LilRay
Commercial User
- Dec 27, 2007
- 4,166
- 39
- Disclosures
- Owner: Cockeyed Cow Custom Leathercraft
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
King Koa - Now With Nordy's!
- Thread starter RocketMusic
- Start date
Well, I've come almost full circle... Bart J's are out, Bardens are back in.
I've still got the Bart pre in there, and I'll decide over the next couple weeks if it's the right one for me... I might need to try some others just for curiousity's sake... if one particular set of pickups can make my bass suck so bad, maybe there's another set (or preamp) out there that can make it even more incredible?!? Don't know til you try...
For now, I'm just happy that my bass is sounding as good as it did (and probably better, thanks to the Bart pre) before all this began...
I've still got the Bart pre in there, and I'll decide over the next couple weeks if it's the right one for me... I might need to try some others just for curiousity's sake... if one particular set of pickups can make my bass suck so bad, maybe there's another set (or preamp) out there that can make it even more incredible?!? Don't know til you try...
For now, I'm just happy that my bass is sounding as good as it did (and probably better, thanks to the Bart pre) before all this began...
- Jan 20, 2003
- 382
- 29
- 44
- Disclosures
- Roscoe Guitars-Benavente & LowEnd Basses-SIT Strings-Schroeder Cabs
I told Greg he should start over with a new bass. We also talked about if there was such a thing as too clean of a bass tone, and that the texture of the bart pickups was pushing so clean and transparent that maybe some grit needed to be reinstated. Either way, the bart pre was a step forward. Get a new bass. Seriously...
Yeah Greg- even if you buy a bass from yourself, the $$ will still help the Rocket Music checking account
Buy a new bass
Get a new bass?!?!? Ya'll are crazy. 
Man, it's really close with the Bardens and the Bart pre... I might try a Demeter pre just to scratch that itch... or maybe I need to experiment with different strings, I've never really paid much attention to the tonal effects of different strings. I just want a little softer/thicker/rounder tone, but I don't want to lose the low end push/punch that I have with the Bardens. I honestly don't know what that means I should try electronically, but I'm happy to keep experimenting...
The bass looks so great & feels so great. And it really does sound great, too. My ear is just wanting a smidge more smoothness... OK, maybe I will build a similar one with a Spanish Cedar back down the road.
Man, it's really close with the Bardens and the Bart pre... I might try a Demeter pre just to scratch that itch... or maybe I need to experiment with different strings, I've never really paid much attention to the tonal effects of different strings. I just want a little softer/thicker/rounder tone, but I don't want to lose the low end push/punch that I have with the Bardens. I honestly don't know what that means I should try electronically, but I'm happy to keep experimenting...
The bass looks so great & feels so great. And it really does sound great, too. My ear is just wanting a smidge more smoothness... OK, maybe I will build a similar one with a Spanish Cedar back down the road.
Hey Greg,
I imagine your bass is very aggressive in the midrange being ash. Mine surely has similar tonal qualities as yours due to the wenge wedge & koa top. I can tell you that the spanish cedar envelops the aggressive mids with a thick, warm blanket of smooth lows resulting in an extremely balanced sound that cuts like no other...including my last 3 Roscoes. FWIW my first LG had a Demeter pre and I loved it, very transparent. Maybe you should keep 6193 for yourself whenever it returns.....I couldn't be happier with her sister!
-Adam
I imagine your bass is very aggressive in the midrange being ash. Mine surely has similar tonal qualities as yours due to the wenge wedge & koa top. I can tell you that the spanish cedar envelops the aggressive mids with a thick, warm blanket of smooth lows resulting in an extremely balanced sound that cuts like no other...including my last 3 Roscoes. FWIW my first LG had a Demeter pre and I loved it, very transparent. Maybe you should keep 6193 for yourself whenever it returns.....I couldn't be happier with her sister!
-Adam
Mmkay, undoubtedly a stoopid question, but you know me....I'll ask any way.
Pickup height? Any experimentation there? I'm just wondering if raising them...heck, maybe even just the neck one... a wee bit might've helped? Everything I've heard about Bardens is that they're HOT. Not just hot, but like holy-balls-that's-a-habanero hot.
Actual reason for asking.... last night I enjoyed a Thursday night hang at my local shop. They're carrying a new line...sort of a modern take on the old Tobias stuff...and we toyed with a bass that sounded a little weak. Once the guru raised those Barts up...and not by a lot...that bass just came to life. Booty, sizzle...presence...it was amazing. Anyway, point being that sometimes you have to cheat just a little bit in order to make that apple look more like the orange it replaced. Or something.
Pickup height? Any experimentation there? I'm just wondering if raising them...heck, maybe even just the neck one... a wee bit might've helped? Everything I've heard about Bardens is that they're HOT. Not just hot, but like holy-balls-that's-a-habanero hot.
Actual reason for asking.... last night I enjoyed a Thursday night hang at my local shop. They're carrying a new line...sort of a modern take on the old Tobias stuff...and we toyed with a bass that sounded a little weak. Once the guru raised those Barts up...and not by a lot...that bass just came to life. Booty, sizzle...presence...it was amazing. Anyway, point being that sometimes you have to cheat just a little bit in order to make that apple look more like the orange it replaced. Or something.
Mmkay, undoubtedly a stoopid question, but you know me....I'll ask any way.
Pickup height? Any experimentation there? I'm just wondering if raising them...heck, maybe even just the neck one... a wee bit might've helped? Everything I've heard about Bardens is that they're HOT. Not just hot, but like holy-balls-that's-a-habanero hot.
Actual reason for asking.... last night I enjoyed a Thursday night hang at my local shop. They're carrying a new line...sort of a modern take on the old Tobias stuff...and we toyed with a bass that sounded a little weak. Once the guru raised those Barts up...and not by a lot...that bass just came to life. Booty, sizzle...presence...it was amazing. Anyway, point being that sometimes you have to cheat just a little bit in order to make that apple look more like the orange it replaced. Or something.
After reading that he changed back to the Bardens on Joes thread, I came here to post the exact same thing, almost...
I was gonna suggest dropping the pickup height of the Bardens, thats what I usually do with a bass that's a bit too edgy for what I want with it.
I used to plain LoRiders (steel) for years, I'll have to give the nickel ones a shot!
And, yeah, Adam, your bass sounds KILLER on the album you gave me. Thick but cutting, it's a great tone for that style of music.
Pickup height is indeed crucial with the Bardens. I had them too low when I first put them in last night, and they were pretty lifeless. I raised 'em up, and the bass came to life. But it's a fine line with the Bardens: they sound best closer to the strings... but then there are the exposed rails and the unwanted pops and clicks that happen because they're close enough for string contact when I get excited...
I gues I'll experiment with the PUP height, make some minute changes and see what happens... easy enough to do!
And, yeah, Adam, your bass sounds KILLER on the album you gave me. Thick but cutting, it's a great tone for that style of music.
Pickup height is indeed crucial with the Bardens. I had them too low when I first put them in last night, and they were pretty lifeless. I raised 'em up, and the bass came to life. But it's a fine line with the Bardens: they sound best closer to the strings... but then there are the exposed rails and the unwanted pops and clicks that happen because they're close enough for string contact when I get excited...
I gues I'll experiment with the PUP height, make some minute changes and see what happens... easy enough to do!
Man Greg, I'm starting to feel better now about just having to make a decision on whether to go with the Roscoe Barts or the Bart CB's after reading this thread!
If it makes you feel any better, the bass sounded great with the Audere pre and the Bardens and I'm betting that it sounds good with the Bart pre and bardens.
Sometimes it's just better to count your loses, go back to square one and call it a day.
Did I mention that you have a beautiful bass and you shouldn't sell it?
...not matter what the vultures say!
If it makes you feel any better, the bass sounded great with the Audere pre and the Bardens and I'm betting that it sounds good with the Bart pre and bardens.
Sometimes it's just better to count your loses, go back to square one and call it a day.
Did I mention that you have a beautiful bass and you shouldn't sell it?
...not matter what the vultures say!Another idea, what about changing the volume pot for a stacked volume, with a vintage tone control underneath, that shoud do the smoothing/warming just beautifully.
Greg, I think a new build is the only way out now. You've gone too far.
......................BTW, Let me know when the King Koa for sale thread goes in.
You bastages are pushing me to edge of placing an order... No way I'm selling King Koa, though... I'll nail it on the wall as decoration before I do that 
Vultures is such a strong word for "caring friends willing to help Greg transition to a new bass while minimalizing the financial impact."shouldn't sell it?
Ths is not about us, it's about Greg.
So I'm just thinking out loud... "King Chilean Laurel Burl" doesn't exactly roll off the tounge. What'd be the nickname?!?
First things first, lads!!
First things first, lads!!
Lord Laurel? Sorry...best I can offer on an "I'd rather be napping" Friday afternoon.
Damn. That's a top. Turn it sideways...clockwise...and it looks like a classy old table lamp. Turned counterclockwise...an anchor.
Damn. That's a top. Turn it sideways...clockwise...and it looks like a classy old table lamp. Turned counterclockwise...an anchor.
Jerry - I desperately want a nap, as well! We're like two college freshman chicas with their cycles in sync!
