G&L L-2500 USA. "Swamp Ash" or "Swamp Ash over tilia" ??????

[perfecttone]

Hi All,

Just wondering if this bass Is a full "swamp ash body", or "swamp ash over American tilia" as I have seen listed on some sites as pasted below.

The G&L L-2500 5-String Bass features a swamp ash top on American tilia (basswood) body. The neck is hard rock maple with a rosewood fretboard. Its string-thru construction is extremely solid and the natural gloss finish has been meticulously applied. This is an instrument that will be there for you for a very long time--it may even outlast you!

You certainly won't run out of tone options: the L-2500, in addition to being a 5-string, sports two G&L Magnetic Field humbuckers with a 3-way mini-toggle pickup selector, a series/parallel mini-toggle, and a preamp control mini-toggle. You'll be able to make lightning-fast tone changes that will meet and exceed your needs for laying down silky grooves or thump-snapping killer solos.

As you will see it's a premium blueburst finish with natural binding so all the features scream out "ASH BODY" but I would really like to know 100% what it is.

[yowhatsshakin]

I have a 2003 L-2500 which still has a tilia body which a (gorgeous) quilted maple cap. I believe that G&L stopped using tilia a couple of years later. The S/N you provide tells me that this bass is not that old and hence I believe this will be a ash bodied bass as stated on the G&L L-2500 web page where incidentally a similar bass is shown. But since the back has an opaque finish, the only way to know for sure is to take of the neck.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

[Craig]

When this model first came out in 1997, the body was Swamp Ash over Tilia. From
the 1997-98 catalog (insert 3) in our Gallery:


The body was changed to Swamp Ash by the 2009 catalog, though I don't know the
exact year this change was made.

Your particular bass looks to have the Swamp Ash over Tilia body due to the Blueburst
finish on the front and the black back. See Can you explain the Bursted finishes on G&L instruments?.

Hope this helps.

[Ken Baker]

Your particular bass looks to have the Swamp Ash over Tilia body due to the Blueburst
finish on the front and the black back. See Can you explain the Bursted finishes on G&L instruments?.

Hope this helps.

I disagree. If you look carefully at the shot of the back of the bass, you'll see the square-looking bosses on the back of the tuners. This is indicative of Hipshot tuners, which should put this post-2005 (or so). How post-2000 is unknown because we don't have neck or body dates. Hipshot tuners could be present on fairly recent basses.

This being what appears to be a recent bass, I think the chances of it being solid ash are a whole lot greater than it being capped. My L-2500 is from 7/2008, bound blueburst front, opaque from the binding back, has Hipshots, and is solid ash. In my case, it's probably the binding that made for the opaque back because there's no basswood present.

As we know, G&L could be really variable in how things got done. It's much more consistent now. The problem with this particular instance is that I don't think anyone is in a position to pull the neck to be certain of what the body is. I don't think that this L-2500 is in Perfecttone's possession, and that's he's looking for info - possibly prior to purchase.

I'll hang with ash on this one.

Ken...

[Craig]

Your particular bass looks to have the Swamp Ash over Tilia body due to the Blueburst
finish on the front and the black back. See Can you explain the Bursted finishes on G&L instruments?.

Hope this helps.

I disagree. If you look carefully at the shot of the back of the bass, you'll see the square-looking bosses on the back of the tuners. This is indicative of Hipshot tuners, which should put this post-2005 (or so). How post-2000 is unknown because we don't have neck or body dates. Hipshot tuners could be present on fairly recent basses.

This being what appears to be a recent bass, I think the chances of it being solid ash are a whole lot greater than it being capped. My L-2500 is from 7/2008, bound blueburst front, opaque from the binding back, has Hipshots, and is solid ash. In my case, it's probably the binding that made for the opaque back because there's no basswood present.

As we know, G&L could be really variable in how things got done. It's much more consistent now. The problem with this particular instance is that I don't think anyone is in a position to pull the neck to be certain of what the body is. I don't think that this L-2500 is in Perfecttone's possession, and that's he's looking for info - possibly prior to purchase.

I'll hang with ash on this one.

Ken...

Hey Ken,

Thanks for a bass expert's review of this.

I also missed the fact that it has a top wood binding which would account for the back of body being
finished with the outside burst color.

I will go with the expert and say it is Swamp Ash, too.

[Ken Baker]

Hey Ken,

Thanks for a bass expert's review of this.

I don't know about that. I regularly screw up. In fact, I did so in the same thread over at BassesByLeo. I was still a quart low on coffee when I initially posted and one of my members graciously reminded that I was a screwup.

This isn't so much a bass or guitar thing as it is a "when was it built" thing. If it has the thinner body and rolled fingerboard edges, then it's mid-2008 or later and certain to be ash. If earlier but still in the Hipshot age group, it could be either ash or capped with a definite lean toward ash. Earlier than that is a toss-up.

I also missed the fact that it has a top wood binding which would account for the back of body being
finished with the outside burst color.

Don't sweat that. The binding is REALLY hard to see in the image unless you zoom in close, and even then it's tough. The description Perfecttone quoted appears to be ad copy from someplace. Maybe an eBay seller? I just looked closely at the image to try to verify the ad.

Ken...

[perfecttone]

Thanks for all the information guys,
I thought it was all Ash, but I was thrown about a bit as a friend said that it could well have a tilia back, but the shop that I bought it from said they were sure it was solid Ash and I did not want to buy it if it was tilia as I'm not a big fan of basswood. Anyway I am looking forward In receiving the bass even though I bought it without playing it, as I have been told they are killer basses. I thought I'd take the punt... Thanks for all your knowledge again guys, It's much appreciated and I feel more comfortable that it is ash...

[Craig]

And, don't forget to add it to our G&L Registry.

Enjoy!