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I got the Pitbull pickup yesterday and I also ordered their Tone Twister which is just a four position rotary selector switch wired internally for Series/Parallel/North Coil/South Coil and the wire connections are set screws so you dont have to solder the four wires from the pickup or going to the volume pot on the switch end. Its kind of a lazy way out since I've done many before soldering regular switches, and I'm kind of embarrassed about paying $50 for a switch, but...I'm old and lazy. I have not routed the body for the pickup yet so I'm not sure when I'll have it all done, maybe by Friday.
Tone Twister link just for those curious.
Tone Twister link just for those curious.
I got the pickup and got it installed but I forgot I had to used the last of my solder on my last project and it was too late in the day to get more. I made a template and routed the body. It turned out good. I also confirmed that this bass does have a dual acting truss rod, which surprises me. It's a good thing it has one because I needed to put some back tension on it to get the neck flat with the strings off. I leveled the frets and it really plays great. I'll finish the wiring next weekend.
I took the mudbucker out and just put the cover back on to cover the hole for now, eventually I will make a pickguard that covers the hole.
I took the mudbucker out and just put the cover back on to cover the hole for now, eventually I will make a pickguard that covers the hole.
I meant I needed to put some forward tension on the neck to get it flat, with no strings and no tension on the truss rod it had a slight back bow.
I had to look that up. Pretty cool (and good eye on your part!).
For those not familiar, the first photo of this guy's bass in the following thread shows the finish well. I don't know that I'm seeing any rainbows, but it's definitely a white sparkle
Yeah it's hard to see. Each metallic flake is a different color, but it doesn't take over the alpine white. Not a complaint or anything, is what it is.I had to look that up. Pretty cool (and good eye on your part!).
For those not familiar, the first photo of this guy's bass in the following thread shows the finish well. I don't know that I'm seeing any rainbows, but it's definitely a white sparkle
I got the wiring all done and I have an issue with a crazy amount of static/noise. I used 500k CTS pots, a .047 cap and wired it from the Tone Twister like a P bass the volume works like it should and the tone works as it should. From the pickup to the TT is really simple because the leads from the pickup are fixed with set screws on a terminal strip on the TT instead of soldering. It sounds like the static you would get if the electronics were not grounded to the bridge and you were not touching the bridge but with my meter I have continuity from the bridge all the way to the TT where the ground wire terminates. Also, I can hear the static reduce when I touch the strings, in other words, this is not grounding static, its in addition to grounding static. The oddest part is the static is the worst when I have the TT selector on series and the least when in parallel, then in between in the two single coil positions. I am going to start bypassing parts going straight to the output jack to figure out where my problem is coming from, I might just wire it without a tone pot, I basically never run passive basses except with the tone wide open anyway. Here is a diagram of how the TT is wired, its really not possible to get this part wrong.
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I will add, even with the static, you can hear the pickup and all four positions have a distinct sound, none of which sound anything like an EB-0 which is exactly what I wanted. Once I get the static issue fixed I'll try to get some sound clips.
The noise issue was a bad instrument cable, it was a short 3' cable I rarely use. Once I swapped to a good cable its as quiet as you would expect.
As for the tone of the pickup, it is definitely unique. I didnt really have any preconceived ideas of what I was expecting it to sound like, but it does not sound like a P bass no matter which coil/coils are selected and the centerline of this pickup is on the centerline of where a split P would be adjusted for a 30.5" scale. If you didnt look at their website, the Pitbull is two 51P style coils in a guitar humbucker size pickup. I believe the standard Pitbulls are two of their Muy Grande coils which appear to have large pole pieces sort of like a Quarter Pounder or Bisonic, where the Pitbull Hybrid I got has one Muy Grande towards the bridge and a Tallboy, which appears to be a "vintage" 51 P coil towards the neck. They dont do a very good job of describing exactly what their coils/pickups are so I'm just guessing.
Picture of the PB Hybrid. Mine has a black cover, this picture you can see the two coils.
The tone is hard to describe but in series and parallel it sounds sort of like a Music Man pickup even though its in the P position. In series its got a lot more bottom and more overall output, and as you would expect in parallel its more even and clear with less overall output. In single/neck with the vintage style coil it has the most P like tone, but even then its subtle. In single/bridge with the Muy Grande coil its similar to the difference of series and parallel in humbucking, its got more bottom, more overall more output and it sounds nothing like a P, the closest comparison I can think of is a Rick bridge single coil but with more bottom and not as thin sounding.
This is early days obviously but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I like that it really doesn't sound like anything else, which is what I wanted. If I want even more varieties of tone I can put something in the original pickup location like a Model One, Bisonic or a Novak EB-BSx.
As for the tone of the pickup, it is definitely unique. I didnt really have any preconceived ideas of what I was expecting it to sound like, but it does not sound like a P bass no matter which coil/coils are selected and the centerline of this pickup is on the centerline of where a split P would be adjusted for a 30.5" scale. If you didnt look at their website, the Pitbull is two 51P style coils in a guitar humbucker size pickup. I believe the standard Pitbulls are two of their Muy Grande coils which appear to have large pole pieces sort of like a Quarter Pounder or Bisonic, where the Pitbull Hybrid I got has one Muy Grande towards the bridge and a Tallboy, which appears to be a "vintage" 51 P coil towards the neck. They dont do a very good job of describing exactly what their coils/pickups are so I'm just guessing.
Picture of the PB Hybrid. Mine has a black cover, this picture you can see the two coils.
The tone is hard to describe but in series and parallel it sounds sort of like a Music Man pickup even though its in the P position. In series its got a lot more bottom and more overall output, and as you would expect in parallel its more even and clear with less overall output. In single/neck with the vintage style coil it has the most P like tone, but even then its subtle. In single/bridge with the Muy Grande coil its similar to the difference of series and parallel in humbucking, its got more bottom, more overall more output and it sounds nothing like a P, the closest comparison I can think of is a Rick bridge single coil but with more bottom and not as thin sounding.
This is early days obviously but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I like that it really doesn't sound like anything else, which is what I wanted. If I want even more varieties of tone I can put something in the original pickup location like a Model One, Bisonic or a Novak EB-BSx.
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Good thing you got it figured out sooner than later! I'd be interested to hear some audio samples.
I'll try to get some audio samples, but I'll have to buy another interface, my son who thinks he is a hip hop producer says I cant have "his". Not a big deal, I'll just buy another one for me. His is a Focusrite, and I want to get another Axe I/O so I can do amp captures for my Tonex pedal.
On another note, I got this Epiphone because I didnt want to spend $1200+ for a real Gibson EB-0/3 and then rout the body and pull the bridge inserts out, etc to do this project. Then I see basses like this on Reverb, a 60's EB-0 shell with no hardware, its basically the ideal start if I wanted to do a real Gibson. My only concern is, beyond the obvious things you can see in the pictures, the neck could be warped making it a big risk buying something like this without seeing it in person first. It says the neck is straight, but who knows? I ask myself, why did it get stripped of all its hardware? What was wrong with it that someone didnt put it back together? Then I have to ask myself, what do I actually gain by using a '60s Gibson over my Epiphone? Other than "street cred" from other people and feeding my GAS, nothing. I have this Chinese Epi playing so well its not likely an old '60s Gibson will be significantly better, or even as good, purely from a playing perspective. I still want it though...just because.
On another note, I got this Epiphone because I didnt want to spend $1200+ for a real Gibson EB-0/3 and then rout the body and pull the bridge inserts out, etc to do this project. Then I see basses like this on Reverb, a 60's EB-0 shell with no hardware, its basically the ideal start if I wanted to do a real Gibson. My only concern is, beyond the obvious things you can see in the pictures, the neck could be warped making it a big risk buying something like this without seeing it in person first. It says the neck is straight, but who knows? I ask myself, why did it get stripped of all its hardware? What was wrong with it that someone didnt put it back together? Then I have to ask myself, what do I actually gain by using a '60s Gibson over my Epiphone? Other than "street cred" from other people and feeding my GAS, nothing. I have this Chinese Epi playing so well its not likely an old '60s Gibson will be significantly better, or even as good, purely from a playing perspective. I still want it though...just because.
If you are happy with how it plays and sounds, that is the most important thing about an instrument.
IMO that husk is too far altered to be worth the money they are asking.
I love the SG body style. Weird question. Why do you think the bottom half, when sitting upright, is wider than the top half where the horns are?
Many electric guitars and basses mimic an acoustic outline. The Fender Tele, Strat, Precisions, the Gibson Les Paul, SG, etc are all roughly acoustic body shapes with one or two cutaways. Those all have larger lower bouts and smaller upper bouts.
My EB-3 did need a neck reset after all. With the neck at the correct angle, I got the action down to my preferred setting.
I noticed that it sounds much better with fingers than with a pick, except with position 2 (bridge only) where the pick attack leapt to life. As it's a 1970 with the low wind neck pickup, it seems to sound its best with the gain up on the amp.
I noticed that it sounds much better with fingers than with a pick, except with position 2 (bridge only) where the pick attack leapt to life. As it's a 1970 with the low wind neck pickup, it seems to sound its best with the gain up on the amp.
Now you're good for another 50 years or so.
A well-done neck reset is a thing of beauty.
Enjoy!
