bloke_zero

That is a thing of beauty!

I think G&L are getting more well known the UK - a couple of years ago they didn't seem to have a lot of distribution here. It was like "George and who?"

I think the Ampeg ultra lo and hi buttons do a thing, slight boost at 40, and dips the mids at 500. I remember trying it the first time and getting an instant "oh, thats how a recorded bass sounds" feel from it. I think there is a lot to be said from restrained use of shelving EQ. Though I'm more of a cut than boost guy.

For reference - this is how to restore: https://blog.simmonsmuseum.com/?p=1210

Done deal! I'm glad they'll be going to a home where they'll be able to finally meet up with some more simmons! I'll box them up with the piezos and connectors for you.

Preamp PCB arrived courtesy of a bass chat member! I read through the complete 38 page thread on talk bass and I think I’m ready to start sourcing the parts. Now committed to having a six pot monster. Vol, vol, mid, bass, cutoff and resonance. I guess monsters are what it’s all about on the island of doctor Moreau! Though I’m wondering about a switch for resonance. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-passinwind-open-source-preamp.1259692/

Oh and here is a squier short scale I found looking for that link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squire-Short-Scale-Bass-Neck/224195435789?hash=item343316dd0d:g:qL0AAOSwqvRffy-R 55mm neckpocket as opposed to the Warmoth which is 60mm

I've just been through the same dilema but with medium and did exactly what you are thinking of doing - buy a warmoth and scalp the neck. It doesn't feel right! Just note that if you do find a bronco neck they will be a different set of pocket dimensions from Warmoth who are very specific. Unless you're going for Warmoth it might be worth waiting on that side for the actual neck and measuring it up from there. I thought about shimming a bronco neck into a warmoth neck pocket but that felt even wronger! Retrovibe are selling medium scale necks on ebay if that is any help! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Retrovibe-bass-neck-32-medium-scale-20-fret-Maple-Blackwood/274205157501?hash=item3fd7e6a87d:g:pNwAAOSwQOpeHwt3

Don't forget shelving eq - Ampeg for example use james or baxendal looks like this: Much nicer sounding to my ears - though I agree putting it at 40hz is limited!

Sending back starting to reveal the grain. I’m thinking it looks good! Thinking about filling the pick guard screw holes and maybe a white stain. Though I’m worried that could be a bit “Habitat”

If I don’t get any bites I can pack them up for you. Maybe we can work out postage costs?

Nice - I like the offset pickguard! I'm hoping I might get away without a pickguard, but I like the way it reveals the burl

The pads are super simple. A piezo glued to a piece of wood - not much to fail! Versions of the brain were flakey. The early versions were just analogue voices and pretty robust to this day, some are quite sought after!

I think it might be! and I've seen some really nice natural mustangs recently that made me think a more natural stain could work. Though I can't see a jaguar any other colour than black in my head. I'll see what speaks!

You know the ones - hexagonal things made of riot shield plastic and wood with a plastic bottom. These may or may not work, but will come with replacment piezo pads for you to put in. So, to be clear, they are provided 'as is' but if you have a soldering iron and some glue they will work - I have the XLR connectors. They were once white but are now cream-ish and a bit cracked in places but nothing too drastic. I think you can remove the laquer and respray but I haven't tried. They go on pearl tom stands (not 'export' but the chunky ones). I've got 2 I'm using to trigger an old drum machine and they work fine - they are super simple inside so it's easy to make a lead to trigger newer drum brains that don't use XLR. So these 2 are surplus to requirements. I'm in N8, London - send me a message if you want to come and pick them up. I'm not really up for posting right now.

I bought a bass body from eBay that I thought was one thing and turned out to be a bit different. Caveat emptor or whatever! It’s not a full scale neck pocket but exactly the size of the Warmoth short and medium scale necks. It’s a Jaguar body with a stingray pickup route as well as a p-bass which made me think of the island of Dr Moreau and his man beasts. Currently it’s got a black stain which I might take off, a bridge which is askew which I will remove and I’m hoping to build a preamp from @Passinwind I’m expecting to get a warmoth neck soon and start! Here is the body now with some wonky holes, a couple of snapped off screws in the mm pickup space and the misplaced bridge with knackered screws.

I had a good look through that - thank you! I find the whole area fascinating and I've built a lot of different filters and I know that EQ similarly has a lot of different topologies (is that the right word?) and I'm really interested in trying out something that combines the two approaches. I know that in a real sense EQ is just filter but I like that this has control over the resonance. And I love a DIY project and really appreciate the people who spend time putting them together so that people like me can build them - cheers!

Anyone built this? Looks like it’ll keep me busy for a weekend or two!

Thanks - sounds interesting! I have no idea really what the Wal one sounds like - I just love low pass filters and would love to build something for a bass build I'm working on. I'll message you about the pcb.

Anybody know a diy option for an alembic/wal style onboard preamp? Basically (as I understand it!) they are a lowpass and high pass filter in series with a Q bump switch, which presumably adds some resonance to the low pass to bring out the tops.

I'm thinking that my current idea - to put a medium scale neck onto a fullsize body - is going to be difficult unless I get a specific conversion neck to fit 61mm neck pocket. Thanks for the suggestions though!

I saw those - that does look like a good option. The Retrovibe ones aren't going to look right on a jaguar body. Your bass for sale is basically exactly what i'm looking to build except with a different body. Ok - let me think on it!!!!

Sure they will. I think if you describe it as "slight crackle as generally found in 21 year old pots" then no one would really think twice about it. if they were really bothered about it they could them replaced or cleaned.

I think it is 1M reverse log for the bass. There is some discussion as to being able to replace it with a 250K linear though I don't understand how that would work. https://www.bassesbyleo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2687 Be aware if you do buy from G&L the postage is huge to the Uk - something like $40 which is what put me off in the past!

After searching around there isn't much out there. A few Bronco necks but they are too narrow. Looks like Warmoth should fit without too much trouble: https://www.warmoth.com/Bass/Neck/ShortScale/SSBWarhead/default.aspx