NBD - G&L L2000E 1982

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, ped said:

Thanks, they aren't quite as battered as they look in those pics to be honest, and they match the rest of the hardware - that said, I'm tempted with a couple for the SB1 to match 😄

My ill fated SB-1 has them. Technically the property of Parcelforce by now, I think.....

 

Mine were ordered for me by Rocket Music, naturally. Greg might be up for selling and sending you a couple. Unless he's blacklisted the UK. (If I were him, I would have)

[Lfalex v1.1]

2 hours ago, ped said:

...unlike the MFD in my SB1, it doesn't seem to adjust the character of the output when you adjust the first half of the travel. If it did, I think that would throw another spanner in the works and give me a whole other variable to get my head around!

Try it with an SB-2.

Two different flavoured pickups that do what you describe above. And then affect/ partially cancel each other's output dependent on their respective volume settings! Just as well they're only V/V!

[ped]

6 minutes ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Try it with an SB-2.

Two different flavoured pickups that do what you describe above. And then affect/ partially cancel each other's output dependent on their respective volume settings! Just as well they're only V/V!

SO I've heard! Thing is, with my SB1 I nearly always have the vol down and tone on about half, so imagine an SB2 would be a whole new thing again. And I have only seen one in black crackle, which was in Japan, and sounded knackered!

[Lfalex v1.1]

And you have flats on the SB-1, do you not?

My SB-2 (Tribute, btw) has rounds on it, so very different. It works a bit like the way Jazz bass pickups interact. I end up using the P volume for level and tone/drive, then use the J like a tone (treble) control which also sucks a little mid out, too.

 

[Owen]

On 24/08/2021 at 10:24, cocco said:

the L1000 mod that some people do as easily.

Wait! Tell me more?!

[Duarte]

On 07/09/2021 at 19:18, ped said:

 

 

A handsome pair!

[gareth]

Glad to hear you like your L2000 and very interesting to read your in depth analysis and set up

 

All of which makes me wonder whether perhaps I shouldn’t have sent this one off to Australia 

 

 

[ped]

4 hours ago, Duarte said:

 

A handsome pair!

Cheers! It’s a really fantastic bass - I play my P most often but sometimes like to take a ‘roundwound’ and ‘modern’ bass with me to contrast with it. The L2000 will be a good choice I think, especially as I think the pops on the G string which I like to use as accents will cut through so well. I also really like the Smith qualities to the sound which I have to say I wasn’t really expecting. It’s great that it has a sound all of its own, without fully treading on the J and MM’s toes. 

[ped]

My measurements show that the outer coils on each pickup are almost exactly 4” apart, giving that 70s jazz spacing which I prefer. So that should be great once the K mod is complete. I’m actually going to ask if it’s possible to use another switch to swap the soloed coils to inners. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ped said:

I’m actually going to ask if it’s possible to use another switch to swap the soloed coils to inners

By having a push/pull on the Treble knob to swap between outers/inners?

 

Could you also have a push/pull on the Bass knob to swap between combining the two pickups in parallel/series?

 

That would give you 12 pickup options....I think 🤯

 

Would being able to put the outers in series be worthwhile?

[ped]

8 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

By having a push/pull on the Treble knob to swap between outers/inners?

 

Could you also have a push/pull on the Bass knob to swap between combining the two pickups in parallel/series?

 

That would give you 12 pickup options....I think 🤯

 

Would being able to put the outers in series be worthwhile?

 

Yes possibly - for some reason I don't really like push/pull pots so ideally I'd add an extra click to a switch or a new switch somewhere, but I'll see what's possible when I talk to the tech. The fun thing is that these options are possible, but the bass itself has a really great core sound (well, two sounds). The guys at Mor Music are familiar with the K-mod so it shouldn't be too tricky to explain what I'm after - but the outer coils are what I'm really keen on. 

 

It hadn't occurred to me before but the pickup locations are similar to those of my Vigier, which is naturally why I'm finding the bass familiar in some respects but totally separate from my others in other ways!

[Guest]

1 minute ago, ped said:

for some reason I don't really like push/pull pots so ideally I'd add an extra click to a switch or a new switch somewhere, but I'll see what's possible when I talk to the tech

I was wondering if replacing the series/parallel switch with a 4-way rotary switch giving series/parallel/inners/outers would be feasible or appealing...

 

....until I looked at the photo again and saw how close that switch is to the treble knob 

[Doctor J]

You might have room to move the output jack to the side, move the bass and treble pots down one and put in a pickup blend knob, then make pickup selector and series/parallel switches into separate inner/serial/outer switches for each pickup.

[ped]

Arise... now officially 'puppeted'

 

 

 

 

[ped]

2 hours ago, Doctor J said:

You might have room to move the output jack to the side, move the bass and treble pots down one and put in a pickup blend knob, then make pickup selector and series/parallel switches into separate inner/serial/outer switches for each pickup.

 

Yes that would be a good solution. I'm probably not going to modify this irreversibly but these basses aren't worth much in comparison to their better known counterparts so I don't need to be particularly protective of it.

[Doctor J]

It's something I'm thinking of doing to my own one. It's a slightly later model without the control plate and the jack is already side-mounted. The control plate is class, though, it would be a shame to mess around with that look, but a side jack offers some room to play around with controls and free up some switches to be repurposed.

 

Also, it must be noted, there aren't many people who pick up a L-2000 and quickly think "This is all fine, but couldn't it be even more tonally flexible?" so a doff of the cap in your direction is due 😂

[ped]

13 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

It's something I'm thinking of doing to my own one. It's a slightly later model without the control plate and the jack is already side-mounted. The control plate is class, though, it would be a shame to mess around with that look, but a side jack offers some room to play around with controls and free up some switches to be repurposed.

 

Also, it must be noted, there aren't many people who pick up a L-2000 and quickly think "This is all fine, but couldn't it be even more tonally flexible?" so a doff of the cap in your direction is due 😂

Haha I know what you mean, it does seem pretty random - I can appreciate a bass that just does one thing but I also enjoy having massive possibilities - the two basses will compliment each other that way. As I know the bass is capable of more with a simple mod, even if I don't use those extra things, it seems silly not to have them. 

 

Most of all I'm just delighted with the core sounds I'm using now, and this is after only a couple of days - I think in time I'll get to know it even better, and of course have yet to try it in the all important band setting which can be make or break!

[ped]

Blimey. This thing is amazing.

 

I'm loving the PTB (passive tone/bass) pre-pre amp! So much tweak ability. In series mode you can roll off loads of bass to shift how the sound sits, so you can get a really smooth P bass sound and then at the flick of (3) switches and some knob twiddling you're in super hifi snappy slap territory. It really does sound like a perfect mixture of Vigier passion and Smith, with a P bass on tap.

 

I've been 'learning' the rear pickup, starting to work out the magic that lies within. I've found a great burp kind of 60s J rear pickup sound in Parallel, and in Series with the tone down it's like a slightly stiffer Stingray sound.

 

I've got a mental weekend but I'll try and record a few samples next week

[Owen]

On 08/09/2021 at 23:39, owen said:

Wait! Tell me more?!

No.

 

Really!!!

[ped]

10 minutes ago, owen said:

No.

 

Really!!!

I think he’s referring to the K mod, where a single coil can be selected. On an L1000 it’s within the one pickup (and same on L2k if you select one only)

[Owen]

31 minutes ago, ped said:

I think he’s referring to the K mod, where a single coil can be selected. On an L1000 it’s within the one pickup (and same on L2k if you select one only)

I played an L1000 and really fancied it. Because I cannot spell bass without a B then the concept of L1000-ing a L2500 is quite attractive. I realise that pickup placement is a thing, but I have to explore ALL the options. I also need to get out more.

[LukeFRC]

4 minutes ago, owen said:

I played an L1000 and really fancied it. Because I cannot spell bass without a B then the concept of L1000-ing a L2500 is quite attractive. I realise that pickup placement is a thing, but I have to explore ALL the options. I also need to get out more.

I’ll leave this here for you Owen - they ship to Wales https://www.andertons.co.uk/g-l-usa-clf-research-l-2500-lake-placid-blue-caribbean-rosewood-fingerboard-l2500-clf-lpb-cr?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOyJBhA4EiwAEcJdcZRn9a2jli7Y75YSiM1PJBiqP3Y36ZD3r23jAdJwnDDjF9GVekX5tRoCVV4QAvD_BwE

[Owen]

4 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I’ll leave this here for you Owen - they ship to Wales https://www.andertons.co.uk/g-l-usa-clf-research-l-2500-lake-placid-blue-caribbean-rosewood-fingerboard-l2500-clf-lpb-cr?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=CjwKCAjwhOyJBhA4EiwAEcJdcZRn9a2jli7Y75YSiM1PJBiqP3Y36ZD3r23jAdJwnDDjF9GVekX5tRoCVV4QAvD_BwE

You are a bad man. On reflection I would probably pickup a tribute 2nd hand and mash that (including smoothing off that headstock). I could even have it painted as a relic! Now I am excited! I could even have it done in blue sparkle and have a suite of Basses by Leo in the same colours.

Edited September 10, 2021 by owen

[ped]

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try one. I’m not sure I’m going to bother with the k mod actually - it would be nice to keep it original. Realistically I’d never use my J or MM if I did!! The slap sound on this is something else - it’s got the best bits of everything else rolled into one. And as I’ve been playing my SB1 so much over the last few years, the identical neck and feel makes it super familiar. Reckon it could be my only bass if it had to be. 
 

One thing I really like about the SB1 is how the knobs do so much - really altering the sound in a musical way (I tend to leave 2/3 band active EQs basically flat) and this bass builds on that theme to the extreme. 

[ped]

Just realised something - of course the middle switch isn't series/parallel - on the older basses the switch goes between both pickups in humbucking mode (flicked towards bridge) and single coil mode with 'bass boost/OMG mode' towards neck. The latter is not an active boost, in fact it puts the front half of each pickup through some caps that produce a bass response whilst the treble comes from the back coil. That's why it does such a fantastic P bass sound. In this mode you can roll off the passive bass cut to bring out the mids which sounds fantastic. With both pickups the spacing is something a bit like 60s but further back, giving that Smith vibe. A common mod is to reverse the way the front pickup works, giving front coil treble and 70s jazz spacing but I really like the sound if it how it is, and will leave well alone!