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Birdsong Club Pt 2

#201
Yeah, it could be a matter of taste, but its wierd because I really loved the sound of Corto 111 with the two Lace pickups. It was two years between having that and the Skyrider so maybe subconsciently I didn't like the Skyrider becuase I've always regreted selling Corto 111.
 
#203
Auctopus said:
Hello All,

It's been a long time since I've been on talk bass and in the Birdsong Club forum. My question is this: I've had two Birdsongs Cortobass 111 and Skyrider 3. The Cortobass I had to sell two years ago for financial reasons and the Skyrider I sold a couple of months ago because it just didn't sound good to me. Both had the standard two Lace pickups. The Cortobass sounded great but the Skyrider didn't. Both had the varitone and where made out of mahogany. I was wonder why two almost the same basses sounded different. I'm wondering now if it was the varitone which I dont really like. Anyway, I have order a Cbass (no number yet) and can't wait to hear the Dimarzio pickup. Does anyone else dislike the Lace pickups? I love what Birdsong builds but don't like them Lace pickups. thanks

Birdsong Club #29
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+1 I'm right there with ya. Why build such amazing instruments only to put mediocre electronics in them? I know that sounds harsh, and maybe it is, but it's the straight up truth. There's a reason that other boutique makers don't use these pickups and it's because, all subjective ideas of tone aside, they just don't sound good. Now to be fair, they don't sound bad either... the basses are an 11/10, while I'd give the pickups a 7/10. And if you're spending 2 grand on bass, the whole damn thing ought to be 10/10.

Don't kill me, that's just my opinion. I play my Birdsong's every day and I love 'em... they're the best basses I've ever had and I'm very lucky to own two of them.
 
#204
I'll be honest, the bridge humbucker by itself isn't my favorite, but if I was doing that, I'd have gotten the hotter Lace pickup, rather than the milder one (actually, I have a "punchbucker" from early '07). The fretless through the Lace sensor is perhaps my favorite bass tone ever. The same lace humbucker that y'all have at the bridge, I have at the neck of my fusion prototype and it's spectacular.
 
#205
Here's how I was playing the Skyrider...both pickups full on then I would roll back the neck pickup until there was a slight volume increase. I guess this is where the bridge pickup became more dominant. The varitone was on bypass. That's pretty much the only setting that gave me the sound that I liked. When I had the Cortobass I had both pickups full on and the varitone on bypass and if I remember I only liked position 3 on the varitone. Again, maybe its partly the varitone I dislike. Wouldn't mind trying a Cortobass with just a tone knob. But as Animal pointed out dropping another 2k on another bass with the same Lace pickups hoping the same pickups sound better with a tone knob vs the varitone is something I'm not ready to try. Another problem is there aren't many pickups you can just swap out with the Lace. The only one I've found is the EMG Select which I believe Scott used on a few basses before using Lace. Well just like Scott use to say he wouldn't build a P-bass type Birdsong and now there's the Cbass (which I ordered) maybe he will one day try some other pickups in the Cortobass.
 
#207
banditcosmo said:
check this out ! I just got this pic from Jimmy Wilson at Landing Guitars and someone sent him a Cortobass for Jimmy to install EMG's in it. The pickguard is by Jeannie's pickguards.
2 EMG 35 TW pickups (switchable single/dual mode on push pull pots)
EMG BQC control EQ

Bet you that bass sounds awesome. I like the vari-tone but sometimes wish for more standard pickup controls. I also would love to have a humbucker in the neck position.

Wonder how it would sound with Dark Stars ?

attachment.jpg
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vroc38 said:
I would love to hear a Birdsong with G&L MFD pickups and preamp. Don't suppose we'll see that anytime soon!
Click to expand...

Vroc38.
You can do it if you really want. Right now it has 35cs pickups, so it has a J vibe.
 
#210
banditcosmo said:
How does your two fretless basses compare to each other ?
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Thank you for the compliment.

The Mesquito fretless was my first Birdsong and has the single hot Lace pup with conventional tone pot while the mahogany fretless is set up with the traditional Cortobass dual pups and varitone. Both have Chrome flats. Mesquite is a very hard and dense wood; heavier than the mahogany. I would call the voicing on the Mesquito more rock sounding, with a harder edge; while the Cortobass is more acoustic or country voiced with a rounder sound.

Does that make sense?
 
#212
Auctopus said:
Another problem is there aren't many pickups you can just swap out with the Lace. The only one I've found is the EMG Select which I believe Scott used on a few basses before using Lace.
Click to expand...

I've been looking... and you're right, there aren't many.

Here's what I've found:

SGD
Bartolini
Lace alumitone

Lucky for us, these are all really good choices.

I'm also thinking about contacting Joe Barden. His pickups use rails, so string spacing isn't an issue. He makes an HB-size guitar pickup that I'm hoping he could wind for bass as a custom order.
 
#214
bird22 said:
Here is my new fusion for your viewing pleasure. As amazing as it looks it is even more amazing to play. Never knew bass playing could be so great!!!!!
:hyper:

Coleman
Click to expand...

that's a beautiful bass, congratulations! is it already in your hands?

How about soundclips? wouldn't it be cool to have here a library of how different birdsongs sound? I'd start if I had one...
 
#215
Joe Barden is local...about 4 miles from my house. I called and talked to Frank not Joe about if the HB could be used as a bass p/u and he said it wasn't designed for bass but if I tried it to let them know how it sounded. I didn't think of asking them to design a bass p/u in the HB housing. I didn't know the Lace alumitron was the same size. I think the bridge p/u Scott's using is Lace's Drop and Gain and isn't the neck a regular guitar p/u?
 
#216
bird22 said:
Here is my new fusion for your viewing pleasure. As amazing as it looks it is even more amazing to play. Never knew bass playing could be so great!!!!!
:hyper:

Coleman
Click to expand...
Wow, I've seen a lot of nice looking Birdsongs. Some of them looked amazing. Yours falls within this category ! Congratulations (drop me a PM if you ever want to sell it!)
 
#217
What up Birdsong people, I ordered 11S-51.
No pics as of yet but I will post here once the build is underway
and I'm sure more glamor shots once I've got it in my loving hands : )

::Plans include::
mahogany center, walnut wings
bloodwood fingerboard on maple neck
bloodwood and maple body stringers
front routed w/ macassar ebony control plate
matching macassar ebony headstock veneer
possibly custom knobs? your input appreciated

Scott hasn't gotten to my build yet, but that's all well and good...
I still owe a good chunk of dough towards it!
I'm sooo stoked, I know it's gonna look amazing and sound f'in sick!
 

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