G&L L-2000

After the P, the J, the MM, Leo created the G&L L2K. Some say it's his best, some say he did it right the first time. Personally, I'd put the L2K in the MM ballpark, but add some more mids. Build quality is great, weight can inch up so you'll want to check before you buy. My only complaint is the truss rod access. Really wish they would use a wheel truss rod access at the body.

I've had 6 G&L L-2000s over the years and they have all been excellent basses. However for whatever reason they never seem to stay with me (but you could say that about just about everything I buy).


The MFD pickups have tons of output and tons of tone. Massive low end and growl with an overall aggressive character. The low end can be overwhelming in series mode without appropriate eq. Leo designed the pickups to put out a lot of low and highs so the passive eq would provide all the necessary flexibility.


Series has massive low end and more subdued, P-bass like highs. Some folks find it too much and unwieldy. Parallel is more J-like and adds top end bite and better balance.


Passive is more vintage-ey and not as harsh/up-front (not that these basses are ever subdued). Active increases the focus and presence of the sound and I personally never used active plus treble boost as it was just too much.


I love the feel of a G&L with jazz-like neck (G&L's #6 neck) and all the L2Ks I had (mostly recent, one '87) were fine on weight - under 10lbs.


The drawbacks, for me, were that the lows can be overwhelming. It can be difficult, particularly in series mode, to get good low-to-high balance out of your sound. And while it can cut through a mix with the best of basses my preferred tone (series, neck pickup) was difficult to get balanced enough to get the D & G strings to punch through a pair of half stacks the same way the lower strings did.


Also the lack of a blend means you can't just add a touch of bridge pickup, or favor the bridge pickup just a hair. It may result in "purer" tone to not have the blend pot there but I know I would have liked it.


I've had enough L2Ks that the controls are second nature to me now. But I remember my first encounter with an L2500 (same bass, 5 strings) in a store. I couldn't find a sound I liked in a short time of playing with it because of the complexity.


Well made, comfortable and the pinnacle of Leo's bass design evolution. A lot of people who try them never go back to anything else. But then again they leave a lot of people cold too.

I have L2000 from the first year of its production 1981. Maple neck and transparent red ash body. My bass is very heavy, heaviest bass I've ever owned. Beside this, I love it and it is my weapon of choice.

It has literally tons of punch. This bass is a monster steroid MF. I love it for tons of bottom and clear audible treble, not artificial like in Music Man.

When I bought the bass it was already over 30 year old and it wasnt lying in the case because somebody was playing this bastard a lot.

Neck has a perfect feeling for me. Wide ,thin but very solid. The only thing is that I need to change frets, because they are really worn now.I will work on electronic shielding because its noisy.

I've had many basses in past Fenders, Music Man's etc. But this bass has tons of definition, thick/fat tone with great power and natural sound.

I play since 15 years, I play jazzcorish stuff.

I've read all of the reviews on the L-2000 and have decided to chime in. First off, the bass is very solid except it came with a scratchy pot. For this money, shouldn't be. Now, for the tonal aspects...I agree with much of what has been posted. Toggle switches offer a variety of tones, but not as much as a blend knob would. I find the treble and bass cut controls counter-intuitive (do I really want to cut the lows if I want more highs? Not really). With 3 knobs and 3 switches, I find only one setting is really viable for my style (hard rock). This is: Volume knob up, bass cut off, and treble cut half-way. Switches are all up, towards the neck. This provides good lows, decent highs, and significant volume. I don't like muddy and I don't like twangy...the other combination of settings yields one of the two.


I have had this bass three years, and have no reason to sell it. I do not, however, love it. It is solid for gigs, yet I always bring a back-up to shows. I find myself shopping for Gibsons and Fenders that cost twice as much, yet won't really do anything different. It's actually confusing, because I should love this bass, I want to love it, but still don't. Any thoughts are welcomed.

I absolutely love this bass! I agree with many reviewers that there are almost too many settings available, but once you find your favorite 3 or 4, its easy to switch back and forth. The finish seems to be almost indestructible. I have whacked it more than once on amps, music stands, light fixtures, etc. always expecting damage, but no scratches or chips. And did I say it stays in tune, for like, uh, EVER!

This bass was SO CLOSE to being extrordinairy...but alas, the electronics screwed it up.

You have so many tone choices on this bass with the selector switches and knobs, but so many of them are total crap and useless.

It reminds me a fancy digital effects processor which has every effect in the book, but they are mostly worthless and unuseable.

If you are gonna go ahead and spend over a 1000$ US on a bass, then i would say, don't waste your money on this particular one, because there are a lot of other basses out there which have better tones and play better in this price range. BUT, if you pick one up used for a couple hundred, then you totally got your monies worth.

Also, these basses cannot take the abuse of other basses designed by leo fender. After a couple years of wear and tear, they turn to garbage.

I have a 1984 G&L L-2000 and Im never letting go of it. Such great tonal quality and versatility. This bass can immitate almost anyother Ive heard. The passive/active switch has gotten me out of a few messes, and these basses are built like tanks. My advice: grab a good one, and dont let go.

Like some of the other reviewers here, I have owned and played enough of the newer and older L2Ks to know exactly where they are at. They have killer tone, but in a live gig scenario, only about 4-to-6 sounds are usable at live/loud stage levels. Each one had a different neck too. I have not yet come across an L2K that hasn't had a preamp/pup buzz issue of one sort or another. Maybe because the control pot cavity or pickup routing areas aren't shielded? This malady has caused me to sell all of my former L2Ks in favor of Leo's passive children, like the L1K, SB-1, SB-2 and Legacy/LB-100 basses, all of which I currently own, gig with and love to death. The L-1000 is the best of the bunch and anyone who has ever played one will know why. It's a much simplified L2K with a more robust sound with three onboard voices, courtesy of the 3-way mini toggle. Although the L2K represents all of Leo's genius and versatility , the L1K is the first bass he made at G&L and in my opinion the best.

The other reviews encapsulate what makes this bass a great value - US handcraftsmanship at the cost of Lakland's Korean-built Skylines (not a fair comparison, however). The finish, wood, and hardware on these basses are spectacular.

Tone options are almost overwhelming. The L2K has a BIG sound palette...I'm not kidding.

I highly recommend the jazz neck width (either #6 or #8 neck).

The biggest negative so far is an elusive grounding issue that has the bass buzzing unless I'm touching either the bridge, strings, or other hardware. I'll fix it, but for 1200 dollars, the bass should have arrived without this problem.

The G&L L-2000 is one of the most underrated basses ever created. It far surpasses any Fender I've played (except for some Custom Shop basses), and they are a great value for the money. You can get all sorts of tones out of it - Jazz, P Bass, Stingray, as well as tones unique to the L-2000. Some people are intimidated by the controls, but they are second nature once you know what they do. It might take you a while to nail down a few of your favorite tones, but thats part of the fun... you're always finding new sounds. The 2 band EQ is sufficient and quite helpful. Its only downfall is that the control cavity isn't shielded, which can lead to a slight hum sometimes (primarily in series). If you're playing live it wouldn't be a problem, but if you're recording and theres florescent lights or computer monitors around, you might have to throw a noise gate on your track... or have the cavity shielded. G&L customer service is great too - I bought my instrument used and the jack was messed up (probably due to misuse by the previous owner) and they sent me a brand new jack for free, instead of charging me $10 as listed in their parts catalog. Overall, the best for your buck.


A couple of my favorite settings to try:

Pick/Slap) Both pickups, parallel, active, bass & treble full

Fingerstyle) Neck pickup only, series, passive, bass 3/4 full, treble 1/2 full