G&L CLF Research L-2000 Review

One of Leo's last great contributions to bass!

I have played almost exclusively Fender basses for years and years with my preference being Jazz bass. I cannot believe the flexibility of tone that comes out of this. It does take some fiddling to figure out the relationship of all the controls to each other, but when you do, it is clear that this is more flexible than the average Jazz bass. Great tonal options that you can… read more go from a smooth Precision to a growling Jazz to a funky Stingray. It weighs over a pound more than my trusted early 90's American Standard Jazz Deluxe but it makes up for that inconvenience in the versatility of the instrument. It is like Leo took all his years of work and decided to dump it all into one bass.

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First five

Amazing bass. The B string is solid not floppy. Multiple tone choices. Very impressed i have not owned a G&L since the 80s. Sweetwater always delivers the best!

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A Work of Art

I've been playing G&L guitars for a long time. I finally purchased an L-2000 to accompany my 1990's ASAT bass. The pickups in these basses are loud so you have to back off the volume a little. I love this because I can go one louder (To eleven) and overdrive my tube amp. This beast can sound like a piano or an angry bass machine! Think of the L-2000 of Swiss army knife. The tone… read more possiblilties are ridiculous on this bass! Get it! Enjoy it!

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Leo Fender’s Best Ideas

The L-2000 and all other G&L models made in the USA are built on Fender Ave in Fullerton, CA. Leo Fender-designed this flagship bass with all his best ideas In mind. The swamp ash is iightweight and the grain pattern is gorgeous and plays like a dream. There are many tone options include passive, active, and treble boost modes. You can select to run the pickups in series or parallel.… read more The frets come PLEK'ed as well. This bass is a beast on stage and in the studio.

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Great build, but pickups are very very hot.

Very well made, comfortable bass. Excellent versatility, but man oh man are these pickups hot. Too hot in my opinion, and even lowering them was too much. None of my pedals really cooperated with this guy unless I rolled the volume back considerably. This may be fine for some people, but it's an unfortunate deal breaker for me. Everything else is great, but the pickups keep me from… read more playing it all that often.

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Incredible Bass!!!

To say I am blown away by this bass is an understatement. If you appreciate the legacy that is Leo Fender, and a bass that blows all others away, then consider the CLF Research L-2000. The overall tone of this beast cannot be understated. It cuts through even the most inhospitable of sonic situations. Those of you who appreciate the feel of the Fender Precision, and the tonal… read more pallette of the Music Man Sabre or Sting Ray, will find this to be the next logical step in the evolution of the electric bass guitar.

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My New G & L L-2000 bass guitar

WOW! I know I sound like I'm gushing over this guitar because it's brand new, sounds AWESOME and plays like a DREAM! Um, yes, I AM gushing! I express my appreciation and gratitude for the attention I received when I visited Sweetwater on Friday, November 5, 2021. Chris Lewis met me at the Bass Room and talked to me about the bass' pickup, preamp, and tone controls. He was VERY… read more accommodating to my desire to play it through a similar amp setup like my own and all my other requests were considered reasonable and MET by the whole staff, including Chris-the-used-gear-guy. Chris L. is my personal Sweetwater sales engineer, but I was also helped by Colin and Josiah (both floor sales). As for the bass guitar itself: The setup person did a great job! The action is low and nearly uniform over the entire neck; I noticed ZERO detuning between open strings and 21st fret. WOW. This guitar is a comfortable pleasure to play and the neck fits in my hand just right! The neck has just the right amount of relief - it's almost flat. The fret wires are listed as being jumbo mediums, but they are not too large. This is a VERY well engineered and designed bass guitar. What impresses me the most is the VERY WIDE RANGE of TONE possibilities. I was looking for that because my band, Vinyl Tap (the original...there are others with the same name) plays a wide range of classic rock from all decades starting in the 1950's through the 2000's. I was sold when I was able to get a sort-of Hofner bass sound for the Beatles' Come Together in passive pickup mode, then with the flick of the Active/Passive switch to Active and the Treble boost to (Super?) Boost, I acquired a Geddy Lee bass tone for Rush's Limelight. My G&L L2000 is gloss black with a maple neck and fretboard. It's a beautiful guitar both by looks AND tone. Oh, Lord, it plays so NICE! The first gig with it is this coming Saturday and I anticipate that I will absolutely enjoy playing this guitar. It's well balanced and is about the same weight as the Precision I traded for it. My gear is a Mesa Boogie Subway D-800+ through a David Eden 4x10 1000-watt cab. I connect a line out to the PA to take advantage of the subs. I play both finger and pick style, further expanding the tone range. I hope the Sweetwater managers read these reviews. I cannot say enough good things about my experiences dealing with Chris. He's always been helpful and, being a guitar player himself, identifies with and understands his customers very well. All my Sweetwater experiences have been positive and I will be back for more. Rock on!

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L-2000

After spending 2 years looking for the right bass, I picked this up on a whim while at Sweetwater's store. I knew immediately it was following me home. The overall quality of this bass is second to none in the same price range. Playability is superb. The factory fretwork is impeccable. You can tell it isn't a run-of-the-mill mass produced instrument. The slim C neck is super comfortable.… read more According to my build sheet that was included with the bass, the slim C profile is .800" at the first fret and .900" at the 12th fret. That's only a hair slimmer than a lot of other slim C profiles, but it is noticeable and comfortable. The tonal versatility of it is unsurpassed by anything else I've ever picked up. Hands down, this is my #1 bass at this point. And the icing on the cake is the case. The G&G vintage style case awesome.

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Great bass with amazing tone.

This bass looks great and sounds better. Amazing variety of tone options. Plays like a dream.

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A Tone MONSTER

First off, Mac is THE MAN! Mac and Sweetwater do go above and beyond other online retailers, Kudos folks! Now, about this bass, George and Leo really came up with a winner here. The sound out of this monster is almost uncontrollable, I say that....but of course u can control it. It is just so very versatile and u need to get the gist of the controls and switches. Moments later your… read more thumping it out with authority. The bridge is massive, the way it should be. Finish is perfect. The neck has the smoothest and fastest I've ever felt out of a gloss finish, don't know how they did that but it's down right awesome. It will now replace my lawsuit era Kramer Pioneer (that was like hanging a bus around my neck and shoulder) for decades. Also this is probably the first and only bass that I cannot think of any mods I will be pondering. Even my P- Elite and Ric 4003 underwent major surgery and all were in the same price range. Out of the box this is a WINNER. And one last note...the case is old school awesome, even has that new guitar smell like good cases used to have! LOVE IT ALL! Thanks Mac and Sweetwater!

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