• 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.

Telecaster Bass: curing "Mudbucker Syndrome"

#61
hmmmnnnnnn....

While those Squiers ARE tempting, I wish Fender would do a Tele Bass Reissue, with a '68 or '72 option, original finishes, no under pickguard surprises, both covers, choice of pups, vintage wiring, and good quality fit and finish. Guess I am dreaming...dratted Bean-Counters! :crying:
 
#63
OK...I'm ready to rant...

are you ready?

You guys with your gazillion $$$$ worth of gear! you have basses and basses coming out of your PORES...expensive ones, TOO!

and you don't have ways to make recordings????

THAT'S JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE! (ASSEPTIBLE for you Super Nannies out there :D )

go and get yourself one of those cool zoom H4 recording thingies...

put it in the room in front of your rig...turn it on...play....download to your computer...

DONE!
 
#64
Pilbara;
I ain't a gazillion dollar bass kinda guy. I paid $350 for that Tele back in 1976 or so, when no one gave a care about those.


So there!

I'll have some trax of it whenever the Goldbugs album finishes being mastered...
 
#65
PilbaraBass said:
THAT'S JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE! (ASSEPTIBLE for you Super Nannies out there :D )
Click to expand...

hold on there a sec, buckaroo. let me get this straight. you're upset because folks won't do something for you that you should be asking as a favor -- folks who are kind enough to share their thoughts and time already on this board no less -- folks who may not want to spend more of their money and more of their time on what you deem they should.

be thankful that people have already taken time to make soundclips, answered your questions, etc... don't demand it from other people like an ungrateful child.
 
#68
Chef said:
A nice piece of rhubarb pie would prolly calm him right on down.
Click to expand...
:D

I don't record sound samples mostly because I am lazy. I don't have any sort of digital recording setup here at the house (yet). That stuff costs money and I like to spend my money on basses/guitars, amps, tubes, and occasionally, cords.

The way my bass sounds depends and is constantly changing. The room, the amp I am playing through, how it is recorded, how well rested I am, etc. Too many variables and I don't think I could get an accurate representation. Because that representation is always changing.

But mostly I don't want to put something out there, and say "well here's what *insert bass here* sounds like. And have it be wrong.
 
#71
Chef said:
I don't think he's serious, just messin with us.

A nice piece of rhubarb pie would prolly calm him right on down.
Click to expand...

I could bake him one right now, but it will have to wait, cause I'm too busy counting the millions I've earned as a university music theory lecturer and elementary school music teacher.

Yeah, I paid about $250 for my '55, $800 for my '71, and $600 for my double bass. The '55 and the DB were purchased in the early 70's. The '71 was in 1999, IIRC. My wife won a lawsuit and bought me a Sadowsky...got a deal on a 3rd hand Valenti...Guess I'm rich in knowledge though, just not in material things...:D

Jeez, chef, I hope he doesn't like strawberries in his rhubarb, cause then I'd have to whoop him for being such a presumptive little boy. Oh...now I've lost my manners....it finally has happened. :hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

BTW, I get paid to record.
 
#76
This week's gigs have been this axe, and my walkabout scout 12.
New DA XL170's and a little trussrod tweak to flatten her back out: been cold and dry here.

Run the walkabout nearly flat; a slight tweak down with the sub-bass, a slight tweak up at 4khz.

Huge, clear sound. Verrry responsive pickup.
It feels like there's a bus ready to run you over;)
Play nice and light up by the neck, and it's just big and clear. Center your right hand and dig in, and it just barks right thru the mix.

Flippin' awesome.
I'm taking it to work again tonight.
dstele-1.gif


The only bass that sounds close to this is an old G&L L1000 in "single coil+bass bosst mode," but that setting gives up some cut and clarity to the DarkStar.
 
#77
Just got done sifting through the posts on this topic. Glad to see the thread resurrected.

I've got a couple of these original Tele basses as well, a '75 and a '77, if only for pure aesthetic reasons 'cause I simply love the look of them. The '75 was modded by a previous owner with a second P PUP added near the bridge. The combo of both PUPs is amazing - huge and fat with that badly needed clarity that these basses are sorely lacking. Quite frankly I'm surprised that Fender never considered reissuing these basses with a second PUP added at the bridge, since about 75% of the originals ended up being modded that way by their owners. It's such a simple yet effective solution to the inherent problem with these basses, and it gives you the flexibility of dialing in the mud if should ever need it.

I've had my eye on Darkstars for a while for dropping into a Guild B302 I have, but I hadn't considered them for a Tele bass and I'm reluctant to mod a vintage bass. (The Guild is already hacked up, so now threat of devaluation there). There is one subtle yet slightly effective solution to the stock mudbucker PUP that I read about, and that is to remove 2 of the 4 magnet poles in the PUP. They simply unscrew out. I did it to both my Teles, and it does clean up the tone a little.
 
#78
The only mod to this bass was a new p/g and pup.

It can go back to dead stock in under 20 minutes; all the old bits pulled right out with the old p/g. No new holes or nuttin.
 
#80
See and hear the notorious DarkStar'd Tele on youtube:
The Fried Crawdaddies:
"What a Fool" written by pianist John D'Agostino:

written by now deceased songwriter Jerome Wheeler...
Pretty sloppy rendition by various former members of the band as part of a fundraiser for his surviving family...
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back