NBD- 1984 G&L El Toro, trans blue

I finally found just what I had been looking for. I wanted either trans red or trans blue- so here it is! When it arrived it was dirty as heck with dead strings. I popped the strings off, cleaned it, put on some fresh strings, and gave it a thorough setup. Plays great and sounds KILLER! This is exactly the sound I had in my head. Now it comes out of my cab.

These pickups have BITE! I played it side by side with my '81 L2000e, and while they are clearly related, they are quite different. As expected, the smaller aperture of the El Toro pickups gives it a more focused sound, for lack of a better word. I dig all three pickup selector positions. Neck is way more P like than the L2k, the bridge is much more J like (but this puppy barks!) and both pickups on sounds like that overused cliche- a Jazz bass on steroids. It really does, though.

It shipped in a hard case that was covered, every square inch, in spray painted/stenciled hardcore punk logos, which was cool... but also some of the most incredibly vulgar profanity I've ever seen (and I am faaaaaaaar from innocent). I'm not talking swear words. I'm talking stuff that is truly nasty, so bad that I hid the case. Don't ask, I won't repeat it, and I won't post pics. I'm wondering what, if anything, I should say to the seller. I def need to replace the case. He said "it comes with a case". That much is true, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to take it out back and light it on fire (not literally). What would you do?

Now for the pics!

 

NBD was a VERY happy day. I cleaned the Toro, set up the action, and plugged and played with all the controls dimed. Fiddled with nothing but the pickup selector for the first hour or so and was in G&L heaven. Day two I was able to spend more time playing it and I discovered that the wiring is all mucked up. Please see my post requesting El Toro wiring photos in the event that you have any you could share. Thanks!!!

Photos of G&L El Toro wiring?

 

I've turned into a G&L junkie!

No, I'm not keeping them all. I think what I'll do is sell one of the SB-2s and one of the L2000 Series E basses. I haven't totally decided yet, but certainly having two SB-2s just doesn't make sense. I need to find time to decide whether to keep the 3 tone 'burst or the Bahama Blue. They're basically identical otherwise. Since I have a blue L2K and now a blue Toro maybe I should keep the 'burst... I don't know yet.

I contacted the Toro seller and asked if he'd be willing to spring for a new case. When I bought it the seller said it came with a case, but no mention of the stuff written on it... It's pretty awful. I'm glad yours is G rated! Heck, even R rated would have been okay!

 

I just played the Toro back to back with one of my SB-2s. They sound pretty different to me. The SB-2 sounds more "woody" than the El Toro (in passive mode). The El Toro definitely has more mids. Then, with the El Toro in active mode, it opens up a whole new pallet. And then, of course, the series mode switch gives it yet another flavor, with even more pronounced midrange and an overall boost. I will probably keep an SB-2 along with the El Toro. They sound different enough that there's no redundancy, and they both sound *really* good.

I modded one of my L2K's to add a single coil option. Between the Toro, an SB-2, and the modded L2K I'm not sure if I really need anything else. Maybe my P bass, but we'll see... I sold one J, I'm selling the other, my Ric 4001 is going...

 

I played my first gig with the 'Toro last night. It sounded killer. I brought two basses with me- El Toro and my '81 L2000, and I switched back and forth a few times over the course of 2 long sets (we played from 9PM to midnight).

El Toro sounded snarly as anything, like a mad dog on a chain. It cut through a loud rock mix with ease. I could get deep and clear and smooth tones by laying back a little bit. Digging in was a joy, though. When played hard this thing comes alive, with killer upper mids and some good "clang".

The L2000 sounded every bit as good, but different- thicker in the mids, but with similar character overall. Two basses that are clearly from the same family.

One interesting thing- The L2000 puts out a lot more volume when played hard- I have to keep an eye on my right hand attack if I'm not using compression. In comparison, the Toro doesn't get louder, it gets meaner. (Of course it gets somewhat louder when played more aggressively, but the L2000, for whatever reason, seems to have a greater dynamic range. Neither one is "better" than the other; just an observation.)

If I had to pick one over the other... I wouldn't.