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My take on a custom "P-Bass"

#101
woolysock said:
Must have missed this thread when it first appeared...

Here's my take on a custom P, built for me by Mike Kinal. Light alder body, Brazilian rosewood board, Hipshot hardware, Bartolini Classic pup with two-band boost/cut pre-amp. Ebony knobs. I wanted to go passive but Kinal insisted on the Bart pre-amp. He was probably right. Pop the front knob and the bass is passive. Sounds better with the preamp on, though I never boost or cut.

Sound with DR Highbeams is kinda modern but very P-like, wide, complex, rich. Cuts through in the upper mids. You get a sense of the tone here:

Perhaps the key virtue of this bass is its light weight. Has a very flat, wide neck and is a pleasure to play.
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Wow, that is pretty cool! I would love to take one of Mike's basses for a spin, someday. :)
 
#103
Tom, that is looking great. I am hoping at some point we can compare our basses side by side. It would be neat seeing as all that is different is the body wood. Maybe your's will still be at Pete's when I fly down to pick mine up on the 16th. If not I will have to make it out to the next BBB.
 
#104
Smallequestrian said:
Tom, that is looking great. I am hoping at some point we can compare our basses side by side. It would be neat seeing as all that is different is the body wood. Maybe your's will still be at Pete's when I fly down to pick mine up on the 16th. If not I will have to make it out to the next BBB.
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I agree! :)
 
#105
It's done! :hyper:

Check out these pics:
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I hope to have it in my hands sometime this week. :cool:

Tom.
 
#110
Marcury said:
Just saw this thread for the first time. I'm very surprised at how this turned out from the initial description. I was expecting a split coil four string. It is beautiful however. Really want to hear how it sounds.
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Yeah, we went from 4 to 5, and from one set of split coils to two, but other than that, it's what I was after, big time! And keep in mind, the 'solo regular-P' and the 'solo reverse-P' are using one coil from each 'set.' :smug:
 
#113
That's an interesting looking bass. If I remember correctly, that big pickup is really two P Bass pickups, with a switch so that you can do a 'normal P' or a 'reversed P'. Is that correct? If so, that's pretty cool.

That's a lot of pickup sitting on that body:eek:... reminds me a little of the Ibanez ATK or whatever that model is with the huge humbucker in the P position. That one is aggessive as heck also... I bet this will be a grindy rock and roll machine! Cool!

Both of them look great!
 
#114
KJung said:
That's an interesting looking bass. If I remember correctly, that big pickup is really two P Bass pickups, with a switch so that you can do a 'normal P' or a 'reversed P'. Is that correct? If so, that's pretty cool.
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There are two sets of Pete's split coil pickups inside, which are normally arranged like 'mini-reverse-P' pickups, one of them being flipped around, in this particular pickup. In position 1, the bass coil from the neck pickup and treble coil from the bridge pickup make up the 'big regular-P' config. In position 2, they are both on in series. In position 3, they are both on in parallel. In position 4, the bass side of the bridge pickup and the treble side of the neck pickup are on, and this pickup was positioned so that this configuration is darn near spot on where the coils would fall on a reverse-P setup. :cool:

Tom.
 
#115
Marcury said:
I may have missed this, but did you change the scale to accomodate the B string or is it still 34"?
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Yes, I went with a 35" scale.

One reason for the change to a 5-string, btw, was that in the midst of setting up this order, I acquired a certain Cenlinder Vintage Precision 4, which is hands down, the best 4-string 'P-bass' I have played. :bassist:

Tom.
 
#117
tombowlus said:
There are two sets of Pete's split coil pickups inside, which are normally arranged like 'mini-reverse-P' pickups, one of them being flipped around, in this particular pickup. In position 1, the bass coil from the neck pickup and treble coil from the bridge pickup make up the 'big regular-P' config. In position 2, they are both on in series. In position 3, they are both on in parallel. In position 4, the bass side of the bridge pickup and the treble side of the neck pickup are on, and this pickup was positioned so that this configuration is darn near spot on where the coils would fall on a reverse-P setup. :cool:

Tom.
Click to expand...


That is SO cool... just about any sort of traditional and 'souped up' P tone you could think of. I'll look forward to hearing that one!
 
#118
tombowlus said:
Yes, I went with a 35" scale.

One reason for the change to a 5-string, btw, was that in the midst of setting up this order, I acquired a certain Cenlinder Vintage Precision 4, which is hands down, the best 4-string 'P-bass' I have played. :bassist:

Tom.
Click to expand...

And I'll say again, that Celinder P 4 is also the best P Bass I've ever played! That one is AMAZING!
 
#119
KJung said:
That is SO cool... just about any sort of traditional and 'souped up' P tone you could think of. I'll look forward to hearing that one!
Click to expand...

That was my idea! :)

And hopefully you can make it down to the next GTG (looking more like April than March, at this point). :cool:

Tom.
 

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