LeftyBassist.com

Couple of cool options on this (painted headstock and ebony fingerboard) but a bit overpriced imo:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271240555824?ss ... 1438.l2649

I wonder if here are issues with that bass? I remember it sat at Guitar Center for a long time without being sold.

The plot thickens - it does mention dings in the ad, especially ones on the back of the neck would concern me. This might be one you would have to try in person before buying.

Well,

I actually got to play this bass. Atomic Bay is Atomic Music over in Maryland. They sell used instruments. They get in a ton of lefties because there are two lefty pro level players who live near there and they swap basses there all the time. They are also selling a lefty sb5000 that looked very well made and sounded great, even through some cruddy rigs, but just did not mesh with the feel of the neck and the way the upper horn on it poked into my chest when I played in a seated position. They also just recently sold a lefty US Lakland 55-94

The G&L bass itself looked to me to be in fine condition. I did not note any major scratches or blems. I thought the tone with the ebony board was a little harsh, I have preferred the sound with a rosewood and neck pup soloed. Everything seem to be in working order. I thought it was overpriced as well, but this is the kind of place that I would call and negotiate with if you are interested. Bass was not for me, but it was not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. I should note I just played it for 15 or 20 minutes.

Hope this helps.

Nothing like a first hand description - thanks! Did you get to see the Carvin LB75 I posted in the other thread? Looks like it could have condition issues but maybe this seller just wants to point out every little thing - which is good!

I did not see the Carvin LB75, I was there last Tuesday. I would say that this seller likes to point out every little thing generally. The place feels like a musical pawn store met a turkish trading bazaar. It oozes character. They have good stuff, and they have some really, really, beat up stuff that makes you wonder why they are selling borderline junk. They usually have between 4-8 lefty basses when I go in, and about 20 lefty guitars (which I don't know how to play ). They'll price accordingly. They'll negotiate. They'll sell cruddy stuff. The owners and employees are all gigging musicians. They are completely honest brokers.

Slightly OT, but last time I was there they had a 5 string lefty fretless Michael Kelly strung with flats neck to an old Cort P-bass with the pups rusted through plugged into a 20 watt Crate that was missing half of its side, which was neck to their barely used Musicman BigAl.

I seen the comment that the price is a little high and I would agree but do not be mis-lead, G&L basses do not have the $$ value as Fenders. This is a shame I feel their basses are of better quality of Fender basses in the same era. I have approx 5-6 Fenders (US and Japan) and 3 G&L's (US) and I often grab a G&L before heading out on gigs. For approx 4 years my G&L-1000 was my main bass. So I agree that playing the bass is the best method but if you never played a US made G&L and you like Fenders, you will not be dis-appointed.

+1. G&Ls are so underrated, and for better or worse, they do not seem to hold their value (good if you're looking for a used one, bad if you're looking to sell one), though they rarely come up used because nobody wants to get rid of them! Their retail price has crept up in recent years (who's prices haven't?), which may or may not hurt them even more.

I currently own the L2000 Tribute. Fantastic bass for the money. I did own a US made ASAT for a while, but I never bonded with it. Weighed a ton and was uncomfortable to play due to the fact that the lack of an upper horn made the first fret feel a mile away. Of course, I'm willing to overlook that dilemma with a T-Bird.

bhunt, being a vintage G&L owner, what can you say about the differences between old and new tonally? Aside from the vintage vibe/mojo factor, has the G&L sound(s) changed over the years? (ala Musicman).

On vintage vs. modern G&Ls, the only direct comparison I have experienced is the L2000. My '83 L2k has a more mellow sound both in passive and active modes with the p'ups in parallel mode, but it is beastly (in a good way) in series mode. Also active with boost on the vintage L2K is a nice bright sound. The modern L2K I owned was more growly in passive mode. It generally has more of that in active and in passive mode. You can tame it to a degree but it is just more naturally aggressive. The active with boost mode was not to my ears a usable tone. Too harsh. Overall the vintage L2K gets my vote, it is one of my all time fav basses.
I have an '83 SB2 which is passive only, and it get the jazz tone with a bit more aggressive bite. It is bright. I have never owned a modern SB2 with the P/J setup, although I would like to!
The L1000 is passive only, single mode is p bass like, but with a little of the MFD growl. Bass boost/OMG mode is really really bassy and aggressive, but if you back the bass way off it is a nice bassy tone. In that mode it is hard to believe the 1K is passive only.
Overall I prefer the G&L vintage tones, but the modern are nice.

Yay! I just bought this on a second chance offer. It never reached the reserve so I was able to get it for a little less ($685). Not bad imo for the options it has - painted headstock and ebony board.

Great score!

If anyone's interested, I'm going to be listing my circa 2000-2001 L2k. It's nowhere near the pristine condition of the bass in this thread, so it'll be at a different price point. It does have the somewhat rare #6 neck - vintage radius, 1.5" nut.