More Bass Pron from the keyboard player

[Gogar]

My buddy down the street is a really fine luthier; uses wood and shop machinery and stuff to build guitars. He's not one of those fellas that throws store-bought parts together.

DEL TORO LUTHERIE

He built this PJ-style bass a year or so ago and had it sitting on the wall in the shop and I always wanted it but it was out of my price range for my bass-player fantasy.

Anyway, tax-time is here and he needed to liquidate some inventory, so here it is! Understated, top-notch gear. I like that.

[9dreizig]

Wow hide that thing from Nostatic!!.. What's up with the split pic ups?? Since I know nothing about basses,, is that common or pretty unique??

[tevake]

That is a beautiful ax you have there Gogar, can see why you were lusting after it. gorgeous wood and finishes. Neat how the pick guard has morphed into a design feature. Does it play as nice as it looks?

Cheers Richard

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Wow hide that thing from Nostatic!!.. What's up with the split pic ups?? Since I know nothing about basses,, is that common or pretty unique??

It's very common. It's called a "P-J" style bass, which incorporates the two most popular Fender Bass pickup styles.

"P"


"J"


"P-J"

[craigster59]

Man, talk about "form meets function"! I love the fingerboard and the fret markers. That is simple perfection!

[nostatic]

Sweet - nice bound fingerboard and that is a gorgeous hunk of birdseye maple. Is it passive (vol/tone/vol/tone) or active? And are those Duncans?

Todd, the split pickup is a "Precision" pickup (named after the Fender Precision bass) and is common, first appearing in the 50's. The first Precision had a straight set of magnet with a single coil, but the P pickup split the coil in two, giving noise cancelling capabilities. Typically the Precision just has the P pickup, but this PJ configuration is favored by those of us who are men of wealth and taste

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Sweet - nice bound fingerboard and that is a gorgeous hunk of birdseye maple. Is it passive (vol/tone/vol/tone) or active? And are those Duncans?

They're Passive, wound by the builder.

It's Volume, Blend, Tone, Piezo blend. Kinda interesting. Sounds great with piezo on about "2."

[nostatic]

Piezo bridge? Cool. I love the piezos on my Rob Allens. I've been talking with Rob about doing a mag/piezo instrument. It can be tough as they often don't balance well. I had a piezo on my Lightwave fretless and the piezo sounded like crap by itself - like you said, rolling in a bit to give some air and bite to the mags is the best application. Rob's piezo is designed to be standalone so kind of a different beast.

Speaking of Rob Allen, this landed in my office yesterday.

[9dreizig]

Todd , is there a 12 step program for bass collectors ( not saying you've got a problem, I'm sure you're still just a social collector)

[Superman]

Indeed, I am in search of a P/J setup. The P-pickup tends to offer more "thump" while the J-style pickups are thought to be richer in tone. I do still love my Jazz, for a variety of reasons including the growl-on-demand feature. But sometimes I just want to be a sledgehammer in the song.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Todd , is there a 12 step program for bass collectors ( not saying you've got a problem, I'm sure you're still just a social collector)

I can quit any time I want.

Actually I sold the sunburst one above. Right now I have 5 basses, and I'll likely flip the RA that I just got. I've got a few others in progress, but when the dust settles I'm hoping to still only have around 5 instruments. I pale in comparison to many guys, and I actually can't convince myself to own a ton of instruments. If I have too many I can't pick the ones to take to a gig so I'd end up staring at the wall for an hour trying to get out the door.

I'm spending a lot of time with my instruments these days. 1-2 hours of practice every day, and gigging on average 2-3x a week. Since I have the means at the moment, I've searched for instruments that really speak to me. And have sold a bunch of experiments that didn't. Plus I'm playing in like 5 different bands with different styles, so I have specific tools to accomplish various tone goals.

Right now:

Rob Allen Deep 5 fretless - I'm actually not playing this as I'm focusing on relearning my instrument and playing 4-string. I likely will never sell it though as it is gorgeous and sounds awesome. Only downside is 35" scale as I now prefer a bit shorter scale.

Rob Allen Deep 4 fretless - my main instrument for jazz. It is damn near perfect.

Fodera Yin Yang Deluxe 4 - my main instrument when I want frets or for more rock/funk stuff. Active PJ setup

Fodera Monarch Deluxe 4 - my "backup" instrument, and it was kind of an impulse purchase. Has a slightly beefier neck and different tone than the YYD.

Rob Allen MB-2 4-string fretted - just got this, was thinking it would be a good cheaper backup but I'll likely sell it as if I am playing a Rob Allen I want it to be fretless.

In Progress:

Skjold Model 92 5-string fretted - this has been delayed by the builder for months now after a screwup on his end. I got and sold the fretless cousin as I migrated away from 5-strings. I may end up flipping this one not long after I get it.

Fodera Matt Garrison Standard 5 - this will be an experiment, as it is 5-string but strung E-C (higher pitch than typical 5-string). I want to do chordal work and soloing in more experimental projects like a bass/percussion duo thing I'm working up.

Bluesman 62P - you basic 4-string P-bass. There are some gigs where they look at you funny if you show up with a "coffee table" bass. A beat up old P-bass is what they want. Not sure I'll end up keeping this though unless it kills. If it doesn't, I'll show up with my Foderas and the band leader can deal

See? All makes perfect sense

[nostatic]

Back on topic, nice stuff

[Superman]

I only have three basses, so obviously I need to stock up. I want:

A fretless
A P/J
A short-scale thing (I'm thinking Jaguar)
An ABG

So you see, really, bass players need a bare minimum of around six instruments. Bare minimum.

Oh, and I need a new set of fingers too, as my original equipment sometimes won't do what I want them to do.

[Superman]

Oh and, that's a cool bass, Gogar. But frankly, it is your amp collection for which I am so green with envy.

[kaisen]

J, that's a beautiful, classic bass

Love to hear you play it sometime

[BlueSkyJaunte]

That is a very, very elegant bass. Props to the luthier for displaying some real taste in the construction of it, and props to the new owner for recognizing that taste.

Originally Posted by nostatic

Piezo bridge? Cool. I love the piezos on my Rob Allens. I've been talking with Rob about doing a mag/piezo instrument. It can be tough as they often don't balance well. I had a piezo on my Lightwave fretless and the piezo sounded like crap by itself - like you said, rolling in a bit to give some air and bite to the mags is the best application. Rob's piezo is designed to be standalone so kind of a different beast.

I have the same "problem" with all of my piezo-equipped solid body guitars that lack a serious EQ for the piezo. Solution is I mix in the neck (magnetic) pickup at about 50% volume to fatten it up. Sometimes I wonder if that isn't the "dirty secret" about all of the hybrid guitars you see out there.

[futuresoptions]

That thing is sexy, I love black instruments. Have been really considering getting a Bass lately...

[azasadny]

Beautiful basses here, guys!!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

wonder if basses and drums would make a good print for infant rompers.

[scottmandue]

Todd and Sup... have you checked out this guy? I don't have one (yet) but they look super nice.

johnk vintage basses

My work is done here.