Phil lesh style bass

[lowendblues]

Those Ritter basses are really wild. Kind of like an artist and luthier combined project.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Don't sweat it. A Precision worked fine for John Kahn and Jerry didn't seem to mind it either.

And John's Steinberger was perfectly suitable.

 

[edwinhurwitz]

This is what you need.

 

[Axstar]

This is what you need.View attachment 3107378

Ooofties! I'm guessing Alembic bridge/tailpiece and Series 1 electronics, plus dummy coil? That must be pretty close to Big Brown/Godfather, just without the quad pickup kit.

I love those big Raytheon control knobs.

 

[bluesblaster]

The closest I have gotten to the classic late 60's/ early 70's era Phil tone is with my German made Warwick star bass II, soloing the front pickup and using a pick. Gets me in the neighborhood of working mans dead -Mars hotel sounds

 

[Axstar]

I'm wondering if this Mensinger bass belongs in the Phil Zone?

Link Removed

 

[edwinhurwitz]

Ooofties! I'm guessing Alembic bridge/tailpiece and Series 1 electronics, plus dummy coil? That must be pretty close to Big Brown/Godfather, just without the quad pickup kit.

I love those big Raytheon control knobs.

Alembic bridge/tailpiece, and Series pickups. The electronics started as a baggie full of parts, including the preamp card, from ca. 1973. It took quite a bit of experimenting to get it all sorted out (especially after accidentally setting the filter frequencies in the Mhz range!). It's similar to Big Brown, with a high pass filter instead of the state variable filter.

The only real issue with this bass is that I've struggled to get it to play perfectly in tune. I finally took it to a local luthier and we discovered that the frets are not placed perfectly, so there may be a new fingerboard in its future. It's also a bit noisy in some venues. I'm thinking a trip to Alembic for the noise upgrade and a new fingerboard would be the way to go.

It plays amazingly and it's far and away my #1 gigging bass. Nothing else sounds like it. It even does a great slap tone.

 

[Axstar]

Alembic bridge/tailpiece, and Series pickups. The electronics started as a baggie full of parts, including the preamp card, from ca. 1973. It took quite a bit of experimenting to get it all sorted out (especially after accidentally setting the filter frequencies in the Mhz range!). It's similar to Big Brown, with a high pass filter instead of the state variable filter.

The only real issue with this bass is that I've struggled to get it to play perfectly in tune. I finally took it to a local luthier and we discovered that the frets are not placed perfectly, so there may be a new fingerboard in its future. It's also a bit noisy in some venues. I'm thinking a trip to Alembic for the noise upgrade and a new fingerboard would be the way to go.

It plays amazingly and it's far and away my #1 gigging bass. Nothing else sounds like it. It even does a great slap tone.

Amazing stuff! Good work getting the electronics working. Big Brown got an ebony fretboard somewhere along the way, maybe for the same reason?

 

[mellowgerman]

I know you're asking about basses specifically here, but maybe just add an Alembic SF-2 Superfilter to the stable? Crazy versatile and might do a good job bridging the gap between your Peavey and Phil's current basses. They can still be had used for around $650-750 if you're patient.