G&L Custom Shop Matador 5 in Tinted Natural over pine...

[Craig]

From a post on G&L's facebook page (7/26/2024):

G&L Custom Shop Matador 5 in Tinted Natural over pine, 1-ply black guard,
5-ply quartersawn 3A Flame Roasted maple neck with Macassar ebony fingerboard,
black headstock, stainless steel frets, fingerboard dots delete, Luminlay side dots,
Ulyate 5-String p-bass pickups.
Built for G&L Premier Dealer Drum City-Guitarland in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

[LarryNJ]

Oh Lawd!

I have never seen a multi-piece neck on a G&L, either its a Custom-shop special build, or I'm outta totally the loop. (Probably the case).

Either way-That is a MAGNIFICENT bass, absolutely stunning, and it is showing again that G&L is 2nd to none. None.

Me- I would remove that &**^% B-string and probably choose a Maple board, I dunno, maybe RW would look better with that finish, who cares?

I didnt know about Pine as a tonewood either, but then again, what do I know?

I know that is a really TIGHT looking bass; make it a 4-string and I would rule the World with it.

OMG. I repeat...That neck!

***EDIT- ...and Ulyate pups?? Wow, the G&L CS takes it DOWN!!! Using other than their own P-bass pups, how cool. I'm generally not particularly an advocate of the Double-P configuration, but I would absolutely make an exception for that thang.

Matador: OLE!

[Expert_Fretwork]

Oh Lawd!

I have never seen a multi-piece neck on a G&L, either its a Custom-shop special build, or I'm outta totally the loop. (Probably the case).

Either way-That is a MAGNIFICENT bass, absolutely stunning, and it is showing again that G&L is 2nd to none. None.

Me- I would remove that &**^% B-string and probably choose a Maple board, I dunno, maybe RW would look better with that finish, who cares?

I didnt know about Pine as a tonewood either, but then again, what do I know?

I know that is a really TIGHT looking bass; make it a 4-string and I would rule the World with it.

OMG. I repeat...That neck!

***EDIT- ...and Ulyate pups?? Wow, the G&L CS takes it DOWN!!! Using other than their own P-bass pups, how cool. I'm generally not particularly an advocate of the Double-P configuration, but I would absolutely make an exception for that thang.

Matador: OLE!

Multi-laminate necks are one of my favorite ways to build a neck. They're incredibly strong when built this way. I've done this often in my career before coming here, and the other guys in the CS asked me to show them my method, so we opted to do it for this build for dealer Drum City GuitarLand.

Pine is a great instrument wood. It's looked down upon because of the US house framing industry using crappy pine for years to frame houses, but good pine that's allowed to grow large enough to get clear sections like this are good pieces of wood to build instruments out of.

[LarryNJ]

Curious-
Did Drum City spec the pups, or did the (presumed) purchaser?

I've heard very good things about Ulyate, but I'm surprised that someone would opt for them over the "standard" Matador pups, if there is such a thing.

It appears to me that the G&L CS is taking their output to the Stratosphere with each build greater than the next.

10 thumbs up for that Matador and all the other instruments (even the guitars and 5-string basses!)

[Expert_Fretwork]

Curious-
Did Drum City spec the pups, or did the (presumed) purchaser?

I've heard very good things about Ulyate, but I'm surprised that someone would opt for them over the "standard" Matador pups, if there is such a thing.

It appears to me that the G&L CS is taking their output to the Stratosphere with each build greater than the next.

10 thumbs up for that Matador and all the other instruments (even the guitars and 5-string basses!)

We went with the Ulyate pickups for these because our sales manager, Steve Araujo, is friends with Howard Ulyate. We don't currently manufacture 5-string P pickups in-house, and have no tooling set up for that type of thing, so we had no choice but to go with a different brand for these 5-string Matadors for the time being. We may eventually make an MFD 5-string split P pickup at some point down the road, but for now any Matador 5's will have a different brand of pickup installed.