Why so many more StingRays/Sterlings than G&Ls?

[Craig_S]

The G&L sound isn't for everyone. A lot of players find them "blah"... "without character"... "sterile"... and I think it might have to do with the complicated electronics. They are loud, for sure, but they don't have the simple earthiness of a passive Fender.

I can't say that about my L-1000. It's full of character. It's just plain great, as a matter of fact. I own a Stingray 4, a Stingray 5, a Jazz Bass, a P-Bass and the "Wunkay". They all sound different. They all sound wonderful (IMO).

Maybe if G&L had gone with the market, in the '80s, and released some bright colored wilder looking or more streamlined instruments, aimed at the hair band crowd, they would have done better. I guess we'll never know.

 

[smcd]

But the older ones (especially with original headstock) have always brought a higher price than the newer ones.

That's a relatively recent development. 7 or 8 years ago you could buy all the early 80's L-1000's you wanted for $400 or less.

 

[jaywa]

I own a Stingray 4, a Stingray 5, a Jazz Bass, a P-Bass and the "Wunkay".

And here ladies and gentlemen, is the answer to the oft-asked question: "How many basses do you need?"

I personally might swap the "tookay" for the "wunkay" -- and possibly add a fretless -- but other than that... case closed. There's your complete working bassists' toolbox, right there.

 

[Infernal Affair]

That's a relatively recent development. 7 or 8 years ago you could buy all the early 80's L-1000's you wanted for $400 or less.

That actually convinced me to take a look at my local craigslist and lo and behold a wunkay popped up. Not at $400, mind you, but still not commanding the much higher ebay prices. I'm crossing my fingers and seeing if I can grab it.

 

[metron]

That is correct. The Fender company told Leo Fender that the early G&L headstock looked to similar to the Fender headstock that he designed!

I have only seen this as an internet rumor. Noone has ever substantiated it that I have seen. Plus the original headstock in the early 80s was changed to the pointy one in late 1982 with the exception of the SB series. They had the Fender looking headstock throughout the 80s. IMO it seems unlikely it was a real lawsuit issue. My thought is that the new headstock was introduced to make G&L distinct looking on the market so people wouldn't think it's just another Fender bass.

 

[kcolyar]

My only experience with a G&L was a new tribute in a store. The electronics had a short, one of the PU's was making noise when I touched it and the neck was the thickest baseball bat I have ever played. Immediately did not like it, went back to playing a different bass. Played a Schector PJ that felt much nicer, was passive and the neck was a little slimmer, yet still sturdy feeling. It definetly made look at G&L's differently when I see guys ranting about theirs.

 

[Skarekrough]

the funny thing, to me anyway, is that Talkbass is a huge forum with a lot of members. there's a sticky at the top of the main bass forum mentioning the G&L forum, there's said G&L forum, and there's G&L advertisements here on Talkbass. if i was making basses, i couldn't ask for more visibility.

yet no one knows them, sees them or plays them.

which goes back to the original question. why?

I see alot of folks playing MM basses and alot of kids coveting them.

I also hear alot of folks in clubs that just can't handle them....they can't EQ them to save their lives and I've swapped more stories with folks in studios that just about forcibly removed the MM from the bass players hands and made them play a P-Bass for their tracks because despite their worship of the instrument, they just didn't have the chops to sound good.

Popularity isn't always an endorsement of quality. PRS was a minor blip until the late 90's. It was then that they did two things; they ramped up production and actively sought out new and emerging artists for their roster. If you were a nu-metal band that got signed around 2000 then the odds are that a PRS or two was going to show up at your door for consideration.

They're fine instruments, but their proliferation is the direct result of their actions to get kids actively buying them.

I'm reluctant to crow about G&L. I'm a huge fan and I believe they make fine isntruments that are woefully under-valued. And personally, that's fine with me. I have three on the wall next to me and the odds are that I'll probably own more before too long.

For me the P and the J and the MM are thier own distinctive sounds. The G&L gets close, but it never nails it down. However, what it does to my ears is get that sound plus what I would want past that. The tonal flexibility, versatility and more of what I find I want out of a bass makes them a great pick for me.

It'd be blasphemy for me to slight others that got the job done with other tools. But I have found the G&L's are great for what I do and what I need them to do.

If no one else is buying them then fine by me! Stick with what works for you!

 

[mike_v_s]

It'd be blasphemy for me to slight others that got the job done with other tools.

Yeah, but without that kind of "contribution", this thread would lose about 25% of the posts.

Mike

 

[oldrookie]

My only experience with a G&L was a new tribute in a store. The electronics had a short, one of the PU's was making noise when I touched it and the neck was the thickest baseball bat I have ever played. Immediately did not like it, went back to playing a different bass. Played a Schector PJ that felt much nicer, was passive and the neck was a little slimmer, yet still sturdy feeling. It definetly made look at G&L's differently when I see guys ranting about theirs.

My initial reaction to the Tribute L2500 was negative as well. Took me some time to "get it" with the Trib, but got over it and am feeling no gas for anything else. Kinda fun to walk into a store, play their stuff and leave it there because you like what you have better. Cheaper too.

Each of us has our own "fit" with the bass of their dreams. I've played a few Schecters and didn't want them. Variety is the spice of life.

I'd love to play a Stingray at some point. Maybe I'd like it better. I've learned never to say never.

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

I had a beautiful L2K with gold parts, quilted maple top and gun tint birdseye board on a Jazz sized neck. But I sold it...I guess I was hoping that it would sound like a MM Sabre, which it didn't at all. It certainly was a versatile bass, but just could nail what I wanted out of it. BTW, one of the best necks! A Tber now owns it after purchasing it from Brian @ The Low End.

 

[bassbenj]

This is pretty much me. Don't twiddle my knobs once I've got it dialed in. Don't twiddle the knobs on my amp either. Once I had an amp dialed in just right. A friend came over and wanted to try the amp, he twiddled and twiddled. I could never get it dialed back in the way I had it so I just had to buy a new amp.

Heh. That reminds me of a true story. One day I bop over to the high end guitar/bass shop to hang. I come through the door and this old blues dude is telling everybody about some kid he met at a recent jam. "I tell you," he said, "That kid could could play like you wouldn't believe, but do you know he couldn't tune is own guitar?" "Didn't know how to do it. Once someone else tuned it up he could play anything, but he didn't have any idea how to tune a guitar. Can you imagine it?"

Finally the store owner ask the blues dude what he's there for. "Oh," says the blues dude, "I bought this amp here a couple of weeks ago and last week at the jam session someone bumped the knobs on it and I'd like you to put them back the way they were when I bought it!" True story.

OB G&L: My plan for my Tribute to carry it one step further is to go to three pickups instead of just two. I got a buy on a G&L pickup and now just need the routing.

It's odd that all the knobs and switches on a G&L don't bother me at all, but basses with two volume controls drive me nuts.
Such as on my OLP Stingray.

 

[TheJeffers]

If G&L's control scheme on the L2K/L2.5K is "complicated," then I'm a duck.

 

[MisterMagician]

I can't name one pro player off the top of my head that plays a G&L.

The Bassists from Thrice and The Dillinger Escape Plan play L-2k series basses.

 

[Craig_S]

If G&L's control scheme on the L2K/L2.5K is "complicated," then I'm a duck.

Welcome aboard, Daffy!

It's not very complicated; just more so than most other basses.

 

[Munjibunga]

It's the headstock. I'd always be afraid that little pointy thing would get knocked off.

 

[Chef]

Ahhh...but they did!...The Interceptor, replete with whammy bar and active switchable dual coil J-type pups:
http://www.ggjaguar.com/intbass.htm

I can't say that about my L-1000. It's full of character. It's just plain great, as a matter of fact. I own a Stingray 4, a Stingray 5, a Jazz Bass, a P-Bass and the "Wunkay". They all sound different. They all sound wonderful (IMO).

Maybe if G&L had gone with the market, in the '80s, and released some bright colored wilder looking or more streamlined instruments, aimed at the hair band crowd, they would have done better. I guess we'll never know.

 

[naturalkinds]

It's funny: the more I keep up with this thread, the more I want another G&L.

What I really don't understand, though, is why their product line for bass and guitar seem so fundamentally different. G&L guitars -- especially the ASAT, though I myself have a Legacy -- are respected Fender copies, with the exception of the MFD pickups. But the basses seem to be very un-Fender in cosmetic appearance -- at least basses like the L-2500. Until the Jazz copy came out, there was nothing with the classic look of a Fender, redone by G&L -- which their 6-string guitar appeal is derived from!

 

[Chef]

huh?
the body shape sits exactly on top of my 51 Precision. it's contoured front and back like a more modern fender. the only diff is the pickguard.

 

[Steve!]

Does anybody know how much the G&L Tribute L2000 made of swamp ash weighs?

 

[TonyP-]

I would like to see L-2000 that is 1.5 at the nut (J bass profile) with a ebony board.

I think if they did that I would have pick one up.