Richard Sinclair Jazz Bass mod

[PhR75]

One of my favourite bass sounds is on Hatfield & The North's "The Rotters' Club" album from 1975. The bassist is Richard Sinclair and I used to wonder about his sound compared to the recordings he did before and after that album (Caravan, Hatfield's debut, Camel etc.). He usually had a prominent Jazz Bass bridge pickup sound in his tone but on this album it sounds more like a P-bass but with a nod towards a Rickenbacker bridge pickup.
Eventually I found out that he had assembled a Gibson minihumbucker between the usual J pickups (and removing the J pickups altogether)
:

Here is how it sounds on the album:


Well, I have a hacked cheap J bass body so I gave it a go. The pickup is an OBL J-humbucker, the assembly is still rough but the sound is very much there. The location is about 30,5 cm from 12th fret to the edge of a pickup, a bit more north were a Stingray pickup would be.

Here's a soundclip of a very approximately played Hatfield bassline. With a harder touch you can get a very good Ric bridge pickup simulation (the location is about the same).

 

[HaphAsSard]

Hey there!

Here's a soundclip of a very approximately played Hatfield bassline. With a harder touch you can get a very good Ric bridge pickup simulation (the location is about the same).

What a joke.

(^ Do not take it seriously, really.)

 

[PhR75]

What a joke.
(^ Do not take it seriously, really.)

The only thing to do is grin and bear it!

Tadpoles kept screaming in my ear, I had to share it!

 

[HaphAsSard]

The only thing to do is grin and bear it!

Tadpoles kept screaming in my ear, I had to share it!

I mean: along with Jonathan Coe, does that make three of us (rotters)?
Bit of hyperbole, but I do believe, as I'm sure you do, that Richard deserves a lot more recognition than he gets.
Solid *and* upfront, big-stone bassism; a distinctive, understatedly poignant singing voice; great penmanship. Sinclair's got it all.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Oh: I forgot to tell you how awesome the pickup transplant sounds, didn't I?

 

[PhR75]

Agreed. One of the best voices in UK, not an ounce of pretension when he sings. Great basslines and -tone. And indeed a great writer too, although many lyrics ("Share It" for instance) came from the sharp pen of the best named drummer ever, Pip Pyle. But Richard's "Didn't Matter Anyway"...what a song.

If Fender were up to what people really need they would have issued the Gold Foil Jazz with the pickup in that Richard Sinclair approved location and without all those QC issues some of those repotedly had.
The Rotters' Jazz
The Richard Sinclair '75 Rotters' Club Signature Jazz
Going Going Gone Jazz
Big John Wayne Socks Psychology On The Jaw Jazz

Whatever they would have wanted to called it.

*He would deserve a signature fretless J-bass with his current preferred close-together P/J setup*

 

[Nashrakh]

Very happy to see there are other Sinclair fans out there. I always thought he was playing a PJ (I've seen photos of him with one ages ago), but this proves me wrong. I guess I did not imagine it after all... Interesting!

 

[woodyng2]

Another big fan of Sinclair’s many great talents. Always especially loved the bass sound on the Hatfield albums,
as well as the Camel albums he was a part of.

 

[Lo-E]

Until this morning I was completely unfamiliar with Richard Sinclair.

I really like TB. This, to me, is exactly what the internet is supposed to be.

 

[PhR75]

Very happy to see there are other Sinclair fans out there. I always thought he was playing a PJ (I've seen photos of him with one ages ago), but this proves me wrong. Interesting!

He settled into that configuration in the late seventies and actually has the P-pickup closer to the bridge than in the usual sweet spot.
This "Rotters" mod lasted only for a short while and when he joined Camel his Jazz had the J-pickups back in (with a hole in the middle!).
A pic from "Breathless" sleeve:

There's also a bigger space where the bridge pickup is and that could be because he first had the Gibson pickup in that location (inspired by Neil Murray's modified Fender Mustang he used in the early seventies).

 

[PhR75]

He apparently experimented a lot with different bodies, for example here's one with the P/J config and fretted neck vs. the "Breathless" pic the original body with no frets.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

This pic is from 1981:

 

[Panek]

Well, I have a hacked cheap J bass body so I gave it a go. The pickup is an OBL J-humbucker, the assembly is still rough but the sound is very much there.

B-but... but the tone is in the fingers!!

Just kidding, of course it isn't. Great job!

 

[PhR75]

B-but... but the tone is in the fingers!!

Just kidding, of course it isn't. Great job!

Thanks. And it is in fingers too, Sinclair has a very light touch apparently and I tried to mimic that too. I had the overdrive on too but tried to play as lightly I could so it sounded more like a loud amp. I believe he used an H/H amp at that time.

 

[SulzerType2]

That tone on Rotters Club is pretty good. An EB-3 bridge pickup is going to have fairly narrow string spacing, so he's lucky it all worked out.

That tone sounds great, OP!

 

[PhR75]

That tone on Rotters Club is pretty good. An EB-3 bridge pickup is going to have fairly narrow string spacing, so he's lucky it all worked out.

That tone sounds great, OP!

A very good point. Neil Murray said (I'm not pretending I know him, I just asked and he answered) that he had his Mustang's bridge modded in order to work with the narrower spacing so I guess Sinclair did the same.
Murray and Sinclair did gigs together when Neil played with Gilgamesh and Sinclair liked the tone Neil got from that pickup. I've no idea why he decided to move that pickup to the middle position (I did ask him too but got no answer), maybe he didn't have to mod the bridge that much.

 

[erratick]

Didn't know about these guys.

Neat.

Good experiment with the pickup placement. I think that makes a ton of difference- height and placement. Had been toying with doing something similar.

 

[Slevage]

One of my favourite bass sounds is on Hatfield & The North's "The Rotters' Club" album from 1975. The bassist is Richard Sinclair and I used to wonder about his sound compared to the recordings he did before and after that album (Caravan, Hatfield's debut, Camel etc.). He usually had a prominent Jazz Bass bridge pickup sound in his tone but on this album it sounds more like a P-bass but with a nod towards a Rickenbacker bridge pickup.
Eventually I found out that he had assembled a Gibson minihumbucker between the usual J pickups (and removing the J pickups altogether)
:View attachment 4974646 View attachment 4974647

Here is how it sounds on the album:


Well, I have a hacked cheap J bass body so I gave it a go. The pickup is an OBL J-humbucker, the assembly is still rough but the sound is very much there. The location is about 30,5 cm from 12th fret to the edge of a pickup, a bit more north were a Stingray pickup would be.
View attachment 4974650


Here's a soundclip of a very approximately played Hatfield bassline. With a harder touch you can get a very good Ric bridge pickup simulation (the location is about the same).

Which way is North on a bass?

 

[Axtman]

Maybe I have trypophobia (fear of holes), but it makes me uncomforable to see solid body instruments with missing parts not covered up by pickguard. (Sorry Eddi Van Halen.)

 

[PhR75]

Which way is North on a bass?

Towards the neck.

 

[PhR75]

Maybe I have trypophobia (fear of holes), but it makes me uncomforable to see solid body instruments with missing parts not covered up by pickguard. (Sorry Eddi Van Halen.)

Not a fan of Malcom's Gretsch either?

Will cover the holes, I promise.