Bridgehouse

That’s shocking.

@White Cloud - no offence taken! Thanks for the reply. I guess I’m just conscious of small businesses like Jons and how much time he has free

We did have a chat when I picked it up - his view was “depends on the sound you are after - play it a bit and work out what you want the magnetic one to do” which was fair enough. After playing it a bit I wanted less noise and a matching hifi midrange bump. I didn’t contact him specifically on the choice as I didn’t buy it new from him - and I don’t want to take too much of his time up - it’s a precious commodity and he’s a busy man. Edited to add - I am giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming that you didn't mean your post to come across quite as aggressively as it did

For some guitarists I know, I wish they did put their guitar down and try to play the amp....

If you get them the wrong way round your toanz leak out the pickups and make a mess on your pick guard

AH I see If I did a straight J project bass (which is possibly in the offing) then I'd seriously consider a pair of the Fralin splits for it.

I'd be quite concerned for the socket as well actually. Even when the plug is replaced for low profile, that socket will have had some pretty strong stress put on it, and is a candidate for mid-gig failure.. I'd be swapping it out as well

I did consider the Fralins. When it came to the crunch tho, I had to decide what was the priority - and for this bass it was firstly to supplement mids and then to be capable on it's own as a secondary concern.

Next build planning. I've asked the main man who builds necks and bodies for me for something a bit different. We've come up with something of an oddball. - Stingray body routed for MM humbucker in the usual position and a Jazz neck pickup. Ooer - Neck to be a lined fretless.. Not sure how this is going to turn out

I'm not actually too fussed about that.. the main aim is noiseless and more mids to compensate for the big scoop in the piezo system. The piezo saddles are brilliant - don't get me wrong - I really like what they do. I also like the core sound. But for some settings (and especially fretless) the lack of strong punchy mids (either high or low) does mean you can't do a really good fretless mwah. I looked at the stacked ones and the Bartolini's as well - the thing with the SE's is they have a definite mid-hump to fill that gap. I'd imagine at least 75% of the time I'll be playing in the 'both' position rather than just piezo or magnetic.. It's been a journey has this - understanding what I want out of a Jazz pickup having never owned a Jazz Plus - I'm a P man, so a bit more P-like will probably feel like home. I fear change.

OP delivers!!! Very nice indeed!

You know the drill

Thanks for all the advice chaps. Had to make a decision and rang bass direct. I think the stacked rather than split thing appeals, and I’m looking for more hifi than vintage. The chap at BD recommended the Nordstrand NJ4SE so I’ve gone with one of them. It’s a neck fitting so it’ll be a neck size! I will update when I’ve fitted and tried it!

Don’t forget, every Gibson ES series (335,336,330 etc) guitars are all “laminate” and probably count as ply. Well, they are ply, but the description will be laminate You can spend many many thousands on one of those and they sound glorious. Ply isn’t a bad thing - it can be a very good thing. Cheap nasty ply is a bad thing - in the same way cheap nasty solid wood can be a bad thing too

Thanks! It’s surprisingly articulate for a cheapie. The Dimarzio pickup suits it. Didn’t think it would but it does.

The new Shuker fretless has a single coil J bass pickup in it. It’s well shielded, but there’s still hum there. For the type of stuff I’m doing, I suspect that a noiseless option is the way forward.. Now, I really like the tone of the J pickup that’s in there - it complements the piezo pickup really nicely by giving the mids a bump and adding some growl/snarl and some higher end shimmer. So far, I’ve had a mooch at the Lindy Fralin split coils, the Nordstrand NJ4 SV/SE... they both seem very highly regarded, and it needs to be fairly “hifi” to match the piezo. I have a Dimarzio J and it’s a bit too deep for this bass, and I suspect a SD would be too. Any thoughts or other suggestions or experiences with Pickups I’m thinking of?

It was a second from someone I know who makes them - no website or suchlike though

Alder would come out slightly darker. Not much tho. And I’d say 0.5 l would do about 5 basses...

Managed to get time to finish this tonight! Stuck a Dimarzio P in I had in the spares drawer, along with a bunch of spare electronics - fitted, soldered up and so on. Assembled and strung with some TI Flats - it’s now sounding like a proper chunky thumpy P bass. Very nice. I added the costs up. Given I had a lot of bits lying around this actually only cost about £120 - but I reckon even if you had to buy all the bits it would be around £300 all up, which is really rather splendid!

Playing at 3 today. It’s wet. Real wet. Like waterproof gear and cagoule wet...

Reshielded the pickup compartment last night - must have come loose or something because the SC is now encased in copper tape and it’s about 75% quieter - there’s a faint hum in certain directions in my (usually noisy) man cave. It’s actually about as noisy as my 64 P 😮 Well pleased. This design means you can actually fully enclose a single coil in shielding and it actually works really well!!!

“I wish I was checking out Basschat”

It’s got a marlin sidewinder in it

@Chris2112 - Interestingly, the piezo in this is immense - as standard it has a really thick and full low & sub bass, with some cracking high bass/low mids and less mids/treble. The boost gives it a sparkle of highs and mids and cuts some of the sub bass so it has a P-bass ish tone. The magnetic adds all the mids you might like (it's a Jazz pickup) so it gives it some grind and twang and adds a sparkle to the sound which you can blend in an out of either of the two options above. I'd use the piezo on it's own for a lot of band contexts, and the magnetic for adding that special something/variance as and when required. On it's own, the magnetic is a nice choice for something different, but on this bass the Piezo adds so much that I'd hardly ever use the magnetic on it's own It's a touch noisy as a single coil - its shielded so it's not a lot at all, and actually I'd be reluctant to lose the sparkle in it for the sake of a noiseless magnetic - as the reality is that live the totally silent piezo is more than enough for most circumstances.

Yeah - sorry about that 😊