• 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.

G&L Club Part 7

#15,621
It took forever to find a JB2 Tribute at 8.5lbs and I saw a G&L online that was nearly 11 lbs!
Virtually none of the used G&L's have weights listed unless they are Empress.
Pitbull and Sweetwater list weights for the basses they have in stock which is approximately 25% of what they advertise.
I just don't see how they can be so heavy; Fender's run around 9 lbs on the average (I bring an accurate digital scale to my local stores).

I'm not a tone wood guy but have to ask; do you guys hear any difference with Empress?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Andyman001 and David McIntire
#15,624
David McIntire said:
The OTHER Balsa wood. Search it. Interesting wood. It's used in plywood.
Click to expand...

It's also used in furniture.

From that same source that states "the other balsa wood" is the next sentence, "Paulownia is used in applications where a lightweight (yet proportionately strong) wood is needed."

Reminds me of pine which is also used in plywood, furniture, and fantastic instruments.
 
  • Like
Reactions: David McIntire
#15,625
David McIntire said:
Empress is Pawlonia. Also called? The OTHER Balsa wood. Search it. Interesting wood. It's used in plywood.
Click to expand...

Sorry. Didn't mean that post to sound like a Knock on the Wood. Pun intended. I see the grain in some plywood that I want for the tops of basses.

It is a light, porous wood. Similar, I'd think, to Swamp ash. In grain and maybe tone. I think it is a hair softer, tho I haven't compared numbers. Folk think it is a great wood, to get a lighter body. G&Ls seem to be very pickup and electronic dependent for tone. Empress seems an available source for a similar reaction to Swamp Ash, but maybe with a softer attack. But G&L basses don't seem lacking in that. Just search Pawlonia. Good stats. Interesting grain. And certainly light.

Best fretless I ever owned was a plywood Cort. 100 bucks. Crazy, 80s, pointed shape. Very thick ebony board. Killer bass. But I was too snobby when young. Heh. I regret selling it.

Yes, Empress has many uses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Andyman001, Jim C and MascisMan
#15,626
Jim C said:
It took forever to find a JB2 Tribute at 8.5lbs and I saw a G&L online that was nearly 11 lbs!
Virtually none of the used G&L's have weights listed unless they are Empress.
Pitbull and Sweetwater list weights for the basses they have in stock which is approximately 25% of what they advertise.
I just don't see how they can be so heavy; Fender's run around 9 lbs on the average (I bring an accurate digital scale to my local stores).

I'm not a tone wood guy but have to ask; do you guys hear any difference with Empress?
Click to expand...

I've transitioned my stable to all under 9lb examples. I've had two of their balsa-basses which I call ball-less basses. No cojones. L2K and an LB-100. I really wanted to love both they were gorgeous and mid-resonant but lacked fundamental guts. Two of the more disappointing G&L's out of the several dozen I've had. The wood is fast-growing and dirt cheap which is one reason it's used extensively in Asia for low end furniture. Imported children's karate breaking boards are scrap pieces of it glued together- I've bought box loads for my Little Dragon students. It's soft, easy for 5-7 yr olds to break and dents with a fingernail. I have concerns of it holding bridge screws over the long haul. Love the light weight for bass bodies but tone-wise they didn't stand up to any of the classic woods. To be fair I only had two and that was enough for me so YMMV. My El Toro suggested I glue a stack of those boards together; put in a pair of MFD P pickups and make La Matadora which is what happens to the loser in a bullfight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: David McIntire, chuck65, Murch and 5 others
#15,627
Speaking of the Matador - NBD!

cjddxnhwpa0clk3hkg4d~2.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: friend33, _seafarer, Crispus and 28 others
#15,637
Hey guys,

I discovered something yesterday that many of you may already know about the L2000/2500 but wanted to see what you thought/know. So, I read that one guy takes the battery out of his L2000 and just plays passive. He then can use the active setting as a kill switch (pretty cool). I really wanted to get to know the full passive tones on my L2000 and since I received it, I've been playing it all passive. I thought, what better way to force myself than to take the battery out...so I did.

So, yes the bass still plays and yes, when switching to active, I now have a kill switch. Funny thing though...when in series and rolling off all the treble and just bringing up the bass potentiometer (very midrangey tone), starting at about 60% up, I started to hear audible distortion. Distortion like I was overdriving the front end of my amp. I checked, I even had my gain set lower than normal but still got the distortion at 60% or so level and up. I'd never heard this before. Head cocked sideways, I installed the battery back, kept it passive and boom, no distortion whatsoever. I guess my long-winded question is: what is the battery doing to the system while "passive". It's definitely keeping it from distorting on higher levels. Just found that very interesting but the L2000 preamp setup is very unique. Thanks for any thoughts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jim C, Holdsg and armybass
#15,638
bdgotoh said:
I had a spare, I still have these:

View attachment 3800201
Click to expand...

Now that's just plain GLoarding. Did you manage to snag preamps with them?

What's next a quad collection of 1st gen SB2 pups?

I have an '82 MFD hummer that might be killer in the bridge position of my Lakland Hollowbody (one coil would rest in the same location as a neck position L1K) if I could source an original SB 1st gen single coil for the neck. Now there's a Frankenstein- a Lakland/G&L full Hollowbody. Great bass but the Barts are boring. Considering pairing it with the Nordstrand Ric pup for the neck as it wouldn't require any routing.

I've slimmed down the redundant part (as if there's such a thing) of my GL collection and now you've made me desirous of a Matador.

F you Brad and the Bull you rode in on. ;)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bdgotoh, 4stringsjack and Holdsg
#15,639
husky123 said:
Hey guys,

I discovered something yesterday that many of you may already know about the L2000/2500 but wanted to see what you thought/know. So, I read that one guy takes the battery out of his L2000 and just plays passive. He then can use the active setting as a kill switch (pretty cool). I really wanted to get to know the full passive tones on my L2000 and since I received it, I've been playing it all passive. I thought, what better way to force myself than to take the battery out...so I did.

So, yes the bass still plays and yes, when switching to active, I now have a kill switch. Funny thing though...when in series and rolling off all the treble and just bringing up the bass potentiometer (very midrangey tone), starting at about 60% up, I started to hear audible distortion. Distortion like I was overdriving the front end of my amp. I checked, I even had my gain set lower than normal but still got the distortion at 60% or so level and up. I'd never heard this before. Head cocked sideways, I installed the battery back, kept it passive and boom, no distortion whatsoever. I guess my long-winded question is: what is the battery doing to the system while "passive". It's definitely keeping it from distorting on higher levels. Just found that very interesting but the L2000 preamp setup is very unique. Thanks for any thoughts.
Click to expand...

This was posted a while back in this thread. Seems relevant.

lowfreqgeek said:
It's actually best to remove the opamp from it's socket rather than take the battery out or run the switch in passive. The opamp's inputs are still tied to the signal path and act as a diode voltage clamp if the signal gets too hot. That means distortion and a form of limiting. It may not be as noticeable in a live setting, but it's absolutely noticeable in more hi-fidelity situations, like a good studio or through a very clean amp.

FWIW, I've run my L2500 passive and without the opamp for most of the 7 years I've owned it. Better dynamics, and more organic sound.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iridescentone, Nedmundo, anticlimactic and 3 others
#15,640
svtbass said:
Now that's just plain GLoarding. Did you manage to snag preamps with them?

What's next a quad collection of 1st gen SB2 pups?

I have an '82 MFD hummer that might be killer in the bridge position of my Lakland Hollowbody (one coil would rest in the same location as a neck position L1K) if I could source an original SB 1st gen single coil for the neck. Now there's a Frankenstein- a Lakland/G&L full Hollowbody. Great bass but the Barts are boring. Considering pairing it with the Nordstrand Ric pup for the neck as it wouldn't require any routing.

I've slimmed down the redundant part (as if there's such a thing) of my GL collection and now you've made me desirous of a Matador.

F you Brad and the Bull you rode in on. ;)
Click to expand...

I do have one one Toro preamp, but no first gen SB pickups. I had an old SB-2, then a Lynx, and never could get tones I liked. I know - Heresy!
I have a tendency to rescue old bass pickups off eBay, a lot of people don't know what they have.

I'm really liking this Matador, now I want one with the MFD P pickups!
 
  • Like
Reactions: pjbassist, JES, Murch and 1 other person

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back