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G&L Club Part 7

#3,942
Cuzzie said:
Thanks for that.

I read from another guy elsewhere who did something pretty much the same who said that isolated the pups worked as they should, however when both on he get there was some phase cancellation and it was not as full a sound as it should be.

Did you find that?
Click to expand...

Initially there was some odd phase cancellation (and noise) with the traditional P pickup
because the original modder had wired it backwards (out of phase).

I corrected this when I swapped in the SB-2 style MFD.
Now there is no phase cancellation (kinda wonder if a phase switch might be a fun feature for other builds)
and no noise.
I also shielded the cavities with copper tape and tidied up the wiring.

I love this bass BTW.
It's a tough one to beat.
 
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#3,943
My main bass is a mutt (aka "custom") with an MFD split coil in the P position and a MFD soapbar closer to the bridge -- more like the L2K position than the L1500 position. The soapbar can run series, single (bridge side) or split, and I added an L2K-style bass roll off for it only. I've wired them volume-volume. Tons of usable tones. As with any two-pickup situation, you do get phase cancellation, but it can be useful depending on what you're going after. I had them wired with a volume and pan, but because the sound of the MFDs changes as you change volume, I am much happier with each pickup on its own volume.

That said, in both my bands right now I'm running just the split coil almost all the time and only using the soapbar as an occasional special effect, often in the style of Jeff Caxide--lots of low cut with delay and chorus added and played with a pick.
 
#3,944
Awesome - this is all stuff i am potentially thinking of doing.

Have you ever done, or seen a mod where the split coil is in the 'P' position like an SB1/2 and then an MFD is added near the neck instead of the bridge, sort of like Billy Sheehan Yamaha Attitude 3 bass.

Do you think it would warm the sound, maybe make for a very full sound?

I know it depends on ears but i tend to mainly have them in series on my ASAT.

Thanks
 
#3,945
towards the neck = more fundamental

towards the bridge = brighter / more harmonics.

I can see why designers would spread pickups out to balance these characteristics.

When pickups are bunched up in the middle 'sweet spots' like they are on mine it's more a matter of varying the flavors of meat.

...and with the active/passive you can start out with a basic tone and flip into a boost/cut EQ for different sections of a song.
 
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#3,948
Cuzzie said:
Awesome - this is all stuff i am potentially thinking of doing.

Have you ever done, or seen a mod where the split coil is in the 'P' position like an SB1/2 and then an MFD is added near the neck instead of the bridge, sort of like Billy Sheehan Yamaha Attitude 3 bass.

Do you think it would warm the sound, maybe make for a very full sound?

I know it depends on ears but i tend to mainly have them in series on my ASAT.

Thanks
Click to expand...


I've modded (or had modded) two Trib SB2s. One had a DiMarzio Billy Sheehan humbucker up by the neck, in the other I hacked in a second MFD split-coil up near the neck. I did them because I absolutely loved the Yamaha BB714BS bass I tried but it didn't agree with me ergonomically like a skinny necked G&L does.

blacktribsb2-angle2.jpg
redtribsb2-angle2.jpg

IIRC the red one was vol/vol/vol/tone with the switch being adding a cap into the signal like a circuit I found for the Yamaha BS bass. IIRC the black one was master vol/jpickup vol and tone with the switch selecting the split-coil pickups in a one/other/both type of arrangement. Both were sold due to GAS for other things at some point, both here on TB I think.

I had the red one for years and it was wonderful. It really did give me the tonal qualities of the Yamaha BS bass (the low end one is the only one I tried) with the comfort of a skinny necked G&L. I think I offed it in a fit of simplification, maybe after I arrived at my pair of L1Ks, and is one of the few basses I really miss. It was super-flexible with plenty of tones that I really dug.

The black one I hacked together myself and while the neck split-coil did add some massive lows I didn't keep it around long. I didn't really connect with it as well as the red one and while I'd recreate the red one in a heartbeat I don't really miss the black one, other than it was 100% home-done (and showed it, not the slickest job) and pretty cool. If I had infinite space and money I'd love to have both of them around, but in reality I found the humbucker in the neck position the most successful.

Thinking about an MFD in the neck position in place of the DiMarzio my biggest concern would be overwhelming bass. Lately I've been happy with L1Ks and using string selection, the controls, and plucking position to get all the tones I want/need. For me when I put it OMG mode I have to cut the bass 50% or more (and an L2K in series is similar for me). Putting an MFD up there next to the neck you'd be getting even more bass and, for me, series would be unusable without a way to tame the bass. And I don't think parallel or single coil would give the character I'd be after from a neck pickup like that. YMMV

I'd really love to see the result and hear the report if you someone else does it, though :)
 
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#3,949
Really cool basses - nice job.

I get what you mean about MFD's and you're right about the DiMarzio, its something in the back of my mind.

I have been Gassing for a wunkay and in particular if one of the few made 5 bangers comes out i may have to pounce!

I am really interested in seeing how i i can tweak a G&L, although Leo probably got it just right!
 
#3,956
TDR1138 said:
Someone around here (I think @Doner Designs ) did a 3-pickup M-2500 once, with the third pickup up by the neck...
Click to expand...

Yep, that was me. Awesome bass. I sold it and a few others only because I wanted to scratch my itch to build. Quality was amazing on that one for an import. I guess the other reason I sold it is that I prefer BEAD four strings and got rid of everything else so that my fingers and brain can focus on learning the BEAD fretboard without any other setups to confuse me.
 
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