dc2009

This is a great price really for what you're offering. I'd love to go to something like this. I think I'll be a bit skint come then as I'm off on holiday next week. If you can get it organised more in advance next year I think more people will definitely be interested!

I've had the pickguard done courtesy of Howard (the bass doc), and I've gotta say it looks peachy. Couldn't get a shot in sunlight without the shadow of the window frame but the pickguard is on display, think it looks the business personally Dan

[quote name='big rob' timestamp='1339372596' post='1687713'] It's a shame, if anyone can point me in the direction of a cheap one that would be good, prefer the gloss finish really. Cheers Rob. [/quote] The for sale section Bargains can be had on ebay and gumtree but they are few and far between. Far too many on there at too high a price.

[quote name='big rob' timestamp='1339370634' post='1687685'] Thanks Mart, I have been offered one for 800 notes is that a good price. [/quote] Perhaps if it comes with it's identical twin. Terrible price at the moment I'm afraid to say. Warwicks are fairly unpopular at the moment and as a result are fetching a fraction of their new price.

Big fan of this piece, nicely performed, your economy of motion is seriously good! I'd just say see if you can change up your recording setup, I found the bass sound a bit muffled and the tone sounded a bit weak (I think the fault of the recording rather than your setup or playing).

What's the deal with Clover/Xotic and Sandberg, as bass direct seemed to lump them together for a while.

[quote name='davidlovellbass' timestamp='1339006636' post='1682377'] I've wanted to do this for a long time but finding a good donor body isn't easy on anything but unlimited funds. Warmoth do a great version with lots of options but getting a bass body or neck in the country not via customs hasn't happened to me yet and i'm on my third build. BaCH do a good looking non reverse bird, with EMG humbucker size routs. Lollar sell crome covered epi thunderbird pickup replacements, good video on youtube about it too but at $200 each.... [/quote] Thanks mate will check them out. To me, this is the cheap way to get a Lull, whose pickups are over £200 each and I'm still tempted by them.

[quote name='bassmachine2112' timestamp='1338976655' post='1681770'] Hi,here,s a thought. Just get an Epi Pro-4-schaller type bridge,through neck,active electronics defo a cheaper way to do it. Sexy as hell in black. Or hang on a bit and get am Epi classic with american thunderbird pick ups,through neck as well in white. [/quote] Lol I'm trying to sell my black one! I want a white one, have had a Pro-IV and a Pro-V in black! Did not know they dud an epi classic in white, have now checked their site and it appears they do. Thing is, I'd still want to upgrade the bridge and pickups on it, as well as perhaps the electronics. So I may as well at least get myself a supertone bridge now, how many of those white ones were there made? Can't say I've seen one on ebay.

Guys, my current bridge looks to be three point but neither the three nor two point supertones look to be exact matches, which am I after? Also does anyone have any experience with the pickups neepheid kindly identified? As a reminder they are: EMG HB TV Jones Rio Grande Pitbull

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1338930877' post='1681399'] The only direct bridge replacement is the Hipshot Supertone bridge. I have one on my RD Artist. It looks like they're using those guitar humbucker sized pickups. I had some in an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I changed them out for a set of EMG-HB (active pickups). They fitted straight into the existing pickup rings. I think that there is the Rio Grande Pitbull pickup which should also fit right in - it's passive and coil-tappable if you wish. Also you can get TV Jones pickups in what they call "English Mount" which should also fit into Gibson guitar sized pickup rings. [/quote] Thanks for the advice mate. What are these pickups (the Rio Grande & the TV Jones) like sound wise, I've had EMG's, Bartolinis etc in the past but these are beyond my knowledge. Also, a supertone is £129 from Bass direct, may have to ebay it. Do you think Monorail bridges or a Badass may be an alternative solution?

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1338930646' post='1681395'] Would it not be cheaper just to buy some tools? [/quote] Perhaps, but I'm in a rented house and don't exactly have a workbench or anything of the sort. I'd far rather pay someone to do the job properly and give it a good set up whilst they're at it

Cheers, Luke. I was tossing up earlier which was worse, the bridge or the pickups. Have come to the conclusion that I can't be bothered replacing one without t'other and both will go together. That's something else I should add in, is that whilst I'm handy enough with a soldering iron, I don't have one, nor do I have any tools (had to borrow the screwdrivers just to take the parts off) so I would be giving this to a shop of sorts to fit the new parts and set up for me. Any recommendations of who to go to for such a thing would be appreciated, do the bass gallery do bridge replacements etc?

No, not after advice on how to treat my thunderbird addiction, but I just picked up this beauty today: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120924020390?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648#ht_720wt_1396"]http://www.ebay.co.u...8#ht_720wt_1396[/url] Note the neck strap button is handily integrated with the neck plate, to avoid the old-TB neck dive issue I now have plans to modify the hell out of it and have it as a keeper for years to come, which essentially means a gutting and a start again, because the stock parts are, well, terrible. So I'm after your advice on what to do, what bits suit it and me etc. Photos can be found here: [media]http://www.flickr.com/photos/67679611@N03/sets/72157629998566913/[/media] I have in mind to change the following:[list] [*]Pickups [*]Bridge (the standard instrument is 1.73" at the nut, 34" scale length, unsure of string spacing) [*]Pickguard (already taken care of) [*]Perhaps the electronics too [/list] So I would like all and any advice on which models would 1) be good in my bass, 2) fit my bass, 3) suit me and my sound. As a rough guide, the pretty accurate dimensions of the pickup parts (see photos) are: Pickup: 70x37 Pickup Hole Routing: 75x40 (85 wide at extremes of rounds, which are each 21 high) Pickup cover: 91x45 Pickup cover internal dims: 70x40 My typical sound is fairly aggressive with quite a lot of attack, think Flea on Stadium Arcadium (21st Century is a good track) with a bit more treble, I prefer to play with fingers to get this sound but can play (poorly) with a pick when the tone is lacking. Any idea what parts will go well in it? My budget isn't huge, but this will still end up some way short of a Mike Lull bass, so I'm happy to spend a fair bit on it. Cheers, Dan

I'm hovering around 5. I think 4 is a reasonable-ish number as I don't have that much disposable income at the mo, but I basically keep as many as I can justify by playing them all regularly, if one isn't seeing regular play, it goes.

Umm, price, why? Does anyone actually envisage them selling a single one?

[quote name='bassickman' timestamp='1338282914' post='1671955'] Whats hartke like? [/quote] I'm a big fan and would very much recommend it , if I had the money I'd possibly trade it in for an Ampeg, but nothing else on the market really floats my boat. I use a Warwick so the sound I get is slightly more aggressive (a bit more attack) than perhaps the one you're after, but I'm a big fan of the RHCP and Maroon 5 bass tones. As for Hartke amps, they're great for a crystal clear sound and their aluminium cones are fantastic. Their older range was the HAxxxx series heads, which had a great graphic EQ, and had both tube and solid state preamps inside them, along with a great way to blend the two sounds, in this respect, they were very versatile. They went best (IMO) with the alu-coned TP/XL series cabs rather than the paper coned VX series ones. You can pick any of these up second hand seriously cheaply at the moment. Their newer range is the Hy-Drive series, it's a bit more expensive but probably cheaper than a new markbass rig, it's all tube preamp, with hybrid paper/alu cones. I would say some of the best value for money you can get right now, and I'd imagine they'd go great with a J bass for the tone you're after, preamp upgrade or not! They're also quite popular at the moment, which means resale value is relatively high for the timebeing.

I assume you have tried the rig, but personally I'm not a fan of Markbass gear because IMO I find it hard to get the tone I like (which is very similar to yours) with them. If you can get the sound from them then that's great, but there's definitely other bass amp manufacturers that would be ahead of Markbass on my list if I was looking to get that kind of tone. Ampeg would probably top the list.