bloke_zero

Coincidentally this came up on another thread: https://www.basscentre.com/british-bass-masters/bbm-betsy.html EMG active jazz pickups

My feeling is your best bet is something with EMG active pickups in. Very quiet, clean and flat. I find them to be very present sounding. I know you don't want to mod, but they do solderless replacement kits that are pretty plug and play.

Not many mahogany body basses about new like this? I guess CITES: https://cites.org/eng/news/pr/2003/031111_mahogany.shtml Maybe it's not Mahogany but Sapele (often called Mahogany to avoid/promote confusion).

Wave cool! Never seen one before.

I always had a soft spot for the Eagle. Actually it's kind of my dream bass in this configuration though kind of ugly: I know it's pointy and curvy - just wrong on every level!

Can be easy to bend the legs pulling them out - good to get a chip puller, or ease them very gently out without pulling them too far on one end - Ideally you want to be able to lift them straight up. White noise sounds like it could be a dead opamp or cap as @Ralf1esays, which would be an easy fix for a decent repair person.

You clearly need to replace the whole thing with a bent bit of titanium at £134: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255036764665?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=7101533165274578&mkcid=2&itemid=255036764665&targetid=4585169652812023&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=412354547&mkgroupid=1305120599331881&rlsatarget=pla-4585169652812023&abcId=9300541&merchantid=87779&msclkid=8549a2544f661ea5312fc19b496a5845

I'd strongly suggest you take it to someone who can check the circuit - could be a simple dead component. The preamp will be matched to the pickups and changing the electronics could radically alter the sound as well as devaluing the bass. If it were me I'd swap out as a last resort given that preamps are generally pretty simple circuits and most components easy to replace.

I like how it looks - sort of reminds me of the italian basses of the 60's/70's, Eko, Davoli etc. No idea how it plays, sorry!

Whats the transformer for?

What is the finish?

Beautiful! I do like Korina.

You could check @funkle walish thread - goes through the available Wal style pickup and pre options - buffered output per string into a filter preamp. Not a cheap option though!

I really like those alparts necks - you really feel like there is something super solid there! I think better to be sanding that .3mm and getting a super tight fit than missing it and not getting full contact!

Yes. I was surprised. I normally listen on headphones with interface but you could hear the difference on my laptop! I think the bbot sounded better. very well presented video, which I thinks helps differentiate.

I thought this thread had some value. Nice little frequency analyser video later too:

Looking through Funkles Walish thread you can see that a Wal is a very specific piece of kit, engineered a very particular way. If you want that sound it's hard to get it elsewhere because of the combination of custom parts. Whether it's worth 12k is a personal decision. BG are always expensive - if I was selling one I'd try there first to see if I could get top $. I don't think it's collusion, just market effects - not really rational behaviour!

Reverse P - nice! I'm building something very similar - MM in the sweetspot with reverse P, EA in the classic P position.

I've only used these guys for pickups: https://www.bassparts.de/epages/61038859.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61038859/Categories/Bodies/J-style-Bodies But they are well thought of as far as I can tell.

Guitar Build? https://www.guitarbuild.co.uk/collections/bass-bodies

At least you found it though. He was a monster player. I love the crazy part he plays on Chameleon - always shifting, always funky.

Interesting idea. Feels a bit like the Sandberg California VM but with the emg instead of the MM pickup? I’d say go for it! I think you’d get a lot of twang and zing from that pickup there. If you want the measurements of the Sandberg I have them somewhere…

Alnico 2, 3 & 5 are a magnet type (aluminum, nickel and cobalt compund) with the number being 'strength' or softness. 5 is most used on bass, 2 is slightly softer - I'm more familiar with that on guitar. Good read here: https://www.fender.com/articles/tech-talk/what-are-alnico-pickups

Their shop is interesting - the bassman style tube preamp looks very cool. "This is a totaly new and patented design. It features three tubes: one buffer, one tube to drive the top of the sine wave and one to drive the bottom of the sine wave. The sine wave does not get clipped in square forms like in normal preamp overdrive and in overdrive and fuzz pedals but gets compressed softly, retaining a round shape. This results in a very warm and natural sound." Seems like you'd be on safe ground buying from them - they seem to be deep in the bass geek zone!