This is some fun waiting to happen! Very beautiful instrument, thanks for posting it!
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Show us your 3 pickup basses!
- Thread starter Doner Designs
- Start date
That thing seems right up Doner's alley. It does Teh Mudz really well! And the LOOK is pretty hip!Deimel Guitarworks Firestar Bass
I thought I was cool by putting two lollars in my Jaguar and calling it the Thundercat. But this...
The fretboard and the thumb-rest are wenge. I really lucked out both in getting a spectacular neck & fretboard from Warmoth's showcase, and in finding a piece of wenge with a pattern that matches the neck.
Regarding the controls, here's what you're looking at:
In line are four concentric controls. A volume/tone for each individual pickup, and a master volume/tone (closest to the jack). The pickup tone controls are only to take the edge off the highs, they don't have the full range of a standard tone control. The master control does about half of what a normal tone control does. (The average tone control cuts way too much of the signal after about half a turn -- it's like the sound drops off a cliff, and I didn't want that on this bass.)
Note: Apparently, under normal circumstances, it is a bad idea to have two tone controls in-line. (I say "apparently" because I am not an electronics guy, but I am told this by electronics guys.) However, Michael at Invalid Link Removed developed a proprietary solution based on what I wanted. It was successfully tested, and Michael was very impressed with the final result. (I'll get to hear it when I get it back from Mike Lull, who's doing the final work on it, including getting it Plek'd.)
The other control is a 6-way selector switch. In the first position, I have manual control over all pickups with the individual volume/tone controls. If I want one or two or three pickups, I use the individual pickup volume to select/drop/mix each pickup, then I use the master volume/tone to control the mix.
The other five switch positions are tone presets. They are:
P-bass
J-bass
Ric
T-bird
Overdrive
When using any of the presets, the individual pickup controls are bypassed and only the master volume/tone have any effect. Note that the Turnstyle switch is not being used at all as a pickup selector. It can be used that way, but since Michael offers customized tones, and since I have manual control over all pickups in one position, I figured that using the Tonestyle for pickup selection would be a waste of a switch position.
Dood ... sa-WEET! What's the neck, mahogany? At first glance I thought it might be Padouk. I love Padouk necks, I leave them unfinished and they turn this great looking sortof brownish color after some time. I love how they may be left unfinished with no problems later on.
Anyhow, that is going to be one sick-ass bass very soon! Really nicely done, well thought out, innovative, a quite tasteful.
Good job Ace!!
Thanks! The neck wood is bubinga. I finished the headstock, so it looks more like mahogany than the rest of the neck. The neck will remain unfinished.
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Very impressive control panel setup. I think you are gonna love the tone.
I just got a chance to light up my G&L in an empty house for the first time. I like the single coil J type tones the best and the far outer coils sound amazing together - very J-like but fatter and somehow different but also familiar.
In humbucker mode its a snarling beast like a Stingray on steroids. In single mode its like a J on steroids.
I know I know - clips.
Hi there, Steve Doner asked me to share my three pickup 1987 F Bass on this thread. It is wired like a strat 5 position switch: neck, neck + middle, middle, middle + bridge, bridge. The tonal diversity with these EMG pickups blows away all of my two pickup bases (but I still love them too) 
Attachments
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Hi there, Steve Doner asked me to share my three pickup 1987 F Bass on this thread. It is wired like a strat 5 position switch: neck, neck + middle, middle, middle + bridge, bridge. The tonal diversity with these EMG pickups blows away all of my two pickup bases (but I still love them too)
Thanks for posting Ron...cool bass! I lurk in the F bass thread just to browse the pictures. My favortite finish is the natural with black grain. That green is unique and reminds me of my Spectorcore.
I love the switching ease of a 5 way, but my favorite combination on most 3 pickup basses is bridge + far neck which is usually not one of the choices with a strat switch.
You might want to add a "David Gilmour switch" to enable the other two combinations (bridge + far neck and All). One of the easier and more common mods.
Thanks again.
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Deimel Guitarworks Firestar Bass
I thought I was cool by putting two lollars in my Jaguar and calling it the Thundercat. But this...
Pretty cool bass though I am not fond of the body shape.
Watched the video. There is also a piezo inside the body!
... The tonal diversity with these EMG pickups blows away all of my two pickup bases (but I still love them too)
Very cool! Which EMG pickup are you using in the neck position?
Now I get to display my own ignorance
. The EMG pickups on my FBass are, I believe, as originally installed when the bass was built in 1987, and I really have no idea which ones they are.
Hi there, Steve Doner asked me to share my three pickup 1987 F Bass on this thread. It is wired like a strat 5 position switch: neck, neck + middle, middle, middle + bridge, bridge. The tonal diversity with these EMG pickups blows away all of my two pickup bases (but I still love them too)
Wowza! I love the color combination blue + black, and I particularly love the grain pattern on the upper horn!
What bridge is that? And what wood is the fretboard?
Now I get to display my own ignorance
No problem, I didn't realize that it was original to the bass.
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
When everything is all finished, we'll have to have a tone-off.
That'd be fun, but to be a true comparo we'd have to use the same strings, play the same tune and both of us would have to have my crappy playing skills.
Comparable or not, a thread-wide tone-off featuring clips of anyone who wants to participate with their 3+ pickup bass would be coolio for sure.
I'm having D'Addario nickle rounds put on (Mike Lull only uses D'Addario strings) 45-65-85-105. I also use DR coated strings in those same gages on some of my other bases.
But I still have to figure out how to do recordings on my computer.
But I still have to figure out how to do recordings on my computer.
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Except for having 3 pickups and being clueless about recordeing we are pretty opposite. You with singles and rounds, me with humbuckers and thumpy flats.
Not so fast -- Mine are humbuckers (split-coil), whether they look like it or not.
Well thats true, my Fretless also has them hiding.. this is also his signature bass but a proto that belonged to Stu....
