Bridge Pickup: G&L Kiloton 5 vs. Reverend Mercalli 5

I don’t have experience with either, so I’m not sure if I should be posting…but this is TB, so…

What I can say, from the position of the Mercalli’s bridge pickup, is that there will be a difference in tone between it and the Kiloton. The Kilo’s pickup would be situated more or less between the two pickups on the Mercalli, also known as the “Stingray Sweet-Spot”, and would yield a thicker, more low-mid focused tone.
The pickups are also vastly different. The Mercali pickups are basically MM clones, though I’m not sure if they are Ceramic or AlNiCo. The G&L MFD pickups are in a league of their own, and have their own huge, bulldozer of a voice. The neck coil of the MFD in that position can get close to a P-sound, but not quite.

I do have some expertise with dual MM pickup basses, like the FrankenSquier I put together:



I wired the pickups in Parallel and single coil. The bridge pickup tone is more nasal and high-mid focused than a Stingray because it is 1” closer to the bridge than in a Stingray. Same as the Mercali, looks to be about the same position.

If you have the ability, you should check to see how the bridge pickup is wired, Series or Parallel. If it is wired in Parallel, perhaps Series wiring would work better for you.

I just wish I could get a hold of that Split-Coil MM pickup Reverend uses…

 

Caveat... I have not tried the Reverend Mercalli, but given the lack of replies thought I would contribute something.

Any reason you are not considering the L2500? I own an L2500 and a Kiloton 5. The Kiloton has a good amount of low end and the coil tap switch makes it quite flexible for a single pickup bass. However, the Kilo cannot get to the soloed neck pickup tone/timbre that the L2500 has. It also lacks the range of overall flexibility that is available on the L2500. This is not to say the Kiloton 5 is a bad option, but if you like the flexibility and soloed neck pickup sound on your Reverend, then the L2500 is going to be more comparable.

If you are avoiding the L2500 due to the active/passive switch, then you are one of many who view the L2500 as an active bass simply because it can be active. Many (perhaps even most) L2500 owners run the bass exclusively in passive mode (a large number of them even remove the battery). All preamp controls work the same in active or passive as they are passive cut controls for bass and treble. Active just gives you a bit of boost/buffer if you need it. Active with treble boost bumps the treble up some, but this does not seem to be a particularly popular setting. I am sure someone who uses it will chime in, but my time with G&L basses says it is probably the least used mode on the passive/active/active with treble boost switch.

Photo since most posts in this thread have one (also it shows the L2500 v Kilo pickup location; Kilo is between the L2500 pickup locations).

 

What is the blue P style 5 string on the right?

 

L5000. It was G&L’s first 5 string. They have an MFD P style pickup (Z coil instead of split). G&L basically put 5 strings on a 4 string neck so the string spacing is narrow (15mm). Approximately 400 of them were built between 1988 and 1993. It is a great bass, but a lot of players dislike the string spacing. I find it to be very comfortable.

 

Are you keeping the Mercalli or looking to replace it? If you are keeping it, then I think the Kiloton becomes a much better option as a complement to what the Mercalli offers (based on demos not playing it). If you are replacing, then I feel like I would miss the neck pickup.

 

I’m not sure what you mean…K-mod is an option you can order on the L2500, or you have have it done after the fact, wiring diagrams are available.

 

I play my 4 string Kiloton a bunch.
Never played a Mercali.
There are a ton of options with the V/T and three-way switch.
It might take a minute to find them all, but they're there.
To me, parallel sounds like a normalish bass tone.
Single coil is bright edgy and crispy - great with distortion.
Series is monstrous - anything from huge metal tones to deep dark funk to a normalish bass-heavy sound if you back off the volume.
The volume control for me is the key to the kiloton.
Anyways!
Not really technical bassmaster language here, but I hope that helps.

 

It really depends on the effect and the settings you have on the effect. The MFDs are definitely hot and some effects will need different settings or volume reduction prior to input (particularly when bass is in series mode). It is definitely manageable in instances where it is an issue. If you want to swap basses with minimal changes to settings when you plug in an MFD loaded G&L there are options out there to manage the levels going to your pedals (Southampton All Things Equal, any volume pedal, Saturnworks has several volume/buffer options that work). You could also just manage it with the volume knob on the bass.

 

When in series, volume wide open is super hot - active level.
I never have the volume past 8, mostly hang out around 7 or everything downstream clips.
Not so for single coil and parallel - they act like regular passive pickups.

 

I used to have a G&L USA L-1500, which had an MFD humbucker in the same spot as the Kiloton's, and when I tried a Kiloton I thought it sounded essentially the same. My main issue with the L-1500 was that, with some rigs and rooms, it did have a fairly nasal, mid-focused tone. When it matched up nicely with a particular rig (or I ran it through an Aphex Bass Xciter), the tone was stellar IMO, but that just wasn't always the case. It wasn't as plug-and-play as my Fenders or G&L SB-2. IMO, it's more of a "bridge" tone than "neck" tone, but it does have decent, tight lows and lots of punch.

When I had my L-1500, I read posts from other players who said the five-string L-1505 had a thicker, more balanced tone, which might be true of the Kiloton 5. I'd like to try one, because I dig the simplicity of passive, single-pickup basses, and nothing beats MFDs.