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G&L Club Part 7

I got the white ex demo one from Andertons for £350. It had a couple of small marks on it but nothing bad. The neck is like a Jazz and it is very comfy. They have them for £419 which is still a good deal. They had a US model a few weeks ago for £999 and as I was deciding to get it or not, someone beat me to it.

I loved the sound of the 2000`s Tributes but that neck was no good for me. I will get a picture up later.
I must admit that since lock down I haven't done a whole lot of searching, I must start again.

A while ago I missed by about 20 minutes a used Kiloton in Irish Ale (my preference) with case for a similar price to yours.
 
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I actually had a couple of L2000 tributes in the past (the neck were just to thick) and very briefly a clf 2000 (just didn`t gel with it and had too much cash in it not to love it) but they sounded a lot different to the Kilo as they should. I have been messing about with it this morning and playing closer to the P bass pickup spot seems to mellow it out a bit.

Series on the switch is somewhere I just don`t want to go at the moment! :D

I almost never use series mode on my L2K. If I did it'd be with the bridge pickup only. Otherwise, I have to cut the bass to maybe 10-20%.

Does the kiloton have single coil mode? I rewired my L2K to have that mode and it's my favorite sound.

You might play a bit with adjusting pickup/pole height too. Sometimes that can make a big difference.
 
I just got a Trib Kiliton for a really good price. Love the look, the neck and it`s well built. But the pickup seems very "harsh". Could be 2 reasons for this. I fitted a new set of GHS Boomers as the stock strings were goosed. I haven`t used them before, I`m usually a d`addario nickle guy.

I play with my fingers (thumb on the pickup) and as the pickup is closer to the bridge, I`m not very keen on the sound. For the record, I dislike the sound of a Jazz pickup on it`s own.

I`m going to try a set of flats and I might put a thumbrest nearer the position of a P pickup and see if that helps. I usually run my P bass with full volume but I`m thinking the pickup is pretty hot so I will give it a try at 75% volume? Any advice from fellow owners?
Yeah, all of the things you mention.

While my SB-2 has always sounded great no matter what I did, my Kiloton has taken a long time to bond with. I had to try a lot of different strings, and I had to get used to the idea of EQing it to an extent I would have thought extreme on my other basses. I installed a 3"-long thumb rest from the pickup toward the neck.

Once I spent some dedicated time with it--about two solid weeks of using it as my primary instrument--I finally got used to it. I've started recording a bit at home, and it sounds very good. And I've actually drifted back to playing right over the pickup because the sharper (less bassy) tone there records very well.

Does the kiloton have single coil mode? I rewired my L2K to have that mode and it's my favorite sound.

Yep, middle position on the Kiloton switch. And single-coil mode is also my favorite on both the L2k and the Kilo.
 
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I've got an L1500 (same pickup position as Kiloton, but the active/passive L2xxx-type electronics) and I must look at doing a K-mod on it to get access to a single coil mode. Which coil I'll have to think about. Which is it on the Kiloton, closer to the neck or to the bridge?

Meantime, the niceness of the single coil modes with the L-series pickups speaks well for the likely niceness of a J-style MFD pickup, whenever that finally emerges.
 
While my SB-2 has always sounded great no matter what I did, my Kiloton has taken a long time to bond with. I had to try a lot of different strings, and I had to get used to the idea of EQing it to an extent I would have thought extreme on my other basses. I installed a 3"-long thumb rest from the pickup toward the neck.

This explains why my SB-2 kicked my old L-1500 out of the herd. The SB-2 is as plug-and-play as any P-bass, while the L-1500 sometimes required serious tweaking depending on rig, room, strings, etc. At its best, the 1500 was a fantastic rock stage bass, but sometimes it sounded too thin/nasal IMO. I probably didn't experiment enough with my amp's EQ, but found the Aphex Bass Xciter worked like magic, providing exactly the right thickness while preserving all the punch. Despite finding this "cure" for the 1500, I quickly preferred the more consistently satisfying MFD slam of the SB-2.

If I wanted a fretless, however, I'd consider a Kiloton. I always thought the L-1500 would have made a great fretless.
 
If I wanted a fretless, however, I'd consider a Kiloton. I always thought the L-1500 would have made a great fretless.
Fretless Kiloton is the way to go. I love this beast.
20180828_144837_HDR.jpg
 
I've got an L1500 (same pickup position as Kiloton, but the active/passive L2xxx-type electronics) and I must look at doing a K-mod on it to get access to a single coil mode. Which coil I'll have to think about. Which is it on the Kiloton, closer to the neck or to the bridge?

Meantime, the niceness of the single coil modes with the L-series pickups speaks well for the likely niceness of a J-style MFD pickup, whenever that finally emerges.

I really wish they'd do this. It's such a great sound. It would really be a unique take on a jazz bass too. Hints of a jazz bass with the aggressiveness of an MFD pickup.

I wonder why they didn't do this with the now deceased MJ-4. A bass I'm still having trouble bonding with (still trying).
 
Your real problem is that you have an L2000, and they're just famous around here, TB, and with all G&L fans. There's really nothing else like it. Fender and Music Man don't even come close.

Now, if you had a Kilo or an LB, then yes, you could move over to Fender fairly easily. G&L neck profiles, for the most part, are either evolutions of Fender, or direct replacements.

I don't think you're wrong to stick it out with G&L. "Pretending that there's nothing wrong", which we've recently seen a lot of, is only hurting us all. We're all riding out the storm, so there's peace of mind in knowing that you're with dozens of others, who're knowledgeable and prepared to deal with whatever comes our way.

For your needs… An empress G&L would be the answer to your prayers!View attachment 3838795

Oh no sir, my problems run much deeper than a G&L bass!!
While I have a number of basses the only G&L I have is a JB2 Tribute (not a L2000)
I've been down the Stingray path (still have an 83' last year of Leo) and while it's really nice, it's not the best fit for what I'm doing musically right now.
I have the P thing covered and recently fell in love with the JB2 with a horribly ski jumped neck. If I could just find a couple hours without interruption the neck is probably savable.
25 words are less; if one likes the sound of a Fender and not so much with a SR, what other G&L's should I consider and why?
 
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"Is that a knock on other dealers or more of a praise for Rocket Music?"


Not so much a knock as an observation. Should I chose a stock CLF L-2000 I would feel fine buying it from one of the five large online dealers I mentioned in my earlier post. However, should I choose to do something custom, I would have to choose a Premier dealer like Rocket so that I would have someone to help me navigate through the process.
 
How's their current CLF line? I was planning on buying a CLF L-1000 eventually (never had a G&L before) and was steering more towards the new ones as the vintage ones can be pretty heavy (wanna get one below 9 lbs).

Is the QC lackluster? Anything I should worry about/watch out for? They're very rare on the used market, so I might have to spring for a new one.

I have a Pharaoh Gold CLF I purchased a little over a year ago. It weighs in right at 8 pounds, looks great and most importantly sounds incredible. I had a 1980 L1000 I bought new 40 years ago this December. Unfortunately, I sold it back in '82 and have regretted it ever since. When I saw the CLF reissues, I knew I had to have one. Buy one. You won't regret it.
 
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Oh no sir, my problems run much deeper than a G&L bass!!
While I have a number of basses the only G&L I have is a JB2 Tribute (not a L2000)
I've been down the Stingray path (still have an 83' last year of Leo) and while it's really nice, it's not the best fit for what I'm doing musically right now.
I have the P thing covered and recently fell in love with the JB2 with a horribly ski jumped neck. If I could just find a couple hours without interruption the neck is probably savable.
25 words are less; if one likes the sound of a Fender and not so much with a SR, what other G&L's should I consider and why?
Kiloton. It's a simple layout, which works surprisingly well. IMO, it can easily produce any P or J tones.
 
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Yeah, all of the things you mention.

While my SB-2 has always sounded great no matter what I did, my Kiloton has taken a long time to bond with. I had to try a lot of different strings, and I had to get used to the idea of EQing it to an extent I would have thought extreme on my other basses. I installed a 3"-long thumb rest from the pickup toward the neck.

Once I spent some dedicated time with it--about two solid weeks of using it as my primary instrument--I finally got used to it. I've started recording a bit at home, and it sounds very good. And I've actually drifted back to playing right over the pickup because the sharper (less bassy) tone there records very well.



Yep, middle position on the Kiloton switch. And single-coil mode is also my favorite on both the L2k and the Kilo.

Thats cool, I though it was just me! Single coil is my favourite at the moment but I would love to get in the studio and crank this thing up but as we all know, that ain`t happening soon.

I have a rosewood thumb rest that I will fit, the same idea as yours and I have a spare set of Fender flats that I will stick on after trying the thumb rest. Looking at some older posts, what you say about the strings rings true. There seems to be a lot of trial and error regarding strings until folk seem to settle on a favourite. But I`m gonna persist as I would like to get a US one in the future.

Thanks to all you folks for the suggestions.
 
I just got a Trib Kiliton for a really good price. Love the look, the neck and it`s well built. But the pickup seems very "harsh". Could be 2 reasons for this. I fitted a new set of GHS Boomers as the stock strings were goosed. I haven`t used them before, I`m usually a d`addario nickle guy.

I play with my fingers (thumb on the pickup) and as the pickup is closer to the bridge, I`m not very keen on the sound. For the record, I dislike the sound of a Jazz pickup on it`s own.

I`m going to try a set of flats and I might put a thumbrest nearer the position of a P pickup and see if that helps. I usually run my P bass with full volume but I`m thinking the pickup is pretty hot so I will give it a try at 75% volume? Any advice from fellow owners?
As Bonin mentioned, this will unlock the bass for you. As is with new nickles, center switch on a Kilo could be used to give crew cuts. Which is exactly how I play mine, but not the desired tone for many.