about 7 month lead time. I'll have mine in about 5 1/2 months
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Congratulations! Color/Wood finish?
Just ordered a Blaster from one of my favorite dealers to buy from in Japan. Think I got a decent deal because it's dinged a bit and the original electronics were shot. I figured it's one of the better copies because it has the laminate neck, so if I stick one of the Kubicki preamps in there, is it pretty much THE sound or are the pickups radically different?
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No idea how close the pickups are. I'd sure love to find out! Please keep us updated.
Got the Blaster bass today. First impression is WOW. I never thought someone could design an entire instrument around being easy to play. Just looking at pics of this thing I was just like "huh, rare, weird shape headless bass with cool D-tuner system, I guess I'll try it." But actually feeling/playing the bass, I understand completely: Kubicki never wanted someone to fight with one of his basses. It's like he shaped the bass to accommodate his body. Even the neck feels like he measured the actual curve of his hand and then contoured the back to it, but then it also feels perfect to my hand? It's a tailored suit that still fits the 10 people next to you just as well. I wish larger manufacturers would innovate like this, shaping the instrument to the player instead of expecting the player to adjust to the instrument. Neck that never needs to be adjusted seems like a no brainer, why isn't everyone building laminate necks? One of the biggest hurdles as a beginner is adjusting the darn truss rod.
Anyway, I'll try to do the A/B test with the Ex-Factor preamp within next couple of weeks. I don't know how long an order takes but I'll place it this week and see, In the mean-time. this is some sounds from the bass (though not with factory preamp, the broken factory preamp was brighter sounding), maybe you can hear how close the pickups are to the real thing.
I've been watching that guy's vids for ages. He's a pretty stellar player as well. I can understand why he just uses the camera audio for these quick "pre-shipment" tests but, my goodness, this one really suffers. It's so blown out, it's hard to tell much. That aside, I still don't think we can really tell how close those pickups are. My question now is, what would a regular Factor sound like with the preamp currently installed in that Blaster?!
At the moment, the Blaster sounds really nice, but blindfolded, I wouldn't say it has the signature Kubicki tone. I'm sure the Kubicki preamp has a lot to do with it. It certainly isn't a transparent pre. It has character! Once you get that bad boy ordered and installed, I will go out on a limb and say the Blaster will sound pretty darn close to a "real" one.
And congratulations @Gabe7539 ! It would be fun to have a Blaster in my collection, but I'm already spoiled rotten. Running out of space too!
At the moment, the Blaster sounds really nice, but blindfolded, I wouldn't say it has the signature Kubicki tone. I'm sure the Kubicki preamp has a lot to do with it. It certainly isn't a transparent pre. It has character! Once you get that bad boy ordered and installed, I will go out on a limb and say the Blaster will sound pretty darn close to a "real" one.
And congratulations @Gabe7539 ! It would be fun to have a Blaster in my collection, but I'm already spoiled rotten. Running out of space too!
He (Danny) has put some music out too on his website and most recently a CD with his new band, jazz fusion kind of stuff. Obviously very bass-forward but I like it, very reminiscent of Weather Report, Stevie Wonder, etc.
Question on the preamps: Mine seems to have an identical or very similar control cavity to the Ex-Factor, but it only has 1 slot for a 9v, probably because the original pre on these was also 9v. Am I correct in assuming the 18v setup is just 2 batteries flipped and stacked into the same size slot, or would I have to mod. the control cavity?
Question on the preamps: Mine seems to have an identical or very similar control cavity to the Ex-Factor, but it only has 1 slot for a 9v, probably because the original pre on these was also 9v. Am I correct in assuming the 18v setup is just 2 batteries flipped and stacked into the same size slot, or would I have to mod. the control cavity?
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Never had a 9v pre, but yes, I think you'll be fine with simply stacking the two 9v batteries.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,013
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Something very specific I noticed in this vid - while demonstrating it he was adjusting the mid-sweep (?) with the control cover on. (via a hole in the cover) The 9v Fender/Kubicki Ex-Factor has the 9v pre with the adjustable mid-sweep but as far as I know it didn't have a port in the cover to adjust it on-the-fly. I have 2 basses with that pre so will do this simple 'mod' so I can adjust it w/o removing the cover. Frankly I've never touched the mid-sweep setting but if it becomes easily accessible I'm open to see what it does to the basses tone I'm already so familiar with.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,013
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The cavity on both 18v & 9v is the same, but... the two are different, the 16v has two active and two passive settings, while the 9v has only one passive setting. What's the merit of adding another 9v to a 9v system? Or is he installing an 18v Kubicki system in a 9v Fender/Kubicki Ex-Factor?
Interestingly enough, when I bought my '86 Kubicki Ex-Factor used in '94, it had the 9v system. I had Phil install the 18v system and sold the 9v (Fender/Kubicki) system. It was a very played instrument when I bought it so apparently the original owner preferred the 9v system. (as I do) One passive setting is enough for me, as it is on my 9v G&L 2000 (loaded) bass.
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I can upload a pic of the control cavity if you'd like, but it's just a pot installed backwards. He wanted to install a 3-band EQ with a body that only has 3 holes. Instead of modifying the body, he super glued the mid pot in backwards and put a hole in the custom back cover so the new owner could turn it with a flathead. Kind of ingenius, he could have done a stacked volume/blend or volume/mid like original Kubicki, but it's possible he just didn't have that combination of parts on hand. I don't find myself adjusting mids constantly anyway, so it works out if I wanted to keep it that way.
Switching an original Kubicki preamp into a Kubicki Blaster that had a 9v Japanese preamp. I don't know which I'd prefer tbh, I know you have more freedom with the 9v but the 18v has a varitone for the presets players seemed to like the most.
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- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,013
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Hey experts!
I’m new to the Factor family as I just picked up a 93 18v Ex-Factor locally, and I have a few questions.
Has anyone found the electronics to be hissy? The active settings are so hissy that they’re unusable, and the passive settings seem to have some inherent hiss as well, which seems weird. The hiss decreases (but doesn’t disappear) when I turn the treble down while in active modes, or use the hi-cut setting in passive mode. Do I need a new preamp? I’ve sprayed all posts, as well as the jack with Deoxit. I also noticed none of the pots have a center detent. Obviously the volume wouldn’t have one, but the pan or EQ knobs don’t either. Is this normal?
Thanks!
I’m new to the Factor family as I just picked up a 93 18v Ex-Factor locally, and I have a few questions.
Has anyone found the electronics to be hissy? The active settings are so hissy that they’re unusable, and the passive settings seem to have some inherent hiss as well, which seems weird. The hiss decreases (but doesn’t disappear) when I turn the treble down while in active modes, or use the hi-cut setting in passive mode. Do I need a new preamp? I’ve sprayed all posts, as well as the jack with Deoxit. I also noticed none of the pots have a center detent. Obviously the volume wouldn’t have one, but the pan or EQ knobs don’t either. Is this normal?
Thanks!
I've never noticed an extreme amount of noise with either 9 or 18v preamps. I never run my BT pots much over 50%. The only detent you should have is on the Pan pot.
Same here. I'm not sure I've ever had a bass with an active eq section that didn't hiss a little when you really turned it up. Even my new Dingwall with the Neve pre still hisses a little at extreme treble boost. Is there such a thing as a bass preamp that doesn't hiss at full treble boost? Never had a bass like that!
I just tried my Kubicki. I would say the preamp is average in the noise department. Passive is not as noisy from a treble hiss perspective, but the noise floor is comparable to active if you turn the your amplifier gain up to match the volume of the active setting.
Perhaps there is something malfunctioning in your board? You said the pickup pan did NOT have a center detent, right? If that's true, then something ain't right, and perhaps somebody already tried to "fix" it. This makes me think of something I'm hoping isn't too hard to do. I know the pickup leads plug straight into the board with a Molex looking connector. For troubleshooting purposes, how cool would it be to make a connector that mates to the pickup leads and let's you solder the ends to an output jack? In other words, you'd bypass the board. Even better, the pickup leads would go to a 3-way switch, then to an ouput jack. Just a thought!
I just tried my Kubicki. I would say the preamp is average in the noise department. Passive is not as noisy from a treble hiss perspective, but the noise floor is comparable to active if you turn the your amplifier gain up to match the volume of the active setting.
Perhaps there is something malfunctioning in your board? You said the pickup pan did NOT have a center detent, right? If that's true, then something ain't right, and perhaps somebody already tried to "fix" it. This makes me think of something I'm hoping isn't too hard to do. I know the pickup leads plug straight into the board with a Molex looking connector. For troubleshooting purposes, how cool would it be to make a connector that mates to the pickup leads and let's you solder the ends to an output jack? In other words, you'd bypass the board. Even better, the pickup leads would go to a 3-way switch, then to an ouput jack. Just a thought!
