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Redefining a custom bass

#281
One additional thing about the clip...it's sloppy. Really sloppy, BUT I will say this about soundclips.

When I'm searching around YouTube checking out basses, cabs, pickups, or whatever, it's a pet peeve when the person doing the demo is more interested in showing off than giving an idea of what sounds are actually available. I didn't search 'speed demon slap dude," or "fastest bassist." I just want to hear the sounds. Slow, simple playing tends to tell me what I want to know a little better
 
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#283
emjazz said:
First, I really need a bass with a single TV Jones Thunderblade. Great sounding pickups!!

Secondly, I feel that the bass now looks like it sounds. Great job!

No tone knob eh? I always use a passive tone, but cool idea.
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I really can't recommend the Thunder'Blades highly enough. Really love them a lot. I coulda put one in the P bass sweet spot and been perfectly happy.

I think the bass looks more like it sounds too now. Kinda classy but kinda gnarly :)

I have an odd tendency to rip the tone knobs out of my basses and the Drake is a fairly Dark sounding bass to begin with. My Gretsch SpectraSonic is VV only, no tone and it's perfect. I do have a parts bass where I recently installed a Nordstrand Bigman. Made it VV with no tone and it's the first time I've done it where maybe I shouldn't have. The Bigman is also a fantastic pickup. Might drop a Tonestyler in that one at some point :)
 
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#284
dukeorock said:
One additional thing about the clip...it's sloppy. Really sloppy, BUT I will say this about soundclips.

When I'm searching around YouTube checking out basses, cabs, pickups, or whatever, it's a pet peeve when the person doing the demo is more interested in showing off than giving an idea of what sounds are actually available. I didn't search 'speed demon slap dude," or "fastest bassist." I just want to hear the sounds. Slow, simple playing tends to tell me what I want to know a little better
Click to expand...

Having played it myself through my Ampeg B-15N, WADR it sounds better than this recording. Feels great too! :bassist: I just watched a very thorough sound sample collection on the Lakin site for their Jerry Scheff model with 2 lipstick pu's - they had every standard genre of music, each pu setting, with rounds and with flats using a short generic 'song' related to each genre for each. It was pretty effective - I only listened to the genre's I was interested in bypassing the ones I would never play.

For no-fuss sampling like you did here, I agree that long, full notes let you hear the basses tone, which is the point. Appreciate the plug! :thumbsup:
 
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#285
dukeorock said:
I really can't recommend the Thunder'Blades highly enough. Really love them a lot. I coulda put one in the P bass sweet spot and been perfectly happy.

I think the bass looks more like it sounds too now. Kinda classy but kinda gnarly :)

I have an odd tendency to rip the tone knobs out of my basses and the Drake is a fairly Dark sounding bass to begin with. My Gretsch SpectraSonic is VV only, no tone and it's perfect. I do have a parts bass where I recently installed a Nordstrand Bigman. Made it VV with no tone and it's the first time I've done it where maybe I shouldn't have. The Bigman is also a fantastic pickup. Might drop a Tonestyler in that one at some point :)
Click to expand...

The Tonestyler is good - very clean, defined tone. :thumbsup:
 
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#287
JIO said:
Having played it myself through my Ampeg B-15N, WADR it sounds better than this recording. Feels great too! :bassist:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if it sounded better through your rig! Don't get much better than a B15N for recording!

As a custom cab builder, im very careful to make sure I honor my CUP agreeement, so instead of using one of my cabs I sell, I use a homemade sealed 212 prototype that never went into production. It's a decent enough cab, but I have others I prefer :)
 
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#289
Jon Clegg said:
I thought the clip sounded real good as well. I've done a tone-styler switch arrangement on one of my basses; I like it a lot; even at the lowest cutoff frequency it still sounds crisp rather than muffled which is what I dislike about traditional TC's.
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Same here! On a typical P bass, I'd rather tweak my amp eq than roll back a traditional tone control. I just don't like that sound at all. Will probably order one for my parts bass with the Nordy Bigman.
IMG_4826.jpg
 
#291
Well, Duke, I gotta disagree with you.

I agree that the JIOs work is awesome.
I agree that this bass looks awesome!
I agree with all the great things you said about Drakes.
I agree with the TV Jones Thunderblades being amazing.
Where I disagree is becoming emotionally attached to an instrument. There are a few that represent something important in my life and Sometimes that connection comes out on stage and raises my play far above my abilities.
 
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#292
Old Blastard said:
Well, Duke, I gotta disagree with you.

I agree that the JIOs work is awesome.
I agree that this bass looks awesome!
I agree with all the great things you said about Drakes.
I agree with the TV Jones Thunderblades being amazing.
Where I disagree is becoming emotionally attached to an instrument. There are a few that represent something important in my life and Sometimes that connection comes out on stage and raises my play far above my abilities.
Click to expand...

Man, I do get that for sure! Besides, I said I TRY not to get too sentimental. Didn't say I could always manage to avoid it :)
 
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#293
I have a '93 VFR750 (pic earlier in this thread) that I bought used in '96. It was owned by a Doctor and had 6k on the clock - broken in miles. It was pretty much brand new otherwise. I paid top dollar but had a feeling it was going to be a long term investment. VFR's are not crotch-rockets, especially the most recent version - this model was their 1st "sport touring" bike and the early ones were still very sporty. Anyway, I could go on and on with stories related, but it's nearing 100k, maybe by years end. I used to baby it like nobodies business. But it's now 24 yrs old, and plastic does what plastic does etc and so it's well beyond being "pristine". Still runs strong and I know it like the back of my hand. Sentimental? Sure, but it's also that every time I throw my leg over it - I don't have to think about how it will respond to my input. It makes piloting it intuitive with full focus on everything else on the ride. (which keeps me safe)

So a long preface for my personal instrument analogy - but when you know your instrument, when you've used it over years in many applications you become 'at one' with it. It essentially disappears in your hands and allows you to express yourself w/o being encumbered by focusing on the instrument - your fingers and ears are on 'automatic' and your unique expression is the pilot.

Wow.., pretty good for waking up late on a Sunday morning! :D (need more coffee!)
 
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#294
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#298
Check this cool "Murph" 33"scale (!) - not familiar with the (US) brand and the seller is going for a big vintage price on it but its design is right up my alley. All of these mid-60's designs were spawned by the 1958 Fender Jazzmaster, and 1962 Jaguar / Bass VI but they altered them enough to make them different. (and all thinner too) The lower bout looks a lot like the Del Rey but even more exaggerated. Cool angled string-stop!
1960's MURPH Squire Electric Bass Guitar w/ Original Hard Case #26447 | eBay
s-l1600-2.jpg
 
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#299
JIO said:
Check this cool "Murph" 33"scale (!) - not familiar with the (US) brand and the seller is going for a big vintage price on it but its design is right up my alley. All of these mid-60's designs were spawned by the 1958 Fender Jazzmaster, and 1962 Jaguar / Bass VI but they altered them enough to make them different. (and all thinner too) The lower bout looks a lot like the Del Rey but even more exaggerated. Cool angled string-stop!
1960's MURPH Squire Electric Bass Guitar w/ Original Hard Case #26447 | eBay
View attachment 2818323
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I'd never heard of MURPH but just looked it up. Pretty interesting story and instruments.

http://www.murphguitars.com

Murph.01a-e1407408204674.jpg
CalBass1.jpg
 
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#300
Reedt2000 said:
I'd never heard of MURPH but just looked it up. Pretty interesting story and instruments.

Murph Guitars | NOT just another guitar site!

View attachment 2818352 View attachment 2818353
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Cool - thanks! That is a good story - part of what used to make America great that isn't possible anymore regardless of what propaganda anyone spouts. It figures that CBS helped tank his dream - that period in our history was the dawn of what we're into on a much larger scale to this very day.
 
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