Just purchased a M2500 Tribute from MF. Now for the waiting...anyone have any G&L stories to share? This is my first one, I have a Spector Legend 5 currently...can't wait for my new G&L!
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Waiting for my G&L.
- Thread starter BackonBass13
- Start date
I just got one of these and it's pretty sweet. Very nice and punchy pickups. The string spacing is a bit on the tight side and mine has a bit of neck-dive.
It really is a killer bass though. Congrats.
It really is a killer bass though. Congrats.
I've owned 7 G&L basses, and loved them all. Into passive these days, so only have an SB-2 and L1K. Both working man's basses, and I wouldn't part with them for the world.
I've been using my L2K a lot lately, really enjoying it. I'll get a L2.5 eventually too, really like G&L basses. Every one I've tried has been well made.
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
I can't tell stories about the new M2500 because I've never played one. But my first G&L was my L2500 Tribute in natural swamp ash. A killer bass and I still have it, of course. I've played Basswood Tributes and always thought they had a sort of muffled tone. Now I've acquired two more USA L2500 basses, one fretted and one fretless. BOTH are blueburst and BOTH are killer! These are all my main axes unless I want something special (6er, different tone etc.)
I never considered an M2500 because I'm not intimidated by knobs and switches and have lots of basses with the standard preamp/EQ thing.
That's my G&L story. Waiting for NBD is always a strain...especially as nice as your NBD is going to be.
I bought an MIA L2500 off ebay a few years ago, it had a lined fingerboard but it was too nice of a bass to pass up. It was stolen out of my apt. in a robbery about a month later, so I never got to really see what it was like.
The L2500 has only two problems: neck dive and a broken method of attaching the bridge. For the neck dive, an extension on the upper horn would be basically mandatory for playing it on the strap. If neck dive is a bother to you as a player that is.
The bridge mounting is a more serious problem, which I consider a factory defect. The screw holes that really should be used to fasten the bridge to the body are put to use to support through-body stringing. Otherwise, the only thing holding the bridge onto the body are two little cheezy screws on each side of the bridge. Bad bad....
So if you try to top load the strings, you run the risk of actually ripping the bridge off the body. There are two solutions: a) always string through the body or b) do the famous L2500 bridge bolt mod, which involves putting bolts through the through-body stringing holes and only top-loading the strings.
I did the latter on my now-hot L2500 and that's really how the bridge should have been fastened in the first place. That turned the entire butt-end of the bass into solid steel. There's a couple threads here on TB on how to do this and I highly recommend doing it. It's actually enough to improve the tone; after doing this mod on mine the B and E strings had a noticeably more solid sound because the bridge was now firmly attached to the body. That's how bad the factory mounting is, so the bolt mod is really, IMO, mandatory.
I don't know if this has been fixed or not or if the Tributes have the same problem. It looks like a marketing move to support through-body stringing but without having to make major mods to the bridge. But you can see that the bridge holes are counter-sunk and meant for screw heads and not simply to support through-body strings. Anyway, it's busted, so do the mod lol...
My '89 L2K is still my main player, it was a NOS bass when I bought it in 2000. I don't know how it could have stayed in stock for 10 years, but maybe it was because of the unlined FL neck. Who knows, but I don't care because it's mine now lol.
My days of buying 5+ stringers are over, mainly because of my Bunny 6 string, so I don't think I'll ever get another L2500. But the new G&L's are just magnificently made basses...
LS
Black of honeyburst? I know it's not exactly the same but last month I got an M2000. It is amazing! When the knobs are neutral the tone that comes through is tight and punchy. This is actually where it stays most of the time, which I guess defeats the purpose of an active bass. That's just my personal preference though. However, scooping the mids slightly, or adding in just a little more bass seems to give that already solid neutral tone that little something extra. What amp will you be playing it through? You're going to love owning a G&L!
I'm no professional, yet I gigged (and still do) quite often
Whenever I need to be clean and brilliant, I have my Yamaha Trbs (1004 and regularly tuned, for Wild Peas, my cover band, 1005 and a full step downtuned for Nowhere, my thrash band).
But whenever the goin' gets tough, the tough get goin':
there G&L (L2000 regularly tuned, for Wild Peas, my cover band, L2500 and full step downtuned for Nowhere, my thrash band) deliver a full throttle dual humbucker serial passive attack, or rather hifi dual ceramic noiseless parallel active modern sound.
Cheers,
Wallace
Whenever I need to be clean and brilliant, I have my Yamaha Trbs (1004 and regularly tuned, for Wild Peas, my cover band, 1005 and a full step downtuned for Nowhere, my thrash band).
But whenever the goin' gets tough, the tough get goin':
there G&L (L2000 regularly tuned, for Wild Peas, my cover band, L2500 and full step downtuned for Nowhere, my thrash band) deliver a full throttle dual humbucker serial passive attack, or rather hifi dual ceramic noiseless parallel active modern sound.
Cheers,
Wallace
I have been playing G&L since 1985 at present I own 3 all USA a 2006 L2500 fretted, a 1997 L2500 frettless, and the newest (to me) ia a 1990 SB1. My L2500s have the actives removed and each pu has its own switch for coil tapping.
I am waiting for a special order SB-2. I am really excited, but the wait is going to be difficult. I probably have at least two months to go. One day I would like to add an L-2000 but that will have to wait a while.
I had an ASAT that I bought NOS for a great price. I sold it for the same price about 10 years later.
I really wish I'd have kept it. It was a great bass, aside from the 3 screw neck plate, and lack of neck reinforcement. I could never get the action low enough, but I didn't play much for about half of that time, so some of that was my fault.
I'd love to pick up a new ASAT sometime, G&L's are great insturments.
I really wish I'd have kept it. It was a great bass, aside from the 3 screw neck plate, and lack of neck reinforcement. I could never get the action low enough, but I didn't play much for about half of that time, so some of that was my fault.
I'd love to pick up a new ASAT sometime, G&L's are great insturments.
is the bass player from the butthole surfers playing an L1000 in the who was in my room last night video?
G&L's are the best basses ever created IMHO 
I own a G&L Asat Bass and still plan to get many more 
I own a G&L Asat Bass and still plan to get many more I've never had any neck-dive with any of my L2500 basses but they are all ash which is pretty heavy.
The bridge issue is another story. There are some mods that I'd recommend on G&Ls such as the K-mod on the L2X00 (but doesn't apply to the M2X00) and a bridge mod.
The bridge isn't as bad as indicated above because there is a large tab that pokes down into the wood under the bridge that takes most of the force. The two screws only operate against that lever action so it's not as bad as it seems (I understand some early versions did NOT have the tab and were known to rip out).
People do the screws through the string-through holes mod and it works and I can appreciate it given that string-through-body takes extra long strings that are harder to get. So I usually don't bother.
But I'd like to KEEP the string-through option. So what I do is install threaded inserts to hold the bridge down and use machine screws instead of wood screws. Works great!
http://www.amazon.com/Flushed-E-Z-D...1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1285111866&sr=1-11
I'd also recommend 4-40 threaded inserts on cavity cover too. On an L2500 the battery is in there and the wood screws strip the holes eventually.
But these are easy minor fixes.
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