NBD G&L Kiloton Tribute

[BillyBass]

I have been gassing for a Kiloton Tribute on and off for a few years, I was put off in the past by tales of boat anchor weight and the colours; brown or white, which I wasn't so keen on.  Now G&L have started selling them in colours I like. 

 

@Jonesy lives in the next borough along from me and he invited me round to his to try out his new G&L SB2 Tribute.  Thanks mate👍.  I wasn't so keen on the SB2 but I could see that it was well made considering the price and wasn't heavy.  @OllyW also confirmed in another G&L thread here that his Kiloton wasn't heavy.

 

So I took a punt and ordered online.  I've never had a bass delivered before, I always wanted to try them out first but I didn't want to spend a day (and spend on diesel) driving down to Guilford for a £379 bass.  

 

My first impressions are:  I love the tones you can get from it.  I've been mainly playing it with the toggle switch in the middle, which I believe is single coil (?) with the tone and volume on max.  It has the barky sound you would expect from a bass with a single bridge humbucker but the E string has a depth and authority I'm very pleased with.

 

I really love it but its new so I will see how I feel about it in a few weeks but this feels like a keeper.

 

 

[Jonesy]

That's lovely and I really like the CAR finish. It seems G&L have done pretty well from us on the forum recently! 😁

[Eldon Tyrell]

Great colour combination. Love it. Enjoy 👍

[neepheid]

9 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

That's lovely and I really like the CAR finish. It seems G&L have done pretty well from us on the forum recently! 😁

 

Indeed they have.  It's those blocks, damn their eyes!

[Jonesy]

10 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Indeed they have.  It's those blocks, damn their eyes!

 

Every bas should come with blocks!

[BillyBass]

40 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

 

Every bas should come with blocks!

The neck would look a bit anaemic without them.  Ideally I'd have the CAR finish with the rosewood/pearloid inlays but the rosewood/pearloid only comes with the stealth black.

[Jonesy]

6 hours ago, BillyBass said:

The neck would look a bit anaemic without them.  Ideally I'd have the CAR finish with the rosewood/pearloid inlays but the rosewood/pearloid only comes with the stealth black.

 

The stealth Kiloton looks like a mean machine, it's a shame they don't do a version with black hardware too!

 

What's the finish on the back of the neck like on your new toy?? Is it similar to the SB2?

[jd56hawk]

Kiloton’s single MFD bucker fires without the aid of a preamp, while a 3-position series/split/parallel toggle harnesses the coils’ power. Simple volume and tone controls are devastatingly effective, revealing a wide range of textures Leo’s MFD bucker is famous for. What’s more, Kiloton is armed with a 6-bolt neck and Leo Fender-designed Saddle-Lock™ bridge to transfer all the energy right into the body end-grain for an incredibly resonant instrument.

[BillyBass]

9 hours ago, Jonesy said:

 

The stealth Kiloton looks like a mean machine, it's a shame they don't do a version with black hardware too!

 

What's the finish on the back of the neck like on your new toy?? Is it similar to the SB2?

Its the same as your SB2.  No finish!  G&L refer to it as 'satin' finish but it doesn't seem to have had any oil or lacquer put on it.  The back of the neck is smooth enough so if I was so inclined I could rub in some oil myself, which would possibly improve it, or make a sticky mess.  I would have to look into suitable oils for rubbing into the back of bass necks.

[BillyBass]

3 hours ago, jd56hawk said:

Kiloton’s single MFD bucker fires without the aid of a preamp, while a 3-position series/split/parallel toggle harnesses the coils’ power. Simple volume and tone controls are devastatingly effective, revealing a wide range of textures Leo’s MFD bucker is famous for. What’s more, Kiloton is armed with a 6-bolt neck and Leo Fender-designed Saddle-Lock™ bridge to transfer all the energy right into the body end-grain for an incredibly resonant instrument.

The Tribute Kiloton I have has a 4 bolt neck joint but you are right about the resonance.  A plucked E string does go on and on.  Not as much as my string through Yamaha BB434 but still long enough for, say, 2 bars at the end of a section of song.

[jd56hawk]

58 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

The Tribute Kiloton I have has a 4 bolt neck joint but you are right about the resonance.  A plucked E string does go on and on.  Not as much as my string through Yamaha BB434 but still long enough for, say, 2 bars at the end of a section of song.

Of course. I'd just posted a pic of a very nice USA Kiloton in the "Single pickup passive non-Precision basses" thread and I must've been thinking of that.

Old age strikes again!

[BillyBass]

7 minutes ago, jd56hawk said:

Of course. I'd just posted a pic of a very nice USA Kiloton in the "Single pickup passive non-Precision basses" thread and I must've been thinking of that.

Old age strikes again!

I've just had a look at that.  Nice bass!

[jd56hawk]

23 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

I've just had a look at that.  Nice bass!

Not exactly cheap, custom shop, but it's still listed on Reverb for $2,399...$400 price drop.

With the problems I've heard people having ordering basses and being told they might have to wait until summer, I'm surprised this isn't gone.

Good thing I still can't afford it, though.

 

[BillyBass]

29 minutes ago, jd56hawk said:

Not exactly cheap, custom shop, but it's still listed on Reverb for $2,399...$400 price drop.

With the problems I've heard people having ordering basses and being told they might have to wait until summer, I'm surprised this isn't gone.

Good thing I still can't afford it, though.

 

Wifey gave me permission to spend £379 on the tribute kiloton but $2399 (roughly £1750-£1800) would need some serious house cleaning and washing up.

 

I notice that Sweetwater and Guitar Center sell the Tribute Kilotons for $650 in the U.S. which is considerably dearer than over here.  Normally American kit has quite a mark up when crossing the pond but I suppose we must import these directly from Indonesia.  I'm not complaining!

[OllyW]

18 hours ago, BillyBass said:

The neck would look a bit anaemic without them.  Ideally I'd have the CAR finish with the rosewood/pearloid inlays but the rosewood/pearloid only comes with the stealth black.

If the stealth black had also been listed in Andertons sale I think I would have got both and swapped the necks.

[jd56hawk]

2 hours ago, BillyBass said:

Wifey gave me permission to spend £379 on the tribute kiloton but $2399 (roughly £1750-£1800) would need some serious house cleaning and washing up.

 

I notice that Sweetwater and Guitar Center sell the Tribute Kilotons for $650 in the U.S. which is considerably dearer than over here.  Normally American kit has quite a mark up when crossing the pond but I suppose we must import these directly from Indonesia.  I'm not complaining!

I guess I'll just have to be content with these.

[BillyBass]

21 minutes ago, jd56hawk said:

I guess I'll just have to be content with these.

Its a tough life isn't it😉

 

Mine would look better with an inlay at the first fret.

[BassBunny]

Wish they'd do a 5 string Tribute.

[jd56hawk]

1 hour ago, BillyBass said:

Its a tough life isn't it😉

 

Mine would look better with an inlay at the first fret.

Yes, I never understood why sometimes certain bass makers neglect the top fret.

[hankhill]

I bought one of these red Kilotons from Andertons as well, just before Christmas.  I have an SB-2 Tribute that I picked cheaply up on eBay a few months back, its very comfortable to play but the pickup shape left nowhere to rest my thumb (I’ve tried the floating thumb thing, lets not go there) and the rosewood neck made it hard to see the fret dots on a dark stage with my old eyes.  I’ve gigged this bass several times and the body is very comfortable and I like the slim Jazz style neck and the sustain.  I never use the bridge pickup so I just have volume and that’s it, which is OK as I prefer to have tone full on and use the amp to shape the sound, so lack of a tone knob didn’t bother me.

 

The first Kiloton arrived with an unpleasant looking dark line in the grain along the top edge of the maple fretboard. Andertons were happy to change it but I had to pay the extra shipping as they said it wasn’t really a defect (?).  The second Kiloton arrived with poor setup (probably not set up at all after leaving the factory I guess), and the tiny screw that clamps the bridge prices was missing so I swapped the screw over from the old Kiloton before that was collected.

After some truss rod and bridge tweaking its better but has the same issue as the SB-2 had, where the G string is noticeably quieter than the others.  I’ve raised the pole pieces but this issue is a work in progress.  I changed the strings on both basses as the stock strings felt too rough and too bright.

 

I had hoped the pickup shape on the kiloton would make a better thumb rest but it doesn’t, so I still stick a rubber adhesive block on the pickguard to rest my thumb, which need replacing every few weeks.  I’ve been looking at ZeroMod etc.  Unfortunately in a couple of our songs I play with a pick and the strings muted at the bridge with my right hand, and that makes the picking area directly above the pickup, so the Kiloton design isn’t the ideal one for me that I’d hoped it would be.

Sound-wise I found the Kiloton to be a bit “meh” – none of the switch positions really float my boat and compared to my p-basses, they all sound a bit sterile.  Like the SB-2 the body is very comfortable and I like the slim Jazz style neck and quality is good.  At least with the maple neck I can see the fret markers!  The body wood is soft, it already has a small dent and when installing Schaller straplocks I have already had to pad the holes with matches as they stripped easily.

I haven’t gigged the Kiloton yet, for the last two gigs I’ve gone back to my lovely (but slightly heavier) 2003 USA Precision Deluxe.  I’m not dissing the G&L’s as they are good quality and good to play, but mine may end up on eBay at some point.

[Pea Turgh]

3 hours ago, hankhill said:

What model is the silver P+MM 3rd from

right, there?

[BillyBass]

3 hours ago, hankhill said:

I bought one of these red Kilotons from Andertons as well, just before Christmas.  I have an SB-2 Tribute that I picked cheaply up on eBay a few months back, its very comfortable to play but the pickup shape left nowhere to rest my thumb (I’ve tried the floating thumb thing, lets not go there) and the rosewood neck made it hard to see the fret dots on a dark stage with my old eyes.  I’ve gigged this bass several times and the body is very comfortable and I like the slim Jazz style neck and the sustain.  I never use the bridge pickup so I just have volume and that’s it, which is OK as I prefer to have tone full on and use the amp to shape the sound, so lack of a tone knob didn’t bother me.

 

The first Kiloton arrived with an unpleasant looking dark line in the grain along the top edge of the maple fretboard. Andertons were happy to change it but I had to pay the extra shipping as they said it wasn’t really a defect (?).  The second Kiloton arrived with poor setup (probably not set up at all after leaving the factory I guess), and the tiny screw that clamps the bridge prices was missing so I swapped the screw over from the old Kiloton before that was collected.

After some truss rod and bridge tweaking its better but has the same issue as the SB-2 had, where the G string is noticeably quieter than the others.  I’ve raised the pole pieces but this issue is a work in progress.  I changed the strings on both basses as the stock strings felt too rough and too bright.

 

I had hoped the pickup shape on the kiloton would make a better thumb rest but it doesn’t, so I still stick a rubber adhesive block on the pickguard to rest my thumb, which need replacing every few weeks.  I’ve been looking at ZeroMod etc.  Unfortunately in a couple of our songs I play with a pick and the strings muted at the bridge with my right hand, and that makes the picking area directly above the pickup, so the Kiloton design isn’t the ideal one for me that I’d hoped it would be.

Sound-wise I found the Kiloton to be a bit “meh” – none of the switch positions really float my boat and compared to my p-basses, they all sound a bit sterile.  Like the SB-2 the body is very comfortable and I like the slim Jazz style neck and quality is good.  At least with the maple neck I can see the fret markers!  The body wood is soft, it already has a small dent and when installing Schaller straplocks I have already had to pad the holes with matches as they stripped easily.

I haven’t gigged the Kiloton yet, for the last two gigs I’ve gone back to my lovely (but slightly heavier) 2003 USA Precision Deluxe.  I’m not dissing the G&L’s as they are good quality and good to play, but mine may end up on eBay at some point.

You write that your Kiloton sounds sterile compared to your P bass.  Well, its a single humbucker bass with the humbucker in the Stingray position...ish.  Its not going to be anything like a P bass.  

 

The tones we like are all very subjective.  I love the Kiloton tone.

 

Nice collection of basses though!

Edited February 7, 2022 by BillyBass

[hankhill]

10 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

What model is the silver P+MM 3rd from

right, there?

That's my 2003 USA Precision Deluxe.  Its a beauty that I picked up 5 or so years back.  I refinished the scratchpad with carbon fibre vinyl wrap last year as I didn’t really love the original marble effect (before and after pics attached). The rear pickup is a Fender dual jazz thing, standard on that model at that time.  I don't tend to use it, just the p-bass pickup mostly.

[BassAdder60]

I nearly purchased the Kiloton as my backup bass but in the end chose the Classic Vibe 70’s PBass in black 

 

Nicely set up and very decent PBass for £339