Completed! T-40 with Darkstars! Added: band practice report!

A month or so ago, this arrived in the mail from Wademeister63(this is where the pickups for the Peavenbacker came from). A t-40 devoid of any electronics or pickups:



Then Fred Hammon sent along a set of his fabulous Darkstar pickups and Butch (Owner: Bayou Cables)sent some enormous orange caps,and this was the rough result



Not satisfied with the gaps on the sides of the pickups, I made these: (rough form)



From this:



And the end result is this:





It sounds great! I like to roll the tone off on my basses, and the sound is so thick and deep, but still defined!

The only minor things I will left are:
-Create a plug for the now useless side input jack hole
-Finish working down the plastic nut I installed. I am taking my time, as I am not very experienced at this kind of work.
-Possible route out under the pickguard to decrease weight. It feels like it may be heavier than my ash body '79 t-40!

Notes on process:
-I had to enlarge the end of the electronics cavity slightly to accomodate the front mouting of the input jack in the space formerly occupied by the phase switch.
-I used the vol/vol/tone/tone and a switch dual p-90 wiring diagram from the Semour Duncan website. I wired it a mirror image to the diagram and used the ground from the Dark Star pickups instead of the illustrade Ground/shield that p-90's have.

Conclusion:

I am a Darkstar Believer! Now officially my favorite pickups!

I am very happy with the results. The sound is great, and the whole process was really quite simple and straitforward. The Darkstars and aluminum/plastic radio shack knobs really compliment the heavy chrome look of the t-40. My pickup covers are a bit rougher than I might like, but they look fine from 4 feet away, and now that I know it works, making a better version (where I actually make precise measurements) would be quite simple.

I'm intersted to hear what you all think, and ready to answer any questions about the project.

FL Knifemaker said:

That's awesome!! Soundclips man!!!! Why not just make a new pickguard to cover the pup holes?? That should be an easy project after the other work you've done I have some carbon fiber scraps that would make an awesome nut, if you want some shoot me a PM.

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Thanks! Unfortunately I have not the equipment for soundclips. The darkstar site has some good clips though. http://www.basspickup.com/ There are some good ones at the dudepit Darkstar forum also I think

As for the tone, it sounds much like a t-40, but clearer and with more definition. It is a very "even" tone The plastic nut doesn't ring the same as the standard t-40 metal nut, but I like the mellowness.

As has been said before about Dark Stars, they are very "strong" pickups that are very responsive to hand position and technique. I had to bring the gain down on my practice amp to compensate for their high power.

If the bass ends up being a regular gigging bass (if I can stand the weight or lighten it appropriately) a new guard will be in the works. I just don't have the appropriate beveled router bit yet.

Thanks for the offer of the carbon fiber. I don't really have the skills yet to make use of it as I am using plastic nuts that have starter grooves and spacing, but as I get better at this I may be contacting you.

Jazzdogg said:

IMO, Fl Knifemaker's suggestion was a good one. Replacing the existing pick guard would enable you to combine the pick guard and pickup trim, and a new pick guard wouldn't have any of the "wrinkles" visible in the pictures.

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I agree. However, despite the fact that the pickups cost far more than the bass, this is aimed to be a budget project, and the wrinkles in the aren't really visible except in pictures. The PG on my nearly NOS 79 t-40 has the same wrinkling.

In the end (and for the information of those considering a similar mod) I might just have Roger at Jeanies Pickguards make me one. It's not terribly cheap, but his materiel and quality is known to be top knotch, and he can do a T-40 PG with no pickup cutouts, so I can position them exactly as I want... He also makes pickup surrounds, the same idea as what I have, except better -and more choice of- materiels and real craftsmanship. If I remember correcely, a pair of surrounds is around the cost of an average Fender pickguard (the one's you can get at GC)

A9X said:

Been waiting to see this.

My second T40 is just begging me for a set of Darkstars. I bought it with both switches replaced, so its already non-original and I don't mind modding the PG some more. I like the blade pickups a bit less too.
My 79 is so original and clean it looks new, so it won't be touched.

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Go for it! I also have a '79 that is in great shape, that I won't be modding (for now), but the sound of the darkstars is tempting me.

Also, know that the only mod to the PGs 4 small holes for each darkstar, and if you order a new guard the only change will be any holes in the body (under the guard) from mounting the pickguard.

I have some other projects in the works,let me know if you decide to get rid of your t-40 pups.

blipndub said:

wicked cool. i bet the pickups cost more than the bass.

I like the white ones, good job!

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over twice as much...

Thanks!

lug said:

I think he just compared your testosterone-generating, musclecar macho-like T-40 to Justin Timberlake.

I'd keeel him.

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Timberlake reference or no, I can't say he isn't right!

I have practice tomorrow night, so I'll report back as to how it sounds through a larger amp (usually a 70's tube ampeg head and fender cab) and in a band setting.

My Ampeg Portabass rig is in my car, so as of now I have only heard it through my Gorilla practice amp.

Thanks for all the encouragement folks!

Took the DS t-40 out to practice with my country band.
WOW!, it really sounds great. I liked it on my own, but it seems to really shine in the band setting through a larger amp. In this case (the amp belonging to the rental practice space) a 70's SVT with an old Fender cab. There, some of the mids that weren't as pleasant to my ears in home practice (I love deep dubby bass) were no longer glaring at all, but just made it a bit easier to cut through the mix.

Both pickups on, and both tones a bit over halfway down, I was able to be present and clearly audible without loosing the deep round thump that seems to fit so well in this group. I also found a great spanky funk sound when I put the highs up and accidentally flipped the selector switch to bridge. Whops!

This experience further reinforced earlier observations that these pickups are not forgiving of bad technique and are very sensitive to changes in hand position and playing style. The T-40 neck has also taken a setup very well, and is strait and very flat. As I slowly lower the nut, I expect to be able to achieve a really low (right now it is just med-low) action with no problem

I have, however, decided that the bass, in it's present configuration is not suitable for gigging in my present project. After an hour standing up with this bass, with a really wide strap, I was really feeling the weight. After switching over to a stock '84 Peavey Fury for the rest of the night it wasn't quite as sweet sounding (and it has a bit of neck dive) but it sounded good and was so light, that if I had to pick one of these two basses for an over an hour long gig, I would have gone with the fury.

With my last band, (origional pop rock) the average gig was was one set of 40-55 minutes, and I gigged with my equally heavy "boat anchor" ash body '79 t-40 all the time with no problems. Now in this country outfit I am looking at multi set gigs of 2.5-3 hours where weight becomes an issue.

Next step: Decrease the weight of the T-40. When I get some time I will be routing as much wood as possible from under the guard and trying to dremmel sideways to get wood under the non pg body sections too. With a little luck I am hoping to get the weight down to a manageable heft, otherwise I will have to find a new bass for these pups.

It sure sounds good though...