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Odd finish issue G&L L-1000

lowrez

lowrez

no.
Nov 27, 2004
957
1
New Englandish
#1
I picked up this bass today, and the finish is all cracked up:

finish1.jpg


I have quite a few basses, but never anything like this on the finish. Should I consider a refin, or is there anything to do to stop the progress of the cracking? Its pretty much everywhere on the body, but the neck looks fine.
 
#3
You may already know this, but those cracks are from humidity and temperature. When your bass is cold, the finish and wood are contracted, and if you then bring it into a warm area (or introduce a heating element), the wood expands faster than the finish, cracking it in the process.

If the bass is vintage, leave it the way it is (generally), and if it is new, you may choose to refinish it. Many find checkering attractive though......... for some reason, lol.
 
#5
lowrez said:
from the serial it is a 1980 G&l l-1000, I didn't think poly cracked like that... and some of mine have seen some decent temperature extremes... nothing like this though.
Click to expand...

Other G&L owners who have that model may be able to tell you if there was a problem with the finish at that time or not. If not, then your bass at some point in its history may have been subjected to very extreme conditions. It will be interesting to see where this thread goes.....:ninja:
 
#10
lowrez said:
I picked up this bass today, and the finish is all cracked up:

finish1.jpg


I have quite a few basses, but never anything like this on the finish. Should I consider a refin, or is there anything to do to stop the progress of the cracking? Its pretty much everywhere on the body, but the neck looks fine.
Click to expand...

excane said:
It depends on how deep the cracking goes...if it's only in the finish, I personally wouldn't worry about it too much.
If it goes deeper into the actual wood, I'd get a tech to take a look.
Click to expand...

It looks from the picture to be only in the finish. By the looks of that wood though, maybe you should just strip off the finish and go with a tung-oil or natural finish!:D
 
#12
l1000.jpg


bad photo, but I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet. I am a sucker for cheap basses. I haven't plugged it in to anything of substance yet to see if I even dig the tone. The finish to me is quite odd, but I guess if it isn't doing any real harm.
 
#13
sixway said:
It looks from the picture to be only in the finish. By the looks of that wood though, maybe you should just strip off the finish and go with a tung-oil or natural finish!:D
Click to expand...

Leave it be. G&L was the last company Leo Fender founded and you have a bass that was built during his tenure. It is a vintage instrument and is aging just fine.

An ebony fretboard, a 1980 mahogany/ebony L-1000 is about the pinnacle of G&L vintage basses.

If you think it was cheap check E-bay. Possibly worth close to $1000.

If you don't dig the tone I'll take it off your hands in a blink.

Jim
 
#15
Refinishing that bass will cause it to drop in value like a rock.

Those early G&L L1000's are fairly desirable, so I would HIGHLY recomend you DO NOT refinish it.

Older finishes do that sometime. Not uncommon at all on older poly Fenders or G&L's.

Some early G&L's were nitro finished as well.

What you are seeing there is fairly common.
 
#16
lowrez said:
l1000.jpg


bad photo, but I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet. I am a sucker for cheap basses. I haven't plugged it in to anything of substance yet to see if I even dig the tone. The finish to me is quite odd, but I guess if it isn't doing any real harm.
Click to expand...

i was looking at this on craigslist. you lucky sob.
 
#17
lowrez said:
I picked up this bass today, and the finish is all cracked up:

finish1.jpg


I have quite a few basses, but never anything like this on the finish. Should I consider a refin, or is there anything to do to stop the progress of the cracking? Its pretty much everywhere on the body, but the neck looks fine.
Click to expand...

spideyjg said:
Leave it be. G&L was the last company Leo Fender founded and you have a bass that was built during his tenure. It is a vintage instrument and is aging just fine.

An ebony fretboard, a 1980 mahogany/ebony L-1000 is about the pinnacle of G&L vintage basses.

If you think it was cheap check E-bay. Possibly worth close to $1000.

If you don't dig the tone I'll take it off your hands in a blink.

Jim
Click to expand...

I agree, now that I see the entire bass, and realize it was built during Leo's time... so much for trying to be funny!:rollno:
 

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