G&L Interceptor

[Jigster]

...anyone know much about these basses, in terms of sound in particular, nut width etc

Ta

Edited April 24, 2010 by Jigster

[nig]

Is it in relation to the breaker on e bay ??? they are very 80's looking, limited number made, some maple bodies, heavy, some alder or ash, same as the el toro with two slim 4 pole humbuckers per string, the switches are as per g&l except for the middle switch which is normal mode or wtf ? or omg mode, its kinda both pups running in kill mode, necks are factory options but not the skinny number 8. if you open up the electrics theres so much in there your mind goes...

[Jigster]

hi nig, thought you would show up!!

yeah it's a pretty battered one on e-bay, seems hard to get much info on these anywhere, just wondering how it fared for G&L cos they didn't produce many I believe - so both pups selected are kind of awesome then?

[noelk27]

The El Toro is a fantastic bass. Much better than the L2000. Much more pronounced mid-range, and more focused top-end. Don't let the descriptor "Mini" fool you in any way. El Toro and Interceptor featured exactly the same pickups and electronics, but the Interceptor is as bad as the El Toro is good. The body is uncomfortable, and the whole thing is neck-heavy. Seriously, the only reasons to purchase one are you play in a Hair Metal tribute band or you're going to strip out the pickups and electronics to put into an L2000 carcass (the latter being the reason I bought and butchered one).

[nig]

Its weird, the number made may be around 400, Ive got 2 el toros, 1 passive and 1 active, those pups are amazing, leo and george were on a weird mission with these and the interceptor too, I agree with Noelk27, but gutting an interceptor for me is a bit tragic, can I have the leftovers please ! as its a fairly rare bird, albeit a bit spandex and 80's.
the wiring is such that you have the normal front, both or rear pickup, active off, on and treble boost, vol, tre and bass, then the switch which normally does series paralell doesnt do that , it puts both pups in series ( I may be wrong ) and overrides everything and is dub city, absolutly earth shatteringly loud and bassey.
That one on the bay started at 600 and has been falling as theres been no bids.
There was an 84 with original case, 1 owner and immaculate that didnt sell recently, so there you go.

[url="http://www.ggjaguar.com/intbass.htm"]http://www.ggjaguar.com/intbass.htm[/url]

[Jigster]

is that the really battered one with respray body - it's about 399

[noelk27]

People forget - or maybe just never took the time to learn - that CLF was, first and foremost, an electronics engineer. The first thing he did when designing a new guitar, but more so, a new bass, was to design the pickups and the electronics. The pickup people see in a G&L L2000 might look like the one you see in a CLF MusicMan StingRay, but it's a completely different design - top to bottom. The same is true of the L2000 and El Toro pickups. It's also disappointing that people don't seem to connect Tribute to G&L, or when they do don't have any appreciation for the legacy of the models no longer in the G&L roster. Personally, I think that G&L dropping the El Toro was one of the worst decisions that company ever made - as the opportunities for that model now, with people in search of the ultimate "super" Jazz bass, are huge. I never understood why G&L was content to play the part of a niche manufacturer, producing models in low numbers, although there’s certainly an argument that it tried to populate its roster with too many models, and model derivations.

Interceptor - I'd say buy it, gut it, and sell on the carcass.