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Birdsong Club Pt 2

#1,641
beatlebass64 said:
I'm going with a walnut fusion for my fretless build. I think the walnut body and rosewood fretboard will work very well both in terms of looks and sound. It will actually be blackwashed walnut which will look even cooler!

The corto2 was the first Birdsong I owned, but the sound never clicked with me. A little more in the modern tone direction, which wasn't what I was looking for at the time. I have a CBass now and it is perfect for me, though I am also adding a 5 string with the Corto 2 soapbars so it is kind of the best of both worlds.
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Cool! Tone is such an individual thing that I hesitate to say much. And then there is the influence of strings, amps, cabs, etc. I currently have Mangan rounds on both and I've used Chromes and GHS flats on both as well. Each string produces a distinctly different sound (love the GHS on the Fusion!). Running my Corto 2 through an Aggie TH500, SL 410x, and a Keeley bassist, I can get exactly what I'm after for our pop-rock bands. But what I like might not be right for anyone else!

If you look at the history of what Scott offers, there has been a bit of progression in popularity. The C2 was a very well received move. The Delano has never gotten a huge response in either offering. But the C bass and PB both seem to be off to good starts.
 
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#1,642
daveinop said:
Cool! Tone is such an individual thing that I hesitate to say much. And then there is the influence of strings, amps, cabs, etc. I currently have Mangan rounds on both and I've used Chromes and GHS flats on both as well. Each string produces a distinctly different sound (love the GHS on the Fusion!). Running my Corto 2 through an Aggie TH500, SL 410x, and a Keeley bassist, I can get exactly what I'm after for our pop-rock bands. But what I like might not be right for anyone else!

If you look at the history of what Scott offers, there has been a bit of progression in popularity. The C2 was a very well received move. The Delano has never gotten a huge response in either offering. But the C bass and PB both seem to be off to good starts.
Click to expand...
I agree tone is very subjective, and I actually think a Corto2 might work well for me right now as I am playing in a Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead tribute band. I think the tone of the soapbars will fit very well in that group. I'm adding the 5 string with the Corto soapbars and that will be a great alternative to the CBass, which is my personal favorite of the Birdsong models. Not only will the 5 have the extra string and all the possibilities that opens up, but the soapbars should give me quite a different sound when compared to the reverse P pickup.
 
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#1,643
beatlebass64 said:
I agree tone is very subjective, and I actually think a Corto2 might work well for me right now as I am playing in a Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead tribute band. I think the tone of the soapbars will fit very well in that group. I'm adding the 5 string with the Corto soapbars and that will be a great alternative to the CBass, which is my personal favorite of the Birdsong models. Not only will the 5 have the extra string and all the possibilities that opens up, but the soapbars should give me quite a different sound when compared to the reverse P pickup.
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we're obviously headed down tonally similar paths (Cbass-Fusion-Corto2). good luck with the C2 this go round!
 
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#1,644
Here she is complete, HY5 #085......which consists of the neck from the very first prototype and a new "Sky5" body.
After begging Scott to build me an old school one with the narrow spacing and all 5 strings though, this is what we came up with.
The templates for that stuff were long gone, but he did have this NOS neck kicking around, so this is the end result.
It has an Aguilar OPB-3, and is wired vol/vol/passive tone with separate bass/mid/treble controls. The tone pot is push/pull for active/passive, so I can have the best of both worlds.
I need some new knobs, these big chrome jobs are ridiculous! Anyone have any suggestions?



2018-04-03 15.08.22.jpg
 
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#1,646
JayDA said:
Here she is complete, HY5 #085......which consists of the neck from the very first prototype and a new "Sky5" body.
After begging Scott to build me an old school one with the narrow spacing and all 5 strings though, this is what we came up with.
The templates for that stuff were long gone, but he did have this NOS neck kicking around, so this is the end result.
It has an Aguilar OPB-3, and is wired vol/vol/passive tone with separate bass/mid/treble controls. The tone pot is push/pull for active/passive, so I can have the best of both worlds.
I need some new knobs, these big chrome jobs are ridiculous! Anyone have any suggestions?



View attachment 2971884
Click to expand...

That looks awesome. How is it? Not too many short scale 5s on the market.
 
#1,648
Shortbass owners - I'm 99% sure that mine has the tone control wired on the jack side of the volume control instead of the normal "P" bass wiring that has it on the pickup side. Anybody else notice that their tone gets muffled when the volume is turned down? I'll try to get around to opening it up and "fixing" this in the next couple days. It normally doesn't bother me as I usually run with the volume on full.

I'm also still struggling a bit with the "V" profile neck - bass is awesome otherwise :cool:.
 
#1,649
RoadRanger said:
Shortbass owners - I'm 99% sure that mine has the tone control wired on the jack side of the volume control instead of the normal "P" bass wiring that has it on the pickup side.
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Still haven't opened it up but at rehearsal last night in an electrically noisy room I also became convinced that the volume is wired "backwards" like they are on a J bass - pickup to center tap, jack to end tap :wideyed:. I guess Scott isn't hanging out here anymore - I'd sure like to know if this was intentional or ?
 
#1,650
RoadRanger said:
Still haven't opened it up but at rehearsal last night in an electrically noisy room I also became convinced that the volume is wired "backwards" like they are on a J bass - pickup to center tap, jack to end tap :wideyed:. I guess Scott isn't hanging out here anymore - I'd sure like to know if this was intentional or ?
Click to expand...

I just sent him a message asking that question...He says:

Pickup is wired to center tap, jack to outer tap. I don't know why anyone considers this "backwards", I'd rather not have it referred to that way for obvious reasons. This is how Birdsongs have been wired since 2004 with no complaints of noise and no problems myself under neon or in close proximity to monitors in studio environments. If you're having problems with a bass, please contact me, I'm easy to find.
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#1,651
JayDA said:
I just sent him a message asking that question...He says:
Pickup is wired to center tap, jack to outer tap. I don't know why anyone considers this "backwards", I'd rather not have it referred to that way for obvious reasons. This is how Birdsongs have been wired since 2004 with no complaints of noise and no problems myself under neon or in close proximity to monitors in studio environments. If you're having problems with a bass, please contact me, I'm easy to find.
Click to expand...
One "problem" with that is that in an electrically noisy environment the output impedance with the volume off is the pot's resistance vs zero with the standard "P" wiring - so the noise pickup is high when off. That's how I knew it was wired that way - passive J's and PJ's always have this issue (unless using my "poor man's master" wiring ;) ). I'm going to treat this bass as an early pre-split-pickup single-coil "P" so am definitely re-wiring it to match. Anyways his answer does say it was intentionally wired this way and not a mistake. In any case no difference electrically as long as you always run your volume full on. The pickup itself is amazingly immune to noise pickup for a single coil - I really love it. I've not gigged any of my other basses since getting this one :) .
 
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#1,653
daveinop said:
(1) Yes. Not sure I'd call it "muffled"...I love that the Volume controls give me different tonal options. I rarely run either of my Birdsongs full on.
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I agree, especially my single pickup models like the C-Bass or PB...it's like having two completely separate tones at your fingertips.

Most of the new news don't have that V Profile anymore, my last 3 or 4 have been nice and round down by the nut.
I have an older Corto and HY5 that have the V...doesn't really bother me either way.
 
#1,654
Yesterday I got around to rewiring my Shortbass from its stock "J" style wiring to "P" style wiring - basically swapping the pickup and jack hot wires on the volume control. There was also a .001 uf cap across the pickup that I moved with it - dunno if that cap is for RF suppression or pickup resonance shaping (or both)? I brought it to a rehearsal last night and it is MUCH more to my liking now - reducing the volume no longer changes the tone regardless of the tone control setting and the volume is much more controllable. YMMV but if you want to nail a pre-split-pickup "P" this will do it :) .
 
#1,655
Hi guys,
I put down a deposit on my first Birdsong last week, a C-Bass. #C386, if you are counting. I have a P-Bass and a Japanese Mustang at the moment and am hoping the C-Bass will give me the best of both worlds. I've definitely concluded after many years that I'm a one pickup in the middle position sort of guy, haha.

Ordered it pretty much stock for now (Poplar body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard). Scott was really enjoyable to talk to! Reading through here has certainly given me lots to think about though. Many strong opionions, indeed. I'm open to other body woods, though I would prefer something reasonably sustainable.

I'll post pics down the road when I have some!

Marc
 
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#1,656
Thistledown said:
Hi guys,
I put down a deposit on my first Birdsong last week, a C-Bass. #C386, if you are counting. I have a P-Bass and a Japanese Mustang at the moment and am hoping the C-Bass will give me the best of both worlds. I've definitely concluded after many years that I'm a one pickup in the middle position sort of guy, haha.

Ordered it pretty much stock for now (Poplar body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard). Scott was really enjoyable to talk to! Reading through here has certainly given me lots to think about though. Many strong opionions, indeed. I'm open to other body woods, though I would prefer something reasonably sustainable.

I'll post pics down the road when I have some!

Marc
Click to expand...

You're going to LOVE the CBass. Scott is always such a joy to talk to, you're in good hands.

My CBass is made of cypress wood (shown in my profile picture), which was recovered from a major flood right down in Scott's neck of the woods.

I too am a one pickup in the middle type of player and this model nails that tone.
 
#1,658
RoadRanger said:
How does the CBass compare to the ShortBass sound-wise?
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I have a Cbass with both a split coil mid-position pickup and a single coil at the neck, which I use in an Americana band. The single coil might be the same as the shortbass. The split coil is pbass thump, I'll guess a little bassier and maybe less articulate than many conventional p basses. Very functional sound for lots of 1/5 country that I play, and also a lot of authority for more rock-type stuff. The single coil neck pickup is much more transparent and articulate than the split coil. Spectacular uppermid bite when dialed in correctly. I use it on country walking lines where I want the identity of the notes to be readily apparent. It can also be easily deadened for pbass work, but that's not where it shines.
 
#1,659
beatlebass64, the your Cyprus C Bass looks great!

beatlebass64 said:
You're going to LOVE the CBass. Scott is always such a joy to talk to, you're in good hands.

My CBass is made of cypress wood (shown in my profile picture), which was recovered from a major flood right down in Scott's neck of the woods.

I too am a one pickup in the middle type of player and this model nails that tone.
Click to expand...
 
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