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I recently received my new Gen 5 build from Pete and I'd like to find a home for the Offset 92 that inspired my order a year ago. I've left the text below describing my experience with the Offset.
So, I've been urged by Mike Arnopol for a long time to try a Skjold. I had actually seen this particular bass before on TB but missed it. I read all the stuff on Pete's site and watched the videos. Very good stuff. I've been a Sadowsky and MTD guy for some years now. Sadowsky for the simply phenomenal way they sit in the mix and MTD for the tonal variations. It was with some reluctance that I tried the Skjold.
I'm so glad I did. It's beautiful, as you can see. But let me get a little long-winded on the sound because that's really what sold me. This bass has a Mike Pope preamp, which features a two-band mid boost/cut (stacked pot). The center frequencies are selectable by the use of jumpers on the pots in the control cavity (i.e. no switches, but toggles could be installed if you were to drill the holes to mount them.) The bass and treble pots are also stacked. These frequency centers are also able to be selected as described. On this particular bass the pre is wired: Bass - 47Hz, Treble - 6k. Lo-mid - 497Hz, and hi-mid - 1.8k. I tried various combos of frequencies and like these best.
Herein lies the magic, for me at least. Without getting into the quagmire of the pros and cons of mid controls in an onboard pre I'll just say that I'm sold on the critical role of mids in my sound. That said, those of you familiar with Sadowsky and MTD know where Roger and Mike stand. The Sad pre is renowned for its inherent mid presence and its bulletproof sit-in-the-mix. But although the Will Lee models allow some flexibility, with Sadowsky the mid magic is built-in. MTD (American) basses feature a 3-way selectable mid boost/cut so there are lots of options. With the Pope preamp the ability to tweak the mids simultaneously at TWO mid frequencies as set in this bass blew this old guy out of the water. The bass sounds great flat, but a slight boost of the two mid bands and the resulting tone just steps out. I can turn down the volume a bit and yet still play with a softer attack. It sounds wonderful and playing is incredibly comfortable and relaxed while filling really well and being responsive to slight changes in plucking technique. It's something about the two frequencies together that's the big deal.
That's my story and I hope it's interesting, not just boring. It's a big enough game changer to me that I have Pete building me a bass with the same Pope pre set-up. (BTW the PU's are Skjold SC-1's which I initially thought were single coils. SC stands for split coils and under each soap cover there are two separate humcancelling coils in a reverse-P configuration, like on many Dingwalls.) I'm selling the Offset to help cover the build cost. So no trade offers, please. Price includes shipping CONUS in the Pavel gig bag the bass came in.
Thanks for reading.
I recently received my new Gen 5 build from Pete and I'd like to find a home for the Offset 92 that inspired my order a year ago. I've left the text below describing my experience with the Offset.
So, I've been urged by Mike Arnopol for a long time to try a Skjold. I had actually seen this particular bass before on TB but missed it. I read all the stuff on Pete's site and watched the videos. Very good stuff. I've been a Sadowsky and MTD guy for some years now. Sadowsky for the simply phenomenal way they sit in the mix and MTD for the tonal variations. It was with some reluctance that I tried the Skjold.
I'm so glad I did. It's beautiful, as you can see. But let me get a little long-winded on the sound because that's really what sold me. This bass has a Mike Pope preamp, which features a two-band mid boost/cut (stacked pot). The center frequencies are selectable by the use of jumpers on the pots in the control cavity (i.e. no switches, but toggles could be installed if you were to drill the holes to mount them.) The bass and treble pots are also stacked. These frequency centers are also able to be selected as described. On this particular bass the pre is wired: Bass - 47Hz, Treble - 6k. Lo-mid - 497Hz, and hi-mid - 1.8k. I tried various combos of frequencies and like these best.
Herein lies the magic, for me at least. Without getting into the quagmire of the pros and cons of mid controls in an onboard pre I'll just say that I'm sold on the critical role of mids in my sound. That said, those of you familiar with Sadowsky and MTD know where Roger and Mike stand. The Sad pre is renowned for its inherent mid presence and its bulletproof sit-in-the-mix. But although the Will Lee models allow some flexibility, with Sadowsky the mid magic is built-in. MTD (American) basses feature a 3-way selectable mid boost/cut so there are lots of options. With the Pope preamp the ability to tweak the mids simultaneously at TWO mid frequencies as set in this bass blew this old guy out of the water. The bass sounds great flat, but a slight boost of the two mid bands and the resulting tone just steps out. I can turn down the volume a bit and yet still play with a softer attack. It sounds wonderful and playing is incredibly comfortable and relaxed while filling really well and being responsive to slight changes in plucking technique. It's something about the two frequencies together that's the big deal.
That's my story and I hope it's interesting, not just boring. It's a big enough game changer to me that I have Pete building me a bass with the same Pope pre set-up. (BTW the PU's are Skjold SC-1's which I initially thought were single coils. SC stands for split coils and under each soap cover there are two separate humcancelling coils in a reverse-P configuration, like on many Dingwalls.) I'm selling the Offset to help cover the build cost. So no trade offers, please. Price includes shipping CONUS in the Pavel gig bag the bass came in.
Thanks for reading.
