G&L L2000 Fretless

G&L L2G USA. 10 lb solid Alder body. Natural finish. Unlined ebony fingerboard. Maple Neck. Bolt-On. 2 Humbuckers. Many different presets for preamp, Passive/Active/Active w/ treble boost; Series and Parallel config; Pickup selector switch. Bass, Treble and volume knobs.

I read the BP mag review of the L2500 Tribute which has the same electronic config as the L2G. They had commented on how confusing the preamp switches and knobs were to figure out. Unfortunately G&L didn't send a manual to explain what each pot did. I had the BP article though and I didn't find the pots very hard to figure out from that. I had it mastered in about a day.

It also would have been nice if they built-in a pickup split option to single coil. That's a whole nother can of worms though and would probably have required a couple more bells & whistles. I'm pretty satisfied with what I got here.

Lots of options for tone sculpting. I'm finding new cool settings and sounds in it everyday. I mostly rock it in passive. I found there is not a huge boost in sound when switched into active (which is a good thing). I'd rather not wear down the battery unless I'm gigging or recording active. If my battery were ever to crap out live, it's comforting to know I could just switch it to passive and not lose much, if any, noticeable sound.

I experiment a lot in parallel mode too. Parallel has a lot more defined mids (like a P) which is useful for giving lines in the baritone range extra clarity. I probably play parallel as much as I do in series.

I can dial in just about any type of sound you could get from a J, P or a Stingray. I got the best of 3 worlds in one bass.

Treble boost mode is not that useful since I play virtually no slap, especially on fretless bass.

I kind of wish the bass knob had a little more dynamics than the treble knob. I like a little bit more balls in my low end and I find that when I play it with a flat amp EQ the low end lacks presence. It's ok though, I just tweak up the Bass knob on my power for that setting.

Intonation was dead on. No adjustment needed. Action was nice but a little low. I try to get rid of as much clacking as possible from my right hand so I had to raise the saddles just a little and file down the nut.

The ebony fingerboard is gorgeous and incredibly smooth. Has the best 'glide' of any fretless fingerboard I've ever played.

Seems to be holding up well in the 2 months I've owned it. No probs. My only thought is that the preamp switches seem a little fragile. If I push them around too hard I fear one of them may break or come loose from the electronics. Hasn't happened yet though

No contact necessary.

Amazing, quality instrument at an amazing price. These typically run new in the 12-1400$ dollar range. I'm blessed I got it new for 850$. I considered the MM Stingray, Sterling and Victor Bailey J Bass before finding this one. It's at least twice as versatile as those basses and any other I've played in it's price range. Highly recommended.

I also like it because Fretless L2Gs seem to be fairly uncommon. I still get those "oh, what bass is that?" whenver someone new sees it. It pretty much rules my life. I think about playing it all the time whenever I'm away from it. It gets much love. I would definately buy another if I had to. I hope you get one too.

Been playing about 10 years. I also own a '72 Gibson SB450 (fretted), a BreedLove Atlas (fretless) and an ESP B105 (fretless). I hope to afford a Lakland Skyline Hollowbody in the next couple years.

Unsure of year. Probably mid-90s. Has a three screw neck. If you feel like researching it, the serial number is B028050. I got it used in '97.

I'm unsure of woods, but the neck looks like maple and the body looks like one of the standard cheap instrument woods like alder, hard ash, or basswood. The fretboard looks like macassar ebony, which has alternating black and brown stripes.

It is very versatile as far as tone. It has master volume, bass, and treble knobs, and three pickup switches. The first switch is a three position switch which switches between passive, active, and something else I haven't figured out. The second is a two position switch that chooses between a series or parallel circuit. The third switch is a three position pickup selector.

All this control over tone is great because it makes it an all purpose bass, and therefore alot easier to sell to many different people. However, all the switches are completely unnecessary for me personally. When I first got the bass in 1997, I found a setting I like and have not even flipped the switches since. I put all the switches to the left, so I play it passive with the neck pickup only. Since I never use the bridge pickup, I only have one choice as far as the series/parallel switch. If I flip it the other way, the bass is shut off.

The bass gets an 8 for features because it doesn't have a set neck, thumb rest, or a pickguard...I realize that these criteria give 99% of all basses an 8, but that'sthe way I feel about it. I love the bass, and 8 is still a good rating. It's no big deal, I just prefer these features.

I play folk, country, soul, R&B, blues, '50's and '60's rock 'n' roll, punk...but the bass could do nearly anything. Like I said above, it's very versatile as far as style and tone.

It's great in the studio! I have always recorded with one compressed direct track and one track with a microphone about five feet in front of the nearly cranked amp, then mixed as necessary to get the sound I want. (I usually turn down the direct track pretty far.) If I only had one track available, I would definitely mic it. The bass makes no unwanted noise.

I use an early '70's Ampeg V-4B halfstack (4 12s), or a newer solid state Ampeg blue tolex 50W combo amp. I have never played a boutique amp that sounds better than on old Ampeg.

In general I don't like solid state amps, but anything new with tubes is either too expensive and/or too powerful for me, or if it is affordable, it sounds worse than a solid state amp. I can't stand Crate or Trace-Elliot amps. The little solid state combo sounds very, very good for solid state.

This bass sounds great through most amps, but it gets an 8 because the humbuckers are best suited for extremely high gain, which is not always possible if you are into old amps, most of which don't have a master volume control. On my combo, I always have the gain cranked into the red to get the tone I want, and control the amps volume with the master volume control. Flipping the switch to active cleans up the tone even more, and if I ever had to play live VERY loudly I might shoose that setting.

Flawlessly applied finish. No manufacturing defects. This is a well made instrument. The only flaws are in design, not in craftsmanship. I mentioned these flaws above (bolt neck, etc...) My largest complaint in this area is the quality of the tuners. They are perfectly usable, but are not as good as aftermarket ones and also tarnish easily.

Body finish looks, feels, and dings like polyurethane, but the neck is semi-gloss and feels and wears like laquer. I may be off my rocker as far as the mixing of finishes...but whatever it is, it works. I would prefer laquer on the body, but it's not a huge deal.

This neck is great: More like a Jazz bass than a P-Bass. I would like to see a short scale version! As well as making it a real breeze to play, it would also help to deaden the tone of the humbuckers a little.

It will absolutely withstand hard use in all respects. The strap buttons are fine, but I would definitely use strap locks on any iinstrument if I was going to be moving around alot while playing. The only reason I use a backup is so that I can switch to a fretted bass when I want to.

I have no experience with G&L.

I like this bass alot...I would want to replace it if stolen just because I've gotten so used to it, but it's 50/50 as to whether I would actually do it. This is not because the instrument is not to my liking, there are just other things in which I would be interested if I had an insurance check in my hand.

I have played professionally for ten years. I have the two amps I mentioned, and:

- early '80's P-Bass w/ (Had Bass Lines pickups when I got it.)
-'75 Fender Music-Master (short scale, w/ one single coil guitar pickup)
-new Epiphone Elitist EB-3 (This one is a Killer!)
-new Japanese '51 reissue Fender P-Bass (fast as hell...I think I got a fluke of a neck)
-fretless '78 Music Man Stingray fretless (plays like a 2X4, but great for certain styles)
-2002 '73 reissue Fender Jazz bass (another really, really fast neck)
-Stand up - unsure of year, and can't really make out the name inside. All I can see is "Hand carved in Germany" written in German
-plus many, many guitars, wind instruments, a pre-Fender Rhodes, orchestral strings, tenor guitars, mandolins, and other strange folk instruments from America and the rest of the world.

fretless 4 string.
mine is from somewhere around 1998 = about 5 years old now, made in usa.
pickup - 2 humbuckers
rotary controls- vol, bass, treble. switches- 1:active/passive/active EQ boost , 2: series/parallel pickup mode , 3: pickup selector (3 positions)
alder body, bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard

this bass is not linear, but with a graphic EQ (such as i have in my marshall combo 200) i fix it (needs boosting around the 100-200Hz range) and is sound GREAT even with more-old-then-new roundwound strings. a friend of mine told me this one makes anyone a bassist. he would'nt say so with the amp EQ off, but still, consider what you get in the end, this bass is not that expensive.
the neck pickup sounds really weird vintage - i just love to lower the bass freq and play with it when fingers are near the fingerboard..almost upright. the neck pickup is the most "Hi-Fi" and defined, and combining them gives a "this is a good bass" flavour to the sound. you can play really a lot with the electronics. my knobs are a bit noisy, but i would'nt change the electronics.
the biggest problem is that the bass can be noisy, when the pickups are headed to an operating screen.

got it second hand. so i don't know about the factory set up. you should'nt care about factory setup IMO, because when you'll change to your favorite string set you'll change it anyway!
well it's very comfy - not big, not small, not too heavy, the neck feels great for my short fingers. if you want the action really low, you can't have a straight neck, let it bend a little. higher frets are'nt very comfy because it's a bolt-on and the joint isn't very smooth, yet it's very standart.
the strap button is above the 11-12 fret (invisible fret:). this is VERY important IMO. is you have it above the 15 fret, the neck goes away from you, making playing much less comfortable in the first frets. that's even more critical with a fretless bass.

i did'nt go live with it so i would'nt know about how will it keep up.
i would consider the noise factor.
the finish is flawless for some very weird reason - this bass has been through a lot. fretboard shows a bit of wear after 2 years of playing with roundwounds. i won't use these anymore. BTW, everything i said about the sound is for roundwounds.
the neck buttons are big enough and i feel secure with them.

i've been playing for total of 3.5 years, with a big break in the middle, wich i took to know how to listen to music before i make it, and to expose to sound technology. i value this instrument very much.
when i get my favourite sounds it's a blast (makes my style more groovy and psy)- just get an amp with graphic EQ as i said. it's very fun to hold and play. not a pro level bass but still my baby.

I caught this little baby in the back of a music store while shopping for a keyboard. It was love at first sight. When I picked it up to play the touch was perfect. I could already here it giving that classic Jaco Buzz sound. When I plugged it in, I knew I wasn`t going to be buying any keyboards that day. I have 5 other basses, and for the last 2 years, this is all I play. The neck is ebony and real fast. It feels like my 63 Jazz Bass. The finish on the bass is sunburst gloss it a white border line aroung the shape of the body.
The 2 pick ups and many controls cover everything from deep warm bass, to honky bright fretless stacatto plucks.

This Bass covers all the basses. I use the G&L direct into the board for recording, and with Metro Eden for live gigs. If there is one weakness, it would have to be one of the toggle settings that is a bit noisy. I think it has something to do with a grounding problem.

The Bass has never had to be adjusted since day one. Perfect action.
The finish to die for.

Solid all around.
I never do a gig without a back up, but this bass is never in the backup position.

I have never needed any support.

I`ve been playing for 33 years.
If I lost this bass, I would definitely buy it again.
I love everything about this bass.
Favorite features would have to be the feel, and sound. Okay,I like the look also.

I got this bass used, but it has a 3-bolt neck (not 6) so it's probably late 80's to early 90's. Finish is beautiful transparent blue, but it's the heaviest 4-string bass I've ever played.

The tone itself is outstanding and very powerful. Strangely, I haven't seen many fretless L2000's, but this one can do the classic "Mwah" thing real well with either the neck or bridge pickup. With both pickups on, it actually sounds like it's fretted, which adds to its versetality. BUT, (and it's a biggie)I get severe distortion when I play hard over any given pickup, especially (but not only) in active mode. I'm guessing it's the preamp, so I'm having some work done on it. Try beating the hell out of one before you buy it to make sure it doesn't distort. I'm surprised I haven't heard more complaints about that. The preamp also eats batteries real fast.

Action is pretty good, with some some buzzing up high. The neck is a bit sharp at the edges but can be gotten used to. It also stays solid even without 6 bolts. Finish is beautiful. the electronics are a bit noisy.

Built like a tank. The Volvo of basses. I have no worries about it when I transport it. But that damn preamp...

Never delt with them.

A great buy for 550 bucks. I play mostly jazz and funky stuff and it sounds great. They should make more fretlesses. My complaints are that it's heavy and not super easy to play, and that the preamp distortion can be overbearing. I don't know if it's especially bad on this particular bass or normal.