The Mike Lull Club Part 4

[bass12]

It's getting some Labella nylon tapes today which should be a nice balance as well. I think it has the stock D'Addario strings.

It sounds great. Just rolling off more treble than I usually do. The tone knob covers plenty of ground. I do wish for a bit more vintage smoothness off the neck pickup but I'll keep playing with pickup heights and strings.

I should have mentioned that I have a Sadowsky preamp in my ash/maple Lull - and I find that even flat that preamp tends to be on the sizzly side. But played acoustically it's clear that the natural voice of the instrument is quite bright. I love it though, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[BGroovy]

I should have mentioned that I have a Sadowsky preamp in my ash/maple Lull - and I find that even flat that preamp tends to be on the sizzly side. But played acoustically it's clear that the natural voice of the instrument is quite bright. I love it though, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

I've got the bart 2 band. I'm only playing this bass passive right now. If I was going to use active I prefer to mainly bump mids. I'd probably drop in one of the new Trickfish prewired preamp.

My Serek (my #1 right now) is passive so my board is setup gain staging for passive anways.

 

[BGroovy]

Tie Dyed LaBella nylon silk wrapped NAMM specials on the M4V for a little flair.

 

[RocketMusic]

It's getting some Labella nylon tapes today which should be a nice balance as well. I think it has the stock D'Addario strings.

It sounds great. Just rolling off more treble than I usually do. The tone knob covers plenty of ground. I do wish for a bit more vintage smoothness off the neck pickup but I'll keep playing with pickup heights and strings.

You also might want to check the values of the potentiometer and the capacitor in the tone circuit. I would expect a 250 kOhm pot and a .047 uF cap, but sometimes folks sub other values to make a bass brighter or darker.

And even if those are the values you find, not all .047 uF caps are exactly .047 uF. There are tolerances involved which might mean you want to experiment by keeping the same value but replace the cap with a different one.

 

[BGroovy]

You also might want to check the values of the potentiometer and the capacitor in the tone circuit. I would expect a 250 kOhm pot and a .047 uF cap, but sometimes folks sub other values to make a bass brighter or darker.

And even if those are the values you find, not all .047 uF caps are exactly .047 uF. There are tolerances involved which might mean you want to experiment by keeping the same value but replace the cap with a different one.

no signs it's been modified, but I can't read the value of the push/pull tone or the capacitor. Looks like 473k markings but no units.

 

[kevk]

Newest M4V! Firemist Charcoal—there can be a subtle variance with this color, based on the custom paint mix. I've had two, but this is my favorite rendition…very "metallic-y" in person. More aggressive tones than my Porsche Oak Green M4V (chambered alder, roasted neck, ebony fb, Lull JJ's, IPA preamp) NAMM bass…

Installed a set of LaBella IMA sig super polished 45-103's…chambered alder, rosewood fb, Lull JJ's, IPA preamp, 8.1 lbs…

 

[tb-player]

Newest M4V! Firemist Charcoal—there can be a subtle variance with this color, based on the custom paint mix. I've had two, but this is my favorite rendition…very "metallic-y" in person. More aggressive tones than my Porsche Oak Green M4V (chambered alder, roasted neck, ebony fb, Lull JJ's, IPA preamp) NAMM bass…

Installed a set of LaBella IMA sig super polished 45-103's…chambered alder, rosewood fb, Lull JJ's, IPA preamp, 8.1 lbs…View attachment 7200662

That's nice!!

 

[RocketMusic]

no signs it's been modified, but I can't read the value of the push/pull tone or the capacitor. Looks like 473k markings but no units.

View attachment 7197992

That pot second from the top appears to be a 500k? Probably the blend pot?

Might be worth a shout to Spencer to check if that's their standard value for a blend pot. A 250k there should make it sound less bright.

Here's one possible source for one:

Alpha Blend Pots - StewMac

Control the mix of pickups and transducers.

www.stewmac.com

 

[BlueTalon]

Tie Dyed LaBella nylon silk wrapped NAMM specials on the M4V for a little flair.

View attachment 7197969View attachment 7197970

How do those strings sound? And where can I get some?

 

[BGroovy]

How do those strings sound? And where can I get some?

I love them. So smooth. No finger noise. A surprising amount of brightness. They feel fast, makes you want to noodle up and down the fretboard.

They're based on the LaBella white nylon tape wounds. They do a limited run for NAMM with silk threads in wild colors. I had a 5 string lime green set on my Modulus Flea JJ. They pair really well with jazz basses IMO.

 

[steveh35]

Got my new-to-me M4V a few days ago and have made some cool discoveries. This one has been well played, toured with for years and lived a whole life. First thing I noticed was how incredible the smaller body size feels and shockingly light it is! Plays like a dream, sounds absolutely fantastic.

It has a small crack in the body up by the neck, so I took the neck off to make sure everything was structurally sound (I think all ok). The bass is a very cool teal green, so I figured it was some sort of trans green. But in the neck it is marked as trans blue. Did it fade to this color? Only one way to find out. I pulled off the pickguard and…

How cool is that?!?! I love stuff like this!! Was going to put a tortoise shell pickguard on, but now even thinking clear might be cool. Unique.

Happy to be part of the club

 

[BGroovy]

Got my new-to-me M4V a few days ago and have made some cool discoveries. This one has been well played, toured with for years and lived a whole life. First thing I noticed was how incredible the smaller body size feels and shockingly light it is! Plays like a dream, sounds absolutely fantastic.
View attachment 7206883
It has a small crack in the body up by the neck, so I took the neck off to make sure everything was structurally sound (I think all ok). The bass is a very cool teal green, so I figured it was some sort of trans green. But in the neck it is marked as trans blue. Did it fade to this color? Only one way to find out. I pulled off the pickguard and…
View attachment 7206886
View attachment 7206884
How cool is that?!?! I love stuff like this!! Was going to put a tortoise shell pickguard on, but now even thinking clear might be cool. Unique.

Happy to be part of the club

Clear would be really cool on that. congrats on your Lull! I'd say "the good ones always get played" but I haven't come across a bad Lull. Yours has that extra mojo from the road!

 

[BlueTalon]

I love them. So smooth. No finger noise. A surprising amount of brightness. They feel fast, makes you want to noodle up and down the fretboard.

They're based on the LaBella white nylon tape wounds. They do a limited run for NAMM with silk threads in wild colors. I had a 5 string lime green set on my Modulus Flea JJ. They pair really well with jazz basses IMO.

It's too bad they don't offer the rainbow version. I'd get a couple of sets.

 

[BlueTalon]

Got my new-to-me M4V a few days ago and have made some cool discoveries. This one has been well played, toured with for years and lived a whole life. First thing I noticed was how incredible the smaller body size feels and shockingly light it is! Plays like a dream, sounds absolutely fantastic.
View attachment 7206883
It has a small crack in the body up by the neck, so I took the neck off to make sure everything was structurally sound (I think all ok). The bass is a very cool teal green, so I figured it was some sort of trans green. But in the neck it is marked as trans blue. Did it fade to this color? Only one way to find out. I pulled off the pickguard and…
View attachment 7206886
View attachment 7206884
How cool is that?!?! I love stuff like this!! Was going to put a tortoise shell pickguard on, but now even thinking clear might be cool. Unique.

Happy to be part of the club

I wouldn't put any pickguard at all on that!

 

[bass12]

Got my new-to-me M4V a few days ago and have made some cool discoveries. This one has been well played, toured with for years and lived a whole life. First thing I noticed was how incredible the smaller body size feels and shockingly light it is! Plays like a dream, sounds absolutely fantastic.
View attachment 7206883
It has a small crack in the body up by the neck, so I took the neck off to make sure everything was structurally sound (I think all ok). The bass is a very cool teal green, so I figured it was some sort of trans green. But in the neck it is marked as trans blue. Did it fade to this color? Only one way to find out. I pulled off the pickguard and…
View attachment 7206886
View attachment 7206884
How cool is that?!?! I love stuff like this!! Was going to put a tortoise shell pickguard on, but now even thinking clear might be cool. Unique.

Happy to be part of the club

Yeah, a clear guard will look great on that!

 

[steveh35]

Yeah, a clear guard will look great on that!

Thanks! If anyone has a clear or tortoiseshell they would sell, let me know

 

[bass12]

Thanks! If anyone has a clear or tortoiseshell they would sell, let me know

Better to have one made to match your already-existing guard. Otherwise the screw holes aren't likely to line up.

 

[steveh35]

Better to have one made to match your already-existing guard. Otherwise the screw holes aren't likely to line up.

I meant an M4V guard of course. Pattern 902

 

[bass12]

I meant an M4V guard of course. Pattern 902

Yes, but the same idea applies. I tried to switch the guards on two M5Vs (from the same build batch) and the screw holes didn't line up.

 

[Geri O]

Yeah, a clear guard will look great on that!

I'm tellin' ya….