Traben anyone?

[BadHands]

On 30/09/2021 at 09:49, BigRedX said:

Surely the massive bridge is the whole USP of a Traben bass?

I get where you're coming from with this. If I had another run of the mill low-to-mid-priced Korean instrument that played as well and sounds as good as this does, I'd play that. The neck dimensions, pickup placement and preamp all just click for me. I aim to get all mine set up like this, now.

[Newfoundfreedom]

47 minutes ago, BadHands said:

I get where you're coming from with this. If I had another run of the mill low-to-mid-priced Korean instrument that played as well and sounds as good as this does, I'd play that. The neck dimensions, pickup placement and preamp all just click for me. I aim to get all mine set up like this, now.

 

I agree. The Trabens punch well above their weight and sound tremendous. But the looks aren't for everyone. Mine is quite tame looking with the oval bridge that just looks like a chrome scratch plate. So I'm happy to live with it (although I rarely play it now as I've moved on to six string basses) But I think the flame bridges look extremely "tacky" and cheapen what is otherwise an excellent instrument. 

[BigRedX]

I bought mine almost entirely for the looks.

 

Unfortunately the other aspects of the instrument were distinctly underwhelming - the finish on the neck was so thin I could feel the roughness of the wood, nasty sharp fret ends, flabby sounding and feeling low-B despite the 35" scale length, and the pan pot failed after a couple of months. 

 

It looked great and always attracted admiring comments from people when I took it as my spare fretted bass to gigs, but I was thankful that I never needed to use it.

[NewUser]

Can other pickups work with a Traben preamp?

I like emg mmcs

If I get only one emg used pickup with no wiring or pots, will it work or will I have to get all new everything else too?

1 hour ago, BadHands said:

I get where you're coming from with this. If I had another run of the mill low-to-mid-priced Korean instrument that played as well and sounds as good as this does, I'd play that. The neck dimensions, pickup placement and preamp all just click for me. I aim to get all mine set up like this, now.

 

[BigRedX]

I don't know. The pre-amp on mine (Phoenix 5) was active only for the 3-band EQ. The volume control and pickup blend were both passive.

[NewUser]

3 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I don't know. The pre-amp on mine (Phoenix 5) was active only for the 3-band EQ. The volume control and pickup blend were both passive.

 

I may just go on and redo mine.

I don't care about the neck pickup it can be disabled and needs to be lower, I keep hitting it with a pick and my fingers are tripping on it.

Location of volume knob, in my way, keep hitting it on accident--may remove it and plug the hole and paint over it. 

Blend knob becomes kill switch button.

Next three knobs become, volume, tone high, tone low.

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

Mine's got Seymour Duncan pickups and preamp and it sounds gorgeous. 

[NewUser]

 

Traben preamp or Seymour Duncan preamp?

1 minute ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Mine's got Seymour Duncan pickups and preamp and it sounds gorgeous. 

 

[NewUser]

I'm thinking there might be a misunderstanding about the bridge. I like the tribal decoration plate under the bridge, just not the bridge. I have a black plate ordered off ebay to swap out the chrome one. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

9 minutes ago, NewUser said:

I'm thinking there might be a misunderstanding about the bridge. I like the tribal decoration plate under the bridge, just not the bridge. I have a black plate ordered off ebay to swap out the chrome one. 

 

Aren't the tribal plate and the bridge one whole piece? 

 

That's the whole point on Trabens. The massive one piece brass bridge to create sustain. 

 

I don't think removing the bridge from the tribal decoration plate is possible, unless you're willing to attack it with a grinder. It's all one piece. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

26 minutes ago, NewUser said:

 

Traben preamp or Seymour Duncan preamp?

 

 

Seymour Duncan

[NewUser]

 

No, I bought a bridge from a blackout Traben someone put on eBay for 25 bucks. On the back of the plate is 4 screws holding the bridge to the plate. I'll upload photos when I get home tonight. 

2 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Aren't the tribal plate and the bridge one whole piece? 

 

That's the whole point on Trabens. The massive one piece brass bridge to create sustain. 

 

I don't think removing the bridge from the tribal decoration plate is possible, unless you're willing to attack it with a grinder. It's all one piece. 

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

3 minutes ago, NewUser said:

 

No, I bought a bridge from a blackout Traben someone put on eBay for 25 bucks. On the back of the plate is 4 screws holding the bridge to the plate. I'll upload photos when I get home tonight. 

 

 

In that case, yours is a totally different design to mine, or has been modified at some point. Mine is definitely all a single piece consisting of the bridge which is then enlarged to create the whole scratch plate. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Newfoundfreedom

[BadHands]

On closer inspection, I can see how the bridge could be attatched to screws on the underside of the flame area. Afterall, it'd be a lot cheaper to attach a bridge piece to a flat piece of brass instead of carving it out like a sculptor.

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 minutes ago, BadHands said:

On closer inspection, I can see how the bridge could be attatched to screws on the underside of the flame area. Afterall, it'd be a lot cheaper to attach a bridge piece to a flat piece of brass instead of carving it out like a sculptor.

 

True. But even if that's the case, I don't see how you could fit an aftermarket bright in it's place, unless you drill, and mount it on top of the chrome. I'm really confused about exactly what NewUser is trying to achieve. 

[BigRedX]

I've just had a look at the original photo that NewUser posted of their Traben bass, and AFAICS the bridge construction is the same as on the Phoenix that I used to own. A large metal bass plate incorporating a design with a block that holds the saddles in place. Unless it tuns out that you can unscrew this block from below once the whole baseplate has been unscrewed from the bass (I have to admit I never looked that closely at mine but had always assumed that they were a single piece) I can't see how the bridge can be replaced. 

[kodiakblair]

On 01/10/2021 at 12:56, Newfoundfreedom said:

Mine's got Seymour Duncan pickups and preamp and it sounds gorgeous. 

My Neo Limited was stock.

 

Pretty sure the pickups were out the G&B factory , no bad thing. Same time I had the Traben I'd 4 Peavey Cirrus . VFL pickups in the Peaveys also came from the G&B factory.

[NewUser]

It's just personal preference, nothing more. I prefer the hipshot. 

 

[NewUser]

photo

 

 

[NewUser]

before and after

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

22 minutes ago, NewUser said:

before and after

 

 

Are you going to have to drill through, and mount it on top of the chrome backing plate? If so, isn't the action going to be really high? 

[NewUser]

6 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Are you going to have to drill through, and mount it on top of the chrome backing plate? If so, isn't the action going to be really high? 

 

lol, no man, the chrome comes off, guitar is getting painted the black plate goes in place of the chrome.

[NewUser]

I work on cars, so car work is being applied to guitar work. I take things apart, paint and rebuild; replace parts with high performance parts.

[NewUser]

I will have to drill 4 new holes to get the hipshot on the used black plate. I bought the used traben bridge as a practice experimental project to save my original chrome.   

Did a bit of measuring and will need to sand down the bottom of the hipshot a little, no problem I got some 90 grit sandpaper and will lay it on a 2x4 and run the hipshot up and down it until it's so hot I can't hold it. This is because the hipshot is made to go on wood, not a traben bridge plate, so the thickness of the traben bridge plate must be removed from the hipshot bottom. While it cools remeasure, sand again if necessary. The used black plate needs repainting, no big deal, 400 grit sandpaper, auto primer, black gloss car wheel paint. Will also repaint hipshot so the blacks are identical match. Will also dissemble grover tuning machine heads, sand with 400, prime, wheel paint. I'm going to paint the guitar with car paint, gloss black. Sand with 400, prime, sand again, prime. Lightly sand trash spots, paint. and paint. and probably paint again. Wet sand with 2000, rub with buffing compound. I do not recommend trying this if you have never done it. I would hate someone to mess up their stuff because they read this post and then be mad at me. I know it's the traben thread but if you all want to see some car work I'll post it. 😁

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

As I suspected. It will take a fair bit of modification to get the hipshot to fit.  An interesting project though. Please post pictures of your progress. Good luck.