G&L hidden gems!

[Romeo2]

On 26/03/2019 at 21:21, Paddy515 said:

Got DR Sunbeams on my L2000. Anyone tried flats on theirs and how did you find they sat with the active pickups?

 

Liking the LB-100 Tributes. Must try to resist!!!

I typically string my L2k with elixirs, hexcore strings 45-105 are necessary I think for this beast to sound proper. I tried a lighter gauge some time ago, an interesting experiment but i missed the authority of higher tension strings working against that rather chunky maple neck. I now have sunbeams on a squire bass and do wonder if it's a good idea for the L2k too, hmm.

 

I've tried flats on it, daddario I think, as you can imagine - it sounded really good but again, I just missed the beast's rock'y roundwound growl. But if you have a spare set of flats, try it out, worth a punt.

 

I bought my L2k sort of on a whim at LBassGShow in 2013, without much prior knowledge or reading, just wanted a double humbucker active maple neck bass and there it was. A Tribute shall I add. It's been a G&L love story since for me, always a little surprised how little this brand is recognised but perhaps less hype keeps prices reasonable (althougb both andertons and guitarguitar have been stocking significantly more of their stuff recently, and the company seems to have some new marketing team, the range is more focussed, there are now videos demoing different things, almost as if they woke up ten years too late into the game).

 

 

[la bam]

I've got rotosound 77 flats on my m2000.

Lovely. Growly low end and smooth top end.

[Woodinblack]

On 26/03/2019 at 21:21, Paddy515 said:

Got DR Sunbeams on my L2000. Anyone tried flats on theirs and how did you find they sat with the active pickups?

I put flats on my L2500 which I think was a bit of a mistake, I am not a fan but I thought it would be nice on there, but seems I should have listened to myself.

Shame really, they are quite expensive!

I am not sure on the active question (the pickups aren't active), but it doesn't sound any difference on mine between active / passive, but I have good quality cables!

 

[Soledad]

I've been getting confused about L and M. On the 2000 the M seems to have the 5 pot EQ, the L 3 pot plus 3 switches. Is the M discontinued? No sign in retail that I can find, or on G&L site. The L has active / passive switch, the M is active only. Is this right? 

[la bam]

The M I have has the following:

1. X1 master volume.

2. X1 pick up blend.

3. Eq - hi.

4. Eq - mid.

5. Eq - lo.

It is permanently active.

[Woodinblack]

The M was the update to reduce the windings on the MFD pickups and make them more useable with other devices. They were brought out later but they were always hard to find.

I wanted an M2500, but ended up with an L2500 becuase they weren't available anywhere (not that the L was much at the time). It has a better EQ, in that it is boost and cut active tone control, where the L2500 has a passive bass and tone control, so does cut only.

[Romeo2]

3 hours ago, Soledad said:

Is the M discontinued? No sign in retail that I can find, or on G&L site. 

It looks like they killed the Tribute line of the M series, and it is now only available as an US order option

http://glguitars.com/product-category/fullerton-basses/

 

I had an M2000 which I really liked, and I even modded it with two three way switches for coil-tapping (thread here, pics missing for some reason, sadly: 

)

 

I sold it. I had too many basses and this one was getting played the least. It was the transparent black flame maple top with binding, matching headstock, played like butter. I struggled to sell it even at a ridiculously low (I think) price, something current/future owners should be aware of - if you're buying one, be prepared to keep it, there just isn't that much love for the M series (perhaps the reason why the Tribute line is now gone).

 

[Jakester]

Hmm, I’m confused; I distinctly remember all my L’s having an active/passive switch - am I misremembering?

[Romeo2]

4 minutes ago, Jakester said:

Hmm, I’m confused; I distinctly remember all my L’s having an active/passive switch - am I misremembering?

You remember correctly - a three way switch, off, active on, and active on with treble boost.

One main difference between L and M is that there is no way to play M in a passive mode, while L can go on even if the battery dies (fun fact: dead or no battery and you have a killswitch, very cool for delay or synth sounds)

[Pinball]

An SB2 is a superb instrument and with flats on is my favourite. I love the balanced vol vol controls too.

I have a youtube link to the SB2 Di'd directly into the desk. Note: I play guitar in the vid so my buddy Paul is standing in for the vid. the SB2 is very warm sounding and always gets interest and positive comments when played live.

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by Pinball

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Jakester said:

Hmm, I’m confused; I distinctly remember all my L’s having an active/passive switch - am I misremembering?

It does. The L is entirely passive with an active buffer, so the active preamp just buffers the line signal to stop the loss on the cable, which was obviously the point of actives when they started (although it also has a treble boost option), and that is why the tone and bass are cut only.

[OzMike]

I have a G&L LB-100 tribute here that I got a couple of months ago from Thomann:
https://www.thomann.de/gb/gl_lb_100_nat_mn_tribute.htm

When it arrived it need a small amount of work to get setup 100% OK; the slot for the E string wasn't quite cut deep enough and made the F on the E string hard to play. There was a small amount of the clear coat that had flaked off around the 12th fret on side of the neck. I changed the supplied strings to TI flats, and also did the mod that increased the value of the tone cap (mentioned somewhere on the USA bass forum). The only other niggle is the volume and tone knobs have no indent or marker, so one can't tell by looking what the position is. That aside, it's a solid and (as are all the Tribute's I've played) very good value for money bass. With flats the tone knob is very responsive; I can go from dubby fatness at one end through to slap-suitability on the other. The bridge is a delight to work with, and the tuners seem to work just fine.

Another point - the neck is definitely into the P-bass region for breadth and depth; the bass takes noticeably more physical effort to play with my left hand than my mex Jazz and EBMM Sterling. It also feels a bit on the heavy side. For these reasons it might not be a 'keep forever' bass, as my fingers / hands / wrists are already a bit knackered from decades of typing and bass playing. Still - a very good bass overall, and suits the blues / blues rock group I use it in nicely; it's impossible to go wrong with the basic fat and solid tone. Looks-wise, it definitely does the job too. I kind of like the 'bottle-opener' headstock, although others don't. In it's price range, and a bit above, a very competitive choice.

[Owen]

G&L metalflake finishes are the bomb. Their facebook feed is just chock full of nice looking instruments. They do lovely pastel shades. Their aesthetic is just so right. 

[drlargepants]

Fantastic guitars, I really shouldn’t have sold mine. 

Currently on the hunt for a USA l2500 ...

[Soledad]

21 hours ago, la bam said:

The M I have has the following:

1. X1 master volume.

2. X1 pick up blend.

3. Eq - hi.

4. Eq - mid.

5. Eq - lo.

It is permanently active.

Has anyone done a passive bypass pull mod - I mean (on the M) swap out the vol for a Warwick-style volume pull and send the pup signals just through volume and pan so you get a passive 'raw' output?? Wonder if it can be done, partly because I fancy an M2000 if one comes up somewhere, some time (I'm not chasing the one on eBay btw, just so we all know).

[drlargepants]

What’s the difference between the L and the M ?

[Jakester]

18 minutes ago, drlargepants said:

What’s the difference between the L and the M ?

I think someone mentioned above that the M pups were not so hot - certainly that was my experience, they sounded ‘smoother’. The controls had pots instead of switches, so you can pan between the pups rather than switch, and the tone controls were cut and boost rather than just cut. 

The neck on my M2000T was much slimmer than on the L2000 I had - much more jazz-like. 

[Soledad]

2 hours ago, Jakester said:

The neck on my M2000T was much slimmer than on the L2000 I had

Just researching here...According to G&L site M2000 : NECK PROFILE: G&L 1 5/8" Medium C with 9 1/2" radius

Any owner of an M2000 able to confirm this please? I have a hunch I may acquire one someday next few months and I like the 1 5/8, I'm no fan of the 1 1/2 (it's just that I grew up with an old P 1 3/4).

[Romeo2]

correct, the M neck on a 4 string one is in between P and J width, with satin finish it is a very comfortable neck to play (damn, this thread is making me regret selling it ...)

not sure but I think it was on the bassesbyleo web forum that the tech guy from G&L (is it Paul Gaigon?) replied to someone asking whether making M a passive bass is a good idea, and he said it isn't. My guess is they underwound their MFD  pickups for the M series and then fed them together with the three-band EQ with 18V and that is it, they will simply be underpowered and sound thin without it once rewiring is done

[Soledad]

On 30/03/2019 at 16:55, Romeo2 said:

My guess is they underwound their MFD  pickups

Interesting - it's a key point I think. So the L has a passive/active, the M doesn't and (probably) can't. So are the Tribute pups different on the L & M? 

 

On 29/03/2019 at 09:27, Woodinblack said:

I wanted an M2500, but ended up with an L2500

Have you played both? and is there a real difference in native (flat, say) sound?

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Soledad said:

Interesting - it's a key point I think. So the L has a passive/active, the M doesn't and (probably) can't. So are the Tribute pups different on the L & M? 

The tribute pickups are the same pickups as the USA pickups. The M pickups are underwound by about ⅓ from the L pickups to reduce their output as the standard MFD pickups are so hot.

2 hours ago, Soledad said:

Have you played both? and is there a real difference in native (flat, say) sound?

When I was looking it took me forever to find a G&L bass! I even thought when I was driving round the states I would find some but still failed to find any then, so no, I bought the first reasonable L2500, and I have never had a chance to find an M2500. I would imagine it would be the same but quieter.

[bloke_zero]

When I bought my L2000 last year from Wunjo the sales guy said the distribution here had been patchy but that was changing.  There really isn't a lot of recognition of them as brand.

I kept wondering when I bought it if I just liked the MFD's because they were so loud, but after playing it for a while and messing aroun with pickup height (yeah - indidual pole piece height!) I'm back to my original assessment - I just really like the full range sound.  Personally I almost never turn the active on.

[Woodinblack]

I like the range, but the volume is a bit of a pain when you switch to other basses, so the volume is down a bit. I often thought of just putting a divider at the beginning of the preamp to take the volume down a bit (and I never turn the active off).

I do have other switching options too, I change the parallel series to give me a third, outside series.