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G&L Kiloton 5

armybass

armybass

Jul 19, 2001
6,930
11,599
56
#1
Now I am a long time G&L fanboi and am familiar with most of the regular G&L lineup but this past week I got a Kiloton 5 and really like it. It is like a passive Stingray 5 with the coil switch. I like the bass a lot but you have to really dig into the interactions between the tone and volume knobs on this bass. The MFD is obviously a powerful platform and in passive mode with just a tone and a volume knob it still has a wide variety of tonal options. So far I'm really digging the single coil mode with the tone cut back at least 50%. Gives a classic snarl and vintage single coil tone. In the parallel mode with the tone and the volume cut back it gives of a nice scooped funk slap tone but if you boost the volume too much the MFDs aggressive side come to the surface and you lose that sweet spot funk for something all together different.

More to follow as I dig in deeper. :)
 
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#2
armybass said:
Now I am a long time G&L fanboi and am familiar with most of the regular G&L lineup but this past week I got a Kiloton 5 and really like it. It is like a passive Stingray 5 with the coil switch. I like the bass a lot but you have to really dig into the interactions between the tone and volume knobs on this bass. The MFD is obviously a powerful platform and in passive mode with just a tone and a volume knob it still has a wide variety of tonal options. So far I'm really digging the single coil mode with the tone cut back at least 50%. Gives a classic snarl and vintage single coil tone. In the parallel mode with the tone and the volume cut back it gives of a nice scooped funk slap tone but if you boost the volume too much the MFDs aggressive side come to the surface and you lose that sweet spot funk for something all together different.

More to follow as I dig in deeper. :)
Click to expand...

You know the rules; post pictures!:bassist:
 
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#3
I only have Rocket Music's pictures so far.
1849FC95-A44E-4852-A0D9-95FB7458458F.jpeg
 
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#5
They've had that one for quite a while, I know Greg was willing to make a good deal on it to move. I've had my eye on that one for quite a while, but alas, bills and tuition payments are key at this point...
There is a used one on Reverb that is absolutely gorgeous...but again...bills...

Anyway...
Congrats and enjoy the new bass!!!
 
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#7
Nice! I finally was able to check out a maple fretboard Tribute Kiloton 4 in person. It was More than enough to fire up my gas for a US-made version.(i want a rosewood fretboard,though.) I really love the tone switching options.
the block inlays without the neck binding look great, too.
 
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#8
I love my Kiloton 5! I've been using it as my go-to for the last 2-ish years now, and have clocked in some serious hours gigging and recording with it.

I've found keeping the volume at under 90% tames the MFDs a bit and gives a nice warm mellow sound. Parallel and single coil are my usual configs, but also I haven't really found a nice way to work in Series without adjusting the volume to compensate for the added loudness.

Couple of other things I've learned:
The MFDs can be a bit too hot and clip on some pedals (I use 18v pedals with more headroom now, not really an issue)
Flat wound strings didn't really work too well. I tried MM, TI, and LaBellas and didn't jive with any of them.
Single coil mode works best with an OC-2, but tracking is, for whatever reason, not as accurate compared to my P bass.

I've been thinking about adding another MFD in the neck position :drool:
 
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#13
Jackcrow said:
I actually think a bass with 2 MFD pickups on the SB body shape and pickguard would be pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Right!?

I was thinking of how to adapt the controls to it, but I think using the 3 position toggle that normally switches between Parallel/Single/Series to switch between Neck/Both/Bridge would be pretty cool. Maybe the tone knob is a push/pull that switches the pups between single and parallel? Could be neat!
 
#17
80jazz said:
There was someone here who suggested that and that it could be called the SB-3.

I wish they would do it. I would be one of (if not the) first ones to buy one.
Click to expand...

I just finished putting this one together. It's actually a P Bass with the MFD directly behind it. That puts the MFD pickup nearly exactly where it is on the Kiloton. I haven't played it much since I finished it yet.

D4A76520-7C52-4578-88D9-438EF18F24C9.jpeg
 
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