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Is there room for a lowly Aria STB Series P Bass in here or is it for the higher end stuff?
I picked one up for £42 and have just ripped it apart, given it a massive clean and fitted back up with with a tort pick guard, chrome bridge cover, 1/4 Pounder PUs and a set of Chromes with a foam damper in the bridge cover.
I only bought it to try a set of flats on a spare bass but this thing absolutely rocks now, I love it, I've given it a good set up and it plays soooo nice, the neck is fabulous.
Totally underated 'cheap' bass
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I picked one up for £42 and have just ripped it apart, given it a massive clean and fitted back up with with a tort pick guard, chrome bridge cover, 1/4 Pounder PUs and a set of Chromes with a foam damper in the bridge cover.
I only bought it to try a set of flats on a spare bass but this thing absolutely rocks now, I love it, I've given it a good set up and it plays soooo nice, the neck is fabulous.
Totally underated 'cheap' bass
.
Is there room for a lowly Aria STB Series P Bass in here or is it for the higher end stuff?
I picked one up for £42 and have just ripped it apart, given it a massive clean and fitted back up with with a tort pick guard, chrome bridge cover, 1/4 Pounder PUs and a set of Chromes with a foam damper in the bridge cover.
I only bought it to try a set of flats on a spare bass but this thing absolutely rocks now, I love it, I've given it a good set up and it plays soooo nice, the neck is fabulous.
Totally underated 'cheap' bass
Bring it on señor! All are welcomed here.
.+1 to Maud's "lowly" Aria! I have a DMB380(mosrite copy). Seafoam green,white pearl pickguard,passive w/2 j-style p'ups. LOVE this bass! Light(alder) body,great balance,and with either p'up soloed-dead quiet. Nails the classic j-bass tones. Got it in a trade sight unseen from a fellow TB'er,though I'd always loved that mosrite body style. Sells for 379.00 new,and I'll never let it go!
The plot thickens indeed! I'll just go over those photos of the cavity you emailed to make sure it is the same 10-pin configuration.
Picture time ,
It sounds awesome through the Ashdown practise amp so I can't wait to run it through my 'big rig' on Friday
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When I collected it it was soooo crusty, a good few years of dust had collected and hardened on it, I was going to strip it back to the wood, oil it and put a black pick guard on it, but after a good clean and polish it turns out it's in pretty much mint condition so I kept the burst finish and went for (in my eyes) the classic P bass look. A tort pick gaurd was added, chrome bridge cover, I can't get on with the PU covers so passed on that one. Then for classic P bass thump I added Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder PUs and some 50/105 Chrome flats, mmmmmmmm
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The neck was pretty mucky as well but, again, cleaned up nicely with just lemon oil and scotchbrite, with a nourishing drink of tung oil to finish with.
The tuning keys were a bit tarnished so I rubbed them down with some 2000 grit and left them with a satin finish that I quite like, I may polish them up but we'll see.
A quick close up of some Quarter Pounder 'n' Chromes sexiness.
I hope you like it, I know I sure do. Absolutely brilliant budget bass that'll punch with the big boys.
,It sounds awesome through the Ashdown practise amp so I can't wait to run it through my 'big rig' on Friday
.When I collected it it was soooo crusty, a good few years of dust had collected and hardened on it, I was going to strip it back to the wood, oil it and put a black pick guard on it, but after a good clean and polish it turns out it's in pretty much mint condition so I kept the burst finish and went for (in my eyes) the classic P bass look. A tort pick gaurd was added, chrome bridge cover, I can't get on with the PU covers so passed on that one. Then for classic P bass thump I added Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder PUs and some 50/105 Chrome flats, mmmmmmmm
.The neck was pretty mucky as well but, again, cleaned up nicely with just lemon oil and scotchbrite, with a nourishing drink of tung oil to finish with.
The tuning keys were a bit tarnished so I rubbed them down with some 2000 grit and left them with a satin finish that I quite like, I may polish them up but we'll see.
A quick close up of some Quarter Pounder 'n' Chromes sexiness
.I hope you like it, I know I sure do. Absolutely brilliant budget bass that'll punch with the big boys.
I played a Tokai "hardpuncher" P copy a while back which totally made me rethink P basses. How is this one? Loud acoustically also?
The pinout of the original 10-pin BB is:
1 - pickup coil
2 - pickup coil
3 - pickup shield
4 - varitone
5 - varitone
6 - output hot (via vol/tone)
7 - output ground
8 - negative supply rail (via switched jack)
9 - common supply rail
0 - positive supply rail (via switched jack)
The wiring colour scheme has never been consistent so this is not a guideline as such. I am currently cautious as to whether or not the original 10-pin BB will be a straight swap for the "post batwing" 10-pin SB-1000s like your own Zuma, and I can't guarantee this from photos as of yet. Some things look correct and some are a little 50/50. I will certainly confirm whether this is or is not the case of course so bear with me.
(edit: it conforms to "common" spec)
What does confuse the issue slightly is the transition from the MB-1 to the MB-1E pickup which pretty much happened "silently" other than in catalogue listings. The only difference that I am aware of between these two is the shield being connected between the two coils of the pickup in the MB-1 which would theoretically have allowed a coil split. In the MB-1E the outside world only saw the sum of the two coils connected internally. I don't know anybody that bothered playing around with a coil split on the MB-1 anyway.
The only differences between any of these BB pre-amps are their pinouts. Even the modern BBs supplied by Dana B Goods have more or less the same function as the original BB from 1978, however it has been mentioned that they do not sound as good as the originals for whatever reason.
The biggest transition that happened to the SB-1000 seems to have been the passive/active switching. In the first incarnation of the circuit the pots were single gang and the switch interacted with the varitone function. The pots then became dual gang (and dual value) with the switch being changed to a larger 4PDT and switching the entire instrument between two completely isolated circuits; the basic passive vol/tone and the active circuit with the varitone in circuit.
Up until yesterday I was more or less under the impression that this transition marked a quicker shift from the original 10-pin BB to the 11-pin BB circuit.
(edit: there are lots of 10-pin 80's SB-1000s)
The unknown that still exists is as to why Aria decided to alter the BB and pop an 11-pin connector on there when later SB-1000s that used this modified circuit didn't have any connections to pins 8 and 9. It is possible that this may have been an additional pickup input (for the dual pickup SB-R150 for example) or perhaps even as "future proofing" to buffer two separate coils such as those in the MB-II, MB-III, etc. Either way, I have yet to see an 11-pin BB with these pins utilised. I am sure that now I have said that, they will come flying in.
(edit: they have not been flying in)
I'm going to stare a bit more at the bunch of photos you sent Zuma and try to figure out whether your pinout is the same as the original BB. I have four hours to do this before I have to go watch the crucial US vs. Finland match at which point I doubt I will be able to concentrate on anything for a long time.
(edit: we won)
Wow! I'm sure I echo the sentiment of many others here when I say that I truly appreciate what you are doing to keep these beautiful beasts alive for us. If I can do anything else just let me know. I can take more pictures if it would make things any clearer to you. Although I am quite dangerous with a multimeter I could be your robot if you supplied me with the instructions.
I don't think that will be quite necessary Zuma! I've examined countless photos of SB-1000 cavities and it seems that it should be a straight fit. I'm glad however that the extent of the transition between the 10 and 11 pin circuits has been identified better. There's always a gut feeling of these things with APII instruments....you should see the craziness of the SB-Integra and subsequent models! Unfortunately they are nowhere near as iconic as the SB-1000 and subsequently poorly documented. I just completed a prototype of the pre-amp PCB for the SB-Int as it happens.
(edit: It is a straight fit, however the original connector with the "key down" style is not an easily available part. Molex KK and Tyco CST headers are a straight swap however they require the connector fitting the other way around with a corresponding re-arrangement of the pre-amp internals....)
(edit: It is a straight fit, however the original connector with the "key down" style is not an easily available part. Molex KK and Tyco CST headers are a straight swap however they require the connector fitting the other way around with a corresponding re-arrangement of the pre-amp internals....)
It doesn't seem quite as loud acoustically as my 5 string Yamaha at home but maybe that's because of the flats on the Aria not giving off that acoustic 'zing'.
But plugged in it's f'ing awesome. I used it last night at rehearsal and it's a beast. I couldn't A/B with the Yam 4 string I usually use as that one is in peices atm getting stripped and oiled but the Aria seemed to me to be louder, which I didn't expect being that the Yam is active and the Aria passive.
I've never been into P basses but I think I have just been converted, this thing cuts through so well and is very much now a major authority in the bands sound, how much of that is the PU's and strings I don't know, but this could well become my main bass rather than the 'cheapy spare with flats on' it was intended to be.
I really am over the moon as I've been playing with quite a few different basses lately trying to find two that I want to keep as my main instruments, I just can't believe I'd be so happy with such a 'cheap' bass. I didn't play it with the standard kit on before I stripped it as it had missing strings and was so grubby but for not much outlay this bass has become a beast.
The neck really is sweet, I've got a nice low action with no buzzing or weirdness and even sticking on D'Addario Chromes hasn't needed any truss rod adjustment which I was expecting after reading posts on here which must say something for the stability of this neck.
The rest of the band commented on how good it sounded last night.
Can you tell I'm quite happy with my bargain bass
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I have an SB 700 (passive version of the SB 1000). I am curious if there is any type of outboard pre amp, preferably a pedal, that can give me some of those active SB 1000 tones. Thanks!
It is certainly possible, however you have an MB-II pickup as opposed to the MB-1/MB-1E in the SB-1000. The pre-amp which I posted earlier would convert it to active, however you would need the addition of the rotary varitone to get the range of tones in the SB-1000. How different it would be with the MB-II I am not sure off the top of my head.
This video is certainly not far off the mark, and made active it would be closer:
Depends on how much work you are wanting to do to the bass.
This video is certainly not far off the mark, and made active it would be closer:
Depends on how much work you are wanting to do to the bass.
My SB is from 1981. According to catalog pages on matsumoku.org the sb 600, 700, and 1000 all had the mb-1e pickup.....so maybe I'm part way there
I am going to check out your video. Thanks!
That's not my video I'm afraid! Well, whether your pickup is an MB-1E or an MB-II the circuitry can be modified to SB-1000 specs. It gets a bit complicated when you add in the passive/active mode though because the pots you need are not off-the-shelf components. Purely active is pretty much a doddle but you're dead in the water without batteries.
I wonder how close I could get with a combination of an eq pedal and some sort of low pass filter.......just thinking off the top of my head......
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