DanOwens Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hey guys, I recently put together a fretless jazz from a Squier Classic Vibe body and a J&D brothers neck. The neck was a 21-fret job, going into a heel for a 20-fret neck. To get the intonation right I moved the bridge an inch towards the nut. The thing is, I'm used to playing a Darkstar'd Precision and the low-end is immense. Now I'm using a jazz with a great nasal- sound but a little bass-light I don't know if it is the pickup location or the actual pickups, but I need to add more bass. I don't want to go active (I love an old-school sound and the bands who I work with definitely don't need that sound), so it's either put in some bassy wizards and potentially lose the sound I love or add a DarkStar in the neck position and maybe buffer it to match the output of my Jazz pickups (like a slightly more complex and better-looking tractor bass). Heres the Tractor to show you what i mean Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Mmmmmmmmmmm .... tractor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Groovy bass, great bassist and band and Top Gear theme tune to boot, you can't go wrong. What was the question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 I think I can answer this. I went from a Wizard Thumper P to a Darkstar on my Warmoth and at the very lowest setting on the ACG low pass filter the difference is chalk and cheese. Darkstar wins easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Mmmmmmm oh yeah, the Tractor is cooler than Reykjavik in January. Darkstar all the way, gotta be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanOwens Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 So what do I do about my set-up? Since moving the bridge, I can't fit the second jazz p/u at the extreme bridge position. Do i deepen the neck pocket to recess the neck so the nut is at the standard jazz-neck position? Or fit the darkstar in an extreme neck-position as opposed to the position on the Tractor? What d'ya think? Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 one point to bear in mind is the output from dark star pickups, unless you have a very hot jazz pickup the dark star is likely to overwhelm it. One option would be an active system which lets you set the gain on each pickup, I used an audare pre on a twin DS bass and set the low Z mode with more gain on the neck pickup for instant dub. Dark star gets my vote! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanOwens Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hey Steve, I was thinking maybe using something to tame the DS rather than boost the jazz p/u's as I'm a passive nazi!! Thats why the Wizards are appealing so much: no routing, very little fuss, hopefully very good sounding. Any ideas how the modern tractor replicas deal with the level differences? I'd doubt an active buffer would be the method of choice!! Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Not sure but i might be worth dropping Fred a line, The dudepit used to be a great source of info as i had a darkstar sub forum, there is a DS thread somewhere on Talkbass or you might find something on Badassbassplayers.com .Failing getting any advise there i would think the repairs forum here might throw up some good ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Go on, get an ACG pre and adjust the inputs on the blend Not passive but not 3EQ either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 [quote name='GreeneKing' post='356512' date='Dec 16 2008, 11:14 PM']Go on, get an ACG pre and adjust the inputs on the blend Not passive but not 3EQ either[/quote] I wonder if the if the pbass version could be squeezed through a f hole Jack casady's Starfire had a whole heap of electronics and it never hurt his sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmz Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Get two Darkstars........ [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13622&hl=darkstar"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;hl=darkstar[/url] He he he Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 [quote name='dmz' post='357422' date='Dec 17 2008, 11:18 PM']Get two Darkstars........ [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13622&hl=darkstar"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;hl=darkstar[/url] He he he[/quote] Nice bass!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Anyone got an opinion on whether Dark Stars would be a good choice for my Tele (currently has the original Fender humbucker at the extreme neck position). Quite happy with the sound of the present PUP but wondering if the Dark Stars would represent a significant improvement? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Ive never heard the original pickup but a darkstar is going to have more output, a wider frequency response and be a lot more articulate, if you like the pickup why change? its likely to change the character of the bass and it may not be what you what. Fred does make a DS3 in the pole spacing required ( as fitted to the Lakland decade) Found some clips of the decade, half of them are the neck PU so it should give you an idea of what to expect, with current exchange rates you need to be sure you are going to like it as your looking at well over £100 even before the customs get their grubby mits on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Beedster' post='360838' date='Dec 22 2008, 12:09 PM']Anyone got an opinion on whether Dark Stars would be a good choice for my Tele (currently has the original Fender humbucker at the extreme neck position). Quite happy with the sound of the present PUP but wondering if the Dark Stars would represent a significant improvement? Chris[/quote] +1 on what Steve said. Having had a Dark Starred bass I'd say it would be a good move and I believe the Dark Star drops in without any routing. The Dark Star would bring the bass alive but I can't guarantee it would be to your liking. There's a Talkbass thread about it [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275848&highlight=telecaster+dark+star"]here[/url]. Edited December 22, 2008 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 (edited) And you can hear a Dark Star in a '72 Telecaster here: [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BMk6Z5Dxxxk"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BMk6Z5Dxxxk[/url] Edited December 22, 2008 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 (edited) Just found the lakland decade clips [url="http://www.lakland.com/ac_decade.htm"]here[/url] , sounds great I say go for it! Edited December 22, 2008 by steve-norris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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