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G&L Club Part 7

Even though no one responded to my post about SB-1 vs SB-2 with neck solo'd, I pulled the trigger on the SB-1 at the G&L Clearance Shop. Love the black with maple neck combo and I'm excited to enjoy the single pickup look and elegant simplicity. I watched a bunch of Steve Araujo videos too and it sounds like the SB-1 will be a great addition to the Kiloton I use for mostly hard rock. The SB-1 sounds like it will pull off some good vintage stuff but with the aggressiveness to drive hard when pushed.

Here's the bass I refer to...

new SB-1.jpg
 

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Even though no one responded to my post about SB-1 vs SB-2 with neck solo'd, I pulled the trigger on the SB-1 at the G&L Clearance Shop. Love the black with maple neck combo and I'm excited to enjoy the single pickup look and elegant simplicity. I watched a bunch of Steve Araujo videos too and it sounds like the SB-1 will be a great addition to the Kiloton I use for mostly hard rock. The SB-1 sounds like it will pull off some good vintage stuff but with the aggressiveness to drive hard when pushed.

Here's the bass I refer to...

View attachment 5362716

I was looking at that same one - great choice!!
 
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If you get the pickup height just right on the SB-1, you can get a variety of tones from 8, 9 and 10 on the volume knob.

Drop the pickup height, put the volume on 8, and then gradually raise the pickup until the tone is satisfying in a vaguely traditional way.

Once you're there, turning to 9 will add punch, and turning to 10 gives a massively thick tone.

The tone knob then tidies things up as needed.

With things set up like that, I found that Pro Steels, Swing Bass, Roto Bass and Chromes all worked well in their different ways. Swing Bass for a commanding tone, Roto Bass for a rounded more poppy style, Pro Steels surprisingly versatile, straddling both.
 
Ive been on the fence about selling my BTO kiloton 5 in Empress (
under 8 lbs) If there's any club members here who have a JB5 that may want to trade, send me a PM.

I'm still on the fence, so may change my mind. But I just am learning that I am not a MM pickup placement type of guy.

View attachment 5328497

Hey all,

I do plan on selling my beautiful K5 once my LB100 from G&L finally arrives from repair (Memo told me 3 weeks, 5 weeks ago...). I love the feel and look of this bass, but I am just not a MM guy.... J basses and P basses for me it seems.
 
If you get the pickup height just right on the SB-1, you can get a variety of tones from 8, 9 and 10 on the volume knob.

Drop the pickup height, put the volume on 8, and then gradually raise the pickup until the tone is satisfying in a vaguely traditional way.

Once you're there, turning to 9 will add punch, and turning to 10 gives a massively thick tone.

The tone knob then tidies things up as needed.

With things set up like that, I found that Pro Steels, Swing Bass, Roto Bass and Chromes all worked well in their different ways. Swing Bass for a commanding tone, Roto Bass for a rounded more poppy style, Pro Steels surprisingly versatile, straddling both.
Funny but I've never found pickup height, on any bass I've owned, to make a huge difference in tone but I'm willing to muck around with it a bit. I'll probably play the stock D'addarios for a little while before switching over to String Joy or DR Pure Blues. Those are my faves as I prefer nickel to stainless rounds. But again, very willing to experiment. Thanks for the tips!
 
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Funny but I've never found pickup height, on any bass I've owned, to make a huge difference in tone but I'm willing to muck around with it a bit. I'll probably play the stock D'addarios for a little while before switching over to String Joy or DR Pure Blues. Those are my faves as I prefer nickel to stainless rounds. But again, very willing to experiment. Thanks for the tips!
Just a couple notes: I believe you might find that pickup height makes more of a difference with an MFD pickup than with an Alnico. AND, the stock D'Addario XL170s are nickel roundwounds, so maybe you'll like them. To me, they're a little bland compared to some other nickel rounds, but MFDs can make any string sound better.
 
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I remembered another detail: the inner parts of the pole pieces can also be raised individually. iirc I found raising them for the E and G added a bit more definition to the tone, very much a fine tuning thing, but made a difference I was glad of.
Thanks for sharing this. I usually raise the A and D strings' pole pieces a touch because those two strings are usually farther away from the pickup, so this is something new for me to try.
 
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I'm trying to better understand the L-2000. Since the eq is passive, when the preamp is switched off, is it bypassing a boost or a buffer? Or both?
Thank you for your help. :) I did search for this answer before asking.
 
Raising pickups was a big success for me on my JB with alnicos. Totally gave it the oomph I needed, especially the neck pickup. I messed with the individual poles on my kiloton a little too, looking for a balance between sane and unsane. I'm still trying to figure my way around that pickup, still thinking about modding it, still thinking of trading with jfh2424.
 
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I'm trying to better understand the L-2000. Since the eq is passive, when the preamp is switched off, is it bypassing a boost or a buffer? Or both?
Thank you for your help. :) I did search for this answer before asking.
There is no boost in the eq of the L2x00. The treble cuts treble, the bass cuts bass. Wide open, you get all there is of both. They are both passive tone controls. It takes an active eq to boost a signal, but if the tone controls in the L2x00 were active, they wouldn't work when the bass is switched into passive.
 
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Raising pickups was a big success for me on my JB with alnicos. Totally gave it the oomph I needed, especially the neck pickup. I messed with the individual poles on my kiloton a little too, looking for a balance between sane and unsane. I'm still trying to figure my way around that pickup, still thinking about modding it, still thinking of trading with jfh2424.

I think you should trade with that jfh2424 guy. Plus I hear he is a really good dude!