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King Koa - Now With Nordy's!

RocketMusic

RocketMusic

Gold Supporting Member
Commercial User
Oct 31, 2007
10,754
8,929
Blacksburg, VA
www.rocketmusic.net
Disclosures
Owner, Rocket Music
#1
Crash - that name is going to stick. My bass has officially become "King Koa" in my head now. :D

And here she is back from her visit to Greensboro. She's none the worse for wear. The guys in the Roscoe shop did a great job enlarging the PUP slots ever so slightly to fit the Barts in.

I'm tickled with the tone. It wasn't quite as drastic a change as I was anticipating, but it has definitely taken me in the direction I wanted to go. The tone is a bit smoother and more compressed. It sounds like a Roscoe now, which I'm really happy about. :hyper:

Here's a fresh sound clip:
"The Funky Noel"

And here are some fresh pics:
3000-BARTS.jpg

3000-BARTS-BODY.jpg
 
#7
Thanks, Jerry! I've been working on a special clip for Christmas. I've been trying to lay out a really nice, multi-tracked, slow, fretless version of "Noel". But dang it, that's hard to do!!

In a hurry this morning, I picked up the tempo, put it in 4/4 and made it funky on King Koa.
 
#8
FWIW, my ears heard a nice dose of "Victor" inspiration in your playing. Very nice bounce to the groove, and just thunderous tone. You get an A+, my man.

Total personal preference thing here, but IMO the bass looks really nice with the Barts. Not that it should - or realistically does - matter...it's all about tone, right? But still - I've never been able to wrap my eyes around the look of the Bardens.
 
#9
Yep, I definitely had Victor on the brain trying to play the melody up high interspersed with little bits of bass line underneath.

Funny, I'm having the opposite reaction with the looks. I feel like the bass has been defanged a bit visually. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I do miss the edge that the blades added to the look...
 
#11
I love it! It smoothed out the highs AND the lows, so the bass is a little smoother and bigger sounding. It's still got plenty of edge, but I feel like I'll be able to dial that out now if I want.

And now my main Roscoe sounds like a Roscoe, and that's got me stoked!
 
#13
Your eyes ain't lying! My bridge is set back a bit. I replaced the original Hipshot with a KSM Foundation bridge, and I needed to scoot it back a smidge to get it to intonate properly.

I also replaced the original graphtech nut with a Warwick brass Just-A-Nut I.

Oh, and I sanded all the finish off the neck and oiled it with Tung oil.

I don't have a problem, do I?!?
 
#14
nostatic said:
Is your bridge set further back on the body, or is it just the camera angle?
Click to expand...

That bridge is an aftermarket bridge, it is both larger in footprint and has the witness points for the saddles in a slightly different location - so YES, it does sit back further on the body, the bass side corner actually hangs off the body just a bit. However, it is a very nice bridge, and if the size and fact that the ball ends are just sticking out in space weren't driving me nuts, I'd be seriously thinking about it as at least an option...however, the "naked ball ends" thing just messes with my aesthetic sense! :eek: :spit: ;)
 
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#17
RocketMusic said:
Your eyes ain't lying! My bridge is set back a bit. I replaced the original Hipshot with a KSM Foundation bridge, and I needed to scoot it back a smidge to get it to intonate properly.

I also replaced the original graphtech nut with a Warwick brass Just-A-Nut I.

Oh, and I sanded all the finish off the neck and oiled it with Tung oil.

I don't have a problem, do I?!?
Click to expand...

Interesting (the bridge part - the rest is just your OCD :p). I am a big fan of getting the bridge far back on the body in order to shorten the overall length. This is one reason I like Rob Allen basses so much. I'd be interested to see a modified Century body (a little more of a P-bass shape at the bottom) with the Hipshot A bridge run close to the edge.
 
#18
The Ash and Wenge definitely keep a little bark in the bass, but just tweak that hi-mid knob to 10 o'clock and I bet it will hit the sweet spot. I think the Bart preamp will soften the mids of the Audere.

I just love my CS, the Alder body really adds nice punch and the Wenge board adds a sweet touch of mid. I really want these Jazz Barts in a P4 shell with the coils shifted toward the neck within the P4 shell. Gard is going to call Bartolini and find out if this can be done... right Gard? :D
 
#20
CrashClint said:
The Ash and Wenge definitely keep a little bark in the bass, but just tweak that hi-mid knob to 10 o'clock and I bet it will hit the sweet spot. I think the Bart preamp will soften the mids of the Audere.

I just love my CS, the Alder body really adds nice punch and the Wenge board adds a sweet touch of mid. I really want these Jazz Barts in a P4 shell with the coils shifted toward the neck within the P4 shell. Gard is going to call Bartolini and find out if this can be done... right Gard? :D
Click to expand...

I think I'd order a set of those for my fretless. :ninja:
 

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