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Should I gut my G&L....or am I crazy???

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Darth Tater

May 20, 2005
113
1
#1
Okay here's the deal. I have a Tribute L2500. I've had it for years. We almost have a love/hate relationship. It just seems like I can never get that perfect sound out of it, and when I get close, my amp is EQ'd so far out in left field that my other basses are rendered useless for quick switching.

In fact, for some reason lately I'm only happy with the tones coming from my purely passive basses with just a vol/tone control.

So, am I stupid for even thinking this, or should I gut my G&L and just install a vol/vol/tone in it? No matter what I do the G&L is just too thick and bassy. It's thick like molasses. Even thick would say it's thick. Did I mention THICK???

So is it even possible to wire the MFD's with just simple passive controls? I'm not afraid of the wiring, I've been wiring guitars and basses for years, but never a G&L.

But now here's the kick....ideally in addition to the v/v/t controls I'd like to do series/parallel/single switching for each pickup. I do this when installing DiMarzio's, but those are simple to work with and DiMarzio supplies about 20 wiring diagrams with the pickups, so I would need some schematics for G&L.

So am I crazy? Has anyone else done this?
 
#2
It's not crazy, but I'd ask if you're sure you want to do this if all of your other basses suffice. Why not keep it as something different?

Or is it the one you want to play but it just doesn't sound?
 
#3
I should have mentioned, this is my only 5 string so I'd like to be able to use it along with my others. In fact if I could get it to sound as good as my ESP with UltraJazz pups it would probably be the only bass I'd play because I love the growl and the neck is perfect for me.

I'm also thinking I would prefer the MFD's as single coils. Heck if I had $1200 to blow I'd just buy a Deluxe Jazz 5 or a Lakland Darryl Jones :)
 
#5
Are you looking for a passive P bass tone?

I get that with my L2000 by running in passive, parallel, neck pickup. Then I roll the treble off 1/3 and the bass off 2/3rds.

You might take a look at your pickup poles. If you lower the ones under the B and E strings, it will take out some of the low end bite.
 
#6
blendermassacre said:
why don't you just flip the little passive switch... if you don't like it then, what makes you think that rewiring it will make it better?
Click to expand...
Yeah. I really don't get all the drama. You can turn put it into passive mode, you can switch it to Parallel, you can turn down the passive bass control knob, you can LOWER THE PICKUPS, and you can switch to a thinner, brighter string set.

I have an ASAT bass so I know what I'm talking about. Have you experimented with pickup height? Sounds to me like they're set too high. The MFD humbuckers are so high-rez they'll definitely let you know when their height is in the sweet spot.

Certainly I can get a big, massive tone with my ASAT, but with light gauge NPS roundwounds, Parallel mode, passive mode, and with the G&L's bass knob turned down, I can get it to sound thin, bright and anemic, not that I'd want to.
 
#8
blendermassacre said:
why don't you just flip the little passive switch... if you don't like it then, what makes you think that rewiring it will make it better?
Click to expand...

Exactly. He doesn't know that the bass is ALREADY wired the way he's proposing when it's in passive! "Treble" is a "tone control", everything is passive, and the only difference between Vol/vol and the neck/both/bridge switch is with the pots you can get the tones in between but if the ends aren't doing it, the in-between won't do it either.

There are really only two viable solutions here.

1. Add a single coil switch. I've done that and it gives you a very pure, clean "single coil" kind of sound that may help.

2. Get a preamp just for the G&L to bring out the tone you want. I'm talking about a big one on the floor (sansamp etc) rather than in the bass.

OK, there are three things: 3. Do them both.

My Tribute L-2500 has the single coil switch added. And while on one hand it seems as if the tone difference is minor, on the other hand it always seems to be the position I prefer!
 
#10
JohnnyB53 said:
Yeah. I really don't get all the drama. You can turn put it into passive mode, you can switch it to Parallel, you can turn down the passive bass control knob, you can LOWER THE PICKUPS, and you can switch to a thinner, brighter string set. to.
Click to expand...


John S I'm not really looking for P bass tone, I'm looking for J bass tone, which is why I'm curious about going single coil mode.
 
#11
bassbenj said:
Exactly. He doesn't know that the bass is ALREADY wired the way he's proposing when it's in passive! "Treble" is a "tone control", everything is passive, and the only difference between Vol/vol and the neck/both/bridge switch is with the pots you can get the tones in between but if the ends aren't doing it, the in-between won't do it either.
Click to expand...

Wait now...in passive are the tone controls still not 'cut' only? This was one of my concerns, as I'm not a 'cut' guy. When you cut with a passive pot you lose tone and that was one of my big sticking points. So you're saying when you go to passive mode the tone controls go to 'boost only' like a normal tone control? I guess first I need to fully, 100% need to understand how the tone controls work in this thing. I've always just kept them dimed thinking THAT was the 'normal' position (in other words bypassing the pot in the dimed position would make no difference in tone) so you're saying that's not how they're wired?
 
#14
Darth Tater said:
Wait now...in passive are the tone controls still not 'cut' only? This was one of my concerns, as I'm not a 'cut' guy. When you cut with a passive pot you lose tone and that was one of my big sticking points. So you're saying when you go to passive mode the tone controls go to 'boost only' like a normal tone control?
Click to expand...

You've got that backwards. ALL passive tone controls are cut only. Your G&L has passive tone controls. Your treble knob cuts highs, your bass knob cuts lows. Re-wiring your pots won't change this. If you want a passive bass, just keep the preamp switched off.

Adding a coil tap switch, however, will give you the option of running your pickups in single coil mode. I think those MFD pickups sound pretty nice in that configuration.
 
#15
Handyman said:
You've got that backwards. ALL passive tone controls are cut only. Your G&L has passive tone controls. Your treble knob cuts highs, your bass knob cuts lows. Re-wiring your pots won't change this. If you want a passive bass, just keep the preamp switched off.

Adding a coil tap switch, however, will give you the option of running your pickups in single coil mode. I think those MFD pickups sound pretty nice in that configuration.
Click to expand...

Allright, sounds like you're right about me approaching the tone controls backwards. So let me ask this question which will help me understand G&L's controls better.

If the tone pots were to be taken out of the circuit, what would that be the equivalent to...the pots being fully dimed or the pots being fully zeroed?

I'm also interested in the single coil mod, can that simply be done by adding an on/off 'cut' switch to one of the coils of each pickup? That would mean it would only work in parallel (opening the coil in series would cut the whole pickup), but that way I could keep the series and parallel modes along with adding the coil cut. Or is there a better way to do it?
 
#17
Darth Tater said:
Wait now...in passive are the tone controls still not 'cut' only? This was one of my concerns, as I'm not a 'cut' guy. When you cut with a passive pot you lose tone and that was one of my big sticking points. So you're saying when you go to passive mode the tone controls go to 'boost only' like a normal tone control? I guess first I need to fully, 100% need to understand how the tone controls work in this thing. I've always just kept them dimed thinking THAT was the 'normal' position (in other words bypassing the pot in the dimed position would make no difference in tone) so you're saying that's not how they're wired?
Click to expand...
Do NOT think of an L series G&L like you would any other bass, the MFD's have such a high output that you really need to play with the controls starting from a very conservative position.
 
#19
In both passive and active mode, treble and bass are cut only.
People who don't like the G&L tone controls sometimes find it helpful to think of them as boost and cut, and start from "pots in the middle."

I generally run treble at about 80% on, and bass at about 30% on.

I personally won't have a G&L without single coil mode; this will get you much, much closer to J bass tone.

With the preamp off, the bass is indeed fully passive, and you can even take the battery out.

The G&L MFD pickups have their own mojo. That may not be for you, and you may well like a regular Jazz bass better.;
 
#20
IMHO, I think Chef is right: The MFD pickups have their own timbre (love it or hate it) and no matter what you do, they will never give you the simple, clear, "organic" tone of Fender single coil pickups. I wouldn't carve up your G&L, because it'll REALLY hurt the resale value. (99% of G&L buyers seem to be looking for the full G&L effect.) Try a Fender first, and see what you think. Also, if you do switch to a passive Fender but sometimes miss the beefiness of an active bass, you can always do something like invest in a Sadowsky outboard preamp.
 

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