NBD: Look Ma, No Knobs (Except the Player)

[rumblinbass]

I just finished a P-bass that I considered going with no knobs.
I decided on 1 knob - a variable output impedance. I used a switched pot that I use as a mute in out position since I don't have a volume control.

That and picking position is all the tone control I need.

 

[n!k]

It's like you made the complete opposite of an Alembic bass! I like it

 

[J Posega]

I just finished a P-bass that I considered going with no knobs.
I decided on 1 knob - a variable output impedance. I used a switched pot that I use as a mute in out position since I don't have a volume control.

That and picking position is all the tone control I need.

Would love to know more about the output impedance control, haven’t heard of someone putting one on a bass before.

It's like you made the complete opposite of an Alembic bass! I like it

Don’t worry, I have another project instrument that’s going to get 13 switches for tone control and pickup switching… whenever I feel brave enough to tackle the wiring.

 

[J Posega]

The leads from the pickup are shielded too. Shielding the cavity is unneccessary.

Good to know! I’m not an electronics wiz, so I just went with my usual shielding process.

 

[rumblinbass]

Would love to know more about the output impedance control, haven’t heard of someone putting one on a bass before.

It isn't a variable output impedance. My mistake.
It is just a variable load.

Happy to explain further if you like, but not nearly as sexy as output impedance control.

 

[Bassamatic]

You better Patent that special wiring design!

 

[bassbrad]

FWIW Anthony Jackson has been doing that on his Fodera basses for some time.
He uses an Ernie Ball volume pedal iirc. Fierce Bass Face.

 

[micguy]

Thanks!

Interesting. I’ve never compared them side by side, just went with what I’ve read.

People believe what they read, which is OK, but as a Scientist and an Engineer, I always want to measure stuff that's important. If you make your own basses, and care about weight, you inevitably end up with a scale (nowadays you can get postal or kitchen scales that are very accurate for not much money), and weights of everything that goes into a build.

 

[bherman]

Nice job! Two thoughts to add - I have a Reverend Bass with the reverse P in the neck and MM in the bridge position, both are great pickups! Also I do alot of woodworking and I might suggest looking into a finish that I use often. It's called Osmo Poly - X, its a simple wipe-on finish also, but much more durable than the Feed N wax. I use the Howard's product quite a bit but its better for restoring/cleaning up surfaces that already have some finish on them. I often finish a piece with Osmo, then occasionally a coat of Feed N Wax on top, or as needed to renew the luster.

 

[Bass Ape]

Nice job! Two thoughts to add - I have a Reverend Bass with the reverse P in the neck and MM in the bridge position, both are great pickups! Also I do alot of woodworking and I might suggest looking into a finish that I use often. It's called Osmo Poly - X, its a simple wipe-on finish also, but much more durable than the Feed N wax. I use the Howard's product quite a bit but its better for restoring/cleaning up surfaces that already have some finish on them. I often finish a piece with Osmo, then occasionally a coat of Feed N Wax on top, or as needed to renew the luster.

Those Split Bricks and Thick bricks are some of the best pickups I've ever used.

 

[Engle]

This is my latest Warmoth project, now my 4th using both a body and neck from them. I love putting things together but don't have the practice or tools or space to do scratch building, so project basses are a lot like Lego to me, just more practical!

View attachment 5245018

View attachment 5245016
(Don't worry, the bass doesn't live on this window sill)

Background
I got an SBMM Ray24 in trade a year or so ago. It's my first 4 string 'Ray style bass and I liked it, but didn't love it. So, I took out the preamp, put in passive volume, tone, and series/single/parallel switch and a Nordstrand MM4.4 pickup. Then, I leveled the frets. Finally, I arrived at a good playing, great sounding bass, but even after installing Hipshot Ultralite tuners, it's still neck heavy and I've never been in love with the neck. I decided I enjoyed the passive Ray and wanted a bass I enjoyed the feel of more.

I took inspiration from the Joe Dart EBMM signature basses and smooshed features together to arrive at something that's fun to play and sounds great to my ears.

Specs

• Warmoth G4 lightweight one-piece swamp ash body weighing 4.13 lbs, routed for 1 MM in the sweet spot (from the Showcase)
• Warmoth roasted maple neck and fretboard, 1.5" nut, steel reinforcement rods, small frets, black Tusq nut, black dots (from the Showcase)
• Gotoh Resolite tuners. They're lighter than Hipshot Ultralites.
• Hipshot A-style Fender mount bridge. Warmoth forgot to drill for bridge mounting screws but gave me a $50 refund and I drilled them myself. Spacing is setup for even 19mm center to center.
• Bartolini MMC pickup
• Dunlop Strap Lock buttons
• D'addario nickel XL balanced tension strings
• Super secret, extra special, quadruple mojo wiring... I'll let you in on the secret sauce

View attachment 5245019

Pickup wired in series straight to the jack.

Here's the raw body. I applied 5 or 6 coats of Howard's Feed n Wax.

View attachment 5245031

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The bass balances great and has all the punch I was expecting. The finish doesn't really protect the body from dings, but I'm pretty careful with my instruments.

I may still try out other pickups just because there's not a lot of sound samples out there of MM pickups in passive configurations. Reverend sells their Split Brick pickup which is a reverse P in an MM shell and might sound really cool in this bass.

Nice build!

 

[SubHuman]

I can adjust volume at my amp or pedalboard. This isn't meant to be my only bass, and the tone may only suit certain projects or songs, but I can get a reasonable amount of variation by altering hand position and doing palm muting. I can also alter the tone with the tilt EQ on my compressor pedal.

No "benefit" to this setup except that I can show off more of the nice looking wood grain. There's also no potentiometers in the signal flow which technically makes the output a little brighter than with a tone control turned all the way up. But really, I wanted to try out not having pots on this bass.

I might still go with my initial plan and put a series/parallel switch and a tone control switch on the back control cavity cover, but I'm pretty happy with it as is.

I keep my volume at 10 most of the time anyway so no pot is a great idea! Nice Bass!

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Love it. When I pick up an acoustic guitar all I do is play with as much expression as I can. This bass and your amp will be your best buds. Have fun - it's a wonderful build.

 

[J Posega]

Thanks all! It’s a fun bass with a lot of possibilities.

Someone asked for assembled weight. With my luggage scale, it comes in at 7.08lbs.

People believe what they read, which is OK, but as a Scientist and an Engineer, I always want to measure stuff that's important. If you make your own basses, and care about weight, you inevitably end up with a scale (nowadays you can get postal or kitchen scales that are very accurate for not much money), and weights of everything that goes into a build.

I’m not too weight obsessed, but definitely need a good coffee scale anyway.

Nice job! Two thoughts to add - I have a Reverend Bass with the reverse P in the neck and MM in the bridge position, both are great pickups! Also I do alot of woodworking and I might suggest looking into a finish that I use often. It's called Osmo Poly - X, its a simple wipe-on finish also, but much more durable than the Feed N wax. I use the Howard's product quite a bit but its better for restoring/cleaning up surfaces that already have some finish on them. I often finish a piece with Osmo, then occasionally a coat of Feed N Wax on top, or as needed to renew the luster.

Seeing lots of positive reviews for the Reverend pickup. If I buy one, I might take the advice to put a tougher finish on the body when it’s pickup swap time, but I’m not too worried about it at the moment.

 

[wiscoaster]

I like "no-knobs". One of my first basses was a Squire Bronco, on which one of the controls broke, so I just removed them both:

It subsequently served as a platform for several modding experiments, and is currently disassembled and in pieces in a closet.

 

[retslock]

I may still try out other pickups just because there's not a lot of sound samples out there of MM pickups in passive configurations. Reverend sells their Split Brick pickup which is a reverse P in an MM shell and might sound really cool in this bass.

That’s a great looking bass. I’m a big fan of ash. Nice work.
I put a Nordstrand MM5.2 in one of my own passive builds but in the Precision location and it sounds great. I installed a series/parallel switch and I’m very happy with it. Two knobs though - volume and tone as in the standard P configuration. I’ve used three different Nordstrand pickups in my basses and their stuff is high quality. Of course, that’s my preference but I’d recommend them any time.

 

[TeeSee]

Nice job! Two thoughts to add - I have a Reverend Bass with the reverse P in the neck and MM in the bridge position, both are great pickups! Also I do alot of woodworking and I might suggest looking into a finish that I use often. It's called Osmo Poly - X, its a simple wipe-on finish also, but much more durable than the Feed N wax. I use the Howard's product quite a bit but its better for restoring/cleaning up surfaces that already have some finish on them. I often finish a piece with Osmo, then occasionally a coat of Feed N Wax on top, or as needed to renew the luster.

I often wondered what Osmo would be like on a guitar. I've not used it on a whole body but when I bought a Harley Benton HBZ-2005 the laminated woods on the neck were slightly proud in some places. I sanded it and wondered what to do next before remembering I had some clear matt Poly x left over from an oak flooring job I did. I gave it two teeny tiny coats and it's come out beautiful as the bass is a natural matt finish. I don't think it'll need another coat in my lifetime.

 

[bherman]

Thanks all! It’s a fun bass with a lot of possibilities.

Someone asked for assembled weight. With my luggage scale, it comes in at 7.08lbs.


I’m not too weight obsessed, but definitely need a good coffee scale anyway.

Seeing lots of positive reviews for the Reverend pickup. If I buy one, I might take the advice to put a tougher finish on the body when it’s pickup swap time, but I’m not too worried about it at the moment.

Yeah I wasn’t necessarily suggesting refinishing the one you’ve already finished, but just looking at it when you do more projects, which it sounds like you will!

 

[bherman]

I often wondered what Osmo would be like on a guitar. I've not used it on a whole body but when I bought a Harley Benton HBZ-2005 the laminated woods on the neck were slightly proud in some places. I sanded it and wondered what to do next before remembering I had some clear matt Poly x left over from an oak flooring job I did. I gave it two teeny tiny coats and it's come out beautiful as the bass is a natural matt finish. I don't think it'll need another coat in my lifetime.

my late brother (rest in peace) introduced me to it years ago. He claimed that you really only needed one coat and he was an expert woodworker, but I found it best to put a first coat, lightly sanded, and then a second light coat. It’s very very tough stuff, it’s actually used on floors in Scandinavia.

 

[Kashofa]

Like this bass a lot. I want one with just and on-off switch so I can kill it and put it on a stand when I need to set it down. I end up playing with tone and vol wide open all the time so don't feel I really need them.