I posted this in the G&L club but couldn't help but share my joy in it's own thread. I picked up this 2012 M2500 in mint condition a couple days ago.
I have been on the quest the past few years to find the right bass and I think I finally got it! I have never fallen this in love with a bass right away since I had my Stambaugh. A ton of usable tones and the EQ is very natural and musical. The bass feels very boutique, the neck is super comfy and I love the gloss. Intonation is some of the best I have a had on the B string, which I was concerned about with the string through body. I love the adjustable pole pieces as it really helped me get the sound I wanted (I raised the G string poles a good amount for a fuller sound). I can't stop playing this thing, it sounds so good! And I expected it to be heavy but it is fairly light (lighter than my Bongo at least, I'm guessing 9lbs). Also really well balanced.
A long backstory on my quest- From 2001-2009 I played a G&L L2000 as my main bass. I loved the sound (especially live) but got tired of all the knob tweaking and was looking for something different. I then feel in love with a custom Stambaugh Jazz bass at a consignment shop and sold the L2000. I played the Stambaugh as my #1 from 2009-2017. I have never been a multi bass guy really, but I usually had one or two other basses to use occasionally.
Anyway in 2017 I was into playing a lot of stuff when I needed to down tune (mostly modern R&B/soul stuff). The Stambaugh had a detuner but honestly it was kind of annoying to have to switch tunings. I had tried 5 strings a few times but never got into it. Then I played a MTD Kingston Heir 5 and really loved the sound and feel, especially of the bridge pickup. I think the 19mm spacing made transitioning to 5 string easier. I played it as my main for a year and even bought a couple MTD Kingston 5er fretless as well. But the reality was that the neck was too wide for me to play as comfortably as I'd like. So now that I was very used to 5s I went in the other direction string spacing wise and got an Ibanez SR1405. Also a really nice bass but I was never totally happy with the sound of the bridge pickup. I realized that I really like a humbucker at the bridge. I wanted some of that L2000 sound back!
So about 6 weeks ago I got a great deal on a used Bongo 5 HHp (under a grand). Truly an amazing bass and one of the best sounding in my opinion. But I got to be honest I think it is pretty ugly and not very comfortable to play resting on my lap. Plus I felt like the EQ was so sensitive that it could go from sounding amazing to sounding not so good very easily. I didn't find the EQ that easy to use. The bridge pickup sounds amazing, and I love both pickups on for maybe the best slap tone I have every got, but panning towards the neck was usually too boomy. I just found it kind of finicky. Some days I loved it and others I was a little more questionable if it was "the one".
I was contemplating a M2500 for the last year as the next bass to try but never was able to try one in person. So I just decided to order a used one from Guitar Center and check it out, I could always return it. I am so impressed with it! Honestly seems like it has never been played, the condition is that mint. I really think it is the one for the foreseeable future. Let's see how I feel in a few months of course. If I am still digging it then I will probably try and get a fretless M2500.
Happy to be back with G&L! Now I want to try all their other models too.
I'm still keeping the Bongo for now though!
