Home Made Bass Guitar (pics)

[needsmorecowbel]

Gday guys i built a hybrid P J Bass from a piece of African Rosewood or Padouk (plantation Rosewood substitute) and a drop top of Sheoak Lace with a birds eye patter. Perhaps my worst decision was using the Rosewood and the DiMarzio J bass pickups Pickups: product code DP123. The neck was a straight forward Bolt on All Parts P Bass neck as i wanted something a bit chunkier than the J bass necks. The Tone is pretty much unbearably modern and far far too clean (in a modern sense) and bright. I'll post up a clip soon

The only problem with changing the pickups is that the DiMarzio J bass Bridge pickup is larger than the Neck pickup by about 3-5 mm so Aesthetically the guitar will look shabby with different pups.

Are there any suggestions for fixing this unbearably modern tone for an old school Fender J Bass tone like late 1960s tone. Someone suggested Fender Noiseless pups or NORD pups. PASSIVE PUPS IS A MUST...



http://img688.imageshack.us/i/dscf3369e.jpg/
http://img816.imageshack.us/i/dscf3360j.jpg/

[brendanbassist]

I don't think I've ever heard Dimarzio Model J's called "bright" before. That being said, most J pickups have a wider bridge than neck, so you shouldn't have a problem replacing them.

Nice looking top wood, btw!

EDIT: What value of potentiometers did you use? Also, the Dimarzio's are 4-conductor, so each pickup can be wired in series or in parallel. How did you hook them up? Lower valued pots and series wiring will darken the tone.

[fu22ba55]

If I'm not mistaken, ALL Jazz Bass pups are different sizes. Bridge pup is always a little bit bigger to account for strings getting wider towards the bridge.

99.9% of all aftermarket J-bass pups will work.

Nordstrands are nice. Seymour Duncan Antiquity's are nice. Lindy Fralin's are nice. Curtis Novak will hand wind you anything you want... get as vintage as you like.

[fu22ba55]

And 250K pots (instead of 500K pots) will bleed off some of the treble as well.

[needsmorecowbel]

See that is what i thought in terms of the pickup size and I'm not a bass player i just made this with some free time i had...

[line6man]

Originally Posted by needsmorecowbel

The only problem with changing the pickups is that the DiMarzio J bass Bridge pickup is larger than the Neck pickup by about 3-5 mm so Aesthetically the guitar will look shabby with different pups.

I'm not sure what you mean by that at all.

The bass would look the same aesthetically whether both pickups were the same size or if they were the standard neck and bridge sizes. The difference is 1/16" on each side of the bridge pickup. Doesn't change the aesthetic much at all.

Also, other pickup sizes simply will not fit the routing.
You have to use standard neck and bridge sized pickups, which will not be interchangeable.

[needsmorecowbel]

The way the Pickup Cavities have been cut are disguised well by the DiMarzio's was a bit of a butcher job in certain areas. The gap would look unsightly if it was one even 1/16''. It's pedantic i know but it could draw attention to the cutting job...So there is a risk that i may have to re cut the pickup cavities for new pickups?

[needsmorecowbel]

That's how she sounds...don't mind the video/ picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqz036opiQg

[BadB]

Plenty of people would probably dig those tones.

[brendanbassist]

Originally Posted by needsmorecowbel

That's how she sounds...don't mind the video/ picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqz036opiQg

What value of potentiometers did you use? Also, the Dimarzio's are 4-conductor, so each pickup can be wired in series or in parallel. How did you hook them up?

Lower valued pots and series wiring will darken the tone.

[needsmorecowbel]

250 k, The pickups hooked up in a standard fashion where the white and black wires from the pickup are soldered together and taped out of the circuit...I am not sure what type of wiring style it is...but i followed these instructions...


WIRING THE PICKUPS
"Solder the red wire of each pickup to leg #2 of its respective volume pot. Solder
the green wire of each pickup to the back of its respective volume pot. Solder the
black and white wire of each pickup together. Put a piece of tape on this
connection so that it does not touch any other part of the circuit. The wiring is
now complete."

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by needsmorecowbel

250 k, The pickups hooked up in a standard fashion where the white and black wires from the pickup are soldered together and taped out of the circuit...I am not sure what type of wiring style it is...but i followed these instructions...

That's series wiring. Parallel would be Red+White=Hot, Green+Black=Ground. Series is standard for those pickups.

You should probably use 500K pots with those pickups, but if you like the tone, that's all that matters.

It's a cool looking bass though. Good for you for not making a Fender copy. Using some imagination is a good thing.

[needsmorecowbel]

What would soldering them in parallel do?

Thanks for your advice and kind words David

[line6man]

Originally Posted by needsmorecowbel

What would soldering them in parallel do?

Thanks for your advice and kind words David

Less output and mids, more treble.