Fender P-Bass Lyte Deluxe + SGD Lutherie Pup's

[NKBassman]

Anyone try just gutting the preamp from a Lyte Deluxe and running it passive with the stock pickups?

[MetzBlaze]

Still waiting for the shielding tape to come in. I'm itching to get this preamp installed! I'll let you all know the nitty gritty when I get this installed.

[MetzBlaze]

Well, All I have to say about the preamp is..... WOW! It's transparent and can really make this bass sound big. I've read a comment somewhere that there are almost no unusable tones from the preamp, and I have to say that that's an accurate statement. The bass knob is unique(to me at least) in the way that it doesn't muddy the tone of the bass when the gain is increased. It just adds this subterranean low that can shake the walls. GREAT for Reggae. We'll see if I need to replace the bridge pick up at all. I can't wait to play this at church on Sunday!

Edit: The shielding is ABSOLUTELY a must! I tried it outside of the cavity to test and it was buzz city. With the proper shielding, it's now dead quiet. I used DiMarzio adhesive backed copper foil. When I put it 6" or so away from a CFL bulb, there was only a very slight buzz. Now I think I'll have to shield all of my basses!

[wfleslie]

Originally Posted by berman3313

To give credit where it's due: ThunderRitter did the refinish and install. Popgadget had done similar on his and inspired me to "go for it"



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A quick update:

After lots of sanding, I have finally got rid of all the layers of the old finish and I have hit pay dirt. The bare wood is a beautiful pink-brown, with nicely figured lines.

The next steps will be to seal the body and neck with super blonde shellac, fill the pours with pumace and then decide what the final look will be.

I'm tossing up on these ideas:
1. Satin natural look
2. Mahogany burst (similar to tobacco)
3. Tele blonde with visible grain

I'd be interested in hearing what people like most.

Photos of before, middle and after will follow at the end when all is finished

[Highpost]

Originally Posted by wfleslie

A quick update:

After lots of sanding, I have finally got rid of all the layers of the old finish and I have hit pay dirt. The bare wood is a beautiful pink-brown, with nicely figured lines.

The next steps will be to seal the body and neck with super blonde shellac, fill the pours with pumace and then decide what the final look will be.

I'm tossing up on these ideas:
1. Satin natural look
2. Mahogany burst (similar to tobacco)
3. Tele blonde with visible grain

I'd be interested in hearing what people like most.

Photos of before, middle and after will follow at the end when all is finished

Please post pics. I'm glad I found this thread. I didn't think anyone had a p lyte like me. Lol

[Growly Lytes]

Originally Posted by wfleslie

A quick update:

After lots of sanding, I have finally got rid of all the layers of the old finish and I have hit pay dirt. The bare wood is a beautiful pink-brown, with nicely figured lines.

The next steps will be to seal the body and neck with super blonde shellac, fill the pours with pumace and then decide what the final look will be.

I'm tossing up on these ideas:
1. Satin natural look
2. Mahogany burst (similar to tobacco)
3. Tele blonde with visible grain

I'd be interested in hearing what people like most.

Photos of before, middle and after will follow at the end when all is finished

Please let us all know how it turns out dude.
Look at these Mahogs my friend in Ohio Tung Oiled himself.Ive been drooling for one of them but he wants my arm & leg too.

[JimmyM]

I'm going to join in on the pickup bashing on P Lytes. Absolute garbage. Did one gig with them and never used them again. I found not a single usable sound. I went overwound passive for a while with it, but that had balls but was too dark. I finally got EMG PJ's and a BQC on it and they're working out great. David's pickups look very cool too, but my Lyte is a regular PJ model and I was able to get a pretty good deal on the EMG's. But whatever you do, I highly recommend getting rid of those duff pickups.

[Growly Lytes]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I'm going to join in on the pickup bashing on P Lytes. Absolute garbage. Did one gig with them and never used them again. I found not a single usable sound. I went overwound passive for a while with it, but that had balls but was too dark. I finally got EMG PJ's and a BQC on it and they're working out great. David's pickups look very cool too, but my Lyte is a regular PJ model and I was able to get a pretty good deal on the EMG's. But whatever you do, I highly recommend getting rid of those duff pickups.

Cool sounds great but what is the BQC ?

[JimmyM]

The BQC is EMG's 3-band preamp with a sweepable mid control. Usually onboard preamps don't wow me, but this one is pretty nice, and I can get the EQ exactly like my 76 Precision, although the pickups are a bit clearer and cleaner than the Fender 62 CS pickup on my Precision.

[Highpost]

Originally Posted by Growly Lytes

Please let us all know how it turns out dude.
Look at these Mahogs my friend in Ohio Tung Oiled himself.Ive been drooling for one of them but he wants my arm & leg too.

They look roasted and toasted. Yummy!

[Growly Lytes]

I love the look of these basses the sound is less then perfect alot less but.......
Where Theres A Whip Theres A Way.......

[popgadget]

Count me amongst the Lyte fanboys. My two Lytes are all I have use for several years, I sold off my PBass "heavies" for a lot more than I paid for them (decades earlier). I have heard that they can have neck troubles, but mine haven't had any problems. .

I have the EMG P-J pups with the BQS electronics in my fretless Lyte deluxe.
I have the stock pups with the Audere 4 band per in my Fretted Lyte deluxe.

The Audere makes the OEM pups sing, I like the tone circuit much better than the EMG In my fretless. I think that the EMG pups definitely have a better defined bottom end though. Lately I have been playing the fretless a lot and am very pleased with the tone. but like everything else there is no magic bullet.

To give a rough idea what I like, I play with flat wounds on both of them, I use primarily a Streamliner 900 or a Shuttle 9 with fEARful cabs.

[wfleslie]

Originally Posted by Growly Lytes

Please let us all know how it turns out dude.
Look at these Mahogs my friend in Ohio Tung Oiled himself.Ive been drooling for one of them but he wants my arm & leg too.

These are nice looking Lytes... mine looked awesome with the final shellac coat and the glazing, but then I stuffed the whole thing by putting a layer varnish over the top.... so pics will have to wait awhile longer while I go back to sanding the varnish off and reapplying the shellac... lesson learned.