Funkfingers

On 22/01/2019 at 11:25, songofthewind said:

Looks a lot like a Fender Dimension ...

... only not so fugly.   (I know this because I own an American Standard Dimension Bass.)

2 hours ago, randythoades said:

Revelation RJT60-B ... generic soapbar pickups

That is "soapbar" as in Gibson P90 rather than the sense in which the term usually applies to bass guitar pickups.

The polepieces of these pickups are filister head screws. They thread through a plastic tubular section in the bobbin and, then, through the metal baseplate of the pickup (if present).

Removing three of the screws from such a pickup may defocus its magnetic field above that half of the pickup but it will not stop it altogether. For that, it would be necessary to use shorter bar magnets below the bobbin. Even this will not create perfect separation between the wanted and unwanted signals from the strings.

3 hours ago, randythoades said:

ABY pedal to feed a guitar amp as well as a bass amp.

What amplifiers are you using? Which ABY box? How good, bad or indifferent are the cables carrying your signals? 

Does the RJT-60B sound muddy when you play chords through just the bass amp? This could possibly be the fault of the amplifier rather than the instrument.

Finally, what resistance value and taper pots does the RJT-60B use? 500k Ohm pots would be normal with the P90 type pickups. 250k pots will suck away a lot of the high frequency content - especially if the pots are cheap 'n' nasty.

Fender AVRI '75 stock single coils.

I cannot say for definite how much of what I like is due to the specs of these pickups and how much is due to the bridge/Treble pickup being in the CBS "wrong" position?

The Bartolini 9JS/L pair is nice - assuming that you like the Bartolini approach to bass guitar sounds.

Visited once, Spring of 1989. Made one purchase - an EMG-P pickup. Still got it.

The pickup spent over twenty years in my fretless Fender Precision Bass. It now resides in a ratty old Charvel CX492 ... where it absolutely rocks.

On 14/08/2018 at 00:46, Bassassin said:

likely to be mahogany butcher-block with front & back veneers.

Somebody in my area has a Seventies Hohner Telecaster copy constructed that way. This became apparent when he decided to strip the remains of its original opaque white finish. 

The nut in the photographs requires - at the very least - some attention. Chances are that it is made from plastic. (File the end and sniff how it smells.) The slots might benefit from fettling.

Neither Fender nor Squier. 

The body edge radius is wrong. The shape of the headstock near the E string tuner is both wrong and distinctive. This might provide a clue as to the original make and model.

Gibson EB-650. 🤦‍♂️

On 26/07/2018 at 12:53, Bridgehouse said:

"a few quick flicks and you can see them blown"

Perhaps, you next project should be a Plastercaster?

8 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

Some cheeky monkey somewhere

🙈 See,  🙉 hear or 🙊 smell?

Jim Smith of Cardiacs plays one. 'Nuff said.

The model that I always wanted was the elusive 4002. The prototype looked conventional with the (gasp) modern electronics well disguised. The production version was fugly. Anyone might have thought that Mr. Hall wanted to throttle the 4002 at birth.

The model that I actually own is a 1977 4001. Like a Fender Jaguar, the 4001 has many imperfections. I am willing to forgive them because - so far - there is no other way to get the sound. A maple neck Fender Jazz Bass is next best thing.

Examine the rear of the backplate. Expect to find either the legend Jin-Ho or a logo that looks like the letters H and C embossed into the steel. 

I have several spare ones of this type, removed from bass guitars that have been upgraded in the past. Ideally, if you post photographs of the item you need to replace, I can find one that is the closest match. If you only need part of one 'head, I can probably assist with that too.

3 hours ago, Bridgehouse said:

I did have a conversation with someone about the prospect of a partscaster with a moveable pickup........

Gor blimey, guv'nor. Where do you get all of your ideas? 🙈🙉🙊

I reckon that Wire's Jazz Bass has been professionally modified. I have a good idea what sort of tones a pickup near the end of the fingerboard might yield. Mr. Bridgehouse might also have an opinion on this matter. 🤐

The important question is whether all three pickups are operational. Perhaps, the pickup mounted near the end of the fingerboard is in circuit and one of the other two is not? It is possible the one of the pickups now only serves as a noise-cancelling dummy for the other two. 

I have and use both the EMG-GZR pair and a Duncan/Basslines SPB-3. 

One detail to consider is that the EMG "Quik Connect™" solderless pots and interconnection cables occupy more of the control cavity than conventional controls. A plus point is that it would take a matter of minutes to add active Treble 'n' Bass EQ.

On 17/02/2018 at 08:39, JohnDaBass said:

DiMarzio 

DP164 Will Power Middle http://www.dimarzio.com/node/2133

On 24/01/2018 at 10:50, fretmeister said:

Measure from the nut.

The nut is the datum point.

The suggestion to measure from the twelfth fret would be of no assistance on a fretless instrument.

It is possible to cop the timing aspect. Hammering on and pulling off isn't the same as keys.

9 hours ago, Marc S said:

Hondo ... definitely MIJ ... I wish I had removed the pickups and kept them for another project, as they sounded superb!

If your plywood bass guitar was a Hondo II, the pickup could well have been an OEM DiMarzio. 

On 08/01/2018 at 22:49, ped said:

how about a second 13 pin output and pickup for the bass register, into a VB99

That would require;

• a new slot to be cut in the polycarbonate for a second GK pickup.
• a GK hexaphonic pickup to be modified to pentaphonic and re-cased with the required string spacing.
• space on the edge of the instrument to hang a second GK-3 or -3 control body.

To be honest, I like the bass register half of The Stick for its own sound. More importantly, I do not possess a Roland VB-99.

The usual weak points on the Korean-made SE series instruments are the pickups, electronics and tuners. 

I worry that the distance between the single coil pickups on the Kestrel will screw up the "Jazz Bass" sounds. Thus, my choice would be the Kingfisher. It 3.5 x 1.5 inch pickups would be ripe for upgrading. 

I have an AVRI '63 P Bass. When I got it home from the shop and removed the metal screening covers, I discovered that my example had left the factory with the '57 style pickup.  (Alnico 5 rod magnets. Longer/taller for the A string.) I elected to replace the "wrong" pickup with a pre-owned Duncan Antiquity. The '57 style pickup went into another instrument.

This is a Chapman "The Grid" version of The Stick.

The built-in Roland GK pickup senses the Melody register strings. 13-pin cable into Roland VG-99. Job done. Admittedly, it does feel odd to be triggering low register sounds from plain steel strings.

In my opinion, the best feeling tracking was always the Roland GR-300. Over the intervening decades, I have had the dubious pleasure of trying numerous pitch-to-MIDI systems. I would rather use one of the Electric-Harmonix "9" series pedals.

I have the passive American Standard version.

VVT controls, no other switching. Nice neck profile and satin finish. I don't think it gets the compound fingerboard radius treatment. 

A pleasure to play. Different from the P and J without being too different. 

1 hour ago, caretaker said:

little nuts

I would keep quiet about that, if I were you.  Brace yourself for incoming innuendo.

I spent one academic year at Watford College. Their response was to change their name.

 My 1978/79 fretless Fender P Bass came from a shop just around the block from the junction of High Street and Queen's Road. I suspect that the location got redeveloped in the Nineties.

I was "forced" to try out the Elite P and J basses by my local Fender dealer when they first arrived at his shop. Very nice. Of the two, I considered the Elite P to be the better all-round instrument. Unfortunately for the dealer, he had already extracted my disposable income for an AVRI '63. 

+1 for the EMG-GZR pair through the stock passive treble roll off tone pot.

Bartolini passive replacement pickups put out plenty of low end.