• 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: L1000 VS L2000

rnilson

rnilson

Mar 8, 2008
921
8
Kansas City, MO
www.mixedmethodmusic.com
#1
I am one of those weirdos who really like simple stuff. I love my P-Bass w/ flat wounds. I am currently shopping for a bass to have as my round wound string bass. I totally dig a P with rounds tonally, but I feel weird buys two of the same bass just to have diffrent string options.

I am really interested in a G&L L1000, but there is no where I can try one out. I am a bit weary of dropping $800 bucks on a bass I have never played. A used L2000 tribute would be more in my price range.

My question is can a L2000 do everything that an L1000 can do tonally. Am I just being nerotic about wanting a simple bass?
 
  • Like
Reactions: BackToTheGroove and Watchman816
#2
rnilson said:
I am one of those weirdos who really like simple stuff. I love my P-Bass w/ flat wounds. I am currently shopping for a bass to have as my round wound string bass. I totally dig a P with rounds tonally, but I feel weird buys two of the same bass just to have diffrent string options.

I am really interested in a G&L L1000, but there is no where I can try one out. I am a bit weary of dropping $800 bucks on a bass I have never played. A used L2000 tribute would be more in my price range.

My question is can a L2000 do everything that an L1000 can do tonally. Am I just being nerotic about wanting a simple bass?
Click to expand...

Yes, and yes.

The L2000 can do everything the L1000 can, and more. As for simplicity, there's really not a lot to it; leave it in passive mode with the pickup selector set to the neck pickup in the mode of your choice and adjust your vol/tone accordingly. When you're feeling adventurous and bored, you can experiment and see if you like something else better.

Or hold out for a Tribute SB-2.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BackToTheGroove and jd56hawk
#3
lowfreqgeek said:
Yes, and yes.

The L2000 can do everything the L1000 can, and more. As for simplicity, there's really not a lot to it; leave it in passive mode with the pickup selector set to the neck pickup in the mode of your choice and adjust your vol/tone accordingly. When you're feeling adventurous and bored, you can experiment and see if you like something else better.

Or hold out for a Tribute SB-2.
Click to expand...

Yeah, a tribute SB-2 is certianly on the radar. I haven't had a chance to play one and there are far less good video clips of it out there in youtube land. The two or three I have heard haven't really blown me away. I also like that I can get black and maple with the L2000 tribute. It is good to know I would have an L1000 tones covered with an L2000. I guess I will just have to get over my fear of knobs and switches. :rollno:
 
  • Like
Reactions: BackToTheGroove
#4
It's really not a big deal (the switches) once you understand what they do and fiddle with them a bit. I think it took me all of an afternoon to get it down, but that was many years ago and maybe I was smarter back then!
 
#5
rnilson said:
My question is can a L2000 do everything that an L1000 can do tonally. Am I just being nerotic about wanting a simple bass?
Click to expand...

On the first question I'll take an opposing view - "No, an L2K will not do exactly what an L1K does tonally". My evidence:

- The L1K coil selector switch is a 3-way with parallel, single coil & OMG (single coil plus bass boost) modes.
- The L2K coil selector switch (on all Tributes and all standard US L2Ks without the rare K option) is parallel and series

So a standard L2K vs. a standard L1K means with the L2K you don't have single coil mode and instead of series you have OMG mode. Personally I seem to prefer series to OMG - but they aren't quite the same (OMG has a cap across one of the coils so you get the bass boost of series but with less top end). And with judicious use of the controls you can probably achieve "close enough" to OMG mode with series (depends on how picky you are, I guess - I never really tried/compared these). But single coil just isn't there.

Whether these missing modes/differences are important to you is up to you. You can modify an L2K to add additional modes (including OMG caps) if you wish. Plus you've got another pickup and a preamp . . .

To the second question - only you can answer how much it affects you. I recently sent off an L1K, keeping an L2K around (with single coil mode) because the L2K covered pretty much all the L1K ground plus more tonally. But I do miss the relative simplicity of the L1K. To take care of that I'm getting a Trib SB2 that I'm going to turn into a Trib SB1 and be even simpler when I want to be.

IMO if you like simple and like a P-bass with rounds definitely check out an SB2 (and a good Trib sounds about the same as a good US SB2).
 
  • Like
Reactions: BackToTheGroove
#6
My first G&L is a L-1505. I started just playing that in passive mode and used the parallel/serial and tone cuts to get a couple different sounds .. it covered a lot of territory.

Later I bought an L-2500 and I still use both regularly.

I don't want it to seem as though I'm talking about any major difference in tone. The L-2500 can back up the L-1505 without anybody else really noticing these minor differences, but my observation is that there are slight differences in the L-2500 and L-1505 sound, mostly likely due to pickup position.

Neither of the L-2500 pickups are in the same spot as the L-1505. The L-1505 pickup gets a fuller sound than the bridge of the L-2500, without getting boomy. I really tend to think the L-1505 has the sweet spot. As a result, I can get the L-1505 to overdrive my preamp a touch more with aggressive playing compared to the bridge pickup of the L-2500.

Of course, the L-2500 has the L-1505 beat when it comes to dialing in a bunch of sounds from the bass ... but I still find myself drawn to what the L-1505 a lot of the time.

Because I'm not one to want to fuss with extra batteries, I've used these basses in passive mode for about 3 years. But lately I've opted to try their active modes and man, I'm digging it. The trick is to place the tone knobs at 50% when switching to active and then adjust according to taste. It has really been inspiring me, having that flexibility at hand to try different kinds of mixes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BackToTheGroove
#8
rnilson said:
I am one of those weirdos who really like simple stuff. I love my P-Bass w/ flat wounds. I am currently shopping for a bass to have as my round wound string bass. I totally dig a P with rounds tonally, but I feel weird buys two of the same bass just to have different string options.

I am really interested in a G&L L1000, but there is no where I can try one out. I am a bit weary of dropping $800 bucks on a bass I have never played. A used L2000 tribute would be more in my price range.

My question is can a L2000 do everything that an L1000 can do tonally. Am I just being neurotic about wanting a simple bass?
Click to expand...


An L-2000? Knobs! Switches! Batteries! Oh my!

Why would a guy like you EVER think of getting an L1000 or L2000? Hey, even ORDINARY bass players freak at the idea of three knobs and three switches. Do you have any idea how many combinations of settings that could give you?

In your neurotic case, you need some nice piece of wood with no knobs as all on it. Hey, isn't the sound guy there to control your tone for you? And he's out front where he can actually hear it! My suggestion would be something like Tim Schmit "signature" Carvin or better would be the Mark Hoppus "Jazz bass". Both these basses have only a volume control and you can easily "mod" them by removing it completely. DONE! And you'll have your "simple" dream bass!
 
#9
bassbenj said:
An L-2000? Knobs! Switches! Batteries! Oh my!

Why would a guy like you EVER think of getting an L1000 or L2000? Hey, even ORDINARY bass players freak at the idea of three knobs and three switches. Do you have any idea how many combinations of settings that could give you?

In your neurotic case, you need some nice piece of wood with no knobs as all on it. Hey, isn't the sound guy there to control your tone for you? And he's out front where he can actually hear it! My suggestion would be something like Tim Schmit "signature" Carvin or better would be the Mark Hoppus "Jazz bass". Both these basses have only a volume control and you can easily "mod" them by removing it completely. DONE! And you'll have your "simple" dream bass!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your contribution to this thread.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: BackToTheGroove and Watchman816
#10
I kinda dig the L2000, myself...

FamilyGL.jpg


John
 
  • Like
Reactions: droo46, Bassdirty, mpdd and 1 other person
#13
i have had both a l1 and a l2 to me two totally different basses. one dose not do what the the other does the l1 is like a p bass on roids or something hahaha. as for the l2 not really a big fan. still have my 81 l1 and love it have had it about 10 years and wont ever get rid of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Georod
#14
To me, the L1000 and L2000 are different enough that I don't have an L2000 anymore.
I still flirt with one from time to time, but as Craig noted, the coil taps aren't the same.
And, even when I've had an L2000 from the same period, with the same coil tap, I end up going back to my L1000 anyway.
If you're ever in Columbia, come by and play my L1000's. I have two, they're quite different from each other.
Lastly, you're right to be concerned about buying one without playing it first. I've had 15 or so L1000's, and the two I have were the best of the lot. Some of the others were "nice but not for me," and several were just dogs. So, try to buy with a return period, if you can.
 
#15
I should have a HOG L1K here when I get home this evening. Excited. I owned a ash bodied top loader back in the early 90's for a bit, and it sounded glorious! But...... it had a bad case of ski jump.

I currently have a '02 L2K, but I find myself playing the neck pup 90% of the time. And the chance to get back into a L1K with one of those wonderful old G&L necks (minus the ski jump) was more than I could handle.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back