If a Wal and a MM Bongo had a baby...

[Woodwind]

Outstanding work.

 

Please post some sound examples if you can 😎

[Dood]

15 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Congratulations on a bold project! Looks great.

 

As for riff requests, it would be great if you did the demo in the style of Ed Friedland or our very own @Dood playing the same short riff/motif through all the different settings. 

 

Thank you! Yes, there's method behind my madness! 

On a side note, I am planning to get all 400+ videos available for easy searching! 

[Russ]

So I've had a bit more time to play with it now, and I think I've identified how to get some of those signature Wal sounds with the new circuit and pickups. 

 

That classic high-mid Wal "bark" is in there (the Geddy/Chancellor tone) - pickup blend centred, both filters open to about 75%, and both knobs pulled up to activate the frequency boost. The frequency sweep of the Lusithand preamp is a bit wider than the original Wal circuit so you don't really need the "pick attack" setting. 

 

If you pan most of the way to the bridge pickup and have the bridge frequency knob set somewhere in the middle, you've got that poky, rubbery tone that I associate with Percy Jones and Mick Karn. It's tempting me to mod my fretless Bongo.

 

If you have the blend centred and everything wide open with both boosts activated, you've got a slap sound to die for. 

 

The only downside to this upgrade so far is that it's added maybe a pound to the weight of the bass - the pickups are hefty!

 

I'll try and knock up a video over Xmas - @Dood, I'll take your suggestion! But I'll throw in a few stereotypical Wal riffs (bit of Tool, 80s Rush, etc). I'm no videographer, but I'll do my best. 

[Woodwind]

@RussI wasn't aware of Herrick pickups until reading this thread.

Would you mind detailing which model you purchased?

I've had a quick look at the website and was bewildered by all the options 🤣

 

similarly which preamp did you get from Lutishand?

 

This has seriously piqued my interest for a project for next year.

 

Cheers,

Thomas

 

[Russ]

24 minutes ago, Woodwind said:

@RussI wasn't aware of Herrick pickups until reading this thread.

Would you mind detailing which model you purchased?

I've had a quick look at the website and was bewildered by all the options 🤣

 

similarly which preamp did you get from Lutishand?

 

This has seriously piqued my interest for a project for next year.

 

Cheers,

Thomas

 

The ones in my bass are the 10-coil, one humbucker per string models. Those are the ones that are the closest match to the Wal pickups. They have six wires coming out of each pickups - one for each pair of coils, and an earth wire.

 

The preamp is the Lusithand Double NFP Special - this is designed specifically for those pickups, with up to six inputs for each filter. Nuno (Lusithand's main man) also makes a version that works with regular pickups (the regular Double NFP, without the "special").

 

Herrick are now the only pickup company that are making pickups for the Special preamp - Rautia Guitars used to as well (they called it "new style" wiring), but they've recently closed their doors, and Turner's Wal-style pickups have more regular output wiring. Have a chat with Martin Herrick before you order - let him know what you're after and he'll help you out. He's very responsive to questions and I'll happily use him again. I have an idea for another project - I came across a kit guitar company that offers a Dingwall-style multiscale bass, and I was thinking of getting one and getting it kitted out with the Herrick/Lusithand setup. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Russ

[TheGreek]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

The ones in my bass are the 10-coil, one humbucker per string models. Those are the ones that are the closest match to the Wal pickups. They have six wires coming out of each pickups - one for each pair of coils, and an earth wire.

 

The preamp is the Lusithand Double NFP Special - this is designed specifically for those pickups, with up to six inputs for each filter. Nuno (Lusithand's main man) also makes a version that works with regular pickups (the regular Double NFP, without the "special").

 

Herrick are now the only pickup company that are making pickups for the Special preamp - Rautia Guitars used to as well (they called it "new style" wiring), but they've recently closed their doors, and Turner's Wal-style pickups have more regular output wiring. Have a chat with Martin Herrick before you order - let him know what you're after and he'll help you out. He's very responsive to questions and I'll happily use him again. I have an idea for another project - I came across a kit guitar company that offers a Dingwall-style multiscale bass, and I was thinking of getting one and getting it kitted out with the Herrick/Lusithand setup. 

 

I've used Martin's pickups in a couple of projects. 

As @Russ says,  Martin is very helpful and basically build you custom pickups if that's what you need. 

[Woodwind]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

The ones in my bass are the 10-coil, one humbucker per string models. Those are the ones that are the closest match to the Wal pickups. They have six wires coming out of each pickups - one for each pair of coils, and an earth wire.

 

The preamp is the Lusithand Double NFP Special - this is designed specifically for those pickups, with up to six inputs for each filter. Nuno (Lusithand's main man) also makes a version that works with regular pickups (the regular Double NFP, without the "special").

 

Herrick are now the only pickup company that are making pickups for the Special preamp - Rautia Guitars used to as well (they called it "new style" wiring), but they've recently closed their doors, and Turner's Wal-style pickups have more regular output wiring. Have a chat with Martin Herrick before you order - let him know what you're after and he'll help you out. He's very responsive to questions and I'll happily use him again. I have an idea for another project - I came across a kit guitar company that offers a Dingwall-style multiscale bass, and I was thinking of getting one and getting it kitted out with the Herrick/Lusithand setup. 

 

 

thank you so much Russ!!

[Owen]

I have a feeling that plumbing in the Herrick/Lusithand combo is going to be very popular. Will it reach Sue Ryder P bass proportions? Only time will tell.

[Mykesbass]

Just now, Owen said:

I have a feeling that plumbing in the Herrick/Lusithand combo is going to be very popular. Will it reach Sue Ryder P bass proportions? Only time will tell.

Harley Benton are reverse engineering them as we type!

[slowburnaz]

On 23/12/2022 at 09:04, Russ said:

The ones in my bass are the 10-coil, one humbucker per string models. Those are the ones that are the closest match to the Wal pickups. They have six wires coming out of each pickups - one for each pair of coils, and an earth wire.

 

The preamp is the Lusithand Double NFP Special - this is designed specifically for those pickups, with up to six inputs for each filter. Nuno (Lusithand's main man) also makes a version that works with regular pickups (the regular Double NFP, without the "special").

 

Herrick are now the only pickup company that are making pickups for the Special preamp - Rautia Guitars used to as well (they called it "new style" wiring), but they've recently closed their doors, and Turner's Wal-style pickups have more regular output wiring. Have a chat with Martin Herrick before you order - let him know what you're after and he'll help you out. He's very responsive to questions and I'll happily use him again. I have an idea for another project - I came across a kit guitar company that offers a Dingwall-style multiscale bass, and I was thinking of getting one and getting it kitted out with the Herrick/Lusithand setup. 

 

Chris from Turner Pickups here…. I also make multicoils that have the separate outputs per coil pair.  
 

I make two main versions these days:  the SEP variant (separate outputs for each arch coil pair) and a SPPP variant (wired like 2 split coils, and can be switched to Series/Parallel/standard “P”/reverse “P”)

Edited February 20, 2023 by slowburnaz

[Russ]

15 hours ago, slowburnaz said:

 

Chris from Turner Pickups here…. I also make multicoils that have the separate outputs per coil pair.  
 

I make two main versions these days:  the SEP variant (separate outputs for each arch coil pair) and a SPPP variant (wired like 2 split coils, and can be switched to Series/Parallel/standard “P”/reverse “P”)

Hi Chris! In which case, I stand corrected about nobody else making multicoils with separate outputs.  Thanks for clearing that up. 

 

Bassculture in Germany also make multicoil pickups (I've seen them used in various Maruszczyk basses), but I have no idea if they offer a version with separate outputs for each string. 

[NickA]

On 23/12/2022 at 15:24, Russ said:

If you have the blend centred and everything wide open with both boosts activated, you've got a slap sound to die for. 

 

Can't do that on a Wal!  Bonus.

 

... well its slap sound's ok, but I'd not die for it.

[Ralf1e]

On 16/12/2022 at 12:23, Russ said:

Yep. And I guess "Wongo" sounds like that dodgy payday loan company! Open to alternative naming suggestions though.  If all else fails, it can be Susan. Or Dave. 

Or maybe just Save bearing in mind the cost of the project compared to a Wal

[Russ]

2 minutes ago, eude said:

What's the custom basses Russ?

 

Eude

Two 6-string Maruszczyks.

[eude]

27 minutes ago, Russ said:

Two 6-string Maruszczyks.

Very nice, care to share the specs, or will there be a new thread for all that stuff?

[Russ]

1 hour ago, eude said:

Very nice, care to share the specs, or will there be a new thread for all that stuff?

When I get them (October-ish, apparently), I'll make sure there's a NBD thread for them!  

 

They're going to sound like Bongos though. They're both going to have Delano Xtender pickups (which sound very Music Man-ish when in parallel mode), coupled with a Noll 4-band preamp with the frequency centres adjusted to match the Bongo ones.