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Kubicki club, part 2

#302
drumsnbass said:
Big News!

Effective immediately you can now order Kubicki hats an T's!

I had talked Jewel into letting me see the design but I was sworn to secrecy on it all.

You can see them on the FB site: philipkubickifactorbass
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Do you mean The Kubicki Factor fb page? Didn't see any reference to it.
 
#304
drumsnbass said:
There are 2 Kubicki FB pages. It's on one and you have scroll down a little.
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ok - saw it. So who's behind this other Factor fb page? The Kubicki Factor was the first and is the 'official' fb page as far as I knew. My question relates to the T-shirt, as in who profits from using Phils name/log and image of his bass?
 
#305
JIO said:
ok - saw it. So who's behind this other Factor fb page? The Kubicki Factor was the first and is the 'official' fb page as far as I knew. My question relates to the T-shirt, as in who profits from using Phils name/log and image of his bass?
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I believe it is his former partner. I'm sure she was in the estate somehow as she has website access as well.

Realistically as Phil has passed, anyone who has an email connected to Kubicki.com is good in my book.
 
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#306
drumsnbass said:
I believe it is his former partner. I'm sure she was in the estate somehow as she has website access as well.

Realistically as Phil has passed, anyone who has an email connected to Kubicki.com is good in my book.
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ok - wasn't aware of that one, thanks for clueing me. Anyone can create a fan-page but when selling something through it is where issues can arise w/the estate.
 
#307
svtb15 said:
I had an Original Kunicki X Factor form the mid 80s.. it was a great bass. Nothing like a fender style bass at all..
I wish i still had it.. Teh Kubicki was quite possibly the most comfy bass that i played ..
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Yeah kicking myself for selling my last one. I've never had any luck buying basses online without playing them first except that last sunburst Ex Factor I got from a guy in Finland several years ago which was great. Every pre-Fender Kubicki I've ever played has been outstanding and not too far off any of the others in weight, feel and tone. Not actively looking for another but I'd jump on one if it came along.....would buy back that sunburst in a heartbeat if it ever came up FS.

My first hands on with one was stage teching for Loverboy's bass player Scott Smith in the early 80's. Always wondered what happened to that Pink Ex Factor of his....must have been one of the very first ones. He never played it and it was kinda my road bass for a couple of tours.
 
#308
Jeff Bonny said:
Yeah kicking myself for selling my last one. I've never had any luck buying basses online without playing them first except that last sunburst Ex Factor I got from a guy in Finland several years ago which was great. Every pre-Fender Kubicki I've ever played has been outstanding and not too far off any of the others in weight, feel and tone. Not actively looking for another but I'd jump on one if it came along.....would buy back that sunburst in a heartbeat if it ever came up FS.

My first hands on with one was stage teching for Loverboy's bass player Scott Smith in the early 80's. Always wondered what happened to that Pink Ex Factor of his....must have been one of the very first ones. He never played it and it was kinda my road bass for a couple of tours.
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Cool stories Jeff - the coral pink ones are rare, Phil said it was a late 50's Desoto colour. (he was into those classic 50's cars) I had one in my hands in the early 90's but had just bought my first one ('86 in blk) used. Ftr, the FCS Factors are no less good than "pre" Fender Kubicki's. The only difference is the 9v vs 18v pre, which offers one more passive click. In fact, the 9v pre has an adjustable trim on the tone-pot, which the 18v lacks. I've owned/played both and prefer the 9v pre. With this in mind - you should be able to score a FCS Factor for less $. Sellers hype the "pre Fender" aspect to try and get more money but to those who know - it's just that (hype). Other than the pre, the real worth of a Factor is the design including the drop-D capo. Brilliant! (and unparalleled still)

Also, the 22 fret Fender Jazz Plus from the early 90's has the same 9v pre as in the FCS Factors. According to Mike at The Kubicki Factor fb page, it was the only non-Factor bass w/that pre. Fender made their own version/clone of it at that time which was offered on other models, but they were different. The pre's (18 or 9) are where the characteristic Factor tone comes from. I have a '93 J+ and have that 9v pre in a T-bird Franken-bass and they both sound like Factors eyes closed.
 
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#310
berklee46 said:
I know JIO has a Franken-bass with a Kubicki preamp, but has anyone gone all out and installed Kubicki pickups and preamp into their non-Factor bass? If so, how did it work out?
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ftr - Kubicki Factor pick-ups for sale are indeed rare - I think I only saw 1 pair on eBay years ago. The 9v pre's come up on eBay every now and then.
 
#311
Thanks. I agree that they rarely show up but it's more of a hypothetical curiosity.

The Kubicki tone unmistakeable and I'd never confuse the sound of a Fender Urge for a Kubicki but I wonder if they used the real pickups on that model how it would have sounded.

I used to think the multi-laminate neck contributed to that sound, but the Key-Factors sound 100% Kubicki to my ears.
 
#312
berklee46 said:
Thanks. I agree that they rarely show up but it's more of a hypothetical curiosity.

The Kubicki tone unmistakeable and I'd never confuse the sound of a Fender Urge for a Kubicki but I wonder if they used the real pickups on that model how it would have sounded.

I used to think the multi-laminate neck contributed to that sound, but the Key-Factors sound 100% Kubicki to my ears.
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Phil Kubicki felt the electronics and then the neck contributed most to the characteristic sound of a bass/guitar. The multi-lam neck was not a new idea - there are cheap Japanese basses from the 60's that had them. But he revisited that idea more because he was going for ultimate stability, and so being maple it sounded like a maple neck. The proprietary hum-buckers in the Factors will inevitably sound different than the Urge, which had J's and a P, but my J+ w/J's sounds more or less like a Factor also. I wonder who produced his pu's.., maybe Seymour Duncan, to his specs - he farmed out his strings also. Essentially they sound like hum-buckers in general. I have Wilkinson hb's w/the 9v Kubicki pre and it sounds like a Factor.
 
#313
Considering getting mine refinished.

Any recommendations?
Where's a good place?


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