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You posted this last Saturday, 8/20. I'm guessing you'll get the bass tomorrow?
Please take some nice pictures of it when you get it... I'm VERY curious about this one with how unique it'll be.
Got a bit more gig experience with this bad boy Saturday. Kind of a ritzy wedding reception at a fancy country club. Actually a fairly small room, but we got to hop onto the PA used by the DJ, which was actually a VERY nice little EV system with satellites and powered subs. I brought three basses including the Ball. I played the Ball on 3/4 sets and one other bass on one set, and the other bass stayed in the case.
This is just a killer bass. Period. I love it. I got the full three band preamp with passive support, but really didn't use it much. Just the usual thing with the mids and bass when favoring or soloing the bridge. The blended and neck tones really need nothing, but sometimes it was nice to smooth out the high end with the treble control or passive tone. Mostly tho, I just played it blended with no EQ.
There's really only one little thing I discovered, and that is, this fingerboard is just dark enough that the abalone side dots can be really hard to see in dim lights. Had I known, I probably would have specified plain black, even though the abalone is much prettier. Just a strange case of my particular shade of wood color... hindsight thing. If it'd been a more usual lighter shade of maple, or dark as ebony, wouldn't have been an issue at all. Oh well.
It doesn't hurt me too much... only on long jumps... I rarely look at my hands when I'm "moving" around between positions. Only on longer jumps. Also note this is a side-effect owning a bunch of different basses and switching at gigs. If I was a one bass kinda' guy, like most REAL players are, muscle memory would make this a non-issue as well. FWIW, anyway.Anyway, I'm only surprised and disappointed in one thing... that I didn't know more about these sooner.
You posted this last Saturday, 8/20. I'm guessing you'll get the bass tomorrow?
Please take some nice pictures of it when you get it... I'm VERY curious about this one with how unique it'll be.
I think my tracker estimates another day or two. It's in GA at the moment.
I'll try to take some pics. If I get it Friday, I'll have time for the DSLR. If it arrives the weekend, I won't even get to touch it until sometime next week since I only ship to a UPS dealer since my job hours are pretty crappy.
- Apr 3, 2003
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
There's really only one little thing I discovered, and that is, this fingerboard is just dark enough that the abalone side dots can be really hard to see in dim lights. Had I known, I probably would have specified plain black, even though the abalone is much prettier. Just a strange case of my particular shade of wood color... hindsight thing. If it'd been a more usual lighter shade of maple, or dark as ebony, wouldn't have been an issue at all. Oh well.
Here's your answer, Vic.
I thought about those, or maybe even getting an estimate on plain black, but with the set neck, I'm not sure how difficult it would be for me to have Cliff redo the inlays. I'm gonna' play the bass some more just to see how much it really matters. It only bit me a couple times Friday.
Singles, baby!
So yeah, they're noisy when favored or solo'd in a lot of venues, but when the band is playing, you can't tell, and most of the time I'm blended anyway, which is hum canceling.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,953
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Cool. BTW, listened to your music on my[_]. Really nice stuff... I especially like the radiocraft stuff.
Not sure I'd dig that.
As a "test" I got some small black stick-on dots, that I'm imagining would be about the same size as those, and every time I grabbed the bass by the neck to get it out of or put it in the stand or gig bag, I felt like I was gonna' pop'em off. I also have some small vinyl dot stickers I'm gonna' try next, but ultimately, if I decide to make a change, I'm going to see if Cliff can do something more integrated. I just love a neck that feels smooth, even tho it generally doesn't matter when I'm playing (since I rarely "grab" the neck).
Singles, baby!
So yeah, they're noisy when favored or solo'd in a lot of venues, but when the band is playing, you can't tell, and most of the time I'm blended anyway, which is hum canceling.
Thanks. How would you say the Aeros you have in this Bordwell might compare to Nordstrand nj5 pickups? I hear good things about both brands, and I'm curious as to your choice of pickups, since you obviously have great taste in basses!
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,953
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Hmmm, I don't currently have a bass with those installed right now, so I can't A/B to confirm my thoughts... the only ones I have right now are the 70's wind "L" versions in my VJ5C, which probably sound different than the regular NJ5's.Thanks. How would you say the Aeros you have in this Bordwell might compare to Nordstrand nj5 pickups? I hear good things about both brands, and I'm curious as to your choice of pickups, since you obviously have great taste in basses!
However, going from memory, I think the NJ5's are probably hotter and stronger in the mids. I'd say these Aeros are a bit more like the SD's in my Sadowsky basses (which I totally love, and do slightly prefer over the NJ5's despite my general love for Carey's pickups). So if you want something hotter and more aggressive, I think the NJ5's would be a better choice, but I personally like the "balance" of these pickups from low to high a bit better in general. A lot of this may have to do with the woods I selected too, which are fairly aggressive.
Yeah, I know, "there's no money up there", but man, with the excellent access his body design has, I can't help it!Well then just suck it up and play in the right position without having to cheat.
Speaking of pickups, has anyone had any experience with SGD pickups in their Bordwells? The owner/designer of these pickups regularly participates here on TB, and is turning out some very intriguing designs. I am particularly interested in his Neodymium Jazz Humbuckers: Link Removed.
When I am able to order my first Bordwell, I am considering trying these. Originally I was going with two Nordstrand nj4svs, but these might be a nice option. Of course, I would want to talk with Cliff about this first.
When I am able to order my first Bordwell, I am considering trying these. Originally I was going with two Nordstrand nj4svs, but these might be a nice option. Of course, I would want to talk with Cliff about this first.
Quite frankly, no personal experience. I simply chose them because that's what was in KwTut's bass and I just loved how it sat in the mix. Further, I've had NO previous experience with Aeros at all except maybe a little time spent on Lakland basses. I just know them to have a good reputation, so I went with them. The good news is, I think Cliff uses the size J pickups that everybody also makes, so it should be possible to swap pickups around if one so desired... like for example if I wanted to try a set of NJ5S for hum canceling. But I dig the single coil sound so much I'm just kinda' into that right now.
So right now, I have some different basses with J style pickups in them... Roscoe Century with Bartolini CB singles (ash/pau), Sadowsky with their SD based singles (ash/maple), Nordy VJ5C with 70's wind NJ5L's (ash/maple), Carvin SB5000 with their new J99A's (ash/ebony), VF5 with George's singles (alder/rosewood), an AC LG5 with Jimmy's 60's wind long singles (alder/rosewood), and now the Ball 5 with Aeros (ash/maple).
It wouldn't really make sense to try and compare/contrast them all due to so many other changes in the instruments themselves, but clearly I'm into that sound, and all the above sound great to me as far as pickup types go.
Don't write off Bart, SD, or DiMarzio. Lots of great J pickups there.
Ok, so here's the good/bad news... there's about a BAZILLION J type pickups out there... so way cool, you have a huge selection to choose from, but... oh crap, you have a huge selection to choose from.
A long time ago, BP mag did a J pickup shootout... I don't know if it's still out there online anywhere, but I think if you can find it, or a copy of it, much of its data is still useful, and there were LOTS of pickups they went through on it, and got into some pretty good detail on each set, even had results collected in tabular form for quicker reference.
But if you don't want to do that kind of research, I'd suggest getting opinions from Cliff, or maybe another luthier who uses J style pickups but maybe doesn't necessarily make/sell them.
While I'm at it, Aguilar has some really great J style pickups out there now too... heard a set in a Spector Coda and they were really great! Oops, sorry, just made it worse.
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