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Squier VM TB or G&L L2000 Tribute?

O

okailla

May 16, 2011
4
0
#1
Hello!

I am new to this great forum and bass playing in general.
Well, I have been lurking here for a while and bought my first
bass about one and a half year ago.
Since then I tried out several cheap basses until I got a very good
p bass that I absolutely love.
I have also gotten a Squier VM TB which I also like very much.
But lately I have considered selling it because it is a one trick
pony (a trick that I like, btw) and it does not give me much variety and I thought I had that sound covered with my other precision.
So I put it up on ebay.
Today I took it out of its bag again and realized that I really like this bass! I will definately regret having it sold...

Now here is my dilemma:

I came across a corean made G&L L2000 tribute which is very nice but I can`t afford to keep the squier and get the g&l.

So what would you do?
Sell the squier and get the g&l?
Keep the squier and practice and get better with what you own?

Decisions, decisions...

I really have GAS!

Any input welcome.

Oliver
 
#4
I just got a VM TB and I like mine as well. Maybe if I'd waited, I could have bought yours on the cheap!

1) What do you find lacking about the Squier VM TB that you'd like to have in your next bass?
2) What do you like about the VM TB that you'd like to have in your next bass?
3) Does the GL L2000 have the answers to #1 and #2?

I'm also pretty new. I'm not sure I could go from a $300 instrument to a $1200 instrument and be able to say, without a doubt, that I made a good decision (my ears aren't sharp enough to find $900 worth of improvement!)

If you're looking for versatility, why not get a P/J bass, or a less expensive double humbucking bass? Or heck, have a luthier put a J pickup in your VM TB! Do you have a brand or aesthetic in mind? Does your next purchase have to be MIA?
 
#5
The G&L is overall the better instrument---finish, electronics, tone, etc. The tonal options on the L2000s is incredible---that's why I play one. I have a Tribby currently, but had a USA version two years ago. Same pups and same tone. For some, the tone is too "aggressive" but you can control it with the EQ.
 
#6
Legattabass said:
I'm also pretty new. I'm not sure I could go from a $300 instrument to a $1200 instrument and be able to say, without a doubt, that I made a good decision (my ears aren't sharp enough to find $900 worth of improvement!)
Click to expand...

Really? Not trying to be smart, but I started last July with a 90's Fender Squier P that I bought with really bad strings. Even after a setup and new strings (which improved the sound greatly), the action is still way too high, and I fight it.

Here recently I have been driving new EBMM and G&L models that are anywhere from $600 - $1500 more expensive than my Fender, and the differences in tone, action and build quality are more than obvious!!!

Surprised at your comment, being a new guy myself.

Chris
 
#7
Popbumper said:
Really? Not trying to be smart, but I started last July with a 90's Fender Squier P that I bought with really bad strings. Even after a setup and new strings (which improved the sound greatly), the action is still way too high, and I fight it.

Here recently I have been driving new EBMM and G&L models that are anywhere from $600 - $1500 more expensive than my Fender, and the differences in tone, action and build quality are more than obvious!!!

Surprised at your comment, being a new guy myself.

Chris
Click to expand...

Good news, you're not trying, you're succeeding! :D

Let me rephrase it. I could tell the difference between the $60 affinity P I picked up at my local pawn shop, and the $600 SR505 I picked up recently. But the VM and CV stuff Squier is putting out is, barring lemons or damaged floor samples, excellent stuff.

Could I say, with certainty, that a well set up VM P would sound $600 worse than a MIA P to my ears? No.
 
#8
Not really good news, but thanks for the kudos....;).

Highly subjective stuff this sound reproduction, eh? And to add insult to injury, I suffer some reasonably nasty tinnitus in my left ear, so not expert here in any way.

Best wishes.

Chris
 
#9
The VMs are great basses for the money. I have a VM fretless that I love. However, I am a G&L guy and have two tributes (L2000/L2500) and the amount of tones you can get out of the G&Ls are incredible. Alot of people think they are complicated but it took me like 5 minutes to figure out the controls and I was off and running. I recommend the G&Ls wholeheartedly.
 
#10
I'd go with the G&L. I have a L2500 MIA. I am told, by many, that the Tributes are just as good. And they can be found for great prices on the used market. They use the same electronics anyway. You can run it passive, EQ the preamp, and EQ your amp and get a Pbass/Telebass sound. Might not be "exact", but it will cop it pretty well. That being, the L2000 (and L2500) is a tone monster. If can get really, really gnarly, or pretty clean.
 
#11
I'm biased as I'm a G&L fanatic. They make incredible instruments. I have an L-2500 that I dearly love. It's the bass I reach for more often than not.

I have three basses...my G&L, an Ibanez BTB 1305e Prestige, and a Squier CV Jazz. If I had to keep just one, it would be the G&L hands down.
 
#12
I have both a VM TB (modded to add a SCPB PU, among other things) and an L2500 Tribute.

Both are functionally very nice basses, but the L2500 is definitely a better built, vastly more versatile instrument. I love my VM TB, (particularly after I added the SCPB PU), but I think you'd have to be really be wedded to the mudbucker tones to choose that one over an L2000.
 
#13
These are two totally different basses - one passive humbucker with a volume and tone vs two humbuckers with an active/passive mode, a series/parallel mode, and a preamp with EQ boost - so it really comes down to you and how (or what) you'll be playing.

The G&L is much more versatile, with a whole bunch of tonal options available. I really like the VM TB, but as you said, it's a one trick pony. I don't think I could live with the TB as my only bass.

If it were my choice, and my money, I'd pick the G&L over the VM TB.
 
#17
Thanks for your input guys.

To be more precise about my goals:

I am a electronic musician.
I do all of my stuff alone, playing with synths, samples etc.
I just wanted to enrich my tracks with hand made bass lines in the first place.
I do all kinds of stuff from Hip hop to Dub to House to Jungle, you name it.
To give it more soul and to get more creative I decided to pick up the bass guitar.

I always loved the sound of the classic p bass in older recordings.
So I finally bought one and strung it with flats and fitted foam under the bridge cover.
Now thats my sound!

I also bought the Squier because of the high praises it gets around here and thought that this would also match my sound
idea.
But lately I have found out that I am more than satisfied with
my regular p and i did not touch the squier anymore.
But like I said in my first post, when I played it recently I truly
liked it.
But I found out that I only like it when played through my amp.
When played through my recording rig (REDDI DI and Amp Sim)
the sound is lacking something - not so my other p.
Furthermore, I want something else to complement the precision sound and i stumbled across a used G&L that I can get
for very little money. (For about the same amount that my Squier is going to obtain.)

So I did a lot of research and everyone has to say nothing but good things about the G&L, particularly the korean models.

So I finally took the plunge and bought the G&L. :hyper:

I always find it sad when a piece of gear is going but
the die is cast.

Goodbye, TB! :crying:
 

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