BassApprentice

So emailed Alan at Synergy Distribution regarding my upgrade idea and he gave me a breakdown of what I would need.

New Black Label pickups: £250

New Scratchplate: £39

New Preamp: £135 

So £424 all in + Labour is probably another £100.

I was a bit surprised I would need a new preamp, I thought I could just add another volume to the existing 2 band preamp that is in the Electra. Since I am willing to spend some money a couple of routes that I see -

Do the upgrades since I do like the feel of the bass and they would only make it better

Buy a new bass with a Humbucker set up

Sell the Electra and save a bit more for a California VM4
 

1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

Look at this on eBay
Sample of Pickguard Sheet scratchplate material: many colours 1 3 4 ply

Ideal, thanks Andy! 

Great to know of local services like this. Wonder how many different colours/materials he stocks. Might drop him a mail. 

4 hours ago, ped said:

We get that quite a lot here - a good example is the owner of Grossman basses who insisted every bass he sold was ‘his own’ and ‘nothing to do with the company’ 😂

He was my favourite, always just pointing people towards his brand even if it wasn't what they were looking for 😅

I see the word "gorgeous" in a title related to basses and wonder which bit they've decided to cut off this time. 

Each to their own. 

Dragging this thread up again. As mentioned in the main Sandberg thread, I'm pretty sure I'm going to put a MM pickup into my Electra VS4, which currently has the Sandberg design big pole pieces style which I quite like the tones of. Reading this thread I'll probably go with the Black Label MM pickup but will that pair well with the Sandberg design P pickup and the preamp? Or would it be a better idea to replace both pickups? 

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Something a bIt like this....?

That's a very handy place to start! 

Just to confirm - the big pole piece pickups in the Electra are just Sandberg branded Delano's? Rockinger have them and I've found a website that do knobs and pickguards for the VM4 so could be almost good to go. Just need a wiring diagram from a VM4 with the 2 band eq.

So...I've been trying out new basses recently and realised I like humbuckers at the bridge - just the tight focused are over the bridge works for me. Enter my Electra, I really like it but it is just a solo P pickup but could I add a Humbucker to it to make it a budget VM4? I've dropped Sandberg an email to see if I can buy some bits from them to make this a reality. Would also like to reverse the P pickup so it is really like a VM4 compared to it's more standard set up currently.

Could be fun 

Going to bump this up as I have some gear that has sold so now have the monies for a Sire.

Tried emailing Sire - no good. Dropped Andertons a message to will see if they can answer.

@P-Belly Evans do you (or anyone) know if the bridge pickup is in the sweet spot? Or does it need shunted back to get it there? 

4 minutes ago, Rich said:

The Vintage brand Ray-alikes are supposed to be really excellent VFM. Not tried one but I believe they have a good rep.

 

Most Vintage stuff is very good value I totally agree, but the Ray copies just look off. I think @ped meant that something that looks EXACTLY like the real deal but isn't. It's always the headstock that doesn't work on Ray copies IMO

I've just seen this on Facebook. Always liked this shape and wonder if a Status neck would fit on this....its cheap so could be worth a punt? 

As a bit of jazz noob, what era is the pickup spacing similar to on these? 60s 70s or not similar to any 😅

4 hours ago, Clarky said:

Yep, saw that. Gotta say the Bass Gallery are rubbish at updating the details on basses for sale. Their favorite phrase appears to be "More info to follow shortly"

I asked someone one here if their has was still for sale - said it was in the Bass Gallery. Not on the we website  so I emailed them.....silence. 

6 hours ago, JPJ said:

Be careful, as I don't think the pickups are standard Fender sizes (certainly not on the five strings)?

Noted...that's a bit of a pain.

Very nice - currently much want for a natural jazz here too - preferably with cream pickups...

Enjoy!

Shell Pink

Or Natural

But probably Shell Pink

Can the pickup cover be changed or are they epoxied in there?

I was looking to pick up one of the new Natural passive Sires which would look great with some cream pickup covers and want to know if they can be changed?

I'm basically asking as I want to buy @Beedster lovely looking Jazz but something will have to go first, so a backup bass plan is always needed 😬

It depends how quickly you want to get started and finished? A kit gives you in the instant gratification and you will have a playable bass at the end. The best bass for the money...maybe not. 

Looking for parts is fun and gives you time to consider what you want and allows you to maybe build something less standard. Checking charity shops and Gumtree for cheap basses and broken basses which sometimes aren't broken at all and just need a little cleaning up. 

It really depends on the end goal and you can get some great bargains and plenty people on here have parts they might want rid of 😁

Enjoy the process, whichever route you take. 

Since you seem to be tinkering with your Sire - are the pickups epoxied in or can you remove the covers? Formulating a plan if I get one. 

Interesting, what have you changed on the 01? I did prefer the colour of the vintage white 01 over the cherry burst 02

32 minutes ago, bloke_zero said:

2nd worst website I've seen this year - that you can't link to a page just the frame - thanks for the link though! Suddenly thinking about this for a build...

I've always thought that, even when I first looked at the website years ago it seemed poor. 

Weird for a company that specialises in cutting edge graphite basses has a crap website, wonder if you could trade them a new Web design for a bass 😁

Liking the Mark King vibes off this one, good job!

Just before I get too excited - from reading the post I'm guessing you aren't able to ship this to sunny Scotland?