NBD - '84 El Toro

Here's one that's been on my list for about two years: an El Toro bass. This one has a transparent blue finish over swamp ash, with matching headstock and a rosewood fretboard. Everything is original, with relatively little play wear for a 28 year old instrument. I'm still surprised I found this. I went on line to look something else up, and a random sidetrip through cyberspace put my onto the ad, which had just been posted.

The finish is darker in real life than it appears in these photos:







I wasn't thrilled with the appearance when I opened the case, but once I saw it under better light I realized the swamp ash body has quite a bit of flame. Even then, I didn't realize the extent of it until I saw it under the camera's flash. As much as I love the look of flamed maple, I love flamed ash even more. Here are a couple of shots that emphasize it:





I'm curious about the mark beneath the neck plate in the last photo. It seems to be a stain within the finish. As far as I can tell it is not in the wood, and the finish is smooth throughout that area. The interesting thing is that the only other instrument I've seen something like this on is my '84 Interceptor Bass, which has a nearly identical mark in the exact same place. Thoughts on this, anybody? Hopefully Fred will read this and weigh in...

As far as playing goes, the neck on this bass is awesome. The nut is 1 5/8", with the same profile as my Interceptor Bass. The feel is also really close to my Lynx. It's the slightest bit slimmer than a first-style SB-1 or SB-2 (at least in my experience), and much narrower feeling than the early L-series basses. The body seems a little bit narrower than the early L-series, but I haven't compared them side-by-side yet. The belly cut also seems a bit deeper. In terms of overall feel, it's very close to the Interceptor and Lynx.

The sound is quite different than the L-series basses. The El Toro doesn't have the earth-shaking low end of the large MFD humbuckers, but there is a lot more snap and ring on the D and G strings. The output also seems to be a bit lower compared to the L-2000E and even the passive L-1000. That's not necessarily a bad thing; I suspect the El Toro will be better suited for rock, where the early L-series instruments excel IMO at blues, country, and reggae/dub styles that call for a solid fundamental "thud" without a lot of overtones. So far the El Toro seems to be overtone city, even more so than the SB-2 or Lynx.

It's time to get back to playing this baby!

Ken

I'm curious about the mark beneath the neck plate in the last photo. It seems to be a stain within the finish. As far as I can tell it is not in the wood, and the finish is smooth throughout that area. The interesting thing is that the only other instrument I've seen something like this on is my '84 Interceptor Bass, which has a nearly identical mark in the exact same place. Thoughts on this, anybody?

I bet that's a bass that has a tight attack.

Does the mark on the back line up with the padding in the case? I'll check my L-2000 fretless that has been more in the case than out over the last decades to see if there's anything to that theory. It is an odd clue that the only other time you've seen something like that is on another G&L bass.

Congrats ...love the knurly plate and the satin flame figuring under that deep blue. I'm betting there are some pretty good
jazz bass tones hiding in there , maybe with mostly neck pickup signal with a bit of roll off to temper that Ash.

Elwood

Does the mark on the back line up with the padding in the case?

It doesn't line up with anything in the case. That was my first thought too...

Ken

What can I say Ken? Great find, well done! She's a beauty!

- Jos

Does the mark on the back line up with the padding in the case?

It doesn't line up with anything in the case. That was my first thought too...

Ken

Hmm, I'll keep my eye out for the same thing, maybe someday the answer will surface.

Saw this on ebay...seems about right (although 'They've' would be closer to the truth )-

Ken,
Nice bass, If I had to guess what caused the mark on the back, I would go with either a stand or a different case. One of the cons of nitro finishes is that they are susceptible to staining from certain rubbers and dyes. All of us had what looked like cigarette burns around the heads of our instruments back in the early days of guitar hangers. Most of them were covered with surgical tubing that seriously damaged the finish. The fact that it is smooth leads me to believe that it is a dye of some sort. It's a good thing that it is on the back instead of the front. One thing for sure, it won't hurt the way it sounds and that bass will sound great in the right hands. Congrats!
Fred

Ken, great find! You have one of the nicest bass collections around. It is the same color as my L-2000 fretless that I used to own. I would bet the mark is from the rubber pad on a stand. I have a stand that would line up about there. Here is a pic of my L-2500 in the stand.--Darwin

Smoking hot bass that one Ken. One of the nicest pieces of Ash I have seen.I agree about the L's suiting the genres you say .And the others being Rock .I love Interceptors.They are the ultimate In rock. G&L had so much musical territory covered, they really knew what they were doing.
Anthony

I love Interceptors.They are the ultimate In rock.

The El Toro has the same circuit as the Interceptor Bass. Despite the pointiness, my Interceptor is just a bit more comfortable to play than the El Toro. G&L absolutely nailed the design on that body. I would love to see those same contours in a current production instrument, even without the points. Now that I think about it, I would have to give my Interceptor Bass a slight edge over the El Toro in terms of ring and bite, but that has to be a function of the maple body rather than the body shape.

G&L had so much musical territory covered, they really knew what they were doing.

Ain't that the truth! I can't think of a single possible playing situation or genre in the mid-80s, including oldies and classic rock covers, that didn't have at least one perfect match in the G&L line-up.

Ken