NBD: 1982 L-1K

[guitar_ed]

Hi All,

I just bought this critter, black paint & bridge, chrome tuners. Both body & neck are dated 1982.

And of course....... Today is the day my bass amp decided to give up the ghost, or some such *^%$&^$%E like that. I know from my tuner it works, but not from the amp.

I know the rules, I have quoted them too many time to too many people, pix tonight or tomorrow morning.

1 challenge: This is a 3 bolt with a chrome neck plate, and NO serial number. How do I add it to the registry?

Later,

edg

[Elwood]

Congrats!
Is there a serial on the bridge ?

...Assuming it really exists

Looking forward to proof...er..I mean pics .

Elwood

[guitar_ed]

And.... Elwood is correct. I now have the SN.

As an FYI: I am having problems posting pix, and I have sent Craig a PM so we can address the issue.

Later,

edg

[sam]

Hey Ed,

Congrats on the new bass (leap of faith it does exist) Since yer having the picture problems, best to just send her to me because my camera is working great. Promise to send her back after posting pictures.

Hope the amp fairy waves magic dust soon so you can hear some low end thump!

[Craig]

And.... Elwood is correct. I now have the SN.

As an FYI: I am having problems posting pix, and I have sent Craig a PM so we can address the issue.

Later,

edg

Here are Ed's photos:

[KenC]

Hi Ed,

Congratulations! I've been dragging my feet on my own NBD post for over a week, so I'll prove mine after you prove yours.

My new one had the exact opposite effect on my favorite bass amp. An incompetent technician had turned a simple tube change into an ongoing chain of problems four years ago. An extremely talented amp tech had repaired the other guy's unauthorized attempt at modifications last year, but not quite restored the old mojo. After about 15 minutes of playing the new bass, the tone that I had loved for thirty years started to come back. I know it was coincidence, but I will take it as a sign anyway.

So, the big questions for an '82 L-1K: slots or small hexes on the polepieces? Skunk stripe or bi-cut?

Ken

[KenC]

I knew it existed. Is that a rosewood board? It's unusual to see one this early in G&L's production.

Ken

[guitar_ed]

Hi Ken,

1) Slotted, like a flat head screwdriver.
2) Skunk stripe. I thought all G&Ls that old were bi-cut. I were wrong.
3) Rosewood. Or some very red toned ebony.

If I am reading the neck & neck pocket correctly, the neck is dated Sept. 2, 1982, and the body is Jan 22, 1992.

I am not sure what the "4" is in the neck pocket. Neck size maybe. the "C" by the "4"? And the "6" or "9" on the neck. Any ideas?

And there is more writing that is too faint to see, even in real light & time. Full size pix are available is desired.

Take care,

edg

[KenC]

Full size pics would be great. I'd love to see how that finish held up, since it looks really clean in the small pics.

Rosewood was used in very limited quantities in the early '80s, but from what I can see yours appears to have the right grain pattern and shade.

Bi-cut necks weren't introduced until late '82, so yours might be one of the last ones. I have several G&Ls with skunk stripes. The youngest is an S-500, with a production date of 7/29/82. I've never taken the neck off to check the date stamps. A couple of my SC models have October '82 neck stamps, and all of those are bi-cut.

The slotted pole pieces were used in '81 and '82. Many Leo-era bass fans consider them to be more desirable than earlier or later versions that are adjusted with hex keys. I don't hear a difference myself, but I've only had two with slots and many with hexes.

Please post a larger photo of the neck pocket. The dates can have gaps in the ink if it crosses a dent in the wood or deep grain, which can make the digits hard to interpret. It's also not unheard-of for the stamp to have an obviously incorrect digit in the year. The L-series bodies were cut to a different profile starting in '83, so a large photo or two could shed some light. Also, they went to rear-loaded controls later in the '80s. The mismatched hardware (black bridge with a chrome control plate) were typical in '82.

Ken

[guitar_ed]

Hi Everybody,

Here are some larger sized pix of the new bass. Due to some unknown problems, I can not post pix in the normal way. Something about me & my computer, because Craig can my pix with no problems. So I have to do it this way, as links to a URL, which are in fact the pix.

KenC, you had an observation about the body being in good shape. Given that it's 34 years old, it is in good shape, but the reality is that there are some SMALL blemishes in the finish. No serious buckle rash on the back. And as you can better see in these pix, the neck has the skunk stripe.

Question: What does the 3 position red switch do? HB, SC, and ????????? And 3 knobs. Vol, tone, and ???????? I am so confused.

Later,

edg

Thanks to Elwood, I posted the pix below.

[Elwood]

Have you tried the 'timage' tags with your slightly larger than what's allowed pictures?

I'll try one:


I usually open a pic in a new tab, then if you hover the mouse over the tab it will tell you the dimensions.
Divide those dimension with the same number to get under the pixel limit.Plug those numbers and the url into the timage function.
It's nice when the math is easy

Here's the instructions from the tutorial:
"f you are posting a large photo greater than 1024 pixels wide X 1300 pixels high,
you must use the thumb= tags or timage= tags with the size no bigger than "1024,1300",
which will place a resized image of your photo as a link to the full size image.
Also, make sure the image_url is to an image file, not an album or slideshow. If you don't see the image
when you Preview your post, something is wrong. If you get the Your images may only be up
to 1024 pixels wide. message, try doing another Preview. There is a known bug when the image
is hosted by photobucket and, if the photo is smaller than 1025 pixels wide X 1301 pixels high, it should
be displayed with this re-previewing."

[guitar_ed]

OK. Elwood done shown me how to post my pix. Something is still wrong between me & the board, but this works well.

Thanks,

edg

[Katefan]

Cool Wunkay Ed - Congrats!

KF

[guitar_ed]

More "Adventures with Ed and the s&I^* that happens on the way."

I took the bass and my amp, a Genz-Benz to my dealer to see what the problem is. I know now what the problem is.

The GB has a removable power cord, like on a desktop computer. So I plug in the amp to a power strip, make sure the amp end is in tight and....... Nothing. Argh!!!

The power strip was powered off. Power up the power strip and everything works as expected.

edg

[Fumble fingers]

sweet Bass Ed !!

[KenC]

Question: What does the 3 position red switch do? HB, SC, and ????????? And 3 knobs. Vol, tone, and ???????? I am so confused.

Elwood posted the answer for the switch, but I'll add that the description "single coil with bass boost" isn't exactly correct. It's actually an overall boost, with a treble cut. This is what L-1K fans refer to as the "OMG switch". IMO, this was one of Leo's all-time best ideas.

The knobs are volume, treble and bass. Generally I start with the volume about 80%, and the treble and bass midway. See how the amp reacts, and season to taste.

String choice has a huge effect on how and old L-1K or L-2K sounds. In my experience, they are really the starting point for finding the perfect tone on these basses; the controls pick up from there. Just thought I'd mention that. Also, your strap buttons look original to me. They aren't the type normally found on G&Ls, but they were definitely used by the factory during the 1980s. I've seen them most often on basses.

I'm sure that's a rosewood board.

Ken

[sam]

Ed,

For an old one that is a looker. (the guitar that is )

Been looking at all the pics and learning a lot from Ken and Ed's comments, you found a very cool bass. Congrats!

[guitar_ed]

KenC: Any ideas on strings? I currently have some RotoSound Jazz strings on it. There are pretty nice. I am not having the problems with the SB-2 I got earlier, the one that needs tape wound to sound decent.

If it makes a difference, I am pretty of a blues/R&B/country kind of guy. No heavy metal, no progressive. Definitely Stax type stuff.

Thanks,

edg

[KenC]

If it makes a difference, I am pretty of a blues/R&B/country kind of guy. No heavy metal, no progressive. Definitely Stax type stuff.

I tend toward the same direction. I would definitely say to try flats. I've experimented quite a bit on different basses. Here are some ideas for a starting point:

1. D'Addario Chromes: These are reasonably priced strings that I have on an '81 L-2KE and a late '90s L-1500. They have a fairly high tension, but if the bass is set up well and the action is fairly low that's not necessarily a bad thing. I personally like these for the types of music you mentioned. To my ears, they emphasize the fundamental tone when the bass is in passive mode but can get pretty growly when it's active.

2. LaBella Deep Talkin': Slightly more expensive than Chromes, but I can feel and hear a difference in performance. The regular gauge set is about the same tension as Chromes, or maybe slightly looser. I have them on my '80 L-1K.

3. LaBella Original 1954s: These are a very heavy gauge version of the Deep Talkin' set. Their claim to fame is that they are identical to the LaBellas that James Jamerson used on the classic Motown recordings. I have a set on my '85 SB-1, just to get the Jamerson experience. They are extremely high tension, which produces a different feel and maybe a bit tighter of a sound. Personally, I would not go straight to these without working up through some lighter gauge sets. It would probably be too stressful physically.

4. Rotosound 77s: I have these on a Lynx and a fretless L-2K. They have less tension than any of the ones I've mentioned above, but they aren't floppy. To my ears, they have quite a bit of growl and maybe a bit of a scooped-mids sound...very much the Rotosound vibe. I like the way they feel. They might not be the top choice for the styles you mentioned, but they are still a very decent choice IMO for starting to explore flats.

5. Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats: I have these on a fretless Guild Pilot. They are probably the most expensive bass strings out there, at around $70 a set. I had to try them after hearing a lot of rave reviews, but I doubt I would invest in them for any of my G&Ls. They have an extremely low tension, to the point of clicking against the fingerboard. The note definition and clarity are amazing, but probably most suited for fretless IMO. They work very well for getting the Jaco Pastorius sound.

6. Pyramid Golds: I saved the best for last. These have become my go-to string, on fretted and fretless. The tension is a bit softer than Chromes or LaBellas, but much firmer than TI Jazz Flats. The E and A strings feel pretty thick compared to the the D and G or to most other sets, which is the only thing I haven't loved about these strings. The tension and volume is even across all four strings, though. They have a ton of fundamental, but with the right EQ settings they can also be pretty bright. I currently have them on an L-2K fretless and an El Toro.

I hope this helps. FWIW, I buy most of my bass strings from http://www.bassstringsonline.com (no affiliation). They have very competitive prices, amazing customer service, and will even discuss string selection over the phone to help you find the right set.

Ken