G&L Club Part 7

[lowfreqgeek]

With reference my tone issue. An update. I've just disconnected all the pots and measured the resistance and capacitor values. Everything is good. The volume pot was obviously affected by being in circuit. I've just put the bass back together and it's working. The treble tone is doing something. It's more noticeable in series mode. It's not doing exactly what I expected (like a normal passive tone control) but maybe that's it? Sort of a very subtle effect. Just means I'll need to use the amp to get the old school sound?

Somethings still doesn't sound right. The treble control should work as any passive treble roll-off, which changes the resonance of the pickup as you sweep down. However, with the MFDs, and especially in parallel mode, the midrange resonance gets very pronounced. A lower-Z pickup will behave more like a gentle treble roll-off, but the MFDs respond more like a wah pedal turning up the resonance. The brightness is reduced, but you don't get deep "dub" like you can with a more traditional Fender with lower-Z pickups.

When the treble control is full up, do you get a bright sound with plenty of string and fret noise? I assume the active/treble boost circuits are working?

 

[Hawk620]

You've really missed my point

Not really. Not everyone wants MFD pickups in a Jazz Bass or MFD pickups in their Tele or Strat. For those who favor traditional Alnico pickups there are options to install noiseless version IF the bass isn't so equipped. Call it a plug for my preferred JBass pickups if you want. Becky doesn't advertise except by word of mouth.

 

[Wraithwrider]

Somethings still doesn't sound right. The treble control should work as any passive treble roll-off, which changes the resonance of the pickup as you sweep down. However, with the MFDs, and especially in parallel mode, the midrange resonance gets very pronounced. A lower-Z pickup will behave more like a gentle treble roll-off, but the MFDs respond more like a wah pedal turning up the resonance. The brightness is reduced, but you don't get deep "dub" like you can with a more traditional Fender with lower-Z pickups.

When the treble control is full up, do you get a bright sound with plenty of string and fret noise? I assume the active/treble boost circuits are working?

Yes, the active and treble boost circuits are good. Thank you for your reply. Your key phrase is perhaps 'but you don't get that deep "dub"....
I think that was what I was expecting. Given that everything seems connected up as it should be, the pots and caps are good and that it all works then I suspect what I have is what is. The pot clean seems to have addressed the volume issue and the bass actually sounds stellar. I do have high tone deafness and that might account for me not hearing the treble drop to an extent. There's a lot of high tone stuff I don't hear as my wife keeps telling me.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Yes, the active and treble boost circuits are good. Thank you for your reply. Your key phrase is perhaps 'but you don't get that deep "dub"....
I think that was what I was expecting. Given that everything seems connected up as it should be, the pots and caps are good and that it all works then I suspect what I have is what is. The pot clean seems to have addressed the volume issue and the bass actually sounds stellar. I do have high tone deafness and that might account for me not hearing the treble drop to an extent. There's a lot of high tone stuff I don't hear as my wife keeps telling me.

I suspect it may be more a matter of expectations than something necessarily wrong with the bass now that you've given a bit more explanation. I don't typically run my treble cut more than about 40%, maybe very occasionally I'll go to 50%, but I have experimented with it quite a bit and found that the treble knob, especially, acts more like a resonant filter in the midrange than a deep treble cut once you get less (more? lower?) than 40-50%. Again, this has a lot to do with the high inductance of the MFD pickups, which is much higher than a traditional P or J pickup. They also have less highend to begin with (thus the treble boost circuit), so the result is that the treble knob doesn't respond the same way that a traditional P or J responds. One way to resolve that would be to put the passive treble control after the preamp. In passive mode, it would theoretically act the same as it does in the stock configuration. In active mode, the inductance of the pickups would be decoupled from the RC circuit and the RC control would behave as a regular 1st-order low pass filter.

Overall, I love the L2500 setup, but it does take some getting used to, and for as versatile as it is, there are inherent limitations attributable to the technical design of the pickups and electronics.

 

[TomB]

Yes, the active and treble boost circuits are good. Thank you for your reply. Your key phrase is perhaps 'but you don't get that deep "dub"....
I think that was what I was expecting. Given that everything seems connected up as it should be, the pots and caps are good and that it all works then I suspect what I have is what is. The pot clean seems to have addressed the volume issue and the bass actually sounds stellar. I do have high tone deafness and that might account for me not hearing the treble drop to an extent. There's a lot of high tone stuff I don't hear as my wife keeps telling me.

I think sometimes the original "OMG" wiring scheme was designed to get one closer to that dub sound. …and that it does!

 

[Wraithwrider]

I suspect it may be more a matter of expectations than something necessarily wrong with the bass now that you've given a bit more explanation. I don't typically run my treble cut more than about 40%, maybe very occasionally I'll go to 50%, but I have experimented with it quite a bit and found that the treble knob, especially, acts more like a resonant filter in the midrange than a deep treble cut once you get less (more? lower?) than 40-50%. Again, this has a lot to do with the high inductance of the MFD pickups, which is much higher than a traditional P or J pickup. They also have less highend to begin with (thus the treble boost circuit), so the result is that the treble knob doesn't respond the same way that a traditional P or J responds. One way to resolve that would be to put the passive treble control after the preamp. In passive mode, it would theoretically act the same as it does in the stock configuration. In active mode, the inductance of the pickups would be decoupled from the RC circuit and the RC control would behave as a regular 1st-order low pass filter.

Overall, I love the L2500 setup, but it does take some getting used to, and for as versatile as it is, there are inherent limitations attributable to the technical design of the pickups and electronics.

I totally see the resonant filter characteristic. I am simply enjoying what the bass offers. My usual bass of choice is a P bass (Warmoth, I have 2, one with an East P Retro). I'm sure that in the mix the bass will excel.

 

[FearNoEvil65]

Saddle Lock Saturday (at least it is here still, in the States).

 

[TDR1138]

Saddle Lock Saturday (at least it is here still, in the States).

Sure…

 

[FearNoEvil65]

Nice bass!

Sure…

View attachment 7170850

 

[Ricky Rioli]

I've been studying the position of pickups a lot recently, and it just dawned on me to compare St Leo's first single-coil bass with his last.....

(2nd Gen added for the curious)

 

[Hawk620]

I've been studying the position of pickups a lot recently, and it just dawned on me to compare St Leo's first single-coil bass with his last.....

View attachment 7172257

(2nd Gen added for the curious)

And all most likely in the appropriate "sweet spot" location for that pickup in that body.

 

[easyj]

I finally got my L-2000 back from G&L, a different bass after 3 necks including the original neck on the first bass all had issues and G&L agreed to build me a new one altogether. This bass is definitely built better than the previous, and I chose Ash instead of Empress (that the original bass had) for the body.
I was initially a bit upset after being told by G&L it would weigh 8lbs or less with the Ash body, it weighs close to 9.4lbs.
I've decided to keep the bass because it plays so well. And I really really want an Andromeda L2K.
I love my G&L's but the company can be difficult to deal with on warranty issues and the communication is sometimes spotty.
Anyways, interestingly this bass with Ash body sounds much better IMO than the other with Empress did, less trebly and more solid sounding.
I've read wood doesn't affect tone much but it seems to in this case. This new bass also has more glitter undercoat, I like that it's really sparkly.
Hope everyone is doing well. Here's some pics of my new L2K.View attachment 7169298View attachment 7169299View attachment 7169300View attachment 7169301

The sparkle on your L-2000 is absolutely ridiculous. I've never seen anything like it. I love it. What an incredible instrument for the stage.

 

[SteveAG]

Not sure if anyone saw my recent comment about fretboard hump on my new LB-100. Has anyone dealt with warranty issues on a new G&L?

I had a G&L Tribute Series Kiloton Bass that had a paint issue. Because I bought the guitar new from a dealer they handled the warranty issue for me and I was very happy with the outcome.

 

[SteveAG]

I had a G&L Tribute Series Kiloton Bass that had a paint issue. Because I bought the guitar new from a dealer they handled the warranty issue for me and I was very happy with the outcome.

Oops, didn't realize I was replying to a post from 2013

 

[Hawk620]

I had a G&L Tribute Series Kiloton Bass that had a paint issue. Because I bought the guitar new from a dealer they handled the warranty issue for me and I was very happy with the outcome.

Same here. The first Tribute Kiloton I got had an issue with the truss rod nut. The allen wrench wouldn't engage for me or the dealers tech. Since they don't replace single components on Tributes G&L just replaced the entire bass and my dealer handled it for me.

 

[atquinn]

Wonder if the MJ-4 would have been more successful if the hum-cancelling pickups had been MFDs.

Or even less successful.

Could have called it an MFJ, because it would have been one MF of a J.

I love my MJ4; wouldn't change a thing about it. Of course, I love my L2000 too

 

[MrB64]

I've been playing my JB with a group I recently hooked up with, and it sounds great. Every time I think about doing something to that bass, like changing pickups, I end up just leaving it be. I'm really glad, too.

 

[jglunt]

Oops, didn't realize I was replying to a post from 2013

Me ol' mom used to say, "Better late than never."

 

[woodyng2]

I had a JB Tribute with the 12" radius. Really loved that bass and used it for a number of studio sessions. Mine had a poplar body with ash cap. The one was fantastic, I did have DR Pure Blues strings on it otherwise it was just as it came from the factory.

I've tried several different string types on my US JB2, ghs pressurewounds, labella white tapewounds, and labella low tension flats,currently. The bass sounds very "classic" with the flats, but I may have to try the Pure Blues next. I love them on every bass I try them on.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I've tried several different string types on my US JB2, ghs pressurewounds, labella white tapewounds, and labella low tension flats,currently. The bass sounds very "classic" with the flats, but I may have to try the Pure Blues next. I love them on every bass I try them on.

I really like the DR Pure Blues on my fretless L2500. I also have them on a Muckelroy fretless 5 and a John Carruthers CB-5 and they sound great on all of them. Long lasting, so far! I will try them on a few other basses, too. I don't have any 4 string sets, but I might pick a set up to put on my MFD-equipped LB100.