• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

G&L Club Part 7

#25,182
IcyApollo56 said:
This might be a controversial question… but what are people's thoughts on changing the pickup on an LB-100? Not something I'd do on a G&L with an MFD but I'm thinking about it on my 2019 LB-100 (if I actually do it). I have a Bill Lawrence P-46 sitting around.
Click to expand...

Change it. They are easy enough to change back if you don't like it after the swap. Very happy with the pickup swaps on my JB5. I would never swap an MFD, but the non-MFDs are fair game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IcyApollo56
#25,185
jfh2424 said:
Tribs and USAs sound the same.

Get a USA if you want a bass with a specific colour or neck that isn't offered in Tribs.

It's really that simple, in my book.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience as well. No difference in tonality or playability but some differences in final finish based more or less on a US model being more handmade in the sense of slight better final finishing. I'm quite pleased with my current Tributes and the other three I've had and sold or traded. Few imports are any better and strictly from a standpoint of value they are so close to the US versions it's tough to justify their higher prices.
 
#25,186
IcyApollo56 said:
This might be a controversial question… but what are people's thoughts on changing the pickup on an LB-100? Not something I'd do on a G&L with an MFD but I'm thinking about it on my 2019 LB-100 (if I actually do it). I have a Bill Lawrence P-46 sitting around.
Click to expand...

Then IMHO you'd be installing the best PBass pickup I've ever played. There's a very lengthy thread here at TalkBass on that pickup and many others agree with my impression of the P46. I also use Bill's J45s on my Jazz Bass. You already have the P46 so what's the worst that could happen? If you don't favor it over the stock Alnico version you can swap the stock version back in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mellobud and IcyApollo56
#25,187
Robert Booker said:
Then IMHO you'd be installing the best PBass pickup I've ever played. There's a very lengthy thread here at TalkBass on that pickup and many others agree with my impression of the P46. I also use Bill's J45s on my Jazz Bass. You already have the P46 so what's the worst that could happen? If you don't favor it over the stock Alnico version you can swap the stock version back in.
Click to expand...

I'm excited to try it out! It'll be my first experience with one of these pickups. I've heard it has the most authentic traditional P tone out there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Robert Booker
#25,188
IcyApollo56 said:
I'm excited to try it out! It'll be my first experience with one of these pickups. I've heard it has the most authentic traditional P tone out there.
Click to expand...

For me both the clarity and the punch are what I'm sold on. Even playing thumpy old LaBellas on my PBass the tone is not at all muddy and a fretted F note on the E string still rings out and sustains whereas with many PBass pickups all you get is a thud.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wolfhound32, IcyApollo56 and jglunt
#25,194
After Boomer 45-105, Roto Bass 45-105, Deep Talkin Flats 49-109, I found Roto Bass 50-110 finally got me to the right spot with my SB-1.

I'm kinda curious to know what played-in (aka "dead") Swing Bass will sound like on it, so I've had a set of the 50-110 RS66 on for the last week or so.

As I wait for them soften up, I'm finding them short of charm for what I want from this bass ....

..... but it has to be said, the combination of MFD + heavy Swing Bass, with the vol on 9 or 10 and the tone on about 5 or 6 is a fantastic sound - the clatter and snarl is quietened, leaving a massive, dark focussed sound with a very firm attack. Not so much cutting through the mix as drawing a thick black line through it.

Shame I've no real use for that sound myself. Wish I could go back and find 18 year old Ricky and put this bass in his hands.
 
  • Like
Reactions: One Way, Robert Booker and Murch
#25,196
Man, I am so torn on these 2 basses I'm looking at. The Tribute is half the price of the Fullerton Deluxe, but I have no idea how I'll interact with a 12" radius neck as opposed to a 9.5". I'm really comfortable with my Fullerton Deluxe JB. Just don't know which one to pull the trigger on.
 
#25,198
MrB64 said:
What are the 2 basses you're looking at?
Click to expand...
Both are Kilotons.

Edit: Both are supposed to weigh about the same (about 9lbs even), both come with a hard shell case, shipping cost is the same, and both are colors I like (although different from each other). Besides place of manufacture, the largest difference seems to be in the neck radius and price.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Robert Booker
#25,199
RL5 said:
Man, I am so torn on these 2 basses I'm looking at. The Tribute is half the price of the Fullerton Deluxe, but I have no idea how I'll interact with a 12" radius neck as opposed to a 9.5". I'm really comfortable with my Fullerton Deluxe JB. Just don't know which one to pull the trigger on.
Click to expand...

These types of decisions can be rough. I am personally a believer in getting what I know and am comfortable with. If you're used to the 9.5" radius and are comfortable with it, that would be the route I'd go personally. But that's just me... it might be cool to try something new and maybe you'll love the 12" radius!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ahbass2500
#25,200
Fretless Kiloton came in today. It is definitely a keeper. It is everything I missed from my fretless Tobias Growler (except for the incredibly light weight of the Growler) and has the G&L MFD sound that I have always loved. My G&L collection is now an L2500 (c. 2001), Kiloton 5 (c. 2017), JB5 (c. 2016) and L5000 (c. 1993).

IMG_0023.jpg


In other news, G&L finally fixed their 5 string case issue. I have no idea when they fixed it, but glad to see they finally did. My JB5 in the G&L provided G&G case from 2016 with the issue...

IMG_1736.jpg


My Kiloton is from 2017, but was a factory clearance instrument sold directly by G&L. As a result, it came in a G&L case from 2022 (has tag from G&G on inside with year on it), shaped with a cutout to accommodate the D string tuner...

IMG_0015 2.jpg



While I did not photograph it, I did check the JB5 in the 2022 case and it fit the same as the Kilo (so the issue was definitely a case issue and not a bass shape/size issue).


EDIT: Just played the Kilo again... it has the tuning key vibration on the A string tuner. Guess I get to contact service for a new tuner.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MAJOR METAL, Murch, tblurker and 4 others

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back