G&L USA L-1000 CLF Research Bass, Macha Green

Player’s Perspective

Music Store Live is proud to offer up this CLF Research L-1000 Reissue from our friends over at G&L Guitars.

After a lot of success with the reissue of the L-2000, G&L dug even further back to one of Leo’s first inventions under his new G&L company name… That would be the L-1000. Designed to sound like a modernized P-bass on steroids, it does just that. The MFD pickup is aggressive and placed in the same position that a P-bass pickup would be. So you get all of that delicious, woofy sound but with more definition and a bit more output to help you remain punchy and articulate.

The neck and fretboard feel incredibly smooth. Open-position grooves are easy, and the upper register is very forgiving on your playing hand. G&L uses a smooth, velvety finish on their necks, so the wood still feels slick and will never glob up on you, even with the gloss finish. Tone-wise, this bass is a beast! It’s a simple 1-pickup design that can really get you a lot of mileage. The ability to dial in anything from an extremely fat sound to a thin single-coil sound, while having that parallel option for a bit more mid-range, punch, and growl really makes this bass deceptively versatile while being super easy to figure out. The Caribbean rosewood fretboard is going to have a similar tonality to pau ferro. It’s warm but with a bit more brightness to the sound than, say, East Indian rosewood.

This bass is perfect for any collector of Leo’s work or for a player who needs that classic L1k thumpy tone. Coming in at 8.5 lbs or less, this is a pure winner that you can keep strapped around your shoulder for hours on end and thump away in complete comfort.

Manufacturer’s Description

The new CLF Research L-1000 brings back the best of the iconic passive G&L bass from 1980. Fans of the vintage G&L “wunkay” know what we’re talking about. It’s that rounded, fast shape of the neck combined with the slick feel of an old gloss finish. It’s the clean, modern aesthetic of the original CLF/G&L headstock.

It’s the tactile delight of those beautiful CLF Research knobs shimmering from an elegant chrome control plate. And of course, there’s the legendary punch of the L-1000’s MFD humbucker in OMG mode. Now take all that goodness and pack it into the slimmer mid-90s L-Series body shape for added comfort and lower weight, and you can make it through that 3 hour gig with tone and style to spare. And when you’re on the road, you can count on the neck to be more stable than those beloved vintage wunkays, with a modern dual-action truss rod and twin graphite stiffening rods. Add it all up and you’ve got the best of the vintage CLF vibe with the best of modern G&L elements.

In the late 1970s, Clarence Leo Fender was looking forward to launching his new G&L brand featuring his latest innovations including Magnetic Field Design pickups and the Saddle Lock bridge. Leo developed these technologies at his CLF Research company, and production of the new G&L instruments took place in the CLF Research factory on Fender Avenue in Fullerton, California, where G&L production continues today.

The new CLF Research L-1000 is a fully modern “wunkay” that pays homage to its roots with classic details including the early CLF/G&L headstock and neck profile, beautifully reproduced CLF knobs and ’81 control plate, and color-coded mini-toggle switch tip.

Speaking of that mini-toggle, it has three positions to maximize the tones of that massive and passive MFD pickup:

> Parallel mode

> Single Coil mode

> Single Coil mode with bass boost added (OMG Mode)

Specifications

Body

• Model: CLF Research L-1000 Reissue
• Color: Macha Green
• Body: Basswood

Neck

• Construction: Bolt-On
• Neck Material: Maple
• Neck Finish: Vintage Tint Gloss
• Fretboard: Caribbean Rosewood (aka Chechen)
• Neck Shape: CLF Slim C – 1 5/8″ Nut Width, 9.5″ Radius, .800″ depth @ 1st Fret, .900″ depth @ 12th Fret
• Radius: 9.5″
• Scale: 34″
• Frets: 21x Medium Jumbo PLEK Dressed Frets

Electronics

• Pickup: G&L MFD Humbucker
• Controls: 1x Volume, 1x Passive Treble, 1x Passive Bass
• Mini-Toggle: Parallel / Single-Coil / Single-Coil with Bass Boost (aka OMG mode)

Hardware

• Bridge: G&L Saddle-Lock
• Tuners: G&L Ultra Lite

Miscellaneous

• Case: G&L Black Tolex Hardshell
• Certificate of Authenticity and Spec Sheet Included
• Made in Fullerton, California
• Instrument Weight: 8.7 lbs.
• Serial #: CLF2109220
  

Overall Condition

Music Store Live is proud to be an authorized dealer for G&L. This CLF L-1000 is 100% brand new and is being sold with a full manufacturer’s warranty. Photos are of the exact guitar you’ll receive.

Our in-house guitar tech will inspect, test, set up, and clean all of our instruments on site prior to shipping. All of our instruments are guaranteed to be fully functional upon arrival

Music Store Live is one of the top authorized G&L dealers on the planet! We do our best to stock inventory of what our team of experts feels is the best combination of specs, specifically, so you don’t have to wait for a custom order from G&L.  
With that said, if you haven’t found what you’re looking for, we would be happy to custom order a G&L for you. G&L’s factory works like a big a-la-carte shop, so it’s easy (and affordable) to get what you want. Finish, body wood, fingerboard, pickguard, bridge, neck profile, neck finish, nut type, frets, tuners, binding – there are nearly 1 million possible combinations of specs on a G&L. They now also have a full-blown Custom Shop where they can build virtually anything you can imagine.
We love helping our customers make their dream guitar, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you want to make your custom G&L a reality! Wait times are surprisingly short and most custom orders have an ETA of only 6-8 weeks from when the order is placed. As a premier G&L dealer, we are able to get expedited build times so we can get you the guitar of your dreams quickly!