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G&L Love

#261
edfriedland said:
... Not sure what makes a 4+1 more desirable than a 3+2 headstock, maybe it's just that they don't make them any more. ...
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I think it is more related to aesthetics than availability. For many people, just they way the 3+2 headstock is designed is sort of a deal-breaker for getting a G&L 5-string (as I have read on these digital pages many times before).

...or...Maybe it's a phallic thing...who knows...???
 
#262
lomo said:
The ASAT and tele shape in general has always been my favorite bass body shape (in terms of esthetics), but the short upper horn predisposes it to neck dive unless the body is pretty heavy.
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Someone once invented the ASAT bass strap extender... to counter neck dive.

G&L ASAT bass _strap_extender.jpg
 
#264
tortburst said:
I've always been curious what the L2000 would sound like with alnico MFDs
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What about replacing the MFD humbucker with a split AlNiCo single coil ?
I cannot find a passive G&L fiver to my taste.
I am considering buying an L-2500 and replacing the neck pickup with a 5-string P single coil pickup : Delano, Häussel, Fender, Aguilar, Seymour Duncan. Any experience or advise from someone here ? It will need some pickguard to cover the cavity gap.
 
#266
eastcoasteddie said:
Oh! My word!!!
I would love an ASAT 5....LOVE....

I have loved G&L basses since I got my '97 L2500 Custom...traded a '94 Stingray 4 fretless + cash for it.
DSC_0593.jpg

This sucker weighs damn near 13 pounds!!!! And I like it that way!
I actually don't like my basses to weigh less than 9 pounds...

Funny, because at the time, I didn't realize how "special" that bass was, until I really looked at it in comparison to more contemporary models years later....being that it has the coveted 4+1 headstock...

DSC_0598.jpg


and a 4-piece flame maple neck....yes the whole neck.
DSC_77671.jpg


DSC_77601.jpg


Now...if only we can get G&L to bring back that headstock...
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I'd LOVE G&L to bring back this version of the L-2500 ( And an M-2500 ) with the 4 + 1 headstock. I have always thought the 4 + 1 had a much more aesthetically pleasing headstock & body. With the current 2500, they've 'scrunched up' the waist & upper horn of the body; I don't mind the 3 + 2 headstock too much.

Bring back the original body and I'd whip out my wallet.
 
#267
Glazenn said:
What about replacing the MFD humbucker with a split AlNiCo single coil ?
I cannot find a passive G&L fiver to my taste.
I am considering buying an L-2500 and replacing the neck pickup with a 5-string P single coil pickup : Delano, Häussel, Fender, Aguilar, Seymour Duncan. Any experience or advise from someone here ? It will need some pickguard to cover the cavity gap.
Click to expand...
Well, the L2500 has a passive mode with passive tone control, so if you don't like what that sounds like, then perhaps the L2500 isn't for you.
I'm not trying to be an @$$hole, but what you would like to do with an L2500 by installing a P-style pickup sounds counter-intuitive to what an L2500 is all about....
What is it about the L2500 that you DO like?
 
#268
eastcoasteddie said:
Well, the L2500 has a passive mode with passive tone control, so if you don't like what that sounds like, then perhaps the L2500 isn't for you.
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I have heard/seen rumors of an SB2 5 string, but otherwise, it would be flip of the pickup switch to the front, flip to passive mode, and maybe string with flats if you so desire. The L2500 and "cop a P" pretty well.
 
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#269
basslifter said:
I have heard/seen rumors of an SB2 5 string, but otherwise, it would be flip of the pickup switch to the front, flip to passive mode, and maybe string with flats if you so desire. The L2500 and "cop a P" pretty well.
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Very true, but I feel that to get as close to a P as possible, you MUST coil tap it with the K-mode capacitor circuit...
I do it on mine and it's pretty darn close to my ears.

Or get one of these
http://www.talkbass.com/attachments/541070/
 
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#270
eastcoasteddie said:
Well, the L2500 has a passive mode with passive tone control, so if you don't like what that sounds like, then perhaps the L2500 isn't for you.
I'm not trying to be an @$$hole, but what you would like to do with an L2500 by installing a P-style pickup sounds counter-intuitive to what an L2500 is all about....
What is it about the L2500 that you DO like?
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Thank you for your two useful comments, 'eastcoasteddie'.

Well, what I like above everything in the L-2500 and the M-2500 is the G&L 5-string neck. There is no better fiver neck IMHO, with its 1.75" nut, it is the easiest one to play, the most comfortable bolt-on 5-string neck on the market. But I don't like very much the tone of the MFD humbuckers, active or passive. I had had an ASAT bass (active-passive switch) and a M-2500 (active only), now both sold. Even with the K-switch (single coil mode) on the M-2500, I - and everyone in my band - didn't like the tone of that bass, compared to my usual other passive basses. I know the L-1005 also has a MFD humbucker.

And I love the vintage tone of the passive AlNiCo split pickup of the LB-100, and also that of the passive single coil MFD pickups on my USA SB-2. But G&L don't make 5-string versions of these.
And I - and everyone in my band - like the tone of my AVRI '62 PB, but Fender don't make fivers like these, and I don't like Fender fiver necks.

So you see what I like and what I don't. I am therefore hoping G&L will issue five-string versions of the SB-2/SB-1 or of the LB-100, if they ever exist.
Meantime, I am asking what kind of tone a L-2500 with a vintage tone pickup in the neck position would yield.
I am excited seeing a couple of '98-'99 L-2500 Custom (with the 4+1 headstock) available near my place, I may very soon buy one of them.
And once with the single-coil mode switch installed, in passive mode, if I may get the sound I am hoping for (which seems possible given your encouraging second comment), there will be no need to change the pickups any longer.

Note - 3 of my basses are strung with Chromes (ECB80 40-95 or ECB81 45-100) and one with Rotosound Jazz 77 flats.
 
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#271
My heavily modded fretless L2500 is probably my favorite bass. It took me a while to dial in the tone to my liking but I did. I got it used and think used G&Ls are amazing deals. Glad you are happy with yours. I've always thought of someday getting a Moses replacement neck for it. Just seemed interesting to me.

Also, I think G&L has some of the best finishes in the business.
 
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#273
2saddleslab said:
I came up with the strap extension as it was the only way an ASAT would feel & play like any bass with a top horn.
P1230743.jpg


Sold about 2 dozen over the years but no longer have the materials or shop to fabricate.
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And a nicely fab'd piece of kit, it was.
 
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#276
I think the neck pickup on the L2500 in passive/series mode does a great job of filling the P Bass role. No, it's not the same, but in a mix, it functions in a similar way, but cuts more. I think that is the G&L signature... Fender with more cut. When Leo came up with the Stingray, he got away from the Fender signature and added cut... but G&L came back closer to his original concept... but with more cut. Anyway... blah, blah, blah.
 
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#277
edfriedland said:
I think the neck pickup on the L2500 in passive/series mode does a great job of filling the P Bass role...
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Yeah, I agree. I've taken my L on blues gigs with the neck pickup soloed, series mode and it did the job of a P. No questions asked.

You'll hear a difference if you A/B them in a store. But in the mix, with everything blaring...they sound very similar.

John
 
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#278
I've changed from all Fender - my 1974 P to all G&L. I prefer the tone of the L series basses to my Fender by far not to mention the construction improvements of the L's. But I really only use my G&L for two tones, bright or deep. I quickly switch between the two. It's a very obedient bass - overbuilt too.
Thanks Leo !
 
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#279
eastcoasteddie said:
As far as I know (by simple deduction), it was 1998 when they went to 3+2 on the headstock. My L2500 is a '97 (build dates of mid-late '96), and I almost bought '98 model year L2500 with a 3+2. I can't tell you why they did it...I have heard of neck-dive issues and I have heard of neck twisting issues due to uneven string tension on the headstock (which I don't buy), even about a Patent suit from Fender, but cannot confirm any of it....
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eastcoasteddie,

Wasn't possibly a matter of bright/dead spots as it happens with some F***er necks (and with many Chinese made cheap necks too) that show resonances or smothered tone on some particular frets/notes, linked to the headstock mass (or the neck length/mass)?

As I plan to get a L-2500 custom 4+1 (1997), have you experienced anything like this with your own one?
 
#280
Glazenn said:
eastcoasteddie,

Wasn't possibly a matter of bright/dead spots as it happens with some F***er necks (and with many Chinese made cheap necks too) that show resonances or smothered tone on some particular frets/notes, linked to the headstock mass (or the neck length/mass)?

As I plan to get a L-2500 custom 4+1 (1997), have you experienced anything like this with your own one?
Click to expand...
I can't say that I have experienced that on the L2500, though I have with my stingray...he G&L seems to sound friggin top notch.
 
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