Ah! G&L... How I wanted to love this company! Old Leo Fender's last endeavor. But, alas, they proved to be incompetent and not very helpful. These basses have given me lots of trouble but they are now in good playing shape and fun to play.
Let's start with the first one I bought, back in 2000 I went into 48 st Custom Guitars (no longer in business) and wanked on a couple of basses that were hanging and loved the sound of one of the four string models. I became more interested as I tested it against other similar models and found it to be superior. I was playing in a rock-pop trio with my friends Antonio Defeo and Danny Weiss at that point and I felt justified for an impulse purchase. So I did it. It is a L2000 model in tobacco burst. Everything was going well for about 2 years and then the neck started to warp. The truss rod was maxed out and the action was very high. I played it like this for another couple of years, battling the high action and then decided to take it in for repair, since I couldn't make it work myself. I was told the neck (bird's eye maple) had deformed beyond repair and that G&L were good with their warranty (10 years). So I contacted them and shipped it over to Cali and about 3 months later got the bass back with a new neck (I asked for regular maple, since I learned that birdseye is actually a diseased wood that is not as stable). They were kind enough to send it with no inlays as I had asked. Still I had to have it worked on to get the frets even. I now string it with super heavy, rock-out .055 to .110 strings!
There is something about the pickups they use that is a bit weird. They seem to distort or overpower an amp's preamp often. And I use them passive; I bypass the onboard preamp. I'm still trying to figure that part out. I've been able to make it work on the 4 string (L2000), but not so on the 5 string.
I next special ordered (in 2005) a L1505 and asked them to string it to high C. They took six months to build it and the neck was horrible when I got it. It buzzed in so many different places that there was no hope. I took it to 3 different repair guys and the opinion was unanimous: it sucked. So I convinced G&L that it was their responsiblilty to check this flaw and shipped it back. Five months later and after much hassle trying to find the person in charge, I get the bass back IN THE VERY SAME CONDITION I SENT IT IN! They did nothing to it at all. So I sent it back one more time (I paid shipping each time too, so I was pissed) and demanded that a new neck be put on it. After several more months I get the bass back with a new neck with the wrong model label on it. It reads L2500 which is the two pickup model, but whatever... The main problem was that the new neck wasn't that good either. I still had to take it to the Bass Boutique in NYC to get the fretboard trued and refretted at my own expense. These guys did a great job and the bass was finally playable. Now I've noticed the upper part of the neck (where the screws are in the back) has some deformity and notes are buzzing. Maybe it's the tropical weather and it's getting adjusted.
Then I needed to change the pickup. The funny, excess midrange/distortedness I mentioned before was exacerbated on this bass. So I slapped a Bartolini in there to see if it improved. It didn't. The Bartolini is weak (remember I use it passive, so maybe the Bart is designed to be used with a preamp onboard). Now I have an Aero pickup to be installed this week, and I'll write about how that works when I get it in.
It's a beautiful bass though (in it's greenburst glory!)...
UPDATE: Wonderful sound with the Aero. I now have it with the low B string and it rocks!. The guys at G&L also changed the neck for me and the new neck is great! Lot's of fun to play. UPDATE: Just sold the 4 string L2000 on eBay.
More on G&L instruments here: www.glguitars.com/frameset.htm
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