G&L L2500 5-String

100% American made blueburst beefsteak! This has been my main road bass for 18 months. 2 humbuckers with a bolt on neck. I can't string heavier strings through the body, but the bridge is just as solid strung traditionally. It toggles between active and passive and has a pickup selector switch, series/parallel toggle, volume and tone controls. No midrange selector though. You won't need it with the range of configurations you have.

You get whatever tone you want out of this bass with the flip of a switch. I play a wide variety of music on stage and don't have to change basses to change styles!

I swore I would never play a bass with more than four strings for decades. I bought this beauty because some modern covers need that low B action. I thought to switch off to this from my beloved P-bass just for those few tunes. Alas, my Fender sits in the studio in it's case ever since the first day I bought the L-2500. I'm sad to see it wilt away, but not sad enough to play it. The G+L puts the poor girl to shame.

Great tones, great playability. I run through an Ampeg SVT-4 with Mesa 4X10 and 1X15 and a compressor. I can't get enough! The tones are so versatile you will have trouble deciding how to dial it in. I have to ding it, though, cuz the pickups have a slight hum. The rest of the tone is too good to care! Killer sustain for a bolt on.

I beat the hell out of my instruments, but you need to be careful playing this one because "overslapping" will make your strings hit the unshielded humbuckers. I had a little bit of a learning curve when I first got it. The string placement is tighter than a 4 string, go figure.

The blueburst is HOT! Hold it up in sunlight to see the true depth of color and the cut of the grain. Picks up fingerprints like a champ, though, if you're the vain type. I'm not.

This thing is the gig champion. I slap the snot out of it and never have to tune. When a drunk chick dumped a margarita on the humbuckers, i just kept playing. Jump around. Drop it. Watch you kid bang it on the wall. This thing is a fortress!

I stopped bringing a backup bass to gigs!

You will never need it, so I don't know

I hate the fact my fretless isn't a G+l l-2500. Can't wait to buy one. My only regret is having to chuck all my other basses in the closet. The only basses better than these are too expensive to drag on the road. Keep you little botique bass in the studio and gig with an L-2500!

This is a 2003 G&L L2500. Made in USA with an alder body I believe. Same as all rest really.

This bass sounds really nice. With the preamp, you can pretty much get whatever you want out of it. It has an extremely high output though and it actually overdrives my pedals if I'm not careful! I don't like that it has such a high output but with the output comes a very responsive bass. It's very easy to play and you don't have to work to get the sounds your after. Tons of tonal variety in this. Ranges from fat and bassy to grind to clear and precise. I did notice that the B string is not the best. It has a lower output than the other strings. It is tight, but definitely muddier and not as defined as some others I have played. I like the tonal flexibility,but don't like the B string or the noisy operation.

Bought it used so can't really say. It's noisy and I think it's a ground problem. The electronics to me seem to be the problem for this bass. It is a mess inside the cavity and you hear that mess every time you plug in. Even shielded, you get noise and hum. Finish is great and everything seems in good order. The electronics are a little shoddy so that lowers this category rating for me.

It will last, although I have had some electronics problems. Built like a tank. Feels very solid.

Called them once. They helped me out a little. Pretty good.

Overall I give this bass a 7. The B string is lacking and the electronics are sloppy and noisy. Although the preamp sounds great and the versatility is awesome. A lot of people love these basses and I can see why. But it's the little things that bother me, and there seems to be a lot of little things with this bass that just don't do it for me. Plays great and sounds great w/ the exception of the B string which I would give 6 overall.

I just purchased this new L2500. I don't know what year it is - I didnt take off the neck. It is 5-string with 21 frets. It has a master volume, treble cut, bass cut, a three-way pickup selector switch, a series/parallel switch, and a passive/active/active+treble boost switch. The pickups are G&L magnetic field humbuckers(two), with switchable active & passive controls. The body is tilia (basswood) with a cover of swamp ash. The wide & flat neck is maple and the fingerboard is rosewood. The back of the neck has a satin finish, and the body has a poly gloss over a beautiful 3-tone sunburst. The bridge is thru body or thru the bridge - more on this later. Tuners are open gear & appear to be very well made. It came with a molded hardshell case, allen wrenches (to adjust everything - except the screws for the intonation!), a nice pinup sticker, and a signed certificate of authenticity.

I mostly play jazz and fingerstyle funk (but can play anything else). This bass fits my style perfect. I play this bass through an Ampeg BA-115 & a vintage Ampeg B-15N. I have not found this bass to be noisy on any setting. With the neck pickup soloed, it has a full and thick sound. With the bridge pickup soloed, it sounds like a Musicman. I like the sound with both pickups chosen - it has crystal clear clarity and fullness at the same time. It sounds very clean - almost sterile. The notes have a bright punch all over the neck, yet do not lack in depth and warmth. I dislike the ability to change the volume on either pickup - it is either solo one, or 50/50 or solo. A switch helps though, for quick changes. I use DR LoRider strings, and replaced the SIT strings (stock) as soon as I got home. There is a HUGE variety of sounds available with this bass - I have yet to use them extensively. I could easily use this bass on stage or in a studio.

The factory setup was poor, with the SIT strings, and the strings were strung through the body. I tried stringing the strings through the bridge, but the strings did not have enough tension (stiffness). I tried using the set-screw on the side of the bridge to push the saddles together, however, it made the B string sound extremely poor - about 50% of the energy of the other strings. I adjusted the action for "medium" height (3/32" at 12th fret with fretting at first fret. I adjusted each of the pickup poles for the string heights. I perform all of my setup actions. The nut is cut correctly & the neck/body joint is tight. All of the electronics are fitted to the bass very well. The relatively low score is only because I perform all of my own setups & change to DR LoRiders anyway. The bass is built as should be expected.

This bass will withstand live playing, and I look forward to using it without a backup. The hardware & finish seem like they will last - hopefully, I can wear in the back of the neck, otherwise I will sand it off in a year or two. Strap buttons are solid - I use a 2.5" leather strap. My 78 Fender PBass is ultrareliable, and this seems to be very similar.

I just purchased this bass two days ago. A 10 year factory warranty. The other reviews on this bass regarding the warranty response definitely influenced my purchase. Hopefully no problems.

I have been playing music for 20+ years, and bass for 12 years. I also own a 1978 Fender Precision bass, a Spector Professional Q5, and a 1940s German plywood upright. If it were lost or stolen, I would be very upset & I would immediately purchase another one. I like the way it is balanced both sitting and standing. My favorite feature is the pickup switching - a flick of a switch changes the tone of the bass.

Mine is the older 4+1 tuner configuration. Heavy and Solid. Two humbuckers with lots of switching options. See others below for specs.

The really crazy thing about the L-2500 is that it does just about everything. Passive old school P-Bass thump, burning Jazz Bass bridge pickup solos, and double humbucker full range Hi-Fi. It takes a while to get used to all the switching options, but at least they are there. Some builders would have saved a few bucks and left off the switches. Thanks, Leo. I might add an Aguilar OBP-3 one day to have some better mid range control, but I LOVE the Bass Boost. Gets a 10 because the amazing range of tones blows away the lack of mid control.

This is a BIG, heavy bass. Like me, it could stand to lose a pound or two. The design and build quality are excellent, ranking it with world class builders regardless of price.

I've had mine (bought used)for about 7 years. Stellar Reliability. Still as good as new.

Aguilar, Accugroove, Tom Anderson, etc. 20 yrs on bass. Every time I think it's time to sell this bass, I give it a good workout and then marvel at how good it is.

21 perfectly dressed jumbo frets. Nice rosewood fingerboard, with a very flat profile. It feels very nice and ?at home?. The back is finished with a soft lacquer, feeling the same as an unfinished Stingray but without the dirtiness (how nobody in Music Man thought about it???). 6 big bolts handle de neck to the body. The tuning machines are the same type as the Stingray, the big ones, but the 3+2 arrangment looks great. Anyway, the bass is not light, but I wouldn't put it in the heavy ?black list?, it's not the worst in this dept.
The body is made of basswood, topped with ash in a beautifully applied blue sunburst. The unpainted borders of the ash top make for natural body binding, a really personal touch that I like very much.
Everything is expertly lacquered, mirror like!
The bridge is great, the perfect balance is easy to achieve. I cannot get tapperd B and E strings over here as so to check te through body stringing feature, anyway I don't expect much change with that.
The two humbucking pickups and the complex switching offer a wide range of sounds, much wider than with a Stingray.
The neck scale is 34, same as the Stingray. Feels comfortable.
The bass came with a hard case, supposedly made by SKB. It is ok. All the needed accesories came with some printed information.

The bass sound really solid. It is very versatile. In certain situations the circuit is prone to catch interference (for ex. when my cell phone rings in my belt!!!! fluorescent lighting etc). I checked the circuit and everything is shielded and the box perfectly painted. I'll be aware of this problem.
The Stingray is a 1 or 2 sounds bass, this one is more versatile. It may not have the exact hi fi rumble of a Stingray 5, but it's a killer all around bass.
The circuit is not configured to my likings, but provides a very wide arrange of tones. I prefer to have bass full tilt and play with the treble control cause sometimes it hurts a bit too much.

It's very comfortable. Feels quite like a Stingray. It's not a light throughneck Warwick Thumb, of course. The feel is of a traditional american bolt on, serial produced but customized with very interesting details, it shows good craftmanship over a traditional design squeme.
The access to the upper frets is not very good cause the lower bout is not deep, it only has 21 frets. But I suppose that if you're gonna dig that high you are not looking for this kind of bass. In short: it's a bass to groove with, it doesn't seem to have been designed for fusion soloing!!! If you like to slap, fingerpick or even flatpick songs, this bass will fit you like a glove. If you want to be the next John Patitucci with it, forget about it.

I feel this bass can stand a hurricane. The wood, the finish, the frets and the hardware, everything seems to be made to last forever.
The fact that it doesn't have a pickguard will soo ruin the finish because I slap hard, but fuck it, this is a musical instrument, not a toy.
You can use this bass without a backup. I still have to adjust the tension on the tuners, they go a bit out of tune, maybe because of this fact.

No idea.

I purchased this bass almost unused from a guy who was trying to get a Stingray because he praised fot THAT Stingray sound and felt the G&L had too much of a Fender sound. I was desperately looking for an L 2500 cause I already have the Stingray in my arsenal and you can't get G&L's over here, so we just collide in the same corner,ja ja.
If you can get a flame or quilt maple top L2500 just go for it. It is just as good as a Stingray but more versatile. Try one, you'll be surprised at how a good bass it is. Highly reccomended.

A beautiful L-2500 built in Fullerton, CA, likely in 2004. The double cut, Jazz-bass style body has a quilt maple top on a American tilia (aka basswood) back. Both front and back have a beautiful honey gloss stain. The back is contoured at the top for playing comfort when seated. This bass has a maple neck with a 21-fret ebony fingerboard and no position markers, bolted to the body with 6 screws. The new-style headstock, with its 3-2 tuning keys configuration, is painted black. Very classy. The tuning keys are G&L ?Ultra-Lite??s with tapered aluminum posts. The electronics consists of 2 proprietary G&L Magnetic Field humbucking pickups with Tri-tone active electronics, 3-way pickup selector mini toggle, parallel/series mini toggle, and 3-way pre-amp control mini toggle (off/on/on with high end EQ boost). The pre-amp requires a 9 Volt battery which can be found in the cavity accessible from the back. In the cavity one also finds all electronics neatly organized on a G-10 resin board, and an amazing amount of wiring. (You can get the wiring diagrams from the G&L web site). Both pickups share a volume, bass, and treble control. Chrome hard-tail saddle-lock bridge; you have the choice to have the strings go through the body or not. Bass came in G&L hard-shell case with all tools necessary to setup the bass.

I?m actually a guitar player who wanted to augment his collection with a bass. Many years ago, I played bass in two of my bands. The bass I used was owned by the other guitar player and even now, I still think I should have bought that no-name bass. Anyway, part of my guitar collection is a triplet of G&L guitars, and I really like their quality. Everybody knows Leo was an absolute genius. I play this bass through my guitar gear (Mesa Boogie Tri-Axis, Lexicon MPX-G2, 90:90 power amp, Thiele cabs), and the sound even then is fantastic. No it?s not necessarily chest-thumping but fine for what I want to do. I bet you that if you?d use dedicated bass gear you?d be able to get any sound out of it. The neck pickup has a lot of warmth to it, especially when set to series. But you can still get a lot of of slap and pop from it too. The bridge pickup adds a lot of funk and pop to the spectrum, or can be use to add a little spice to the neck pickup. There are 18 different permutations of the different mini toggles alone. I?ll advice you to check out the sound samples on the G&L web site (www.glguitars.com Audio Clips) The only thing possibly missing is the bass not being fretless (but that would take a considerable additional investment on my side to learn to play fretless bass properly ;-) I'll give it an 8 just because I don't have proper bass gear.

As all G&L instruments I ever bought, the bass is setup very well. It has a nice action, if you pull the strings too hard there is a bit of fret buzz (especially for the B-string) but what would you expect. The neck pocket is extremely tight; there is barely room for a sheet of paper. The finish is flawless and beautiful. Unfortunately, after receiving the bass, the neck PU was completely dead when I selected the series configuration. I?ll discuss this further in Customer Support.

This bass is very rugged and should withstand live ?abuse?. It just happens to be too beautiful to be abused in that way. You can go to eBay and see 20-year old L-2000 basses for sale; Dave Pomeroy is still using an 80?s G&L bass. So I trust it can withstand the time.

As I mentioned, the neck pickup was dead when the series configuration was selected. That reduced the number of available configurations to 9, a real bummer. Since any G&L instrument comes with a 10 year limited lifetime warranty, I decided to deal directly with the factory. It seemed easier to send the bass from WA to CA then to first send it back to OK with the same final destination. I called the G&L phone number and could talk to Tony Petrilla. He was able to diagnose the problem in no time; it seems to happen once in a while. First we consulted over the phone to see if he could send me a pickup which I then could replace. But after inspecting the wiring in the cavity and downloading the wiring diagrams, I had already decided that i might as well use that warranty. The whole operation of sending of the bass and having it returned in good order only took 1.5 weeks. All kudos to Tony and his crew. Excellent work.

This is all I need in a bass. It plays like silk, sound incredible, and is beautiful to look at in addition! I would certainly replace it if stolen. It nicely complements my collection of G&L and PRS electrics, and Tacoma and Ovation acoustics. I?ve played other basses (Warwick, PRS, Fender) but somehow I had my mind set on a G&L long before. It?s versatility is unsurpassed. For some, the number of permutations may be overwhelming but I like it a lot. You can dial in an enormous range of sounds.

I'm not sure what year my G&L2500 was made, it's a ash top with tilia body and mahogany neck . The finish is cherry sunburst.

Having used a Musicman prior to the G&L, I have to say that it wasn't easy to get tones I felt comfortable with. I'm using a Warwick 400watt Prophet IV with a 2X10 Eden and 1X15 Trace Elliot cabinets.
The G&L 2500 has definitely more mid range in series mode than the Musicman and for that reason take's a while to master tones that won't get to boomy on stage. Once you get passed that hurdle, it is a PLEASURE to be able to cut through without having to boost up the volume.

My bass was set up at the shop and, I have to say they did a great job. Love the feel of the neck C shaped, so confortable to play you don't realy wanna stop.
Only flaw was a bit of buzzing on th G string around the 13th fret that I can't ben able to get rid off.
The biggest flaw of all has to be the noisy electronics. Did bass will improve dramatically with a fully shielded control cavity.

Solid, well made bass

As mentioned above, I use a Warwick Prophet IV (400 watts)amp; an Eden 2X10, a Trace Elliot 1X15 and, sometimes add, a Boss enhancer limiter. The thing a love the most of this bass is its playability, then the range of tones you can get from it.
I've compared it with a Musicman Stingray 4 and found the later easy as a Chevy '54, you turn it on and og you go; the G&L takes a bit to master.
My biggest withes are it would have 2 volume sas opposed to a PU selector and also a shielded control cavity.
Finally, I don't hate anything about this bass.

It's got everything you need. Especially this nice little switch to set this thingy to passive mode...running out of battery juice..no sweat...just keep on playing...
Very well made overall, great finish.

Had this Ibanez Soundgear SR-1305 for the last couple of years. While not really being unhappy with it (best playable bass I ever had!), I missed a little sustain in it...well...not a real problem though...
Well...what do I say...had been in my favorite shop last saturday, for another reason, had a little time left over, so I decided to check out some axes...baaad idea...the 6th or 7th I ran over was this G&L L2500. Played it dry and unplugged first...hmmm...feels good...hey...the strings just didn't stop moving...you could even go out and have a cigarette and this thingy still would produce sound... (well, almost at least...).
So I plugged in.
There it was.
Da sound.
Ouch.
Warm, open, great midrange, a low end to pull down houses...aahrgh...and a sustain...I was in love!

This is the bass for bassmen who want to play a BASS and not a low tuned guitar.

Hey, it's a fender, need I say more...?

Hmmm...got it for 4 days now...what can I say...but it feels like it would last forever.

10 years limited warranty...sounds good...but as this one is new...no idea yet of service and support.

I've been playing for 22 years now and this might be the last bass I really ever needed...maybe a couple of others to collect, but this is a work machine.

My quest for tone in a bass, has ended when i picked up this used bass at Guitar Center. If you were there you would of heard it too... All I thought when I played the thing was "this is how a bass should sound!!!"

The conditions that I played in sucked horribly.
There was:
1 Loud ass music on in the store
2 People all around
3 Loud as hell guitarist thinking their the s*it, soloing away.
4 Played the thing way out of tune.
5 The action on the thing set up by the guy before me sucked.
6 Played it through a dead simple combo. Ampeg BA115 (basically set flat)

Now....... With all this going on. I knew my quest for tone has ended. This thing is simply amazing. Its all you want in a bass. I wasn't so mezmorized by the various switches. Nope. But the tone of the thing all and all. (the various switches just adds even more sweetness to this thing.

To describe the tone. I would say "rusted butter". Yup. Very edgy on the top end. An extreme amount of character on the top. Very crunchy, ballsy, edgy, sound. It was Strung w/ Rotosound. (best bass strings ever, but thats another review) Midrange is pure GROWL. But now the bottom.......... the bottom of this thing is sooooooo damn smooth. Very milky, and soft..

Go play one, or a Tribue. I cant imagin the Tribue is anything worse in tone. Just alot less in $$$............. through Leo's life, he accuired alot of wisdom in crafting instruments... From Fender - MusicMan - to G&L. Which one do you think has the most knowledge applied.......???
Can't say enough about this think.......... Try it. You'll see.

NOTE: we are NOT talking about the G&L Korean-made "Tribute" bass line here. This is the Made-in-Fullerton, California real-deal. Don't settle for less--or don't complain.

Taking a leap of faith, I bought my G&L 2500 by mail order, through Interstate Musicians catalog. Purchased 12/15/97, making it 5-1/2 years old. It arrived perfectly, and to this date it's perfect. I ordered the Honeyburst over swamp ash, w rosewood neck. It's not a Ken Smith, but I didn't expect it to be. Instead, it's the best 5-string American-made Fender you'll ever play, but with name not everyone is familiar with. The standard 2500 features apply here. Bass came in a very solid molded case, included.

For some reason, it's a little tough to find long enough B and E strings to take advantage of the string-through-body feature. There's one set of expensive DR Handmades (which came on the guitar), and one type of Ernie Balls that are long enough to allow me to string ALL FIVE strings through the body. Using other brands of strings, the B and E simply aren't long enough. (However, it's just not that big a deal to me; there's virtually no difference in the "sustain", or whatever string through body is supposed to provide. Certainly not enough for me to pay extra for XLong strings, if they exist.)

Perhaps being a geezer, I get set in my ways, but this guitar (played through an Ampeg 350H and Peavey 4X10 cab, clean, no pedals) has let me discover "the sound, my sound," and I rarely stray from it while performing live with the band. With its active/passive, series/parallel, one/two/both pickup circuitry selections, the guitar is capable of dozens - hundreds? - of different sound qualities. It can be a bright slapper, or a thick, dull Hofner. (An old Bass Player magazine review called it "a veritable sound lab, where you can experiment by A/B ing different sounds." It's ironic (or wasteful?) that I found the one sound I love, and I pretty much don't deviate, even though I could select from hundreds of other types of thump. During gigs, I get a lot of comments about its good looks, and one local actually made the comment that our band's bass "was the best sounding live bass he's heard." Cool.

Everything was fine. Naturally, any new player has to adjust things to his own taste... string height, etc.

Interesting story: My bass arrived, and I immediately noticed that one of the tuners was missing a mounting screw... three instead of four, not even tapped - a simple oversight. I contacted the factory, and they were a little embarrassed, and they rushed me a screw to finish the job for them... which I DIDN'T, because I thought this added just a tiny touch of humanism to this instrument, something to show and tell. (Imagine a 1954 Strat with a missed production step from the factory! kaCHING$$$!)

It's a tough baby. Stays in tune for weeks. Neck is rock solid. I'm trying hard to achieve that magic point where I've worn off the finish at several pressure points, but there's still a couple years to go, darn it.

During gigs, forget about a backup, there's no need, unless you want to look bitchen on stage.

I unplug the 1/4" when I'm not using the guitar-- then, when I replace the 9V battery about each year, the old battery still tests as "new".

Pots and switches rarely get dirty, and if so, I just exercise them for 10 seconds, and rub out the audio crackle.

Other than sending me that tuner screw, they haven't screwed me yet! Ah-hah! I crack me up!

But four points off here -- the original G&L Owner's Manual that came with my 2500 was really, REALLY cheesy. It was this little Xeroxed pamphlet, which covered basses AND guitars, showing something about a neck adjustment hole in the neck plate which doesn't even exist. Nothing about adjusting p-ups, replacing battery, finish care, storage, etc. What's with that, G&L? You lose four grade points here.

It's my player instrument. I've got a Fender Jazz bass propped in the corner, and it really looks great there. But for practice and live, I'm wearing my G&L. I'm so anal, I could never play a passive four string bass again.

Here's the tiniest little negative I can find: my G&L purchase was strongly influenced by the old Bass Player mag product review. The editors loved it. And I loved its lines, its perfect sexy shape. It was subliminally perfect. But the bass I received was somehow... different. A slightly different body shape from that electric blue beauty in Bass Player Magazine. A little more gangly looking, wild lines, awkward. It was like someone showed me a picture of my upcoming blind date, but it turned out to be a really old picture of her.

I think what happened was the BP review mentioned the G&L was a little on the heavy side, so G&L immediately started deleting wood from the body to lighten it, and I received one of the "2nd edition", the ugly little sister we know today, a pound lighter. I would've given that heavier baby a big "10" score here. *sigh* But I still love it, and you will, too.