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I think your comment regarding the Fusion is very interesting. I had bought mine used. It is left handed, and playing right hand stringing, I had to convert it. Scott sent me a new nut for that. The original Fusion pickup is very specific as to string placement, and this one was pretty weak in my opinion to start with. I had to rotate it to get any low-E string response at all. I still was not happy with it. I was thinking of sending it to Scott to work over, but decided that 2-way shipping plus whatever parts he might replace would cost more than the TV Jones Thunderblade pickup I had been looking at. So.....I put that in my Fusion, now it is as strong as is it can be, and still has that Fusion woody tone!
Why would someone do that with a custom bass? Why not just order one the way you want it?
I get that, but it doesn't seem the savings is worth it vs waiting for a right handed used one or ordering new. The shape is not symmetrical. Where did he locate the strap? If played sitting down it would feel awkward. You aren't getting anywhere near the experience of playing a right handed Birdsong so why bother?
He's left handed but plays with the e string strung on the bottom. All the best people play that way.
I had thought long and hard about selling the Fusion off un-modified, but it became obvious to me that the reason it was let go in the first place was probably because that pickup was weak. I was not able to determine this in the shop at the time I bought it, and I had driven 2 1/2 hrs. each way. By the time I figured things out, I did not want to slough off a high priced sub-par bass on someone else. HOWEVER, IF I had bought that new from Scott, it would have gone right back to him. As it was , I really liked the body when compared to my Corto Bass.
Joe Ty, there are number of guitar players (Otis Rush, Doyle Bramhall III, and Eric Gales come to mind,and NOT Jimi Hendrix as he restrung all his righty Strats to proper left-hand stringing), as well as approximately 30% +/- of left hand bass players (as discussed on the lefty-bassist forum) play right handed stringing in a left handed manner. I was thrilled to see the left handed bass player for Keb Mo' at a local concert last year playing a left handed Bongo strung right handed. I lost the program and for anything cannot remember his name, though.
[I figured out later that this bass player whom I saw touring w/ Keb Mo is Stan Sargent]
Joe Ty, there are number of guitar players (Otis Rush, Doyle Bramhall III, and Eric Gales come to mind,and NOT Jimi Hendrix as he restrung all his righty Strats to proper left-hand stringing), as well as approximately 30% +/- of left hand bass players (as discussed on the lefty-bassist forum) play right handed stringing in a left handed manner. I was thrilled to see the left handed bass player for Keb Mo' at a local concert last year playing a left handed Bongo strung right handed. I lost the program and for anything cannot remember his name, though.
[I figured out later that this bass player whom I saw touring w/ Keb Mo is Stan Sargent]
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I think the Fusion is great for it's intended use. I think, though I could be wrong, that the idea was a fusion between electric and upright. The pickup works well for that but lacks the punch I want in my new build, so I'm going to use the model one and go all Jack Bruce Cream on this one.
I had put a DiMarzio Number one in an EB0 in my pre-birdsong days. It was indeed thumpy, but much better defined than the originial Mud-bucker. I got a lot of compliments on the sound. I expect it will sound and play amazing in a Birdsong!
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Hey guy's.. just wondering if anyone has heard a Sadhana\Corto with the Model one in the middle\bridge position ? I still have time to change my build from the standard humbucker in a Sadhana to the Model one.. Is the model one more aggressive than the standard humbucker(Kent Armstrong?) and will the output match the single coil or will it dominate ?
I believe what you're referring to as the standard humbucker is a Lace pickup. The Kent Armstrongs are in the corto 2.
I think what you mean is the standard LACE humbucker Scott uses in the bridge position. I think the Hum/Single Lace thing works great! I see no reason to mess with it, and I think it would look a bit weird aesthetically as well. The Model one is fairly new as a standard offering, it's been used here and there on Birdsong customs over the years, and in an SD Curlee or two. The only one I can think of in the bridge position is this one, owned by @BenWigler of the band Edensong.
Talked to Scott for 2 hours last night finalizing my build.
It started as a stock PB-One, but is now essentially a PB in a Fusion body, with a rear route and matching headstock. The bass will have a slightly aged walnut stain (mahogany wood) and chrome hardware.
Really building this as a tip of the hat to the Gibson EB's, especially the one Scott has that is shown on the website.
2018 serial number, so now the wait begins!
In the meantime I'm selling my Mystic build still. 1 of 1 prototype for a Birdsong "with some air in it".
For Sale - Birdsong Mystic Prototype - Semi-Hollow/Chambered Birdsong 1 of 1 FREE Shipping US 48
It started as a stock PB-One, but is now essentially a PB in a Fusion body, with a rear route and matching headstock. The bass will have a slightly aged walnut stain (mahogany wood) and chrome hardware.
Really building this as a tip of the hat to the Gibson EB's, especially the one Scott has that is shown on the website.
2018 serial number, so now the wait begins!
In the meantime I'm selling my Mystic build still. 1 of 1 prototype for a Birdsong "with some air in it".
For Sale - Birdsong Mystic Prototype - Semi-Hollow/Chambered Birdsong 1 of 1 FREE Shipping US 48
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Update: Looks like we are going with Walnut instead of Mahogany. Scott said the walnut would actually be a little lighter in weight so I am going to use that.
Now the questions becomes, do I add a humbucker in the bridge like the EB-3's or keep it with just a neck pickup like the EB-0/PB-One?
For a short period of time I had a 2012 Gibson SG bass in walnut. It had the mud bucker in the neck and a mini humbucker at the bridge. I did like the sound with both pickups on to add clarity. What I did not like was the way the controls were interactive. (Plus it had some neck dive.) I would suspect that the controls on a Birdsong would be independant of each other.
That was for the Gibson. When I put the single DiMarzio Number One in the Epiphone EBO later, I was quite happy with it.
That was for the Gibson. When I put the single DiMarzio Number One in the Epiphone EBO later, I was quite happy with it.
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I think I've finally set my build. Taking the PB-One concept and going full tip of the hat towards the Gibson EB3.
Sadhana shaped walnut body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Matching headstock and rear routed. Finished with an aged walnut stain.
Model one in the neck and a humbucker in the bridge (the X2NB Scott was talking about on Facebook recently). All hardware will be chrome. Basically a Birdsong EB3!
Sadhana shaped walnut body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Matching headstock and rear routed. Finished with an aged walnut stain.
Model one in the neck and a humbucker in the bridge (the X2NB Scott was talking about on Facebook recently). All hardware will be chrome. Basically a Birdsong EB3!
That's what I was keeping quiet about! I have PB3 number one on order already, with a chrome cover on the X2N-B.....I guess the cat's out of the bag now.
