Hi from the Southeast US

[SignalSmith]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the forum but a long time G&L guitar and bass player.

My first G&L was a 90s Legacy my father purchased for me when I was 15 from his father who owned a music store in Portland, MI. I later bought another Legacy from my grandfather after regret from selling the first one. I still have the second one, a 92 Legacy in black/rosewood. I later bought a 90s fretless blonde SB-2 which has an awesome caramel ebony fingerboard.

I have a couple other G&L bases, a butterscotch/rosewood L-2000 and a natural/maple L-5500. The more notable guitars that I have are a 86’ cream/ebony Rampage that has a ton of time on the odometer from me and an 85’ Broadcaster that is currently in need of repair. I’m have been more of a player than a collector. Collecting G&Ls was more my fathers passion, but the older I get the more interesting the early designs becoming are to me.

Looking forward to meeting other enthusiasts and learning more of the history of this exceptional brand of guitar. Thanks for having me!

[sam]

Hi SignalSmith!

Sounds like you’ve kept the early G&L influences going and have some fine examples to play. Post some pics of yer guitars and basses, we love to see G&L’s of GLDP family members.

What type music do you typically play and are you focused more on guitar or bass?

Jump in often, there’s lots of knowledgeable folks round here.

Don’t forget, you can never have too many ASAT’s!

[john o]

Welcome SignalSmith!

There is some magic in the old ones (and the new ones)

post a few pics for us.

here's my oldest: 1981 F100, mahogany body, ebony board, passive, 12 in radius (series 1)

[SignalSmith]

Sounds like you’ve kept the early G&L influences going and have some fine examples to play. Post some pics of yer guitars and basses, we love to see G&L’s of GLDP family members.

Hi sure, here are some pictures of my G&Ls.

On the Legacy I replaced the bridge sigpngle coil with a Seymour Duncan humbucker. I also added a mini toggle to switch between modes on the humbucker. The Rampage has some character in the way of scratches, dents, and chips, but is still a great guitar. I love the neck on that thing. No frills, just a great foundational tone to let the effects and amp do the work of reshaping the sound,


The butterscotch blond L-2000 is my newest addition and I can’t believe how many different tones this thing can produce. Great to play as well. The SB-2 is a beautiful combo with the blond and ebony neck. I cleaned it over the holidays so the fingerboard is a bit darker form the conditioner but there is some nice caramel wood gran patterns in there under the right light. Fretless is fun but still this is my least played bass.


The L-5500 I picked up from Guitar Center for a good price over a decade ago, it needed some electronics cleaner for the pots and had a broken tuning head which I replaced. It’s plays like new. I think this one was registered on this site by the previous owner too.

What type music do you typically play and are you focused more on guitar or bass?

I enjoy all types of music from Blues, to rock, to classical. I have been in a handful of different bands as lead guitar, rhythm guitar or bass all falling under rock genres (alt rock, grunge, ska, and experimental/post rock). I really enjoy playing both guitar and bass. I have spent more time playing guitar and would choose it over bass if I had to, but man, that is a hard choice. I really enjoy plying both for different reasons.

[SignalSmith]

Welcome SignalSmith!

There is some magic in the old ones (and the new ones)

post a few pics for us.

here's my oldest: 1981 F100, mahogany body, ebony board, passive, 12 in radius (series 1) ]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Agreed, I find the evolved designs that Leo and George came up with in the early 80s still to this day very unique and interesting.

Nice F100. Really excellent shape. Those large bass fretboard inlays scream 80’s, so cool. My dad had a clear red F-100 Series I as well in his collection that he got new old stock in the original box from my grandfather. The F100 and G200 are the only models I’ve seen with those pickups. Are they on any other models out of curiosity?

[sam]

Great looking guitars!

I'm a tinkerer as well, quite a few mods over the years, ya never know what yer gonna get, but sometimes it's magic.

Dig the L5500 My son just got a JB-5 and is rolling with the 5 string vibe. Are those G&L pickups?

[SignalSmith]

Great looking guitars!

I'm a tinkerer as well, quite a few mods over the years, ya never know what yer gonna get, but sometimes it's magic.

Dig the L5500 My son just got a JB-5 and is rolling with the 5 string vibe. Are those G&L pickups?

Thanks, much appreciated!

Yes, I wanted to muddy the tone up on the Legacy but did not want to loose the all the original single coil bridge tone so it was the mini-toggle to the rescue. Works well, the tone is a bit different than the original bridge pickup, probably a combination of the different pickup and it no longer bring slanted but I really like it.

I like the L-5500 too. It sounds great. The pickups are the original EMG 40 DC Humbuckers with the Active EMG BTC system electronics. A lot of tonal range, at least I think so. The only complaint about that bass is the weight. The solid swamp ash body looks to be thicker body than my other basses.

Mine is dated 12/1996 after they moved the neck pickup closer to the bridge.

What are some of the mods that you have done in the past?

[Craig]

Welcome SignalSmith!

... The F100 and G200 are the only models I’ve seen with those pickups. Are they on any other models out of curiosity?

Welcome to our site!

Yes, a few more models were done with those MFD humbucker pickups, here is the complete list:
F-100, G-200, 25th Anniversary, F-100 Return Edition LE, F-100 (2009-1/2018), 30th Anniversary F-100, bridge pickup in GbL LE2.
[Reference post in our G&L Knowledgebase forum, General G&L Questions sub-forum: List of pickups used in G&L guitars]

[sam]

Hi SignalSmith,

Been meaning to get back to ya on the mods. Will get more pictures later.

Took a Tribby ASAT, added Legacy tribute neck, replaced pups with a Z coil neck and Will Ray bridge and added a HipShot b-bender. My attempt at a “bendy” ASAT Z-2 since I can’t find one. I dig this guitar because the neck feels great and I love those Z-Coil pups!

ASAT Deluxe changed pups to Dimarzios, Air Norton Neck and Evolution bridge, 4 way switch and added push pull splitter for neck and kept toggle to split bridge. I’m a Dimarzio fan and these sound really good together for those “metal moods”

Took an Arbor tele knock off and made a top loader with Z coil bridge and ASAT MFD in neck. (Leftover from Z-2 project) This is an attempt to do a mod our own Mac Whiteside did for Will Ray years ago with a semi hollow ASAT. Mine is a butcher job but functional. The top loader with these pick ups give a real spanky feel.

Took an USA ASAT and put a leftover ASAT Deluxe neck Seymour Duncan pup in the neck. The big MFD bridge and hummer neck is a nice combo.

My last project is from about 2 years ago is still one I play a lot. ASAT tribute Irish Ale mahogany with Tribute Legacy maple neck (prefer the 12” neck), G&L CLF 100 neck pickup and an overwound big MFD like on ASAT Super in neck, 4 way Grigsby switch with orange drop capacitor. Pearloid ASAT guard. Still want to get a custom pickguard to fit the neck CLF better.

[SignalSmith]

Welcome SignalSmith!

... The F100 and G200 are the only models I’ve seen with those pickups. Are they on any other models out of curiosity?

Welcome to our site!

Yes, a few more models were done with those MFD humbucker pickups, here is the complete list:
F-100, G-200, 25th Anniversary, F-100 Return Edition LE, F-100 (2009-1/2018), 30th Anniversary F-100, bridge pickup in GbL LE2.
[Reference post in our G&L Knowledgebase forum, General G&L Questions sub-forum: List of pickups used in G&L guitars]

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the warm welcome and pointing me to the thread about the pickups. Awesome write-up. I can already tell this forum is a wealth of information, just need to start hitting the search bar.

[SignalSmith]

Hi SignalSmith,

Been meaning to get back to ya on the mods. Will get more pictures later.

Took a Tribby ASAT, added Legacy tribute neck, replaced pups with a Z coil neck and Will Ray bridge and added a HipShot b-bender. My attempt at a “bendy” ASAT Z-2 since I can’t find one. I dig this guitar because the neck feels great and I love those Z-Coil pups!

ASAT Deluxe changed pups to Dimarzios, Air Norton Neck and Evolution bridge, 4 way switch and added push pull splitter for neck and kept toggle to split bridge. I’m a Dimarzio fan and these sound really good together for those “metal moods”

Took an Arbor tele knock off and made a top loader with Z coil bridge and ASAT MFD in neck. (Leftover from Z-2 project) This is an attempt to do a mod our own Mac Whiteside did for Will Ray years ago with a semi hollow ASAT. Mine is a butcher job but functional. The top loader with these pick ups give a real spanky feel.

Took an USA ASAT and put a leftover ASAT Deluxe neck Seymour Duncan pup in the neck. The big MFD bridge and hummer neck is a nice combo.

My last project is from about 2 years ago is still one I play a lot. ASAT tribute Irish Ale mahogany with Tribute Legacy maple neck (prefer the 12” neck), G&L CLF 100 neck pickup and an overwound big MFD like on ASAT Super in neck, 4 way Grigsby switch with orange drop capacitor. Pearloid ASAT guard. Still want to get a custom pickguard to fit the neck CLF better.

Man, that's a lot of modded G&Ls. Cool stuff, I would like to see the others as well. I really like the grain pattern and the color on the Irish Ale ASAT. I have been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Tribute series guitars that I have played in stores. The ASAT looks great how it is but yeah, a custom pick-guard patterned for the neck pickup would bring it to perfection.