G&L L2000

[MattF007]

I’m thinking of purchasing a G&L L2000 sight unseen. I won’t be able to try it before buying it. I’ve tried listening to numerous YouTube videos and past posts. I thought I would throw it out to see if anyone has any comments to offer in term of the overall tone of the bass. I owned a G&L M2000 years ago but found it to be to midrange heavy despite liking how it played, just couldn’t gel with the overall tone.
My preference are jazz basses with both pickups on or with the neck or bridge pickup slightly rolled back, or a PJ set up. I thought owning a G&L would be a great compliment to my Fender’s. I know the L2000 can offer a variety of tones I’m just not after a bass with an aggressive overall midrange tone. Thank you for any input anyone can offer.

 

[metron]

The L2000 excels at aggressive mids so much that its hard to dial out if you need to. Even the double humbucker tone that has some built-in scoop is still very middy. I don’t suspect it’s the bass you are looking for.

 

[lug]

The L2000 will be similar to the M2000, if not even more aggresive. I love mine much more in a Rock setting than a Blues setting for example.

 

[Torrente Cro]

I have L2500 tribute and I like it sonically, very versitle. Neck is little bit bulky, like all tributes. I got used to it, but watch out, you may not like it.

 

[Kawai2g4b]

If you can find an L2000 with an outer coil k-mod, you can get close to Jazz bass territory with both pickups selected. However, it’s still a bit of a J-bass on steroids kind of tone.

The trick on these basses is that keeping the volume around 7 will mellow out the tone slightly and be comparable in volume to a maxed out P or J bass.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

Although I use an L-2500 as a backup, it will never be my main bass. M-2500 lets you blend the pickups; whereas the pickup selector of L-2500 has an "all-or-nothing" approach - you can't blend the pickups in varying degrees and catch sweet spots. So you can't "slightly roll off" either pickup.

Another important point: Pickups of M-2500 are wound 12% less; taking the aggression under control. L-2500 will have hotter and more aggressive pickups. If you found M-2500 too aggressive, well... You can kinda tame it with on-board electronics, I suppose.

On the other hand; you can run L-2500 passive if needed, so there is that - a good property for a backup bass.

 

[pablogacevedo]

You have to understand that's an evolution from the Stingray, with hints of Precision and Jazz bass.
It's very aggressive though as stated above, you can tame that by rolling the volume or the bass knobs.
With that said, don't buy it if you think you can copy those basses' sounds since it's close though not enough

 

[gtirard]

I bought mine online without trying (just after I saw a concert where the bassist had one, I had never heard of G&L before) - and I don't regret it, it's one of my favorite. That said, I was looking for a sound punchier than a typical Fender P or J. Like others have said, if I was worried being able to have the same tone as a J, I wouldn't buy a L2000.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

If you end up going for it you can give it a “K” mod, which takes the series/parallel switch and makes it a 3 way with single coil mode. Not only does that do the jazz bass thing but it does a pretty convincing single coil P bass when on the neck pickup.

 

[GrooveCaptain]

Like others have said, the L2k's MFD humbuckers are very mid heavy. I considered them more like an aggressive bright P pickup than a regular humbucker.
If you didn't like that sound, I wouldn't buy it thinking you can change it. Plus, since the pickups are unique dimensions, a pickup swap could be impossible without some routing. Plenty of other basses feel great, and will give you that J sound.

 

[mdlewis]

I ordered a L2K about a decade ago. It's the bass in my avatar. It's a very interesting beast and very, very different than my other basses. As others have said, it's very mid-rangey. It took me a long while to find strings I could tolerate (GHS balanced nickels) and when I play it, I need to substantially EQ the amp differently. It's a great rock/pop bass and can cop a number of typical bass tones with ease, as well as produce a few unique ones of its own.

It can also go from well-behaved to nasty-aggressive better than any other bass I own, which certainly has its uses too. The one thing it cannot do for me is emulate a traditional full on J pickups, full tone control rolled off, tone. The tone stack on these is passive bass treble and the cut offs make it impossible to dial out mids on the bass. The full on J pickups, tone control full up, signature burp tone it does get closer to (and I imagine that the K mod would get you even closer) but it sounds to my ears more like the full up burp on my PJs then on a J. The volume control behaves like most passive basses and has a marked effect on the tone, too. I rarely play it at full volume, more like 75-80%.

Those mids make it an excellent bass though for aggressive performances and for recording where some EQ control post instrument is available. More than any other bass I have, you start with so much that it's much easier to get in range tonally when you have the full EQ power of a DAW.

Although it's a got a preamp in it, the preamp seems mainly useful for improving tone over long cable runs (which works great, but isn't always necessary) in the first setting and adding some sizzle on top if you want it in the second one.

 

[Chris Chong]

The pickups are mid heavy. It’s great if you need that tone.

You may not appreciate it when solo, but it may work well in a mix.

 

[TheReceder]

I've had positive comments on the signal sent to the foh when using my L2000. It drives some people nuts when I say that I'm less concerned with what I hear on stage compared to what goes out the mains. But I'm convinced I can get more tones out of my L2000 and ASAT than most of my other basses. I consider it my swiss army knife of basses.

I bought mine without seeing, or playing it and can't complain.

 

[dabbler]

Interesting that folks couldn't dial out enough midrange on an M series using the midrange tone control to get a sound they like.

I have 4 and 5 string Tribute Ls and Ms. I like them all.

 

[Abzan_Titan]

I'm lucky that the Musicshop with the largest selection of G&L basses here in Germany, is just 20km (12,42mi) away from me.

I have been able to test and compare the l2000 extensively and can only say, that it is one of the best basses I have ever had in my hands.

The combination in my picture ......puuuuh....mighty, mighty!

 

[fishdude101101]

Best thing you can do is put strings on it that are not mid-focused. Plenty out there. I didn't like my l-2500 at first but after I figured it out its a tone monster. Almost all other basses sound thin to my ears now.

 

[BobKos]

I am a Jazz Bass fanboy. I thought for a long time that an L2000 would be the best and next evolution of the Jazz Bass. I looked for a LOOONG time for one that checked all my boxes. I finally found one and was hugely disappointed. For me the tone was awful and the wonky control setup was not conducive to working it out. It was much easier and better for me to leave it in its case and use basses I really like rather than fighting with the L2000. After a long time but without much thought or regret I sold it off cheap and at a loss. Never again for G&L.

 

[Ellery]

Actually if you use the preamp properly you can get your sound. Yes, the pickups are hot as hell, if you leave the passive bass and treble pots wide open. The hot pickups give you enough headroom that you can attenuate either bass or treble, or both, and find a balance in there. If you want a bass that is just plug and play for your sound, go with a JB.

 

[klokker]

There is nothing like the L series out there that I know of. The front pickup is a "P bass on steroids". It's just big. I prefer the M because it's tamed down a bit, more "normal" if you will, but the L is just impressive, raw, and can just be monstrous.

I take my old L to rehearsal and usually practice with it. Our drummer loves it. Big and ballsy. But I gig the M because in our rock and roll band I just don't need quite that much heat and prefer the preamp.

After I play the L for a while, I can grab my Fender P bass and play that. The P bass always seems wimpy for a while.

 

[2F/2F]

An L-2000 can offer a wide tonal palette, but if blended Jazz bass tones are your thing, the 2K will not deliver. Those blended J tones are, more than anything else, something a 2K is just not good at copying. Even if you have single coil mode on your 2K, all you can get is a 50:50 blend.

The M-2K is the best bass for getting what you want, but you already said you don't like it. However, I don't get that, as an M-2K has pretty much every tone under the sun, just using the onboard controls. I don't find it middy at all. I find it extremely neutral when set flat, which is what allows it to be so wide ranging with the onboard 3-band e.q., volume, and pan knobs...not to mention your amp's controls.

In other words, there really isn't what you call an "overall tone" to the M-2000. Its strength, like most basses with active onboard e.q., is that it's close to being a blank slate. That is a strength that lets you dial in whatever you want, due to the strong lack of inherent tonal coloration at the baseline flat setting. The problem is that YOU have to dial in the tone; it doesn't just happen. If you aren't getting what you want from a bass like that, 99 percent of the time, it just means that you haven't learned how to control it.