NBD! G&L M2000 Tribute!!!

Ouch :-/ Now im so glad i pulled the trigger on L series..

 

Sorry you're so disappointed: thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed review, every opinion adds to the knowledge we have on the site. If you get round to it, try another E string and post back: that's the part I'd be most interested in hearing about. Hope the return process is pain-free.

Any other owners of the M2000 have similar experiences?

 

Sorry to hear that. It was a cool looking bass. agree that it was probably a customer return. I don't think that bass is representative of all M2000's, I played one of the first USA built ones and it had tons of output, and sounded pretty much like an L2000 set to active mode.

 

I have l2500 tribute too, blueburst w maple neck . I expected it to be heavy but it came in 8.5 lbs ballpark and i got used to the string spacing fast.
I love the playability, string to string balance and power, especially soloing the neck pu in series what a hammer!

 

Definitely not the norm. Sorry you ended up with THAT one. All the Tributes I've owned have been fantastic, only slightly below the quality of the US versions.

[edit] Oh, and the weight? Really? You've never come across a 10 lb bass before?? I prefer them under 9 lbs too, but 10 lbs is certainly not uncommon in nearly any brand.

 

One thing I'll add about G&Ls is that when it comes to their bridge, the intonation screw and ball end are in a pretty tight area. Because of this, the ball end if not able to spin freely when the bass is strung up, so it makes it easy to get the string twisted. I think even just re-string the stock E and making sure it isn't twisted might help.

 

I'm really sorry your Tribute wasn't up to snuff.

I'm also sorry that I came into this thread. I have a honeyburst Tribute M2000 that blows me away every time I pick it up, and this thread has reignited my GAS for the M2500! I got my 2000 as a MF SDOTD, so it was a REALLY GREAT DEAL.

It's not your fault, but I'm having a really hard time fighting the urge right about now.

 

You got a "used" bass obviously. Likely one that a previous buyer messed around with the setup, too. I've had that happen with MF before.

Let's be honest, with a 30 day return policy MF is going to accumulate a HUGE inventory of returned items. You pays yer money, and you takes yer chances.

That said, I bought a Tribute M-2000 from MF a few months ago for $399 shipped. The bass itself was fine, it played unexpectedly well, and the fretwork was close to perfect.

It sounded very good with all the power and tonal range one would expect from a G&L. But it had a certain "politeness" to the sound that keeps it from being in the same league as the scalpel-like MJ-4 or the muscular L-2000, at least for my tastes. It also weighed fully 10 lbs on my shipping scale. I returned it and have no doubt MF resold it as new to the next buyer.

I'm sure the M-2000 is perfect for some players, and that G&L is targeting them with the M-2000. Kudos to G&L for developing yet another model line.

 

I've got an Ash L2500 Tribute in natural and it's 10 lbs. I have two USA (fretted and fretless) L2500 in blueburst as well, but they are only 3 ounces lighter. They are all ash. When it comes to aggressive E (or B) strings THESE basses are IT! There is not an ounce of whimp in any of them. The USA basses are just a tiny bit better than the Tribby, but only a tiny bit. The Tribby did take some work (setup, strings, shielding to reduce noise and hum, etc.) but nothing drastic. I also installed the single coil mod that gets you closer to a Jazz bass thing.

I LOVE my L2500 basses and have long wondered if the M series was just too mild. One of these days I hope to actually play an M2500 or M2000 and see for myself.

Right now my L2500 herd are my main axes.

 

Glad I came across this thread...I was gonna post up my G&L story anyway...

I ordered my L-2000 from Thomann back in October, got a fantastic deal!

Anyway, I got the thing home and played it for a week or so, then decided to put a set of regular slinkys on there (my usual go-to strings) It needed a bit of a setup anyway, and with the new strings it DEFINITELY need a bit of a tweak.


The nut...looked like it had been cut with a butter knife by a blind man. It had plastic swarf hanging off the slots and was mounted about 2mm off-centre. Slots were cut way too wide and the strings rattled around in there.

The bridge...was missing its locking screw

Pots...were off-centre, scratchy and the knobs were so loose they were in danger of falling off.

So I packaged it up and sent it back. Thomann sent it back to G&L (or their distributor) to have a look at. A week later the bass is returned to me with new pots and knobs, a new hand-finished nut (and a cracking job they did too!!!) and a new locking screw.

I can't fault the service offered by Thomann or by G&L with their swift repair. However it may be useful for others to know that Tributes definitely do seem to have QC issues so be ready to factor in a return and a setup before it's playable.

Two months down the line I'm so happy with the bass. TBH I can't find anything else under £1200 that I'd be willing to replace it with. Fretwork is excellent, tuners feel slightly crude but they work fine and the tuning is very stable. I've spent a bit of time adjusting pickup heights to balance across the strings...but haven't bothered touching the individual pole pieces. If the M is anything like the L, it needs a delicate touch to dial in sounds as it's just so high-output. I'm using some effects so spend most of the time in passive mode.

I kind of like the weight, as it makes the bass feel substantial...you know? Like you're actually playing a piece of wood rather than a circuit-board.

 

Mine is the same weight as my mij marcus miller jazz, which is the lightest mm i have ever played. It took some time fiddling with truss rod and string height to get playability to my preferences, electronics are dead silent, i will have to file down the nut just a tiny bit and voila, the best budget fiver i have ever lay my hands on. (it beats to the curb some axes double the price actually ) which coils you are using in sc mode? how do you like the tone?

 

strings make a HUGE difference with any bass but with mfd equipped basses i find the difference even more exaggerated.. So far i found three sets which work great for me on l series basses, DR hi beams, d'addario xl nickels and pro steels. If you find m series sounding harsh, brittle and lacking mids try avoiding ss strings.

 

That's a bummer! Look for a used USA G&L, though that color combo is killer.

I've been finding more and more that with the exception of my stingray, any new/used bass isn't going to match my needs until I've had at least a full week to mess with it (in the case of the 4003, two years). That being said: The off center pots are unacceptable, and the messed up preamp goes right along with it. The buzzing lower frets could be attributed to a wonky fret, or a high nut making it difficult (I know you know your way around a bass though, so consider that a moot point).

All in all, if you love the look and the general package, return it for another. If you like the idea of the package but can deal with the lack of a blend, I'd consider a used one for a similar price point. I got this baby for a little more than what you paid (but mine has some obvious blemishes, DMBB (doesn't matter, beater bass)). You know what you like, do what you feel makes you happy.

 

last I looked Bass Place in Peoria still had a Black Ice M2000 with weight listed at 9.2 lbs.

https://www.thebassplace.com/product/gl-m2000-black-ice/

naturally more than the tribute series, but not a bad price for a USA

I bought a Black Ice M2500 from them earlier this year.
The strings that came on this were not good.
I put GHS pressurewounds that I was pretty happy with, but as mentioned, they were a little too polite.
There are DR Fat Beams on now. I never thought I liked rounds, but these have a lot of low depth and a little high buzz and that has become my favorite player.

 

Sorry to hear it. I got a 5 string M on stupid deal of the day a couple years ago. It's perfect.

I added a pickup and coil splitting to mine. The three slabs of wood line up nice on the front but not on the back, but that's to be expected on a non-US model.

 

I love the looks and color of the model with the fancy top like you picked out. The sharp-ish edge around the binding would be a comfort problem for me however.

 

Those black ice models look killer! I love the grain fill they do on those - reminds me of the natural F basses with black grain fill. I might try doing it with a Warmoth body some day.