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TheGreek's Mystery Bass Rebuild


Andyjr1515
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If Nick Smith's demo at the Herts bash was video'd, it would be good to see and listen again. Great demo, Nick!

The tonal difference between the humbucker setting and either of the other two are like chalk and cheese. Also, to my ears, there is pretty much NO volume drop (still well impressed and not at all sure how they've achieved that...remember, these are passive pickups. The battery is only there to power the LEDs

The tonal difference between the P and single coil settings is much more subtle. I couldn't hear a huge difference on my non-bass home set up. I could hear a clear difference in Nicks demo but it is subtle. Also, a P gets its sound partly because of where the pickup is placed, so I suspect that placement could optimise the sound from the SimS if this setting is particularly important?

There are a number of good quality videos on YouTube that are worth a look.

...and those LEDs are pretty damn cool.... :)

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I'll certainly check them out but not too bothered about the LEDs tbh. I'm toying with either a P-MM or using one or two quads. It will be a multi-scale 5 as well so I need to see how that would work out. Thanks for the information :)

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bluejay has posted the video of Nick Smith's impressive demo of the Super Quads given to us all at the Herts Bash. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/277704-herts-bass-bash-2016-sunday-5th-june/page__st__210"]The thread (in Events) is here.[/url]

The great thing is that on the video he plays Mick's mystery bass too (and oh, so well) :D

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It's been difficult to know what to call this bass - "[i]the mystery bass[/i]" is a bit too enigmatic and requires an explanation, "[i]the bass that I bought from eBay which Andy Rogers refurbished for me[/i]" is a bit of a mouthful so I've decided to call this my "[b]Silk Bass[/b]" - as in "[i]who says you can't make a [b]silk purse[/b] from a pig's ear?"...[/i]

[i]Living proof that Andy can..thanks again.[/i]

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A little belatedly but congratulations to both Andy and TheGreek on an outstanding achievement. Just played the video of the demo and WOW is all I can say; a very versatile instrument blended perfectly by good old fashioned craftsmanship. I think the name Silk Bass suits it perfectly.

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  • 1 year later...

@Andyjr1515 @TheGreek

 

digging this thread up from the past. Sadly a lot of the pics have dropped since the upgrade. Are you getting to use it much Mick? It turned out fantastically! 

I was curious about the quad pickups.  Do you recall how long the cables were from the pick up to switch? 

When in single coil mode I presume they are hum free? Which side of the pickup becomes the single coil? 

 

Thanks!

 

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Hey Dazed, nice of you to resurrect this thread. A great reminder to get this out of it's case where it's been for the past 8-9 months. That's one of the problems with having so many great basses.

Firstly I need to thank Andy, again, for the work he did rescuing what was, in effect a bass shaped collection of wood and turning them into a very playable instrument. Balance is spot on, neck profile lovely, finish exceptional.

The SimS pick up system is an amazing bit of kit, (somebody has 2 pick ups available for sale here, I just wish that I had something to put them in) and though relatively expensive (£225 each IIRC), I think that you get your money's worth. Getting used to the SimS system is fairly straight forward - you basically have a H/J/P in two positions which can be used individually or in combination with any of the others. This means, for example, that you can play with a P as a neck or bridge pick up, as can the H and J. If you want to try a H in the neck position you can - you can also mix this with a P in the bridge position. Not a combination you'll find on too many other basses.

Tons of variety basically but TBH the only people who will care are Bass players. Check out any of the many YT videos relating to the SimS system.

As to the tech specs (including the length of wires) you might want to contact Andy but I suspect they aren't any longer than they need to be, such are the magical powers of Mr Rogers.

I'd have to say that the p/ups are pretty much noiseless using any of the 15 settings, plenty of volume with no discernible hiss or buzz . I can't say that I've noticed any "pollution" in the noise level TBH or had any comments or complaints from anybody who've tried it. The bass has had a couple of outings where other BCers have played it, namely the SE and Herts Bashes - you'll have to ask those who tried it for their impressions.

I know there is no such thing as "the perfect bass" but this is pretty much without fault, well certainly free of any faults that I can't live with.

I'd recommend both the SimS system and the work of Andy Rogers to anybody looking for something outside of the box (or not).

IMG_20170302_121947.jpg

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Thanks for that Mick. I’m thinking it over. 

Sometimes I like choice, but then I also know from (expensive) experience that too much choice makes it more difficult to find “your” happy place, and then you stick to that one setting when you do find it!

Fussy buggers xD 

No problem Andy, no rush here. 👍🏻

 

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Hi @Dazed

Sorry for the delay.

Amazing how useful photos are :)  I remember it all now!

OK -

Lengthwise, the leads are pretty standard and usable length (and to any prospective customers, the bottom of the chamber floor was how it was BEFORE I worked on it, not AFTER I worked on it.  Honest      xD ):

BozD5bll.jpg

 

But - as you can see - there are additional considerations if you are retro fitting.  Those connectors have to be able to get to the control chamber from the pickup chamber.  The other end is also a multi-connector so no help there:

dIpk52ul.jpg

Also note how deep this connector makes the bottom of the chamber (I think I remember there are some chamber dimensions on Sims website?)

 

Final thing to note is that the connectors, that plug into pre-configured toggle switches, come out vertically so, again, it's worth double checking your control chamber is deep enough.

760AubSl.jpg

 

Hope this helps :)

Andy

 

 

 

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That’s great Andy Thank you. Pics always a big help!

Ive sent Martin an email as I have some questions. I’ll have another look on the website but I couldn’t find much about fitting or dimensions.

Do either of you recall, when in single coil mode which side of the pickup coils are used? Bridge or neck side? I’ve also thought of fitting the pickup upside down for this reason :crazy:

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The Sims site is a bit misleading.  The info on the Super Quad is on their main site, not their Super Quad or Sims Pickups site...

Anyway  - it's here

There's an installation video on that page too.

Can't recall offhand which of the single coil pairs cut.  Trouble with turning them round is that the 'P' bass setting will also be reversed (as well as those large connectors ending up on the far side of the pickup chamber.  I would stick with how they are designed - the sound options were pretty good.

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Haha yeah I’ve just found the download page. Like you say a bit confusing. 

The thing about the upsidedown  install is, the bass I’m considering this install for has the bridge pickup mounted so close to the bridge it’s pretty useless and because of the existing mounting lugs, this pickup would be nearer the bridge. So ideally if the single coil pair was closest to the neck it would be much more useful. 

Thats also the reason for asking about the lead length, to see if they would be long enough if it came down to it. 

Edited by Dazed
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  • 8 months later...

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