What's the Best Bass Leo Fender Ever Made? Fender, Music Man and G&L 

Alcsbiker I couldn't agree more. G&L basses are amazing.

Mattias Söderlund they can be made to sound like a wal quite easily

That's perfectly fine by me, The used stuff is much more affordable.

For something that's such high quality, they are really ignored by a lot of people.

GL it is an amazing brand. I changed my jazz bass for the l2000 and it is way more versatile and easier to play. I think it is ignored because 1) Honestly the GL logo and headstock is horrible (just cosmetics... but it doesn't look "cool" so people ignore it). 2) Those instruments appeared later so their tone is not as iconic as the tone of the first models as it doesn't appear in most of the classic records. Better for us, i can get them second hand for a really low price.

Yeah, I'm, uhm, certain the bean counters at Fender weren't feeling any sting from losing sales when they saw Louis Johnson slapping a Stingray, when he otherwise would have had a Fender, if Leo had stayed in retirement, like CBS expected. While the designs were different, they were all competing to be the bass that someone bought instead of the others.

that SB2 is a treat. #2 after my new L25trib

I think the G&L JB-2 was Leo's final bass that he created before he passed away in 1991.

the answer......well that's subjective.I prefer the Fender tone.

I really liked the 5 string G&L I checked but I'm still going with Stingray. The G&L had a really nice neck but I felt like the Ray suits my personal playing needs better.

The BEST BASS Mr. Fender ever made was his FIRST! Everything else flowed from that........without the 1st design there is NO G&L or any damn thing else. Glad to have helped.

I agree! That G&L is wicked!! I like having knobs and switches to mess about with the tone. That helps a lot depending on the kind of music you’re playing, venue, dealing with ego maniac guitarists, etc. 😎👍🏽🔥

Roland Miller Yeah, obviously. I suppose you also consider the Benz Motorwagen to be the best car ever, as everything else came from that.

L2K is without a doubt, the most tonally versatile of them all - in a sense that it has the most tonal options built in with the controls and the two MFD humbuckers. That said, I had all of these basses, used them all in several band settings (vintage rock, hard rock, funk rock, funk punk) and my favorites are the P bass and the Stingray. They're my GOAT without a single shred of doubt. L2K's problem for me was that it's a bit of a marmite creation. Lots of tones, sure, but not an instantly recognizable tonal character, super hot pickups (I had to cut both bass and treble controls all the way for it not to light up my GK RB preamp clip lights all the time, and that was with the preamp/buffer off) and it just didn't quite sit in the mix the right way for me. I tried all the pickup/preamp/tone control combinations during the band practice and my band mates were like "yeah alright, that bass sounds pretty cool". I thought "meh, it was ok with the front pup only, doing a pseudo P bass thing, but still underwhelming to me honestly and I prefer a P bass for that". Then I pulled out my Stingray, and we played another song. All of my band members were shocked and reacted "OK that Stingray absolutely blew the L2K out the water". It didn't fare better for my vintage rock outfit either, but my Precision with flats rules supreme there and nothing will ever top it. I tried to like (and love!) the L2K, but it just doesn't seem to do anything masterfully for me. Swiss army knife bass? Maybe a jack of all trades, master of none for me. I went and listened to every single possible band I could find that had a bass player using an L2K. Helmet sounded the best probably, but that thing is overdriven to hell, and honestly you could use any good passive Fender or almost any other bass to make it sound just as good with that grit. Skunk Anansie - couldn't find any live clip where Cass Lewis' Stingray didn't sound massively more interesting and funky to me compared to his later L2K (he's using a custom made bass now, I forgot the name but it's tonally closer to a Stingray copy). Those are just 2 examples, but I searched for anything I could find and was never impressed (even Tom Hamilton sounded better with a Stingray in the 70s to me). As for Leo saying L2K was his best bass invention - Leo lost hearing pretty bad at that point (read up the stories), and he was always a tinkerer at heart. I'm the biggest Leo fan for sure, and I practically don't play a bass if it's not his creation (why I wanted to love the L2K), but it's pretty obvious that's what he would say because: A. it's where he was working at that time (and it was his final work place) and B. he was a tinkerer and L2K was filled to the brim with tonal options and it was his latest baby (or one of). Maybe it's just that I prefer a Precision and Stingray tone, sure, but I really wanted to like L2K a lot, and not in a way for it to emulate any other bass tone, but for it to shine with its own character. I just didn't find there to be much character to be honest. As always, your mileage may vary.

Id say the musicman was his best bass. But all of them are iconic

Objectively, yes the Fender bridges are very outdated pieces of bent steel plates that don't do much. But if you're going for that vintage sound having less sustain might be what you want. And they're pretty easy to set up, so that's nice. I don't mind them sticking to those old bridges.

The fender bridges on the pros and elites are in my opinion the best bass bridges ever. They look so damn good

i have the L-2000 and it iz the quintezzential bass!!

Amen brother. And what is more is that it can achieve even the Musicman tone. With one bass you got all Leo's great work!

Χάουτου Μπέιζικ I recently did some custom mods to my G&L I added a coil splitting switch to get even closer to J and P bass tones and a forth pot and they’re all concentric so I have an individual Vol, Bass, Mid & Treble control for each pickup, and a detuner on the E tuner. so yeah it’s a monstrous beast of tonal options and has lasted me nearly 2 years as the bass I play almost exclusively, with constant gigging, touring and recording in multiple bands across multiple genres, without missing a beat, I expect it to last many many more years and the whole thing told with all its customisation barely cost me $1200aud ($800USD/€700/£650) I don’t think I’ll ever need to change the stock pickups and hardware because they’re just that F*kn good

You mean two of each..

I owned all, yes G&l”

Me too, all but G&l beast

I've had a Fender P & J and didn't really like either half as much as my Stingray

​@@stevec6427 It's funny because I don't like how Stingray sounds.

What a story to tell mate!

Omax Pi Such a sweet story.

Actually the Sterling by Music Man basses, Squier VM and Fender MIM or MIJ are phenomenal values and really superb instruments. Just picked up a Fender MIM P Bass and it's gorgeous in quality, sound and playability. The Sterling Sub Ray 4 I used to own was also really nice for a little amount of money.

I'm a big fan of companies who put the "good stuff" in the cheaper models. Warwick Rockbasses for example come with freakin MEC pickups. AMAZING! That being said the Squier Classic Vibe Basses are very cool too.

What does 'Phenomenal Value' mean? Musicman Sterlings are not S.U.B. basses, they are made in USA and cost the same as a Stingray. You pay $1700 brand new for 1 pickup and no passive mode. Fender MIM and MIJ basses cost around the same as a G&L, but you're still getting a very basic instrument, no preamp, no series/parallel switching, no humbuckers with coil split option. I can get extremely close to a Jazz bass sound, a Precision bass sound, and a Stingray sound with my G&L, and there's still a lot more I can do with it. S.U.B. basses and Squiers are made with cheaper hardware and different pickups from their more expensive counterparts. How does any of that count as a 'Phenomenal Value'? You can use personal anecdotes all you like, bottom line is you're paying the same price or more for an inferior instrument.

EpictheEpicest Sterling by Music Man is the Indonesian brand. They cost around half the price of a Mia but have almost the same quality.

Again, "Sterling" is both the Indonesian brand, and a model of Musicman bass. The model has slight differences from a Stingray but is still MIA and costs $1700. The Sterling line features the Ray 34 and the S.U.B. bass. The Ray 34 IS made of the same materials and hardware as the regular Stingray and costs about the same as the G&L, but still, only one pickup, no series/parallel switch, no passive mode. And the S.U.B. basses use different hardware and pickups.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

got my L2500trib two weeks back and suddenly my beloved Roscoe Beck is on Reverb...cheap!... so I can get more G & Ls.

@@michaelbell75 jackofficer masterbassmann

J Bass will always be my favorite . The amplifier is a big part of the sound as well !

I had a teal green five string RB. It was great. Also regret selling it. I had an SB 2 and an L2000 that I also miss. I am a guitarist that basically bought basses to record my own parts instead of hiring a proper bass player . haha. Bass is tougher to play than most guitarists think. My first bass was an American standard Jazz. I went from the Jazz to the SB2 and I thought it was a big improvement.

It was a hard choice for me, but I went with the L-2000, however I do like that the M-2000 has cut AND boost, AND mid control AND a blend knob, the dealbreaker was that it has no passive mode.

Just because you can change the tone, doesnt mean you have to. You can spend almost as much time playing with the tone of a P bass as any other.

Strange eh? What is going on with G&L in the UK? Nobody stocks them. Luckily I bought a L-2500 Tribute at Andertons blow out price and It's so good I wish I'd bought another. Would love to have a CLF research L-2500 in Lake Placid Blue.

Yes sir. Im buying a sterling stingray34 ash black. I played my first one the other day at guitar center and was hooked.

Right!!!! ha ha!!!

far0n I’m close to pulling a trigger on one. Haha your post might just have confirmed it!

Keep It fender Bro.

Fitzhugh Goode But did it really exist? that I know of appeared in the first brochure of the time (1980), but was immediately replaced by the model we know today ... do you know if it is really possible to find it?

Davide Scavazza Who knows.? Maybe a prototype.