G&L Club Part 7

[Iridescentone]

That's good info and thanks for posting pics as well!
I took a close up pic from a spot where the finish is chipped on mine but it's so small I can't tell if it's gold or just the wood color. I'm assuming it's just wood color. Looks like someone touched up one of them with red ink. I put a couple drops of clear coat in there just to keep the finish from chipping more. Very hard to see here too but there are tiny fragments of metal/sparkle in the finish. The neck pocket doesn't seem to have any gold paint.
View attachment 5201226
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I'm seeing some gold paint in your neck pocket on the left side where the red transitions to gold, then the gold transitions to bare wood, same as on mine (pic below)....see it? If your camera has a macro setting, zoom in on that larger paint chip on your body shot....I suspect you'll see that the yellow-looking area may actually be gold metallic paint. I needed a loupe to see that mine is gold, and a good macro camera to capture it. Cheers.

My neck pocket...

Your neck pocket...

 

[MrB64]

This is like a class!

 

[bullitproof]

I'm seeing some gold paint in your neck pocket on the left side where the red transitions to gold, then the gold transitions to bare wood, same as on mine (pic below)....see it? If your camera has a macro setting, zoom in on that larger paint chip on your body shot....I suspect you'll see that the yellow-looking area may actually be gold metallic paint. I needed a loupe to see that mine is gold, and a good macro camera to capture it. Cheers.

My neck pocket...

Your neck pocket...

You're right I see it now, thanks for pointing it out!
When I get a chance I'll do a couple more close up pics to see if works.

 

[Iridescentone]

Isn't that finish Forest Green?

In the nineties, I believe, G&L had a dark blue finish named Bahama Blue. I saw an L-5500 in this color.

Clear Red on my 2017 Kilo 5 above.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/g-l-club-part-7.1035742/page-1441#post-27821301

Clear Blue on my now-sold 1999 SB-2
View attachment 5200365

Clear Orange on my 1997 L-2500 Custom
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Clear Green on a 1996 L-2500 Fretless
View attachment 5200376
Sourced from Reverb

Nice ones! I especially like that orange Custom, always wanted one of those....color me jelly!

Bahama Blue came out in the early-mid 80's. Non-metallic opaque color, kinda uncommon even though it was available for a pretty long time, as evidenced by the 97-ish L-5500 that you saw. Not surprised to hear of a Bahama Blue 5500, they seem to have run the gamut through the whole G&L finish menu during their short-ish production run...a couple years and a few hundred built? I'll post a pic of my '85 Bahama Blue Lynx when I get a chance. Cheers.

 

[Iridescentone]

Exactly why I bought my emerald green Kiloton...well, one of the reasons. Dare to be different!
View attachment 5200698

That's nice! Like it as much as this "other Emerald" G&L finish....(looks more Teal in person)

 

[Nedmundo]

Some "Candy Apple Red" guitar paint jobs are just red metallic paint, an approximation of the original Fender-type CAR finishes. Real candy (red, green, blue, purple, whatever) paint jobs are translucent paint applied over an undercoat of another color, like metallic gold or silver that gives it more depth. When done well CAR with a metallic gold undercoat is the genuine article that gleams like a ruby.

Just for kicks I looked at my L-1000 up close with a loupe. I'm happy to report that there is indeed metallic gold paint under the trans red. It's a "real" CAR paint job. Maybe it 'gleamed' when it was new? Wondering what exactly went wrong back in '80 that caused G&L to delay the CAR finish option (which I was informed that they in fact did).

I have two Fenders in Chrome Red, and my understanding is that Candy Apple has a gold undercoat as you said, while Chrome Red has a silver undercoat. I don't know this for sure, but Chrome Red is a little "sharper" with less warmth than CAR, so I believe it. Here's my 2003 Jazz in Chrome Red (with bonus SB-2 for G&L content ):

 

[Iridescentone]

I have two Fenders in Chrome Red, and my understanding is that Candy Apple has a gold undercoat as you said, while Chrome Red has a silver undercoat. I don't know this for sure, but Chrome Red is a little "sharper" with less warmth than CAR, so I believe it. Here's my 2003 Jazz in Chrome Red (with bonus SB-2 for G&L content ):

Yeah that would make perfect sense, and pretty cool that Fender would offer both types, tbh. There is a def difference between how the two (gold or silver) undercoats look, side by side. Back in the day I had a CAR '64 Jazz and an early '65 CAR Jazz. As you probably know, '65 was the year Fender switched from silver to gold undercoats for CAR. My '65 had both silver and gold undercoats. There were worn areas on the upper bout that clearly displayed a white base coat, then a silver coat on top of the white, then a gold coat on top of the silver.

That was ~ 1980. It wasn't 'til years later that I learned about the change in undercoats from silver to gold. Obviously, the decision to change undercoat colors was made at some point after my '65 body had already been undercoated in silver, but before the trans-red was applied. What I don't know is whether the change to gold was actually Leo's idea that hadn't been implemented yet, or if it was a CBS-inspired change. They, having taken over the company "officially" in late '64. That info may be in some book about Fender history, dunno.

 

[bullitproof]

And there is the gold finish under the red!

 

[Glazenn]

Nice ones! I especially like that orange Custom, always wanted one of those....color me jelly!

Bahama Blue came out in the early-mid 80's. Non-metallic opaque color, kinda uncommon even though it was available for a pretty long time, as evidenced by the 97-ish L-5500 that you saw. Not surprised to hear of a Bahama Blue 5500, they seem to have run the gamut through the whole G&L finish menu during their short-ish production run...a couple years and a few hundred built? I'll post a pic of my '85 Bahama Blue Lynx when I get a chance. Cheers.

Sorry for my faulting memory, Templar, it was a Bahama Blue L-5000 (sickle headstock, neck date 1990, pocket date 1989), not an L-5500, that has been advertised in Ireland several times in the last 10 years. Last time was on Reverb (click).

This other one also in Bahama Blue has a rosewood fingerboard (s/n B018723, dated Feb and Mar 1989):

 

[bullitproof]

Looks like a very dark blue finish I really like these!

 

[Glazenn]

or ???

 

[ahbass2500]

Hate or love...

Love L5000
Dislike sickle headstock

Not saying I would not own one (it is the rarer version of the L5000 after all). However, I prefer the "normal" G&L headstock styling. If I am ranking G&L bass headstocks I probably have the following order...

Standard Eye-gouger
Interceptor Eye-gouger (basically sickle combined with standard eye-gouger)
Paddle (early G&L and the new CLF Research stuff)
Sickle (early L5000)

I think my problem with the sickle headstock is that the L5000 looks very traditional P-Bass and that headstock looks like it belongs in an 80s hair band. The Interceptor bass at least owned its hair band vibe throughout the design of the bass.

Edit: After some quoted replies I will note that I am lumping some things together in my personal ranking. Thinner eye-gouger and paddles (ASAT bass and early SBs) are being grouped with eye-gougers and paddles. Maybe that means I should not have called out Interceptor separately, but it is weird enough that I consider it to be its own thing.

 

[T-34]

Love L5000
Dislike sickle headstock

Not saying I would not own one (it is the rarer version of the L5000 after all). However, I prefer the "normal" G&L headstock styling. If I am ranking G&L bass headstocks I probably have the following order...

Standard Eye-gouger
Interceptor Eye-gouger (basically sickle combined with standard eye-gouger)
Paddle (early G&L and the new CLF Research stuff)
Sickle (early L5000)

I think my problem with the sickle headstock is that the L5000 looks very traditional P-Bass and that headstock looks like it belongs in an 80s hair band. The Interceptor bass at least owned its hair band vibe throughout the design of the bass.

I would also add between 3+2 Eye-gouger and 4+1 Eye-gouger I prefer 4+1

 

[Glazenn]

I would also add between 3+2 Eye-gouger and 4+1 Eye-gouger I prefer 4+1

Yes.

 

[TDR1138]

Love L5000
Dislike sickle headstock

Not saying I would not own one (it is the rarer version of the L5000 after all). However, I prefer the "normal" G&L headstock styling. If I am ranking G&L bass headstocks I probably have the following order...

Standard Eye-gouger
Interceptor Eye-gouger (basically sickle combined with standard eye-gouger)
Paddle (early G&L and the new CLF Research stuff)
Sickle (early L5000)

I think my problem with the sickle headstock is that the L5000 looks very traditional P-Bass and that headstock looks like it belongs in an 80s hair band. The Interceptor bass at least owned its hair band vibe throughout the design of the bass.

Ah, but you're forgetting the original SB-1/2 headstock, the original LB-100 headstock, and the ASAT bass headstock.

 

[ahbass2500]

I would also add between 3+2 Eye-gouger and 4+1 Eye-gouger I prefer 4+1

I own more 4+1s, but I am partial to the 3+2. Likely because my first G&L was a 3+2.

The old L5500 4+1 headstock is probably my least favorite 5 string one. It just looks too big and the extra angle seems unnecessary (pointed instead of rounded before the eye gouger). Seems like some of the early L2500s also had that one.

 

[Glazenn]

I own more 4+1s, but I am partial to the 3+2. Likely because my first G&L was a 3+2.
The old L5500 4+1 headstock is probably my least favorite 5 string one. It just looks too big and the extra angle seems unnecessary (pointed instead of rounded before the eye gouger). Seems like some of the early L2500s also had that one.

I own one and I like it much.
Early 1997 and 1-15/16th nut!
"the extra angle seems unnecessary", yes but very Fender-ish...

Now, some other G&L basses that I have parted with:
1989-1990 ASAT Bass Signature Fretless

2005 semi-hollow

1999 (with Schaller tuners)

 

[Iridescentone]

or ???

I vote for any G&L with a quarter sawn neck, for starters. Although an L-5000 has never crossed my path I would not hesitate to grab one if it did. And I'd hope for one with a sickle headstock. I think it's G&L's best looking one, along with the Interceptor's.

 

[MrB64]

I think all these headstocks are pretty neat.

 

[bullitproof]

I think all these headstocks are pretty neat.

Same here!