hamfist Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 (edited) First a family shot ... [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/all-3.html][/url] Can you guess what my favourite pickup configuration is ? Two of these basses have been through more looks than Kate Moss, one is relatively new. So I'll start with the one I've had the longest and is my number one bass. [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/w-body.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/w-and-sch-main.html][/url] Nominally it is a MIJ Westone Thunder 1A. However, all that is left of that is the body and neck plate. Some recent major changes are ... Fitting of a Fender-sized Precision copy neck. The Westone body's neck slot is 63mm wide and the fit was perfect. The slot is shorter than a Fender slot, which is no problem fitting a Fender neck to a Westone body, but if you tried to fit a Westone neck to a Fender body, the neck would be a bit "inset" into the body and wouldn't look great. Anyway, I far prefer the aesthetics of a 4 -in-A-line tuner headstock, and am pleased with this. The neck and tuners are actually from an old Hohner P bass. I have slimmed the neck down and refinished it in oil and wax. I'm mulling over whether to put a "Westone" logo on it. The pickup config (as with all my basses now) is a double P. SPB-3 in the neck and a Wilkinson pickup in the bridge position. I don't blend them, it's one or the other. The bridge pickup is roughly in the MM sweetspot and is great for punchy fingerstyle tones. When the pick comes out, it's over to the neck pickup. Next up is my Schecter 004, which has had quite a re-image into it's current black and ivory look. Also boasting an SPB-3 in the neck position and a Hohner pickup in the bridge pos. It's got an Artec 3 band (plus parametric mids) EQ in it (absolutely incredible value for £35). This bass used to have a UNion Jack pickguard on it, which I quite liked but others seemed not to. I have to say this bass looks absolutely stunning when worn, and I think will look excellent on stage with my band. The alder body is also light and the neck is slim and Jazz-like so it's easy to wear and throw around for a couple of hours. [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/sch-body.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/w-and-sch-main.html][/url] Last up is my latest creation, which started life as Hohner LX90B precision copy. However, all that is left is the body wood and the pickguard. Once stripped, the body came up very nicely with an attractive grain finish. Still not sure what the wood is, but it's very hard, this I can be sure of. Finished in oil and wax, routed for my favourite double P pickups, this bass has a brand new Mighty Mite P neck and Wilkinson Tuners (Oh, and a Fender neck plate !) ... so it's definitely a "pretend Fender" now. This bass is currently passive although I did rout out the control cavity to a good size to accept a preamp, and also routed out a battery compartment. The bridge is an 80's Matsumoku-made hefty brass job. What is amazing about this bass is it's incredible resonance. It is the most resonant bass I have ever played. Every note rings acoustically like a bell. Even passive it sounds great, and the balance between the two pickups (a Wilkinson P in the neck and an 80's Westone P in the bridge) is excellent. My only gripe with this bass is that it looks a bit "traditional" to me now. I seem to favour slightly unusual looking basses (eg the other two) and this one just looks a bit ""normal". I'm torn, and could be persuaded to sell it I guess. It is just so resonant and sounds so good, but I'm not thrilled about the looks and if I'm honest the neck is about a mm too wide for me (and I'm loathe to butcher a brand new MM neck to slim it down. I'll have to think about this one a bit more. [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/bitsa-main.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/bitsa-body.html][/url] Posting this just for fun, and maybe to give some other of you bass tinkerers a few ideas ! Edited February 17, 2014 by hamfist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 (edited) An unusual and interesting collection! I've become a big fan of the dual split-pickup config since acquiring my Hayman 4040 - it sounds absolutely massive - now just one split pickup doesn't seem quite the same, somehow. Edited February 15, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1392455476' post='2368898'] An unusual and interesting collection! I've become a big fan of the dual split-pickup config since acquiring my Hayman 4040 - it sounds absolutely massive - now just one split pickup doesn't seem quite the same, somehow. [/quote] I quite agree. I can't see myself putting a different type of pickup in another bass again (hope that quote doesn't come back to haunt me !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madshadows Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Loving those especially the Schecter, great work on them John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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