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Darkstar P Bass Question

MediaJones

MediaJones

Aug 21, 2010
71
0
Denver Colorado
#1
So I recently acquired a Dark Star-ed P Bass here on the Classifieds. It sounds amazing, but seems to lack a little punch (in comparison to my Highway 1 P). What ever it lacks in punch it makes up for with many beautiful qualities, but I was wondering if the lack of punch is due to the not-so-quality bass that houses the DS pickup. It is currently in an SX bass body, and has a "Fatsound" neck. Does anyone know if dropping the DS into another guitar (Most likely a Fender P) would bring some more punch to its sound? Or maybe this is characteristic of the DS sound?

I would hate to go ahead and chop up a bass to find out it doesn't sound any different.

The link to the classified thread where I bought the bass is here...
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/darkstar-p-bass-798334/
 
#2
One thing that Fred always said about his pickups is that they really bring forth the natural tones from the bass. He said a few times that putting his pickup in a cheap bass will not make the cheap bass sound any better and he steered people towards putting the pickup in a bass that was higher quality from the beginning. So the answer is...most likely, yes, getting it out of a cheap SX will be a good idea and you should get closer to what you want putting it into a higher quality Precision.
 
#4
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#5
You could try a 51 P bass or the Sting Signature, those would be closest in sound to a Dark Star. You might want to just order a new body, which can be done for 200-300$ (finished) or 150$ (unfinished). Get it from Warmouth and they can route for the DS pickup there. You can also get it made of any wood you want. Mahogany, Walnut, Ash, Alder, Basswood etc.

It would be less $ then a new, good P-bass, it would have the routing already done, and Warmouth parts and wood are very high quality, as is their workmanship.
 

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