Sheehan fans - LOOK!

[Bass4LifeRS]

I'v never heard of anyone else that uses a pickup in the mud position and sends that signal to a different amp/pa just to blow peoples clothes off from the wind of the PA subwoofers. That alone is crazy

 

[FenderHotRod]

Wow, Billy does his own fret leveling. Cool.

One note kids: He forgot to mention the part about removing relief and making the fretboard flat before you begin Otherwise, great advice, especially about trying to figure out as much as you can about how to put a good, personalized set-up on your guitars.

I also think he use to work on his own amps back in the day.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

I'm not a huge Billy fan, but I gotta say, that bass is giving me a little tingle of GAS

 

[line6man]

and his bass has/had dual outputs, too.....

I noticed that. What good is a Billy Sheehan-esque bass without dual outputs? Unless they simply used a TRS jack?

The mudbucker pickup is not very accurate, aesthetics-wise, either.
I don't think anyone is going to want an old Gibson mudbucker like The Wife had, but the (DiMarzio?) version with the black plastic, and two rows of pole pieces just doesn't look the same.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

What good is a Billy Sheehan-esque bass without dual outputs? Unless they simply used a TRS jack?

The idea is that you can send each pickup's signal to a different amplifier, creating a unique stereo mix (a full bass tone from one amp plus a full treble tone from the other). The Rickenbacker 4003 is the most well-known bass with that feature, which has been used by many other bassists aside from Sheehan (Chris Squire, Geddy Lee and John Entwistle come to mind).

 

[line6man]

The idea is that you can send each pickup's signal to a different amplifier, creating a unique stereo mix (a full bass tone from one amp plus a full treble tone from the other). The Rickenbacker 4003 is the most well-known bass with that feature, which has been used by many other bassists aside from Sheehan (Chris Squire, Geddy Lee and John Entwistle come to mind).

You've misread me.
I'm well familar with the biamped setup Billy uses, and with the way he runs his rig, it's pretty useless to only have the one output. To my knowledge, whenever Billy plays his bass through only one amp, he just uses the P pickup.

You really have to have the dual outputs to take advantage of the P/Mudbucker setup.

 

[hachi kid]

about the Dimarzio Model One pickup: that's actually metal, not plastic. also, hey man. long time no talk.

 

[Josh Pelican]

I am really diggin' this bass. I prefer the 'burst, but I wouldn't mind trying one out.

 

[Meddle]

Will they do a 'heavy relic' version with the pickguard all cracked up and pinned down with metal circles?

 

[millsbass5]

Will they do a 'heavy relic' version with the pickguard all cracked up and pinned down with metal circles?

They should. You know those companies are perfectly capable of making an exact replica. Hell,look at the Van Halen clone. Spot on.

 

[RaginRog]

HI

Awesome. We used to go see him when he was with Talas in the early 80s. We would hang around before and after the show. He let me play his bass once. I was expecting the coolest, lowest action Fender ever. What I got was the lousiest highest action bass ive ever played. Its amazing what he could get out of that instrument being the state of its setup and condition. Greatness for sure.

Rob

I never imagined "The Wife" having a great feel for anyone but Billy. That's very cool that you were able to meet him, and get to play such an iconic bass.

Did he cut out a thumbrest in the pickguard...looks like there's an anchor point between the P pickup and EBO pu.

 

[hachi kid]

that surprises me to hear stories of the bass being absolutely awful to play.....the stuff he did on that thing was just disgusting, and to think that it was one of the worst basses you've ever played.....*back to woodshed*


as far as that anchor point, I assume that's just a wear spot after years of use.

 

[mgs2277]

I actually got to play the Wife back in 1981 for a few minutes backstage at Stage One. Ok, 30 years ago, but I don't recall the action being high. It was heavy as hell, and loved how he wore a great thumb spot into the pick guard , but I thought it was easy to play. Billy was starting to teach at the time and I as discussing doing lessons with him. Never transpired, but he was a nice guy.

 

[bassguitarthund]

another vid of Billy's greatness
Billy Sheehan - Bass Solo - YouTube

 

[oneillj]

Maybe he likes a really clean sound... thus the high action. Low action feels nice but there's a lot of buzz in there.

 

[RaginRog]

yeah, that's why prefer medium high action...I'm far from being a finesse player!

 

[wagdog]

Not an exact reproduction but still pretty cool. The price translates to a little over $1,600 and the description says only 30 are going to be made. I wonder how it sounds compared to the Yamaha signature model?

 

[powmetalbassist]

Huge Billy Sheehan Fan hear. From his days with David Lee Roth, Mr. Big (Now and back in the 90's). Not a huge fan of Fender though!

 

[Mr. Foxen]

Billy is amazing, but he obviously does not know how to properly string a bass. How very odd....

Doesn't know how to string a bass for other people. Lots of the point in knowing how to do it is you can set it up for yourself.

 

[rulyongo]

Actually, I like it!!!