Am I insane? What is this water coming from my eyes? Is this how it feels to be human?
eDiT:
It be looking like this:
Am I the only one who forgot about those modes? What settings do most of you use on your L2x00 basses? What types of music do you play them in? And have you noticed that they don't respond to eq in the same way Fender-type basses do?
Am I in the Matrix? Am I insane? What is this water coming from my eyes? Is this how it feels to be human?
eDiT:
It be looking like this:
Last edited:
Happy St Paddy's everyone!
Today marks the 2 years anniversary of my deposit on a Custom Shop G&L.
It's all paid for long time ago.
Neck is done, body is done and painted several months ago but all I hear is crickets.
We'll see how much longer it's gonna take.
The dealer is great but G&L itself is the one holding it up.
Two years....
As beautiful as ever.
If you attenuate the bass knob it gets brighter, series is inherently darker, then there is the line driver, with that switch set on the 3rd position there is a tremendous output and treble boost!
you want more treble, the bass cut knob is the first step.
the hum buckers have a lot of low end.
Nice bass, ebony board and graphtech nut? I play mostly classic and hard rock, and older melodic metal. I generally set my L2K in passive, parallel, both pickups and slightly cut the treble, my L2K has lots of high end. I think the Single Coil Mode sounds really good and has lots of treble bite, in SCM mode I leave both treble and bass all the way up. When I've tried recording into an audio interface, SCM sounds better and doesn't distort the signal as much. I find the output signal so strong I don't use the active setting much.
I like the sound of series through an amp, but the signal is to hot that I've been able to find it useful recording.
In series I think it sounds better when I slightly cut both treble and bass. Again I usually run passive. I may take the battery out when it dies
Ahhhhhhhh , there she is!
My band play a mix of blues, blues rock, and classic rock. Unlike my Stingrays, whose pickup switches get used in every position in every gig, I mostly stick with the same setting on my L-2500 - neck/series/passive. Although, I do tend to keep the treble up pretty high, I think the L sounds best with more highs, especially in series mode.
I do sometimes use it in both/single/active mode and both/parallel/passive, but I find that neck/series/passive sounds so good on so much of our song list that I could leave it that way all the time and be really, really happy with it. As a matter of fact, I left it in that setting last Saturday for all four sets and got lots of compliments on my tone from other musician friends we know, more so than my playing.
Last edited:
I never considered series the default sound of an L2K. As a matter of fact, I only flip to it every once in a while to see if I find it useful or interesting yet. :-0
To me, it's a bit too hot with a bit too much low end mud to the sound. It requires dialing back the volume significantly, probably about 25% on my L-2500. And even then I tend to roll off some more lows.
My L2500 has the K mod. My favourite mode is both pickups single coil. I find I can get a very beefy jazz sound from that, and having played a Geddy Jazz for 15 years, I tend to gravitate to that. Funilly enough, I don't like the sound of my jazz anymore, never play it, and have it up for sale.
Neck PU in single coil or parrallel with the volume dialed back slightly gives me a good P-bass type sound, though I recently picked up a Yamaha BB1024x which to me is the ultimate P.
I mainly play prog rock and or modern indy rock.
That's how the website described it, a woodsman I am not.
It does sound darker and woolier than the 2018 basswood L1K I have though.
No position markers on a bound ebony board. Hand cut GT Tusq nut.
@smeet 's example has Kmod (SCM and 4 coil parallel in the middle position)
The pickup height change should assist in your quest for more topend
Last edited:
