Hollow body pickup

mountnmonty · #1 11-02-2006, 09:23 AM

what is the hot setup

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I have a vox violin hollow body fretless bass that I played for 6 years during my junior through senior high school years. I have not played it since 1974. The son of a close friend of mine plays bass in a local band here in Las Vegas, and is looking for a second bass to play. I suggested giving him my old fretless vox bass. All wiring, controls and pickup need to be replaced.

What is the best pickup/or combination of... for a hollow body fretless bass? Is there a difference in wiring and controls that could be used? I want to find out what is the hot setup for this guitar.

Thank you very much for your advice.

GlennW · #2 11-02-2006, 02:13 PM

That old Vox might be worth something, so you might want to limit your prospective pickups to those which can be installed without cutting up the body.

Are you sure the original pickup is bad? Have you disconnected it and checked it with an ohmmeter? It might need nothing more than the pots cleaned or replaced.

I realize that doesn't answer your question, but with the prices such things fetch on ebay it's something to consider.

You were a junior and senior in high school for 6 years? You sure you're not a drummer?

mountnmonty · #3 11-04-2006, 04:37 AM

Lets see ... Junior High School 7th 8th and 9th grades then Senior High School 10th 11th and 12th grades. Hey I was right about the 6 years, I thought your were onto math being my weakest subject. Gee Gwen I appreciate your spending your time hacking at my typos.

As for the guitar, I added 3 additional lead guitar pickups to the hollow body bass in 1972, which I played through a seperate amp in search of a different sound. this was before the computer age. So, its not worth restoring as a classic. I have since patched the additional holes (see Photo). This guitar is very light in weight and the fretless neck is like new. I always used flat wound strings. For me, this bass was a dream to play. I lost the original pickup. I am interested in newer technology. I am not familiar with the current guitar world. I want to rebuild this bass for a kid who currently plays a left handed jazz bass. He is looking for something diff to work into their set.

One thing I have learned over the years; There is no substitue for experience. Please advise.

uh how do i add a photo here?

**MAJOR METAL** · #4 11-04-2006, 02:05 PM

I would check out the Darkstars and see if they could fit this bass.

GlennW · #5 11-04-2006, 02:39 PM

The Epi Jack Casady gets good reviews - it has one pickup with Volume, Tone, and an Impedance selector. It's probably a difficult (to get the stuff) and/or expensive route to go, but good results are almost guaranteed.

vindy500 · #6 11-04-2006, 02:47 PM

look at darkstars

edwinhurwitz · #7 11-04-2006, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vindy500

look at darkstars

+2 on that! They rule!
Edwin

GlennW · #8 11-04-2006, 06:53 PM

Do any of you guys know the DCR on Dark Stars?

vindy500 · #9 11-05-2006, 01:35 AM

dont have a clue what dcr is but maybe its here http://www.basspickup.com/

GlennW · #10 11-05-2006, 11:07 AM

Thanks for the link, but I've already snooped around there.

DCR is what the VOM reads in K-ohms across the leads of the uninstalled pickup. Generally, bigger numbers are "hotter" with more output and darker sounding.

**Rodent** · #11 11-05-2006, 01:58 PM

Hi Glenn,

I can check later this week when I pull one apart. If I forget to post a follow-up here, drop me a PM

all the best,

R

p.s. I heartily agree with the DS recommendation for a hollow body (and also for a semi-hollow body or solid body)

GlennW · #12 11-05-2006, 03:39 PM

That'd be great, thanks.

PilbaraBass · #13 11-05-2006, 05:12 PM

hmmm...hollow body violin bass...

now for something completely different...

music man pickup with a OBP-3 preamp...

Just thinking outside of the box, guys.

Rvl · #14 11-05-2006, 11:17 PM

I would have the original pickups rewound and the wiring redone
I have DarkStars and they sound good , smooth with great bottom and mids
I have an old junky Hofner and a Eko DragonBass that I was thinking of changing out the pickups
Here is a photo of an Eko Dragonbass and imagine 2 Darkstars in there
http://www.fetishguitars.com/html/ek...ragon_cat.html
The Darkstars seem way to big to fit in there
Also the Eko , Hofner and Vox all had very very narrow necks, way smaller than the Guild and Hagstroms which the DarkStars were originally designed for

I'll buy your Vox Violin bass and have it restored
And you can use the money to buy him another bass

Thanks

Robert VanLane

mountnmonty · #15 11-11-2006, 06:07 AM

Thanks for the info. I looked into the Dark Star pickups and it appears the DS-1 model is compatible with the Vox violin body that I am re-building;

Dark Stars come in 4 different pole spacings:

1. The DS-1 model has a pole to pole spacing of .640 (16.25mm).
This model is what Guild used on the '60s Starfires.

2. DS-2 has a wider pole spacing of .680 (17.25mm) for Guild and DeArmond reissue bridge position pickups. This model will fit most other short scale four string basses as well.
*The Hagsrom Coronado IV bass came with both pole spacings. (DS-1 & DS-2)

3. The DS-3N (neck) is popular with Fender P type basses or long scale basses with similar string spacing in the mid body position with a pole spacing of .710 (18mm)

4. The DS-3B (bridge) has the widest pole spacing at .750 (19mm) pole to pole which fits the bridge position of most long scale basses.

5. The 5th choice is the DS-3ND which was developed for the Lakland Decade bass to be used in the extreme neck position of long scale basses. It has a pole to pole spacing of .680 (16.25mm - same as the DS-2) but is matched in DC resistance to the other DS-3 models. Matched DC resistance is best for hum-canceling.

Any combination of the DS-3 models can be made into an RWRP set.

The DS-5B (18mm) and DS-5N (17mm) 5-string models will be available soon.

I sent Fred Hammon an email to confirm the DS-1 and get his advice on the rebuild.

I think the below link will show a photo took last week.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attach...1&d=1163336671

Thanks again for the help. I will keep you posted

GlennW · #16 11-11-2006, 04:16 PM

It's hard to tell from the picture. Have you filled in where the bottom 3 pickups were?

mountnmonty · #17 11-11-2006, 08:48 PM

I attached a closeup photo of the pickup holes repaired. I used fiberglass resin and 1/8 th inch thick model building veneer (typo) (sheet plywood similar the whats used to skin out kitchen cabinets).

mountnmonty · #18 11-11-2006, 08:50 PM

I attached a closeup photo of the pickup holes repaired. I used fiberglass resin and 1/8 th inch thick model building veneer (typo) (sheet plywood similar the whats used to skin out kitchen cabinets).

Jazzin' · #19 11-11-2006, 10:49 PM

Whatever you add, don't forget to also put in a Piezo.

Rvl · #20 11-12-2006, 04:02 AM

Looks great and nice job

Does the body top have much curve to it?
My Hofner and copy have quite a curve to the tops and would require a special pickup surround ring

I ordered surround rings from Jeannie Pickguards and he has a large variety with Darkstar routings

Thanks

Robert VanLane