joel406

Well... If anyone is interested, I have one of these. So, here's where I'm at with it. When it arrived, it had no case. I ordered a hard-shell case which arrived the following day. Out of the box it sounded and played just fine. But the tuners struck me as cheap and untrust worthy. So, I've had a set of Hipshots put on. The pickups are surprisingly clean and Jazz Bass sounding. The neck solid and sound. Plenty of truss rod there. The radius is comfortable. And the weight is manageable. Once I had my tuners, I had my wizard work his stuff with a new Nickel Wound D'Addario six string set. 40~130? Not sure... Now with neck set and aligned, intonated and properly nutted, it's home. Action is great. But the neck is a bit of a workout once you get going. The string spacing has got to be just on 17mm. I would not be shocked to find out it's tighter. You gotta be careful or you'll wind up a string over. As a result, you concentrate a little more. It's resulting in stiffer playing. On a 5 I have a more fluid movement. I hope time will make this easier. The neck has some beef to it. But again manageable. Every 6 I've played has a neck width I couldn't get along with. And to be honest. This will likely end up as a studio bass. Use it for the workout. Then go back to the comfort of my 5's. Long story a little longer. It's an amazing instrument for the Pesos. I'm sure someone will gig one. Will I? Probably not. But I'm impressed enough to be happy owning one.

I would go full QC. Don't worry about the preamp. There is a Noble pre on the Cortex cloud. Along with tons of other amps, Preamps and cabs. The possibilities are literally endless. I do recommend the Keely compressor pro. There are some good ones in the QC, but I've really taken a shine to the Keely pro.

I recall a story about the stones. Richards coming into the studio and saying. Ok lads, everyone tune to this (striking a note on his guitar) and let's get going. Their tunning ending up somewhere between A and G#.

A lot of bands tune down a half step. Van Halen, Kiss, Guns & Roses. I think all their albums are that way. We tune down a half step. For no other reason I think then to make it a little easier for our vocals. As to what's right. Best guess. Whatever works. I was playing with a group of guys who would tune down a half step. Then we would still play the songs as they were on the original recording. So, stuff that was tuned down to start with ended up a whole step down. Another band found us rekeying some songs as much as a fifth, always this was to accommodate vocalist.

Nobody tries it. I've never seen anyone try it. I looked at it and said what's the point. In today's world it is pointless. Dude build what ya want. I have 2 800-watt Mesa Boogie stacks I'll probably never use. But their fun to have. And sometimes I take a cab out to a jam session. But live? Think... A great pedal board and quality IEMS. It's the 21st century. Stage volume needs to be as low as possible. You're going the wrong direction.

You really think it's going to make any difference in your sound? Something like what you describe is not what the people at Rickenbacker had in mind. It will be hard to control of the fly. And likely just sound awful. Mixed drivers and all. I think Chris Squier used Rick-O-Sound in the early days. Once IEMS got good, I'm sure that changed. And Geddy was always sporting SVTs in the early days. Then left the Ric and went back to Fender. Well, after a torrid love affair with a Wal.

If I remember correctly, the 4003 should come with the Rick-O-Sound cable. If you don't have the cable, you're not doing it right. And I once looked into this, and I believe the "running each pickup into separate amps" ain't exactly what it does. I would need to google but my conclusion to the whole thing was a bunch to do about nothing. Unless you're looking to setup something for a recording session it could be useful. But for a live situation? Unless you're doing arenas. No point. And even then... A good pedal board makes the whole deal a no go. Are the gigs you play equipped will giant stages? Everyone here is making the best of the tiny areas they give us to setup. You wanna bar gig with 2 amps? Stage volume is not your friend.

I am an admitted Fender freak. Yeah, I look around at other builds but I'm hopeless. As a result, I have 9 of the little buggers. Now keep in mind I'm also a 5-string freak. So, all my basses are, you guessed it, 5 string. For various reasons I upgraded all my Fenders pickups to Seymore Duncans. Except one that remains stock because it just rolled off the line stupid good. My oldest Fender is a 2017 Pro. My newest is a 2024 Pro II. Ok now that you have an idea of what I like. Here's the rub. I went and heard my friend's band. Bass player was good. And played a Music Man. Single humbucker. It sounded good. Real good. But I have a problem with Music Man basses. I do not care for the bridge. And the bass itself as a whole resembles a bathroom appliance, I will leave unnamed. I've played em before, and I know they play great. But they are butt ugly and I just can't bring myself to own one. Just trying to lay a little ground so you all know how truly insane I am. Well, I don't feel the way I do about G&L as I do about Music man. So I decided to get me one. A USA L-2500. Smashing good bass. Neck feels good and the option for passive or active was a plus. I'm not one to leave well enough alone. I went and found (after a lengthy search) an M-2500 tribute. I watched a couple of videos comparing the L-2500 to the M-2500. Both had their quirks. And Youtube is anything but decisive. So I grabbed the tribute. About that time, I find a USA M-2500. I waste no time and grab it. Now G&L do still offer the M-2500. As an "if you want it, we'll make it" sort of thing. But mass production seems to be done. The L series is what they seem to want to push these days. G&L also wants their CLF research models to be forefront. I do not like the plate on the front of the instrument. So classic G&L for me. Back plated. And G&L have the 750 models. I believe their 19mm spacing. I'm a 17/17.5 mm guy. So this became a case of doing the research before actually buying saves the day. A review. I now have 3 G&L basses. 1 L-2500 USA. 1 M-2500 USA. 1 M-2500 tribute. Their new (to me). So their getting a lot of play time. Here's what I have found so far. The L-2500. This bass has active/passive option. Sounds kinda weak in passive so I generally ride active. 3 switches. 3-way pickup selector. Series/parallel. Active/passive/active with treble boost. 3 knobs. Volume. Treble (cut only). Bass (cut only). Its workable. You seem to need the cut in the EQ. It works. Kills the boom. Helps with the bite. So cool. The neck is great. No neck dive. Stays in tune. Feels good with my strings. Rosewood fretboard is gorgeous. Very smooth playing. So far, it's a little lite in the low end. I've only been able to test these through my headphones so far. But their great headphones. However, the low end is tight. In a better environment I expect good things. Overall, a winner. The M-2500 tribute. The neck is very close to the L-2500. The electronics are very different. Master volume. Treble Boost/cut. Mid boost/cut. Bass boost/cut. The low is more forward because of the boost and the treble and mids boost brighten things up nicely. This bass, as well as the USA model are always on active. A keeper none the less. The M-2500 USA. Again, different from the other 2. Same electronics layout as the tribute but stronger. Making me consider an upgrade for the tribute. But the real difference is the neck. I know it's not a 750. But the neck feels wider. In a good way. The only one of the 3 that has a Maple fretboard. It came with rounds on it, and they really work. This bass sings. Easier to dial in than the tribute. As well as the L-2500. Very wide tonal pallet. While the L-2500 seems to have the favor of G&L I can't help but wonder why the M-2500 seems to be somewhat buried. Kinda if you want one, we'll make ya one kinda deal. They are hard to find. Yet if you dig enough their out there. I'll be keeping all 3.

Gas? 2025? Hmmmm... Maybe a Fender USA 5 string Jazz? No, I got 4 of those. Maybe a Fender USA 5 string Precision? No. I got 4 of those too. Maybe the new Squier 6 string? Wait... Got one. Maybe a G&L USA L-2500? No got one. May be a USA G&L M-2500? Got it so, no. How about a G&L M-2500 tribute? Never mind. Got one. Maybe a new amp. No got 2 Mesa Subway D-800+ heads and a custom built Epifani UL901. That's out. Speaker cab? 2 Subway 212 cabs and 2 Subway 410 cabs in house already. So, No! New pedal? Let's see. 2 Quadcortexs. Pog 2 and Pog 3. Keely compressors. EBS envelope filter, check. Chorusaurus. CABM. Revolt. Le Bass. I could go on so, No! Wireless system? Shure SLXD. PSM 300 for the IEMs. No set there. 2025 looking gas free here.

Arrived today. Only get a little time with it but all signs point to a winner. It's definitely a better feel than my tribute M-2500. But both will have their niche. If you can score a USA M-2500 do it.

I highly recommend a P-Bass. My best bass is a Precision.

Sadowsky's don't fit me. At least not 5's. Their beautiful and sound great. Just don't feel right.

QuadCortex. 8 driver custom fitted IEMs. If I have to use an amp. Mesa Boogie Subway D-800+ into Mesa Boogie Cabs. Either my 212s or my 410s. I have two of each. Mostly reach for the Epifani more for live. But for the last 3 years. IEMs. They go plenty low enough with their 4 low-end armatures. And the QuadCortex handles "all" the frequencies. So... Yeah those low notes are well represented. It's the FOH that counts.

Yes... It can. But can the FOH is what counts.

Very late to this party. Only read through the first page. Been playing 5-strings for around 10 ish years now. Don't even own a 4 anymore. I did just get a 6-string. Buy yeah. Once I got the hang of it 4-string just doesn't make sense. The playability of the 5 makes it the better choice. For me. I play everything on a 5. If I don't use the B string on a song no big deal. But the more I play a 5 the more I find myself bouncing off it just higher up on the neck. Having 2 octaves is so cool. Anyway, I no longer consider a 4-string a bass. If ya can't do 30hz you're doing it wrong.