G&L Club Part 7

[Glazenn]

I did add a tone control and find it gives even more sounds to this great bass. If you want dark thump, turning off the bridge pickup might be less than you want. If tone controls weren't useful, no basses would have them. My opinion anyway.

I also dislike two volume controls, so I replaced mine with a blend control with a center detente. Now it's quick and easy to dial in the sound I want just by going to the detent position and adjusting from there. And the master volume serves the purpose of *gasp* controlling the volume and not the tone.

Thank you. I agree with what you're saying in paragraph 1. I am used to lessen the tone harshness by turning down the bridge pickup volume, but I now understand a tone knob would be an interesting additional feature.

Is is notorious that Leo Fender designed the SB-2 originally with the intention of assigning the bridge pickup a tone control function, in the way of adding a brightness (high end) element, compared to the SB-1 that has had instead a tone control knob from its origin, the purpose of which being to filter (lessen) high end frequencies (like on a P-bass). Evidence is brought by the tone of the bridge pickup, that is nowhere close to be tonally attractive on a stand-alone basis, unlike on a Jazz Bass.

On the L-2x00, no blend pot, it's a 3-position switch. I once owned an M-2x00, and the blend pot was probably an improvement compared to the L-2x00, but not as optimal as with the double vol controls of an SB-2 or a JB. IMHO.

Lastly, still having my 1997 L-2500, I much regret having let my M-2500 going, that was surely the best overall G&L bass that I have owned (featuring the double parallel/single coil/series switch mod that I got from Thor - RIP).

 

[AncientNoob]

So, should anyone be interested…
I've been thinking that it would look pretty sweet to replace my black pickguard with a white pearl one on my tribute Kiloton. After following several links on the G&L website, I ultimately found that they refer Tribute series instruments to Pickguard Heaven. I emailed G&L before checking into Pickguard Heaven and asked about the absence of Tribute pickguards on the site. I got a response:

Coincidentally, I contacted Pickguard Heaven as well. They didn't list a Kiloton pickguard, so I requested one and was told that I would have to send mine in and pay $90, and that the lead time is approximately 3 weeks.

I'll wait for G&L.

 

[jglunt]

A couple years ago I had Pickguard Planet make me a pickguard for my USA Kiloton. I don't remember having to pay $90, but it wasn't a lot under that--$78, I think. And I didn't have to send in my pickguard as they had a template for the USA Kiloton. (It is slightly different pickguard-wise from a Tribute.) They did me a very good job, and the variety of colors available was immense! (Are Pickguard Heaven and Pickguard Planet the same--both part of Chandler Music?)

 

[metron]

Mr. Wealthy Wag: Someday, I WILL have an SB-2, but I continue to waffle on the tone knob option. (Some say the tone knob -- typically a simple treble-cut -- affects the available tones simply by being wired into the circuit.) I want dark thump, so your comments caught my eye.

Your comments described 2 changes from stock: Adding a tone pot, and adding a blend control. Have you personally observed the dark thump without the addition of the blend control? Or was your observation from a bass with both changes? Please clarify, if you would be so kind.

(The devil is in the details, yes?) Thanx so much for sharing!

In my experience, additional pots affect the max treble available, but only marginally. So an additional pot or two won't make a bright bass dark or thumpy.

The SB2 is super bright and aggressive (Im on my third). Tone coltrols and dialing back the volumes tame this, but in my opinion they don't really make it dark and thumpy. So I just wanted to comment that if thats your tone zone, you may find that you will fight the natural sound of the bass to be what you want it to be.

 

[Glazenn]

So, should anyone be interested…
I've been thinking that it would look pretty sweet to replace my black pickguard with a white pearl one on my tribute Kiloton. After following several links on the G&L website, I ultimately found that they refer Tribute series instruments to Pickguard Heaven. I emailed G&L before checking into Pickguard Heaven and asked about the absence of Tribute pickguards on the site. I got a response:
View attachment 4561309 Coincidentally, I contacted Pickguard Heaven as well. They didn't list a Kiloton pickguard, so I requested one and was told that I would have to send mine in and pay $90, and that the lead time is approximately 3 weeks.

I'll wait for G&L.

If useful, you may also want to ask these two questions through bassesbyleo.com forums:
1) any difference between US Kiloton pickguards and Tribute Kiloton pickguards ?
2) is there any manufacturer/vendor for the above ?
I believe Chandlers pickguards, Pickguard Heaven and Pickguard Planet are one single business, but you can check the Kiloton pickguard availability either by calling them or through their website (I also believe G&L/BBE still source their USA pickguards from them, so they would own a reliable template).

 

[jglunt]

I did add a tone control and find it gives even more sounds to this great bass. If you want dark thump, turning off the bridge pickup might be less than you want. If tone controls weren't useful, no basses would have them. My opinion anyway. I also dislike two volume controls, so I replaced mine with a blend control with a center detente. Now it's quick and easy to dial in the sound I want just by going to the detent position and adjusting from there. And the master volume serves the purpose of *gasp* controlling the volume and not the tone.

Part of the reason I love my SB-2 is because it has no tone knob. Quite a novel innovation! Would a tone control be useful on this bass? Not in my opinion, though there are basses that need them. I get all the tones I need by balancing the two pickup volumes. Plus, there's always the tone controls on your amp if you need more. I'm not arguing, just presenting another point of view for your consideration. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? I also do not like 2-volume controls, but when I added a blend control, it seemed to castrate the bass's punch, so I put in a concentric pot to use as individual volume controls for each pickup and routed it to a master volume so I could change the volume level without changing the tone.

 

[Glazenn]

In my experience, additional pots affect the max treble available, but only marginally. So an additional pot or two won't make a bright bass dark or thumpy.

The SB2 is super bright and aggressive (Im on my third). Tone coltrols and dialing back the volumes tame this, but in my opinion they don't really make it dark and thumpy. So I just wanted to comment that if thats your tone zone, you may find that you will fight the natural sound of the bass to be what you want it to be.

Would swapping 250K pots for 1 MEG pots darken or brighten the tone ?

 

[Glazenn]

Lastly, still having my 1997 L-2500, I much regret having let my M-2500 going, that was surely the best overall G&L bass that I have owned (featuring the double parallel/single coil/series switch mod that I got from Thor - RIP).

View attachment 4561351

Sorry, the TB member I was referring to is Torbass, not Thor (RIP).

 

[metron]

Part of the reason I love my SB-2 is because it has no tone knob. Quite a novel innovation! Would a tone control be useful on this bass? Not in my opinion, though there are basses that need them. I get all the tones I need by balancing the two pickup volumes. Plus, there's always the tone controls on your amp if you need more. I'm not arguing, just presenting another point of view for your consideration. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? I also do not like 2-volume controls, but when I added a blend control, it seemed to castrate the bass's punch, so I put in a concentric pot to use as individual volume controls for each pickup and routed it to a master volume so I could change the volume level without changing the tone.
View attachment 4561363

Did you add that BT module to any of your basses?

 

[metron]

Would swapping 250K pots for 1 MEG pots darken or brighten the tone ?

Higher value pots will make it brighter.

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

I was just about to chime in with my SB-2 thoughts.

I have two and it never occurred to me to add a tone control to either (even though I occasionally use the tone control on my SB-1).

I did a few mods to one of my SB-2s including swapping out the 250k pots for 500k to get more treble and upper mids out of the pickups. I still never consider trying to roll that off.

But to each their own, YMMV, and none of this is advice/recommendation/endorsement. I just love the brashness of an SB-2 wide open or with one of the pups rolled off just a hair.

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

 

[TDR1138]

On the SB-2 tone debate, it's been years since I had one, but I needed a tone control, so I added one. Neck pickup, I'd usually run at about 80% on the tone, or if I added the bridge pickup in, I'd drop the tone to 30%-50% pretty regularly. So I've got an SB-2T on order now, because I find that tone control to be a big plus in controlling the bass. I will note, though, that I don't really play any basses with the tone wide open.

As for pickguards, I've used Pickguard Planet aka Chandler before, thought the pricing was reasonable ($50-something with shipping) for a basic W/B/W, and the fit was perfect. So I'll give them that. But for my SB-2T, if/when I swap it out, I'll probably go through G&L directly.

 

[jglunt]

Did you add that BT module to any of your basses?

I don't understand. BT module? Sorry. I do have an active Seymour Duncan 2-band concentric pot EQ on my Tribute LB100. Later I changed out the alnico pickup for an MFD.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

What value cap do G&L put in the SB-1? I just changed the one in my P which has a Dimarzio Model P, from .047 to .022 and find the tone knob much more useful now it's no longer squshing the heart of the sound out. So I'm curious.

 

[AncientNoob]

A couple years ago I had Pickguard Planet make me a pickguard for my USA Kiloton. I don't remember having to pay $90, but it wasn't a lot under that--$78, I think. And I didn't have to send in my pickguard as they had a template for the USA Kiloton. (It is slightly different pickguard-wise from a Tribute.) They did me a very good job, and the variety of colors available was immense! (Are Pickguard Heaven and Pickguard Planet the same--both part of Chandler Music?)View attachment 4561353

They are indeed both a part of Chandler. As far as the pricing, $90 is just too much. I don't hate my black guard, but I do think that white pearl will look sweet on the matte black. Especially with the block inlays. So, as I said, I'll wait for G&L.

 

[TDR1138]

What value cap do G&L put in the SB-1? I just changed the one in my P which has a Dimarzio Model P, from .047 to .022 and find the tone knob much more useful now it's no longer squshing the heart of the sound out. So I'm curious.

SB-1 has (or at least used to have) a 0.1uF cap with a 6k8 resistor in series, if memory serves correct.

FWIW, the LB-100 has a 0.022uF cap. So they're thinking along the same lines as you.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

SB-1 has (or at least used to have) a 0.1uF cap with a 6k8 resistor in series, if memory serves correct.

FWIW, the LB-100 has a 0.022uF cap. So they're thinking along the same lines as you.

Thanks for the details - googling them brought up some interesting old Bassesbyleo threads.

 

[metron]

I don't understand. BT module? Sorry. I do have an active Seymour Duncan 2-band concentric pot EQ on my Tribute LB100. Later I changed out the alnico pickup for an MFD.

I sent you an EMG BT module from my SB2 that I recall you were going to install in yours?

 

[MMJoel]

NBD! My new to me LB-100 USA Fullerton arrived today. What a beautifully made bass that sounds and plays as good as it looks.