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NBD - Early Birthday present + some!

K-2

K-2

Nov 30, 2016
181
495
Vilnius, Lithuania
#1
Hey all,

Never posted NBD, but thought I would share this one as it was different to a usual ordeal of buying a new bass, hehe.
I currently have 4 (well 5 now) basses - ESP LTD F series, Harley Benton MB-4, Warwick Rockbass Streamer LX and a sad discolored Harley Benton Pbass. As you can see I have a double humbucker, PJ, MM and P types of basses. My dream is to get a Jazz type bass, so I would basically have all the major types of pickup setups (excluding Rick, Thunderbird, etc.)
I already decided what Jazz style bass I want, but I was never happy with the P bass - it was cheap, it is discolored, I never liked they way it felt and sounded. So I had to do something about it too.
One day I was discussing this with my wife and had an idea - maybe I need a new pickup in the Pbass - it will push me to pick it up more, etc. or so I thought. I had my eyes on EMG GZR! But we both agreed that putting a new pickup with a price tag the same as the bass might not be the best idea. Also I didn't like the way that bass felt and the pickup would not change that...
Anyway, fast forward a couple months to today, my birthday on the horizon, my wife comes in and say "Well this arrived earlier than expected and I know for sure I won't be able to hide it for a long time (we live in a 3 room flat), so here it is - happy birthday!" and she hands me a EMG GZR P pickup box! Sweet! I'm upgrading the P it seems!
As she walks out of the room, she says "And there's something else in another room. You'll need to put that pickup into something". And in another room there is a brand new Sire P5 waiting for me. I'm speechless!
 
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#2
1.jpg
 
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#4
This feels soooo good. The neck is smooth and satin like, not too chunky and not too modern. Didn't expect the back of the bass to be in this reddish transparent color, though it would just be solid brown or black! Roasted maple and rolled edges on the neck are fantastic too.
Don't have any setup at home, so was only able to listen to DI only through DAW. But it is going with me to the next rehearsal. Can't wait!
 
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#5
K-2 said:
Hey all,

Never posted NBD, but thought I would share this one as it was different to a usual ordeal of buying a new bass, hehe.
I currently have 4 (well 5 now) basses - ESP LTD F series, Harley Benton MB-4, Warwick Rockbass Streamer LX and a sad discolored Harley Benton Pbass. As you can see I have a double humbucker, PJ, MM and P types of basses. My dream is to get a Jazz type bass, so I would basically have all the major types of pickup setups (excluding Rick, Thunderbird, etc.)
I already decided what Jazz style bass I want, but I was never happy with the P bass - it was cheap, it is discolored, I never liked they way it felt and sounded. So I had to do something about it too.
One day I was discussing this with my wife and had an idea - maybe I need a new pickup in the Pbass - it will push me to pick it up more, etc. or so I thought. I had my eyes on EMG GZR! But we both agreed that putting a new pickup with a price tag the same as the bass might not be the best idea. Also I didn't like the way that bass felt and the pickup would not change that...
Anyway, fast forward a couple months to today, my birthday on the horizon, my wife comes in and say "Well this arrived earlier than expected and I know for sure I won't be able to hide it for a long time (we live in a 3 room flat), so here it is - happy birthday!" and she hands me a EMG GZR P pickup box! Sweet! I'm upgrading the P it seems!
As she walks out of the room, she says "And there's something else in another room. You'll need to put that pickup into something". And in another room there is a brand new Sire P5 waiting for me. I'm speechless!
Click to expand...

Congratulations on your new instrumen, and even more on your wife, must be a lovely lady!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
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#11
Nightsprinter said:
How do you like the LTD F? I was considering one of the neck-thru 5 strings.
Click to expand...
Hey. O I love it. I have a 4 string bolt on though - yet it still come in 35” scale. As I play in drop C, I definitely noticed increase in tension on the strings in a good way.
Neck is “fast” and modern feeling. Light and comfy body. Silent electronics and usable preamp.
For the price you really get a great instrument!
 
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#12
Relayer71 said:
She's a keeper (the wife!). But what if you really like the stock sound of the Sire? I'd play it for a while before opening up that Geezer box to make sure, so that it can still be returned if possible.

(Though I have a feeling, even if you like the stock sound, the curiosity will kill you :laugh:)
Click to expand...
I thought the same, but curiosity killed me as you say! It was a simple swap with the solderless kit. And I can say that I did like EMGs more, they sounded more full but clear at the same time. Though I have to say - if I didnt have EMGs I would be happy with the stock pup, definitely nothing wrong with it and nothing that couldn’t be corrected/adjusted with outboard eq.

Now for the sad part - I might have gotten a faulty one. E string sounded quiter than other, sort of compressed and farty. I rotated that side of pup around just to check - and now the A string sounds like that and E is amazing. To me it seems that issue is with those specific pole pieces. Couldn’t find anything similar on TB sadly. Will have to contact Emg for tech support. Return to retailer wont be a problem, but I hope it is my error somewhere rather than bad pup :D
 
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#16
K-2 said:
I thought the same, but curiosity killed me as you say! It was a simple swap with the solderless kit. And I can say that I did like EMGs more, they sounded more full but clear at the same time. Though I have to say - if I didnt have EMGs I would be happy with the stock pup, definitely nothing wrong with it and nothing that couldn’t be corrected/adjusted with outboard eq.

Now for the sad part - I might have gotten a faulty one. E string sounded quiter than other, sort of compressed and farty. I rotated that side of pup around just to check - and now the A string sounds like that and E is amazing. To me it seems that issue is with those specific pole pieces. Couldn’t find anything similar on TB sadly. Will have to contact Emg for tech support. Return to retailer wont be a problem, but I hope it is my error somewhere rather than bad pup :D
Click to expand...

I should add to my GZR story. The J pickup went bad in my PJ set a few years back. Notified EMG. It took some back and forth for a week or so, but they ended up sending me a new set. At first they were trying to get me to send the J pickup back but I'd had them for more than I year I think. I did send it to them and they replied back and sent me a new set. Other than the emails back and forth for a week or so, it was pretty painless and they were really cool about it especially since I'd had them as long as I did.

I would think yours exp would be even less runny around since you just got them. Good luck though!
 

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