G&L Tribute Kiloton Review

Best Bass for the Price Paid

The Tribute Kiloton is a fantastic bass in both design, execution and value. I own a number of high end basses, including a CLFR G&L, and the Kiloton never feels less than the others I have and use. Quite honestly, I've purchased basses at double and more the value and found less quality. Design: The Kiloton is a great design. The smaller body most recognizable on the SB-2 basses,… read more is very comfortable and saves weight. The "jazz" neck is comfortable and fast with a nice light finish. A smaller than traditional Fender style body and thinner jazz neck may not be for every player, but if you like those attributes it is great. The bridge and electronics are really things that set this apart from most instruments even close to this price. The same MFD humbucker as my CLRF L-2000, and the heavy duty G&L bridge. Tuners are smooth and stable. Fit and Finish: Fretwork was fine on this bass (although full disclosure, I had it professionally set up and PLEK'd at a local shop, which I do for almost all of my basses). Out of the box, I could easily have gone right to a gig. Finish quality is quite nice with an attractive candy apple red. The black block inlays are another nice option, although I'll admit I wish it had an inlay on the first fret from an aesthetic point. Tone: The single MFD humbucker in a sweet spot (I'd say between a Stingray pickup location and traditional neck pickup) offers a unique punch and smooth tone. The three way switch adds a lot more variety than one might expect from a one pickup passive bass. The hum bucker in parallel is punch and full. Switch to series and it jumps out at you with lots of power. Single coil mode is no slouch. Still plenty low end, but it has more aggression to it, and sounds great with a pick. The Kiloton is sneaky. My first experience with a Kiloton in a room with a bunch of different basses (including quite a few high dollar instruments), it was nice, but by no means one that blew you away. However, put this bass in a band setting, and it sits in the mix astoundingly well. I did a session with a modern pop band, and the Tribute Kiloton beat out the custom G&L, a US Fender, and a Sadowsky. It just fit in the mix in a way the others did not. Filled up the space underneath two guitars and keyboards while being defined with a smooth punch. For the more rock based track with a pick in Drop D, switched to single coil mode and there it was again morphing to handle that different track. Conclusion: Although it may not have some of the fancier woods or finishes of other basses I own, this bass is an astounding value at this price point. Throw in the rather unique design elements of the MFD humbucker in a sweet spot, and you have a tone weapon that less mimics a P or J or Ray, and adds its own very usable tone profile to the lineup.

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G&L Tributes Best Imports in Price Range

The quality and playability is really excellent. The fact that the same pickup is in the bass as my CRLF L-2000 attests to the great tone it has as well. I had one high fret, but overall playability was excellent (I'm pretty picky and get all my basses PLEK'd and set up locally). Right out of the box, I took it to a cover band rehearsal (pop and rock), and the Kiloton sits in the… read more mix so well. That is truly where it shines. It is really mid heavy in tone, so it just drops right into the right spot of a 6 piece band without stepping on toes so to speak. The bass plays as well as any of my basses costing 4x what this does.

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