The Few, the Proud, the Cowpokes. (official Fender Cowpoke club)

[DeakyFan]

Basses look great Brando28 and wabbit.
I was tempted to go with gold hardware on my walnut-finished Cowpoke but couldn't get the bits I wanted.
They seem to be good basses to mod, plenty of scope to do different things.

Wabbit - is the preamp on yours the same configuration as the stock Fender? Even with an SJB-3 at the bridge mine still has poor output from that pickup...

 

[luckykrieg]

Well, here it is. Serial number MN411924. When I bought this it was sunburst with a black pickguard. The active preamp was a mess, the pickups weren't working and the bridge was rusty. I had it custom painted in pearl black metallic - it has some subtle color change properties - black in certain light, charcoal grey in certain light, dark blue in sunlight. DiMarzio DP122 P-bass pickup, DiMarzio Ultrajazz at the bridge, Bartolini preamp. Gotoh 201 bridge. Chrome Tele-bass control plate and chrome knobs from Allparts. WD Music custom cut the white pearloid pickguard - it fit perfectly by the way. Helpful hint if you like the control plate - it comes pre-drilled with 2 holes and the holes lined up just about perfect with the 2 original holes from the original controls! I added a 3rd hole for the preamp I wanted to use. I was blessed when I found this bass as I have a chronic back issue and these Cowpokes are nice and light. Great player, sounds great, it likes to growl. It's my personal favorite. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[brando28]

Well, here it is. Serial number MN411924. When I bought this it was sunburst with a black pickguard. The active preamp was a mess, the pickups weren't working and the bridge was rusty. I had it custom painted in pearl black metallic - it has some subtle color change properties - black in certain light, charcoal grey in certain light, dark blue in sunlight. DiMarzio DP122 P-bass pickup, DiMarzio Ultrajazz at the bridge, Bartolini preamp. Gotoh 201 bridge. Chrome Tele-bass control plate and chrome knobs from Allparts. WD Music custom cut the white pearloid pickguard - it fit perfectly by the way. Helpful hint if you like the control plate - it comes pre-drilled with 2 holes and the holes lined up just about perfect with the 2 original holes from the original controls! I added a 3rd hole for the preamp I wanted to use. I was blessed when I found this bass as I have a chronic back issue and these Cowpokes are nice and light. Great player, sounds great, it likes to growl. It's my personal favorite. Let me know what you guys think.

Looks great! I have thought about adding the control plate to mine.

 

[brando28]

#40 for luckykrieg, Welcome to the club.

 

[jumbodbassman]

took some pictures , first time with the mac so hopefully this works....

 

[2cooltoolz]

luckykrieg, I love that bass! Guess you can tell from my avatar that I approve of the black, rosewood, pearl thing, but that tele control plate is the gravy! Very cool!

 

[Rip Topaz]

Well, here it is. Serial number MN411924. When I bought this it was sunburst with a black pickguard. The active preamp was a mess, the pickups weren't working and the bridge was rusty. I had it custom painted in pearl black metallic - it has some subtle color change properties - black in certain light, charcoal grey in certain light, dark blue in sunlight. DiMarzio DP122 P-bass pickup, DiMarzio Ultrajazz at the bridge, Bartolini preamp. Gotoh 201 bridge. Chrome Tele-bass control plate and chrome knobs from Allparts. WD Music custom cut the white pearloid pickguard - it fit perfectly by the way. Helpful hint if you like the control plate - it comes pre-drilled with 2 holes and the holes lined up just about perfect with the 2 original holes from the original controls! I added a 3rd hole for the preamp I wanted to use. I was blessed when I found this bass as I have a chronic back issue and these Cowpokes are nice and light. Great player, sounds great, it likes to growl. It's my personal favorite. Let me know what you guys think.

Love it!! The control plate is a great touch.

How light are these??

 

[SirMjac28]

Well, here it is. Serial number MN411924. When I bought this it was sunburst with a black pickguard. The active preamp was a mess, the pickups weren't working and the bridge was rusty. I had it custom painted in pearl black metallic - it has some subtle color change properties - black in certain light, charcoal grey in certain light, dark blue in sunlight. DiMarzio DP122 P-bass pickup, DiMarzio Ultrajazz at the bridge, Bartolini preamp. Gotoh 201 bridge. Chrome Tele-bass control plate and chrome knobs from Allparts. WD Music custom cut the white pearloid pickguard - it fit perfectly by the way. Helpful hint if you like the control plate - it comes pre-drilled with 2 holes and the holes lined up just about perfect with the 2 original holes from the original controls! I added a 3rd hole for the preamp I wanted to use. I was blessed when I found this bass as I have a chronic back issue and these Cowpokes are nice and light. Great player, sounds great, it likes to growl. It's my personal favorite. Let me know what you guys think.

I love it very nice Job

 

[luckykrieg]

Hey Rip - mine weighs 8 pounds 7 ounces.

 

[Rip Topaz]

That's not too bad at all.

 

[gimp]

For those who have tinkered with their Cowpokes...

I converted my Cowpoke over to passive, using the stock Jazz pickup and a set of "Hot for P-Bass" SPB-2s, but compared to other basses (specifically, a Squire P-Special with a stock Jazz and Quarter Pounders) the sound is very muddy. Is this a pickup type, height, or possibly phasing issue?

 

[jumbodbassman]

For those who have tinkered with their Cowpokes...

I converted my Cowpoke over to passive, using the stock Jazz pickup and a set of "Hot for P-Bass" SPB-2s, but compared to other basses (specifically, a Squire P-Special with a stock Jazz and Quarter Pounders) the sound is very muddy. Is this a pickup type, height, or possibly phasing issue?

the stock jazz pickup is not very good but i would say it is ( edit NOT ) muddy. SPB 2 is usually not muddy. what about pots and resistor??

 

[gimp]

the stock jazz pickup is not very good but i would say it is muddy. SPB 2 is usually not muddy. what about pots and resistor??

Pots and resistor are whatever my tech put in there when I asked him to do the swap. Is there a way for me to identify them to let you guys know?

The tone is muddy on the SPB 2 (which is what I use most of the time).

 

[gimp]

what about pots and resistor??

Link to a HUGE photo of the guts:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[gimp]

I just realized there is now way to read the whole thing. I'll post numbers later tonight.

 

[luckykrieg]

Gimp - try reversing the leads on ONE of the pickups. It may help. I have had that happen to me before.

 

[jumbodbassman]

check the cap. should be 47 with the pj setup and the pots 250 although 500 would not make muddy at all.

 

[gimp]

Not sure what to check for.

I did notice two things...

1. The pickup height was low, as the foam under my pickups was "lacking." I got new foam and raised them up using the "two nickels, then fine tune" method. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to reference it against another bass I'm used to.

2. The change in tone when bringing up the Jazz pickup from nothing is very subtle until you pin it. Then you get quite a drastic change.

 

[Timgebutler]

Vintage in my signature.

 

[jumbodbassman]

Not sure what to check for.

I did notice two things...

1. The pickup height was low, as the foam under my pickups was "lacking." I got new foam and raised them up using the "two nickels, then fine tune" method. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to reference it against another bass I'm used to.

2. The change in tone when bringing up the Jazz pickup from nothing is very subtle until you pin it. Then you get quite a drastic change.

by pin it do you mean full volume versus not . that is a function of the volume pot used. linear versus audio. raising the pickup will increase volume and presence but not take away mud..