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NBD - '04 USA G&L L2000

JReno

JReno

Dec 11, 2019
235
790
#1
After reading how much some people love their G&L's (and admittedly having never given G&L a shot), I decided to grab this one from the local classifieds to see where the love is. The strings appeared to be from 2004 as well and weren't in great shape, so I threw some Labellas on hoping to balance out the prominent mid-growl on it. It's not a bad growl, just very forward. Not everyone's cup of tea. The action is a bit high for my taste right now so I'll need to do some adjusting. Overall, the jury is still out on this one. I'm definitely going to give it a fair play, and I will say that it is very beautiful to me. It's not nearly as heavy as I had been expecting, and the neck is very comparable to my PBass. Sits nice, and the fit and finish is top notch, but as some have pointed out before the wiring leaves something to be desired. There's probably a good half foot more wire in the body cavity than required, and I wouldn't call it clean by any stretch. Time will tell if this is a keeper. Stay tuned.


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#5
JReno said:
After reading how much some people love their G&L's (and admittedly having never given G&L a shot), I decided to grab this one from the local classifieds to see where the love is. The strings appeared to be from 2004 as well and weren't in great shape, so I threw some Labellas on hoping to balance out the prominent mid-growl on it. It's not a bad growl, just very forward. Not everyone's cup of tea. The action is a bit high for my taste right now so I'll need to do some adjusting. Overall, the jury is still out on this one. I'm definitely going to give it a fair play, and I will say that it is very beautiful to me. It's not nearly as heavy as I had been expecting, and the neck is very comparable to my PBass. Sits nice, and the fit and finish is top notch, but as some have pointed out before the wiring leaves something to be desired. There's probably a good half foot more wire in the body cavity than required, and I wouldn't call it clean by any stretch. Time will tell if this is a keeper. Stay tuned.


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It's very beautiful!
 
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#6
Get a set up with strings you like and give it a shot. I just got my 1st G&L (JB4) and can’t put it down. My other basses are very jealous and won’t even talk to me.
 
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#8
Congrats! As far as getting along with the L-2000, when I got my L-2500 it took me a bit to get acclimated to all the tone controls, and to dial in the tone(s) that I liked and used a lot. There are soooo many tones in there that you can almost get lost experimenting. But I'd say don't be afraid to turn knobs and flip those switches. Just the passive treble and bass controls can change the tone a lot, and sometimes just a slight turn of one of those brings an 'aha!' moment. FWIW I am in Series/Active mode 95% of the time on my L-2500, but that's just me.

The other thing I'd say is that while yeah, they can sound a bit 'aggressive' playing by yourself, as soon as you get in a band mix it sounds great. IMO they are a bit like Stingrays in that regard - they can sound a bit overpowering or aggressive on their own, but once the other instruments kick in, it just fits.

The one thing G&Ls can't do IME is get dubby/muddy, those MFDs just have so much definition that you never, ever lose the articulation of each note.
 
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#9
The one thing G&Ls can't do IME is get dubby/muddy, those MFDs just have so much definition that you never, ever lose the articulation of each note.
[/QUOTE]

I have an lb100 with the alnico P pickup and it does the reggae dub thing perfectly , strung with Labellas
 

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#10
JReno said:
After reading how much some people love their G&L's (and admittedly having never given G&L a shot), I decided to grab this one from the local classifieds to see where the love is. The strings appeared to be from 2004 as well and weren't in great shape, so I threw some Labellas on hoping to balance out the prominent mid-growl on it. It's not a bad growl, just very forward. Not everyone's cup of tea. The action is a bit high for my taste right now so I'll need to do some adjusting. Overall, the jury is still out on this one. I'm definitely going to give it a fair play, and I will say that it is very beautiful to me. It's not nearly as heavy as I had been expecting, and the neck is very comparable to my PBass. Sits nice, and the fit and finish is top notch, but as some have pointed out before the wiring leaves something to be desired. There's probably a good half foot more wire in the body cavity than required, and I wouldn't call it clean by any stretch. Time will tell if this is a keeper. Stay tuned.


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Nice bass! Congratulations on getting a G&L.

I'm in a similar boat as you - I traded a Fender Sting Signature bass for a USA L2000, and I'm still working on getting the tones I want out of it.
So far, I have found that dialing the volume back helps tame the mids, and keeps it from overdriving almost all of the inputs in my amps and pedals.
There's a guy on youTube who demos a Tribute L2000 over smooth jazz grooves, and his recorded tone is awesome. I'm still working on it.

here's a link

 
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#13
Ethix4 said:
The one thing G&Ls can't do IME is get dubby/muddy, those MFDs just have so much definition that you never, ever lose the articulation of each note.
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I have an lb100 with the alnico P pickup and it does the reggae dub thing perfectly , strung with Labellas
[/QUOTE]
Sure, the LBs with alnico P pickups can do that - I was referencing the MFDs in particular, the ones you find on L- and M- series.
 
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#16
Root 5 said:
Yes they will. Big time.
Neck pickup alone + no treble + no mids + boost the bass. Welcome to Dub City!
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I guess maybe my definition or notion of dub is different; my point was that, IME, the MFDs have this articulation to them that is always there. Even on my M-2000, which has B/M/T controls, if I dime the bass and roll off all the treble and mids, yes it sounds big and wooly, and doesn't have the snap, but it still doesn't sound muddy or 'blurry', you can still hear the note, it's not just low-end mud. If I put flat on it, maybe it'd be more dubby, but I can't imagine not having rounds on that bass.

In any case, the MFDs in either package are super versatile and IMO sound great in a variety of settings.
 

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