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TBC club

#206
I bought this TBC about 3 years ago off ebay UK from a bloke who seems to flip lefty basses a lot.

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Interestingly, the pics are not mine, but the original auction pics and descn listed on a Chinese site that claims to make instruments after giving them a $1 deposit. I don't see how they can copy this one, as the body core is pretty unique. Anyhoo, this is the seller's descn:

Left Handed Custom Walnut Burl TBC 5 String Bass. Handmade in the USA by Jack Wilson (The Bass Company).

Beautiful Chambered butternut center with gorgeous light Ash top and back. The body top center is a gorgeous piece of Walnut Burl which is over 100 years old. Just look at the grain in the fingerboard its so stunning. It's finished in a custom vintage chocolate burst finish which is done by hand. Beautiful Pau Ferro fingerboard and Dunlop frets.

34" scale length. Smoke Chrome hardware & light Ash wood control cavity cover. EMG HZ P bass pickup and Hot Custom wound Passive Soapbar complete with active Bass, Middle, Treble & tone controls. These pickups excellent quality! It also has a nice separate battery compartment area inside the control cavity.

Very comfortable to play and light cause of chambered body. Setup with low action with new Dean Markley strings.

I have no idea if this is Chinese or what, but (funny, the ones with issues seem to end up in England) there are things wrong that won't all be the fault of the reseller. The neck is over-tensioned which, with some fret sprout, causes fret buzz. The electronics are terrible; nothing acts correctly and, as it's a black box, I'm best off ripping it all out. While I'm at it, the EMG Hz and soap don't sound great anyway and I have KA replacements lined up. I was intending to replace the soap with an EBMM5 I have but the bridge string spacing is wider than the poles and I don't want to overdo the surgery.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but this is an unusual TBC and I thought it might interest someone.
 
#208
I heard a standard fender neck will not work with these basses, though the carving neck that will seems to have the same dimensions. I just messaged Dave to ask him, but I am wondering if any one here has had hands on with these body's. I am looking at a 4 string double j styled body direct from dave, I am just trying to get as much info as I can.

Thanks
SH
 
#209
^^^

The TBC bodies use the same heel size and shape of a standard Fender but require the 22 fret version such as the Carvin or Moses graphite necks due to the depth of the neck pocket. Standard Fender 20 fret necks will force the bridge to be located farther away, at the very end of the body. A few other manufacturers have proper fitting necks available as well, for varying costs.

This neck information is correct for the 4 string body but I don't believe it holds true for the 5 string body.

Carvin:
N422 Bolt-On 22 Fret 4 String Bass Neck
Invalid Link Removed

Moses:
MJ-144/2: 22 fret Fender 4-st fretted Jazz Deluxe
Invalid Link Removed
 
#212
My bass project got put on hold as I found the neck wasn't going to work due to an inoperable truss rod. Tber davec, who had purchased the assets of TBC, generously sent me a fretted replacement so I'll be able to get my project finished up. I found this bridge on ebay:

HIGH-Quality-4-String-Bass-guitar-Bridge-BLACK-19mm-string-space

It's very similar to the original and mounts perfectly in the same holes, although the included screws are too small.

I've got pickup covers on the way from Mojotone and will be building a MusicMan 3-band preamp from the info found here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/diy-stingray-3eq-preamp-883257/index4.html#post13746330
 
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#213
Once again, I am on hold. I was doing the wiring today and decided to go passive with Jazz bass wiring and series/parallel and phase switches. Went to mount the pickups and the Sheptone vintage style J pickups wouldn't fit. The old Seymour Duncan active J-pickups I have wouldn't fit, either.
Anybody have success finding exact fit Jazz pickups?
 
#214
I got a single-MM 5er sometime earlier this year, and I love it! The only problem is that the low B sorta just lays on top of the fret when I play it, and sounds REALLY muddy. I trust that it's a problem with the string itself, as everything else is basically fine. Have any of you experienced this? Could getting another set of strings fix it?
 
#215
EXILE03 said:
I got a single-MM 5er sometime earlier this year, and I love it! The only problem is that the low B sorta just lays on top of the fret when I play it, and sounds REALLY muddy. I trust that it's a problem with the string itself, as everything else is basically fine. Have any of you experienced this? Could getting another set of strings fix it?
Click to expand...

Perhaps raise the B string height at the bridge? I use a tapered B string on all my 5 string basses to try to get that B string more even in tone compared to the others.
 
#217
You should have looked a few posts up!

hbarcat said:
^^^

The TBC bodies use the same heel size and shape of a standard Fender but require the 22 fret version such as the Carvin or Moses graphite necks due to the depth of the neck pocket. Standard Fender 20 fret necks will force the bridge to be located farther away, at the very end of the body. A few other manufacturers have proper fitting necks available as well, for varying costs.

This neck information is correct for the 4 string body but I don't believe it holds true for the 5 string body.

Carvin:
N422 Bolt-On 22 Fret 4 String Bass Neck
Invalid Link Removed

Moses:
MJ-144/2: 22 fret Fender 4-st fretted Jazz Deluxe
Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...
 
#218
I have a TBC bass that I bought new in 1998. It has a single pickup, red, translucent finish and silver knobs. I can post pics when I get home but I'm interested if anyone knows more about it. I'm pretty sure it's one of their first releases. I'd like to know how much it's worth as I'm thinking of selling it.
 

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