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NBD: 1981 G&L L-1000 "closet classic"
- Thread starter L. L. Elwood
- Start date
OK, you gotta tell us how much you got it for. I mean, it’s a beauty, for sure, but it’s not really a score if you paid, say, $12,000 for it.
Know what I mean?
Know what I mean?
I think I paid around $650 for my L2k with HSC in 1983. I’ll see if I can scrounge up the original recript. I think they sell in the $1500 range used, but mine is nothing like the pristine condition of the OP’s wunkay. I’ve never seen one that old in that condition. Case Queen for sure.
Very nice! One of my all time favorites and underrated.Built to last. You have the superior slotted polepice pick up.they were only used the first 6 months or so.Yours must have been laying around unused.Obviously a transition piece.(from chrome to black) Your pick up doesnt have quite the volume of the hex polepieced ones,but has a smoother tone for sure.Ive had 20 or so of these over the years.Might be Ash body. What does it weigh? Congrats enjoy
Awesome color! My newer CLF L-1000 is my go-to passive 4 string for any vintage type tones or for rock/natural type bass tones. A killer instrument, and I've always been in love that it's slightly unique, lesser known, and kind of an "open" secret weapon. Welcome to the World of Wunkay!
That's funny. The hex 1988 fretless I have doesn't seem to have quite the output as in the 1981 slot pole. It could be the slightly softer attack of the fretless that I'm hearing. I'm actually pretty sure the body is Poplar I've had several Ash basses including the other transblue g&l pictured earlier in this thread and the grain is simply not the same as Ash. Tough to tell from photographs but I'm certain it's not Ash nowhere near the dramatic look of Ash much more subtle smooth grain. A couple more reasons supporting this the actual brochure pictured on the original post does state that the body Woods on the l1000 at that time could be poplar, Ash, or mahogany. And oddly enough if you go to the G & L instrument registry there is one more L 1000 registered with a build date in the same month October of 1981 stating it has a poplar body. So I'm thinking there may have been a couple of Poplar slabs laying around that got used up at that time? It weighs 9.6 lb
Thanks man! I was really tempted to get a new clf and almost pulled the trigger. I played one locally at drum City guitarland here in the Denver area. I just couldn't pull the trigger on the sparkly purple! If it would have been natural, burst or gold I would have bought it on the spot! It had a really powerful presence!
Wow thanks for posting a picture GlennBassmann! I love that color combo- what year? I see yours has the smooth Black Bridge as well! 1981 or 1982 I'm guessing? In my hunt for a nice L1000, I learned just how rare white is. I think it may have been a custom ordered color back then. Looking through the G&L Registry in those first couple years, You'd have a white, trans blue or trans red bass for every 30-50 burst or naturally finished L1000s. White being the rarest I'd venture to say.
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Also, I went ahead and detailed the L1000.. mostly hardware...WOW! What a little silver polish and some elbow grease will do! The tuners are beautiful and the pickup poles are beautifully silver again. I'll post some post detailing soon 
Last year, I sold my L-2000-E that I had purchased new back in the early 80's. Got married, work got too busy to play in bands, moved away, didn't play, stashed it away. Kinda clear blue with even more of a see-through finish -- real purdy. But that's how it happens -- life gets in the way.
(Started up again last year, and wanted to fund a new amp. Happy to send it to a home where it would used right, but wish I could figure out what exactly it would take to reproduce that OMG setting in passive mode in a current instrument. As best I can determine, they don't make those pickups no more.)
The white ones... I wanna say in 1980 white may not have been an option. My local shop was bass-centric, and was among the first G&L dealers in the country. When they came out in '80 he got about a dozen L-1000's and one passive-only L-2000 in stock, from what I'm pretty sure was the very first batch produced. There were no white or black ones in that batch. If white or black was available he would have surely ordered some.
There were hogs and ashes. Natural ash and hog, tobacco burst hogs, trans red and trans blue ashes. Maple and ebony boards mixed in everywhere. I got all my stuff for 10% over dealer cost at that store back then, so I bought a trans red/ash/ebony, and a trans blue/ash/ebony L-1000 that day. While I was there I asked what other finishes were available. I was told trans green was available, and CAR. CAR was an option from the get-go, but it was delayed due to finish issues with that color, the dealer told me. CAR showed up later that year, but the few he got mostly had poor finishes...dry areas, orange peel, etc. Don't recall white or black being mentioned. I don't recall any solid colors on the options chart (which was just a crude looking copy of a typed list) at all, besides CAR. Still, never say never with Leo Fender, there can always be outliers.
Your cool trans blue '81 kinda looks like poplar to me too, with its plain grain and a few splotchy-looking grain areas. Even though poplar was supposedly reserved for opaque finishes, I don't think any wood/finish combo can be ruled out. I know for sure black was offered in '81. I'm pretty sure the body is poplar. Can't really tell by the pic, but in person there is a hint of green in the bare wood areas.
I think you're right about white ones being pretty uncommon in the first couple years. This '83 transition model is sort of an outlier...early style headstock, early bi-cut neck, black krinkle hardware, and serial # on the neck plate. The body wood is white, but no clue if it's poplar or whatever.
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Templar, great post!! Thanks for sharing that. It's funny that you mentioned th trans red finish problems. In my searching I have seen an early trans red with very bad orange peel on the back of the bass. Must have shipped that way from the factory. Maybe it was from one of the batches you saw? Sweet white bass too.. is that yours?
I wouldn't doubt there were some flawed trans finishes too, but some of the the CAR ones were really bad. If you ever come across a lousy looking '80-81 CAR LXXXX, don't assume that it's been refin'd with a rattle can in someone's garage, even if it looks like it was. Chances are it's the orig finish. Can't really see it in the pic below but in person this CAR '81 shows some orange peel and dry spots. I actually like the flaws and the discoloration from play wear.
Thanks, yeah I snagged the black one and the white one off ebay ~2003. Hard to believe, but I was the only bidder on each one, and paid the same price for each. Back then almost nobody gave a rat's ass about G&L. The deals to be had on old G&L's then were ridiculous, a gear whore's paradise!
The black one was a pawn shop rescue in pretty bad shape overall. I sent it off to M. Dolan right away for a refret, new nut, and to straighten out a nasty ski jump. He did a great job, and the neck is still straight and stable today. The white one is in great shape, has a noticeably chunkier neck, and weighs < 9lbs. If I could only have one bass forever, the white L-1000 would be a contender for sure.
I can’t believe how much used G&L’s have gone up recently. I kind of feel I really missed the boat picking up some of their gear at better prices as recent as a year or two ago. Oh well..
