Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just made my first no-Rickenbacker purchase in many years. This G&L Kiloton arrived a few days ago. I was offered a great deal on Reverb and went for it. That's the Irish Ale finish on an Ash body. Other than weighing almost the same as my StingRay5,(which also has a substantial ash body and having to get used to the J-Bass style neck, I'm diggin' it. I need to speed up the aging process of the maple neck. It's too pale, like butcher block.
Being totally passive, it sounds better than a StingRay to my ears. The tone is an authoritative, focused growl. The other downside to getting this Kiloton, is it's giving me GAS for an American L-2000 or L-2500.

Looks really nice Joey!

blueflamerick wrote: Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:29 pm Looks really nice Joey!

+1

Sweet lookin' bass! How would you describe the sound?

cjj wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 1:54 am Sweet lookin' bass! How would you describe the sound?

Very tight, focused, and growly. It's very bright. Sort of like a StingRay, without being electronically glassy. I like that it's completely passive. The tone is excellent. The mids really make it cut through the mix of a band. It's great for modern jazz, progressive rock, metal, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Steely Dan (with the treble backed off to about 60%), and that sort of stuff. Not really good for old school rock, blues and R&B.

It's the imported Tribute model, not the Fullerton, USA version. It's very well made, with a couple of exceptions. The frets above the 11th fret were not filed properly on both ends and the top of them sticks out past the edge of the fretboard a tiny bit. Not enough to be terrible to play, but shows that their Q.C. is not the best. They are supposed to be inspected in Fullerton before being released for sale. I pass by G&L all the time. I should stick my head in there and say hey, what's with that? The other thing is the bottom, funky shaped surface of the headstock that most people don't like is a bit rough. I'll have to get busy with a fret file and sandpaper on a small block one of these days. I'll have to remove the neck to work on the upper frets.

The massive ash body is a bit heavy, but I expected that since my StingRay 5 is the same way. with it's massive ash body. They've recently changed to making the Tribute version with a solid color on a poplar body, which should be lighter.

Now I have to get used to the J-Bass type neck. Never like them before, but the feel in my hands is changing. Maybe it's finally time to get used to it.

Have always been a fan of G+L basses: lovely quality instruments (including the Tribbies, on the whole!) - and that one's a beauty, especially the woodgrain. Tasty!

Looks like the pickup is in the approximate location as the bridge pickup on a 4003

Korladis wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:00 pm Looks like the pickup is in the approximate location as the bridge pickup on a 4003

It's in the MM StingRay pickup oosition.

Korladis wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:00 pm Looks like the pickup is in the approximate location as the bridge pickup on a 4003

My Guild B-301 (1978) has its pickup in the 4000 location, accounting for the slight difference in scale length (34"). String spacing at the nut and bridge match, too.

rickenbrother wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 7:21 pm

Korladis wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:00 pm Looks like the pickup is in the approximate location as the bridge pickup on a 4003

It's in the MM StingRay pickup oosition.

How close/far is that from 4003 bridge pickup position?

jps wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 10:16 pm

Korladis wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:00 pm Looks like the pickup is in the approximate location as the bridge pickup on a 4003

My Guild B-301 (1978) has its pickup in the 4000 location, accounting for the slight difference in scale length (34"). String spacing at the nut and bridge match, too.

Guild B-301-Front-Full-1200_4417.jpg

Always thought those were cool

Korladis wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2025 12:38 am

jps wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 10:16 pm
My Guild B-301 (1978) has its pickup in the 4000 location, accounting for the slight difference in scale length (34"). String spacing at the nut and bridge match, too.

Guild B-301-Front-Full-1200_4417.jpg

Always thought those were cool

It is a great bass. I have only seen them in photos over the decades; the day before Thanksgiving 2022 I happened upon it at my local (now gone) Sam Ash sitting in a display case. I played it for a quite a while. The strings were really old which did not do the tone/sound of the bass any favors but I figured new strings would take care of any inconsistencies with that, and decided to spend T-day thinking about it. I went back that Friday (Black Friday!) and bought it (SA threw in a 40-100 set of Hyper Slinkys). The sound is fantastic and versatile (the tone control is very wide ranging). At the moment the Guild has a set of 40-55-75-95 Chromes that I bought in '03 and has been on a few basses since including my old 4005WB.

The body is one piece of mahogany.

How would the sound compare to bridge pickup on a 4003?

Hard to say as I don't have a 4003 these days to make a fair comparison, but probably fairly similar since the pickup in the B-301 is a single coil. I have not measured its DCR but my guess is in the 8K range, going by its output level.