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Douglas Pisces Single Coil P-bass from Rondo -- first impression

Mastermold

Mastermold

May 5, 2008
11,564
12,738
Orange County, California
#1
Just got the bass delivered at work, haven't taken it home to try out yet but my initial impression is:

The good -- nice woodgrain on the body, light weight, seems as solid as any of my SX basses.

The bad -- we all know about the ugly headstock. I can fix that. What I'm wondering, however, is whether the pickup alignment is too far off:

IMG00096.gif


I'm not sure if that's a result of the bridge being off center or what but this may be a deal breaker, especially with the G string. I'll take it home and plug it in to see for sure. I'd thought about changing out the pickup anyway, but if the problem is with the bridge being off center that may not help. I may have to send it back, we'll see.

Anyway I'll report back later and with some better pics too.
 
#4
LCW said:
It looks good but check out the strings like you said

E off a little A a little more D off alot G complete off the pole

i still think it looks awesome but that placement is strange
Click to expand...

I find monopole pickup designs using small diameter poles to be particularly sensitive to string/polepiece alignment.

But the only way to really tell is to try it. You might want to play some notes above the 12th fret on the strings that have the misaligned poles and see if they sound right.

From what I can see it looks like the pickup is a shifted a bit towards the E string side.
 
#8
I would run a straghtedge down both sides of the neck and see where it intersects the pickup route and bridge. I have an aluminum 3ft level that works great for this, even a yeardstick would put you in the ballpark. Something is very off. That said, for $300 the Squire single coil P's I've played are damn near perfect, play great and have the traditional headstock. Bottom line is..........there must be a bottom line :ninja:
 
#9
FL Knifemaker said:
That said, for $300 the Squire single coil P's I've played are damn near perfect, play great and have the traditional headstock.
Click to expand...

+1, and they're only $279 locally.

I just held a straightedge up to the screen and if the picture is straght on and not tilted to one side, it appears the pickup is shifted toward the E string side about 1/2 the polepiece width.
 
#10
mongo2 said:
+1, and they're only $279 locally.

I just held a straightedge up to the screen and if the picture is straght on and not tilted to one side, it appears the pickup is shifted toward the E string side about 1/2 the polepiece width.
Click to expand...

The last Squier I saw in that style had that exact same problem, as have various Fenders, Musicman, and almost any other bass with pole pieces does occasionally. I don't find it any more acceptable on lower priced basses though, it would bother me if I look at it enough. The Squier does have a better headstock though, for over double the cost. Worth it? Maybe.

I'd send that one back and exchange if it's that far off, and especially if it's to the point of making things sound weak. If they all are like that, Rondo is going to end up with a bunch of returns I bet. I'm interested to know how they sound and play though.
 
#11
mongo2 said:
+1, and they're only $279 locally.

I just held a straightedge up to the screen and if the picture is straght on and not tilted to one side, it appears the pickup is shifted toward the E string side about 1/2 the polepiece width.
Click to expand...

I really don't think there is enough of the neck in the picture to establish anything with a straightedge not to mention the bridge isn't in the photo.

Other basses might be off as far as the strings over the pole pieces but it should be EVEN on both sides. The neck pups on an MM are a good example. The pole pieces are spaced a bit too far a part but they are USUALLY EVEN!! On the bass pictured above, it's way off to one side.
 
#13
Hey Gents. Just a further update. The volume, amazingly, seems even enough at first blush despite the pole piece issue but upon tuning the bass I discovered the E-string tuner is broken so this one is going back anyway.

I will say, however, the tone isn't bad at all. I'd like to put some flats on it but even with the stock rounds it's got the single coil tone I was hoping for.

Other nice things I noticed -- tight neck pocket, straight neck, and the frets are cut well with no sharp edges.

I'll take some pictures later with my Fender 51 for comparison, but the body is slightly narrower side-to-side than the Fender, which is the opposite of SX basses which are slightly larger than their Fender inspirations.
 

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