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NBD: Double P

atquinn

atquinn

All gear, no talent
Supporting Member
Mar 21, 2004
736
2,028
51
Long Island, NY
#1
This just arrived
1000001535.jpg

I've wanted a double scpb for a while. I had been thinking about building one, but I ended up getting this Tribe Shob for less than that would have cost me. I 'm not a fan of maple fretboards cosmetically, but as long as they aren't gloss-finished, they don't bother me playing-wise. It's not too heavy, balances well, and plays well. Will take a bit to figure it out sound-wise since it has flat wounds on it and it's destined for roundwounds. I can say that the two pickups balance very well, unlike the typical PJ so that's a good start!
 
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#7
atquinn said:
This just arrived
View attachment 7161905
I've wanted a double scpb for a while. I had been thinking about building one, but I ended up getting this Tribe Shob for less than that would have cost me. I 'm not a fan of maple fretboards cosmetically, but as long as they aren't gloss-finished, they don't bother me playing-wise. It's not too heavy, balances well, and plays well. Will take a bit to figure it out sound-wise since it has flat wounds on it and it's destined for roundwounds. I can say that the two pickups balance very well, unlike the typical PJ so that's a good start!
Click to expand...

atquinn said:
This just arrived
View attachment 7161905
I've wanted a double scpb for a while. I had been thinking about building one, but I ended up getting this Tribe Shob for less than that would have cost me. I 'm not a fan of maple fretboards cosmetically, but as long as they aren't gloss-finished, they don't bother me playing-wise. It's not too heavy, balances well, and plays well. Will take a bit to figure it out sound-wise since it has flat wounds on it and it's destined for roundwounds. I can say that the two pickups balance very well, unlike the typical PJ so that's a good start!
Click to expand...
I had the Sting Signature Bass. At the time it was the only "51 Style" Precision in their current models. I gigged a fair bit. It always lacked in slap, as predictably it would without the other Fender-type pickup. I ultimately let the bass go because it was not a particularly tonally-diverse instrument on the gigs, the slap sound wasn't to my liking and some dead spots on the G string I couldn't continue to overlook. Such a cool-looking bass that sometimes sounded good... but with a number of drawbacks.

A TWO PICKUP version could change things. I know how the neck pickup sounds and have so many hours under my belt with that as an owner. I am interested in the bridge pickup sound and the two-pickup slap sound and seeing how close this comes to a Jazz Bass. I suspect it doesn't really sound quite like a Jazz Bass due to the differences in pickup designs, but still it could be a lot more of a versatile instrument than the one pickup "51 Style" version.

I'm mostly a 5-string player these days by gig requirement, but I still love the Fender-type 4-strings of all kinds... when I'm able to get away with playing them.
 
#8
That's a really pretty bass. I prefer rosewood as well, but maple goes well with that shade of blue. I think the split coil pickup looks a little strange when it's doubled up (even though it sounds great) but this looks much more natural to my eye.

How does the pickup placement compare to a jazz bass? It looks fairly close to me. Are the controls the classic V/V/T?
 
#11
Jon Cowens said:
Interesting.
CONTROLS: Volume, pickups blend, tone.
Two single coil pickups. Are the pickups identical or is the bridge pickup RWRP?
The Tribe Shob 4 on his website has a sharp looking roasted birdseye maple fretboard.

Ronnie Lane's Zemaitis bass used two 1950s single coil pickups.
Click to expand...
This one looks identical to the one in the website, including the birdeye maple fretboard. I just did capture it well in the pic. This is an active model with an Aguilar OBP1 preamp (volume, blend and stacked treble and bass). Interestingly, the eq knobs have detents even though the OBP1 is boost-only.
 
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#13
FRoss6788 said:
Beautiful bass!

How does the tone compare to a standard J bass?
Click to expand...
It will be hard for me to say as I don't own any Jazz bases (don't like the shape). I own a G&L MJ4 (that I love) but that has hum cancelling pickups and is active, so I don't think it resembles a traditional Jazz bass too closely. I also have G&L JB2 (that I also love), but it's fretless, so... I'll definitely be doing some tonal comparisons, but I'm not sure how relevant they'll be to anyone who's not me.
 
Last edited:
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#14
Isaac_James said:
....How does the pickup placement compare to a jazz bass? It looks fairly close to me. Are the controls the classic V/V/T?
Click to expand...

I'll be taking some measurements when I put on the roundwounds tomorrow. The neck pickup should be closer to the neck, but I'm not sure about the bridge pickup. Even with flat wounds, I can tell the neck pickup has *that* sound, which I prefer to the jazz neck only sound.
 
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#15
Thunderthumbs73 said:
I had the Sting Signature Bass. At the time it was the only "51 Style" Precision in their current models. I gigged a fair bit. It always lacked in slap, as predictably it would without the other Fender-type pickup. I ultimately let the bass go because it was not a particularly tonally-diverse instrument on the gigs, the slap sound wasn't to my liking and some dead spots on the G string I couldn't continue to overlook. Such a cool-looking bass that sometimes sounded good... but with a number of drawbacks.

A TWO PICKUP version could change things. I know how the neck pickup sounds and have so many hours under my belt with that as an owner. I am interested in the bridge pickup sound and the two-pickup slap sound and seeing how close this comes to a Jazz Bass. I suspect it doesn't really sound quite like a Jazz Bass due to the differences in pickup designs, but still it could be a lot more of a versatile instrument than the one pickup "51 Style" version.

I'm mostly a 5-string player these days by gig requirement, but I still love the Fender-type 4-strings of all kinds... when I'm able to get away with playing them.
Click to expand...
I've had the Sting signature model twice. I liked the slap sound more than a split p Precision, but I haven't played anything that sounds as good as a jazz for slap.
 
#16
atquinn said:
This just arrived
View attachment 7161905
I've wanted a double scpb for a while. I had been thinking about building one, but I ended up getting this Tribe Shob for less than that would have cost me. I 'm not a fan of maple fretboards cosmetically, but as long as they aren't gloss-finished, they don't bother me playing-wise. It's not too heavy, balances well, and plays well. Will take a bit to figure it out sound-wise since it has flat wounds on it and it's destined for roundwounds. I can say that the two pickups balance very well, unlike the typical PJ so that's a good start!
Click to expand...
I say run with it! Congrats.
 
#19
I played it a bit more tonight (btw, absolutely hate the strings on it, which are apparently Rotosound Jazz Flatwound Monels) and took some measurements.
The neck pickup is, I believe in the traditional scpb location, 122 mm from the center of the 19th fret. The bridge pickup is 92 mm away from the neck pickup, essentially 3.6"; the same as the distance between Jazz pickups with 60s spacing. So, the neck and the bridge pickup are both closer to the neck than a Jazz bass.
 
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