I am putting together a few ideas on what I want a custom built bass guitar to be (from the ground up - but without actually growing or cutting down the trees! ;) )

I like the idea of a fanned fret neck but feel that it need not be as extreme as Novax has it. I am thinking of a 6 string bass guitar with a modified fanned fret neck 33" - 36".

But with this in mind, I am not sure what route to go with the pickups. Pickups seem to do quite a bit for the overall sound of the bass. With the Novax fanned frets, they need to be angled a bit so that the tonal variances are minimized. I like the pickup system that MTD uses in that you have a selector switch to refine the mids. But I don't quite know what pickups would work in this scenario.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

- bsb

the pickups and the preamp are 2 completely different separate and any passive pickup will work with any preamp.

He uses bartolini pickups and I don't know what preamp, but bartolini sells preamp harnesses that are prewired and all you have to do is solder the pickups on.

the pickups and the preamp are 2 completely different separate and any passive pickup will work with any preamp.

He uses bartolini pickups and I don't know what preamp, but bartolini sells preamp harnesses that are prewired and all you have to do is solder the pickups on.

Yeah, It is more of a "I want one thing but with a different other thing."

I like the pre-amp in the MTD basses, but I need a pickup that I can use with wider poles. I don't want to resort to a tight string spacing, although I know it will make the fret board wider. It's a delicate balance. I am not sure of 18 or 19mm spacing for a six string bass.

From what you are saying, I can wire the pre-amp (whatever MTD uses - although I just meant that it is the pre-amp feature I like, not necessarily that I want THAT pre-amp) to pickups of my choice.

But you didn't mention what you thought might work here? WIll Barts do? Another manufacturer? Or would they need to be custom made? (Not NEED necessarily - I am looking for other opinions).

- bsb

Bartolinis will work great if you go fanned because you won't need to worry about poles aligning with the strings or custom spacing, since they use blade magnet/bar. But of course, I don't believe that the strings have to pass right through the pole/magnet, but that's another discussion I probably shouldn't go into here ...same ballpark as tone=woodX.

Bartolinis will work great if you go fanned because you won't need to worry about poles aligning with the strings or custom spacing, since they use blade magnet/bar. But of course, I don't believe that the strings have to pass right through the pole/magnet, but that's another discussion I probably shouldn't go into here ...same ballpark as tone=woodX.

Thanks for your reply! I hope to get an idea of how much my design will cost but I am some ways from that! I am personally of the opinion that I don't care if it is MIA, MIM, MIK, MIJ, boutique, custom, woodX, Barts, SD's, yada yada yada as long as I like the tone (and looks :smug: )

But I am looking to have a bass built with the features that I personally find desirable. This could get expensive - but I hope not!

I have heard of at least one other person who used a wood that is definately NOT considered a tone wood who got a great sounding bass when all was said and done. But it can be a personal taste sort of thing too.

I just look at what makes sense to me.

The idea that the poles don't have to go directly underneath the strings makes sense to me as well. My Fender P-bass does not align correctly and it is supposed to and it sounds very vintage! But when you move a pup closer to the bridge or further away it makes a world of difference to me. I like all the tones in between but pups are generally made not to be moved once they are set in place so I'll have to live with what I go with.

- bsb