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I'd like a bass that sounds like this. Any suggestions?


Spoombung

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20 hours ago, pete.young said:

OK, so what are you proposing?

I would be suggesting this: 

20 hours ago, Beer of the Bass said:

Thinking about it, if you had the budget for it, it would be very cool to pick up a pair of the Adeson repro pickups and find a custom builder to come up with a nice lightweight short-scale to get that sound in a more dependable instrument.  

Plus if you believe that construction is important, the Burns Sonic has a unique heelless set-neck design, and no adjustable truss-rod.

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On 08/08/2018 at 14:17, BigRedX said:

I actually have one of those, and what gives mine its unique sound is the fact that when you have both pickups on together they are wired in series (but not humbucking) rather than the more normal parallel mode. So you could try rewiring any bass with twin single coil pickups in series, although the extreme pickup positioning of the Burns may also be a big contributor to it's sound.

you mean like a Jazz? you'd have to have a Hi Pass filter set at about 300 Hz to make it sound anything like that (if you've not guessed not impressed) perhaps something was lost in the recording

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27 minutes ago, Meddle said:

The tone comes from the bass being shortscale, with two single coil pickups. These are located right down at the bridge and right up at the neck, by the looks of it. Some of the tones sound like the pickups aren't in the correct phase with each other, giving it that nasal twangy sound.

Modern basses with similar specs would be the reissue Danelectros and one of those Vox Phantom/Teardrop reissues if you can find them. An Eastwood Hi Flyer would probably get you close as well. The nasal, phasy tone might only come from wiring mods.  You don't want a bass with raging high-output pickups or pickups in the normal P/J/MM locations.

 

Helpful, and roughly what Bigredx was saying

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2 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

you mean like a Jazz? you'd have to have a Hi Pass filter set at about 300 Hz to make it sound anything like that (if you've not guessed not impressed) perhaps something was lost in the recording

I'm pretty sure it's being played through a guitar amp...

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1 minute ago, Meddle said:

I think the Arctic Monkeys' Nick O'Malley used one reasonably recently, so that has driven up interest a bit. I saw his name cited in an Ebay/Reverb/Basschat (?) sale of a modified example recently. 

I've seen a few Burns basses with brutal DIY mods over the years. Finding a minty example might be hard. At a guess the red finish was the same early poly finish that Watkins/WEM used? It didn't fade or wear like nitro does, but it could sloth off the bass in sheets in some conditions. 

 

The reissue is about £800 as is the Hofner model mentioned earlier on in the thread. Quite expensive, IMO. I don't know what the originals go for.

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Here's mine:

DSC01541.jpg

DSC01544.jpg

DSC01545.jpg

As you can see it's hardly in original condition. However what I consider to be the essential components of the Burns Sonic sound the pickups and their placement, and the overall construction of the bass are all original. The other electronic components although replacements were done with the same value components and wiring layout as was on the bass when I bought it. Mine also had the latter style fully adjustable bridge, so although the 80s brass version looks like an anachronism, it's probably closer in overall mass and break angles of the string than some of the alternatives I could have fitted at the time. You can also see how the heelless set neck construction works.

This cost me all of £60 in 1981, which included the original Burns Hard Case and a Fender branded strap thrown in by the shop to sweeten the deal!

Regarding playing the bass through a guitar amp that's what I did on all the recordings I made with this bass including the demos that almost got my band signed to CBS records back in 1982. Maybe that's as important to the sound as the pickups their placement and wiring!

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On 09/08/2018 at 16:23, Spoombung said:

The reissue is about £800 as is the Hofner model mentioned earlier on in the thread. Quite expensive, IMO. I don't know what the originals go for.

I wasn't suggesting a re-issue - far from it!

Buy an original. It may need some TLC but it will be better in every way, and it will keep its value.

 

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On 09/08/2018 at 17:13, BigRedX said:

 

Regarding playing the bass through a guitar amp that's what I did on all the recordings I made with this bass including the demos that almost got my band signed to CBS records back in 1982. Maybe that's as important to the sound as the pickups their placement and wiring!

It's worth remembering that some 'classic' guitar amps started their lives as amps intended for use by bass ...

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On 08/08/2018 at 16:24, ikay said:

Now there's a bass that will give that sound. This was my first bass. It's a short, short-scale. They were made in a small factory in Dartford. The body is ply and the neck is beach; made for Vox by the Ercol furniture factory, If memory serves. 

The amp connection is via a co-axial socket on the bass, which can be seen by the volume knobs. 

The pickups were very crude hand windings.  Yes, it's has it's short comings, but it will give *that* sound.

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3 hours ago, Spoombung said:

I have no idea where I would acquire one or for what price...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hofner-182-bass-early-sixties-made-in-Germany-vinyl-covered/292592813862?hash=item441fe40726:g:wxAAAOSwQz1bFo~F

For me, that's a tad overpriced.

They do come up from time to time.

 

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On 09/08/2018 at 15:39, Meddle said:

 

Modern basses with similar specs would be the reissue Danelectros and one of those Vox Phantom/Teardrop reissues if you can find them. An Eastwood Hi Flyer would probably get you close as well.

 

Also the Hofner Club bass (presumably violin type as well) will get that sound with some eq-ing. The ignition, which is the cheapest is fully hollow with vintage sounding pick ups, the contemporary is about twice as much but has a centre block and modern sounding pick ups, the proper ones are silly money. The ignition is the one you want for that sound unless you want to spend out for a real one. 

My Longhorn seems too aggressive to get this sound. 

Obviously more bass and a fuller sound but the tone is there. 

 

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On 11/08/2018 at 22:27, Maude said:

Also the Hofner Club bass (presumably violin type as well) will get that sound with some eq-ing. The ignition, which is the cheapest is fully hollow with vintage sounding pick ups, the contemporary is about twice as much but has a centre block and modern sounding pick ups, the proper ones are silly money. The ignition is the one you want for that sound unless you want to spend out for a real one. 

My Longhorn seems too aggressive to get this sound. 

Obviously more bass and a fuller sound but the tone is there. 

 

that sounds quite mellow to me...

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