Hammersmith K4 - TalkBass Special Model

[NKBassman]

Hey Marko, with the 12" fingerboard radius, have you noticed any issues with string-to-string balance with the alumatone pickups?
I was getting a really uneven response with Lace Man'O'War pickups in my Geddy Lee jazz, but that's a 9.5" radius. I assume it's much easier to dial in a better balance at 12".

 

[Antisyzygy]

Hey Marko, with the 12" fingerboard radius, have you noticed any issues with string-to-string balance with the alumatone pickups?
I was getting a really uneven response with Lace Man'O'War pickups in my Geddy Lee jazz, but that's a 9.5" radius. I assume it's much easier to dial in a better balance at 12".

Have you tried bending the pickup?

I'm totally joking.

I think from a physics standpoint it would be better balanced the flatter the radius is, assuming the pickup doesn't compensate itself like some do via curvature or magnet placement.

You could try on your bass now if you have it. Set the radius of the strings flat just to test it. High enough so it doesn't fret out, and it obviously will make the bass unplayable with the action, but it's only a bench test before you change the setup back.

 

[NKBassman]

Have you tried bending the pickup?

I'm totally joking.

I think from a physics standpoint it would be better balanced the flatter the radius is, assuming the pickup doesn't compensate itself like some do via curvature or magnet placement.

You could try on your bass now if you have it. Set the radius of the strings flat just to test it. High enough so it doesn't fret out, and it obviously will make the bass unplayable with the action, but it's only a bench test before you change the setup back.

I changed the Lace pickups out for the new Nordstrand Jazz Blades, which have a radius to the blade, and the string-to-string balance is much improved.

With P pickups it's not a problem because you can adjust the angle of each half of the pickup to get all the strings sounding even. But once I noticed the imbalance on my jazz bass, I couldn't unhear it no matter how much compression I added. My OCD demanded I change the pickups.

 

[MarkoYYZ]

So far no issues with the string to string volume balance. These pickups are nothing like Manowars in their construction, and yes, the 12" radius would certainly make a difference in terms of the A and D strings not being drastically higher than the E and G strings.

The way these pickups work is by outting the flat bar magnet right at the top of the pickup, which are super low impedance and dead quiet. Then there is a small booster circuit underneath the pickup that brings them up to a 5K total resistance, which sounds low but the nature of the way they work makes them sort of on the hot side. The end result is a pretty open, even tone.

Our next vids will be with the 2 pickup design, and then we'll experiment a litle with the coil switching options, just so we know all the ins and outs and possible "good tones" to mod or customize with later.

 

[Antisyzygy]

So far no issues with the string to string volume balance. These pickups are nothing like Manowars in their construction, and yes, the 12" radius would certainly make a difference in terms of the A and D strings not being drastically higher than the E and G strings.

The way these pickups work is by outting the flat bar magnet right at the top of the pickup, which are super low impedance and dead quiet. Then there is a small booster circuit underneath the pickup that brings them up to a 5K total resistance, which sounds low but the nature of the way they work makes them sort of on the hot side. The end result is a pretty open, even tone.

Our next vids will be with the 2 pickup design, and then we'll experiment a litle with the coil switching options, just so we know all the ins and outs and possible "good tones" to mod or customize with later.

They call it "current based" rather than "voltage based" like older designs right?

I don't really get the reason they say that as I'm not sure how the alumitones work exactly. All amps only see voltage at the jack.

G&L MFD pickups have low impedance but compensate with powerful magnets. The tonal result is similar to what you describe. Wide-open, "hot" (but not middy) tone.

 

[NKBassman]

Marko, are there any official renders of the two pickup models? I wasn't able to find them in this thread.
I was looking to compare pickup placement on all 4 models (33" single and dual pickup, 30" single and dual pickup).

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Marko, are there any official renders of the two pickup models? I wasn't able to find them in this thread.
I was looking to compare pickup placement on all 4 models (33" single and dual pickup, 30" single and dual pickup).

There are several bouncing around, but I will post them here tonight when I'm back on my laptop.
.

 

[NKBassman]

Just found/remembered the other thread.

the other thread

It's really very close to the P position now. The center of the Alumitone - between the 2 magnets - lines up within 1/4" of the center of a P pickup. The couple of clips we've posted, a couple of people have commented it sounds like a nice P bass. You can get a different range of tones out of this pickup if you want, but if something more Guild like is desired, then a single Big Split pushed close to the edge of the pickguard is how to get there.
.

So, I did a bit of scaling in AutoCAD here at the end of the day, and on the topic of pickup positioning, this is how it looks to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, and fill in the blanks if you could.

33" Single Pickup - Roughly P position
33" Dual Pickups - ???
30" Single Pickup - Essentially in the middle between where two jazz pickups would go. Little closer to the bridge than the P position.
30" Dual Pickups - Roughly Jazz positions

I guess my question is whether the 33" Dual Pickup version will have both pickups within the pickguard as on the short scale (essentially Ric positions), or jazz config, etc.

Or are you flexible on pickup placement?

 

[ScarfFace]

It's getting closer to "K" day!

 

[NKBassman]

To those who got in on the TB special (I did not), what did y'all order?

 

[wintremute]

Well, I'm paid in for a K, but since I want a Rickenbackerish Red (and some other changes), I'll be waiting a bit.

 

[NOLA Bass]

I've got one coming. Did the ETA get posted? If so, I missed it.

 

[MarkoYYZ]

I've got one coming. Did the ETA get posted? If so, I missed it.

We're still penciled in for arrival of the necks and bodies in late May, with builds going out in the order we got them (or as close as we can keep to this). We're doing special gig bags for these due to their more compact size, and special bridges also, but so far I have no reason to move the dates. *knock wood*fingers crossed*
.

 

[ScarfFace]

To those who got in on the TB special (I did not), what did y'all order?

Single pickup, longer scale, rootbeer metallic, serial number 001

 

[MarkoYYZ]

Single pickup, longer scale, rootbeer metallic, serial number 001

I saw the K bass "wait thread" on the main board a few weeks ago. Would it make sense to compile a list to post there?

At present there is 12 TB specials sold through this thread - which is awesome. I really want to thank everyone for their support and trust, considering these are still more concept/proto than production. We got pretty close with the protos, so we expect to hit the target with the production batch. That's not to say we won't have revisions down the road, which will be even cooler in terms of having "first gen" versions of these basses out there to maybe hold some value and create some unique history and collectability

There was another 29 sold through Facebook, so we're at 43 units pre-sold. It could have been more if we pushed harder, but without photos of the finished basses, correct bridge, all colors, etc... I was just fielding way too many questions and losing hours every day and we really only took the orders that were easiest. Lots of special requests we had to decline, or tell people we could get to later on once we had the first batch on hand and orders under control. I'm more than OK with 43 sold, and we have stock for 120+ on the way, so we'll be able to give it a good push this summer (hopefully with website done to support it).
.

 

[Fat Freddy]

I saw the K bass "wait thread" on the main board a few weeks ago. Would it make sense to compile a list to post there?

Makes sense to me at least

 

[Jebberz]

I wish I could order one... laptop died, so priorities changed a little bit.

Need more gigs now.

 

[primussucks9126]

To those who got in on the TB special (I did not), what did y'all order?

I ordered a longer scale 2 pickup model, most likely in blue with blacked out hardware. Im waiting to see what the blue looks like before i decide. I think i have serial number 2

 

[NOLA Bass]

We're still penciled in for arrival of the necks and bodies in late May, with builds going out in the order we got them (or as close as we can keep to this). We're doing special gig bags for these due to their more compact size, and special bridges also, but so far I have no reason to move the dates. *knock wood*fingers crossed*
.

Awesome, thanks Marko!

 

[Meyatch]

To those who got in on the TB special (I did not), what did y'all order?

Short scale, 2 pickup, surf green. @MarkoYYZ mentioned maybe doing extra pickguards for talkbass preorders? Is that still something you are considering? I doubt you want to do another poll, but I think a gold pickguard would look amazing on surf green.