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The official "Show your basses" thread part 19!
- Thread starter smperry
- Start date
this pickgard is a killer ! I love itBehold, my new old bass !For the story:A few years ago, I decided I wanted a P bass. I ended up buying this Squier Classic Vibe 70s. It's great.It was originally black (still is) with a black plastic pickguard.I immediately did some mods to it :-I installed Fender Pure Vintage '63 pickups (very bassy),-an Obsidian Wire control system,-a Fender bridge cover for aesthetics-and J bass knobs because I like them better.Recently, I started getting annoyed by background noise with the bass: humming, hissing and static. (My place is very bad for electricity.) It wasn't overbearing normally, but would be amplified dramatically by any OD pedal.So, I decided to shield the cavity. At the same time, I ordered a black anodized aluminum pickguard.I shielded the cavity with copper tape, sanded down the back of the pickguard to the aluminum around the pickups and the pots.I mounted the new pickguard and... The bass is DEAD silent now ! Even when the volume is fully up and running through different effects, if I don't touch it, I don't hear it.Plus, I think the black aluminum pickguard looks absolutely gorgeous, especially with silver screws marking the contour.So fun to give new life to an instrument !!!
Here's pretty much every instrument I own, and in order of acquisition they are: 1983 Tama Superstar, my duffel bag of percussion toys, 2023 Yamaha trbx174, 2024 Yamaha trbx605, 2025 Jazz that was custom built by me from a kit from Solo, and to round things out my 2025 Gretsch Club Jet guitar. I've been leaning pretty hard into the music thing these past two years after taking some decades off. It's been really good for my brain, so much better than doomscrolling while the world burns. My dog even plays along on his squeaky toys
The 2 most recent additions
Status Tbass 5
Status Stealth 5
Status Tbass 5
Status Stealth 5
From L to R:
MM Stingray 2EQ
MM Cutlass
MM Stingray 2EQ
MM Stingray 2EQ Fretless
Fender Steve Harris
Fender Tony Franklin Fretless
G&L L2000 Fretless
MM Bongo 5HH
MM Caprice
Dingwall NG2-5
MM Stingray 2EQ
MM Cutlass
MM Stingray 2EQ
MM Stingray 2EQ Fretless
Fender Steve Harris
Fender Tony Franklin Fretless
G&L L2000 Fretless
MM Bongo 5HH
MM Caprice
Dingwall NG2-5
So my herd has changed up some, back in September actually. I had 8 basses, sold off four, then picked up my custom from Ferner that I had ordered the year before, putting me at 5 basses.
My main 3, left to right....
1) 2019 MIM Player Precision with gold anodized aluminum pickguard and FCS 62 P pup
2) 2024-2025 Ferner Custom
ordered Sept 29th, 2024
picked up Sept 19th 2025
2 piece choice alder body with forearm & belly contours
Quilted flame maple top & matching control cavity cover
3 piece maple/mahogany/maple neck, vintage C profile slimmed to 20mm(1st fret) 23mm 12th fret
Macassar Ebony Fretboard, 10" radius, 1&5/8ths bone nut
Mother of Pearl block inlays and binding
3mm side dots
Hip shot tuners with Xtender
Hipshot brass A style, string thru bridge
Neck Pup - Delano JMVC4 FE/M2 in the Fender 51P position
Bridge Pup - Delano MC4 FE/M2 in the Wal bridge position
Controls(passive) - vol/vol(concentric) 3 way series/single coil/parallel switch, single knob tone control
3) 2019 Am Performer Precision PJ, no greasebucket tone circuit, CTS, Switchcraft & Vitamin Q control components and Aguilar's hum cancelling PJ pup set, all covered with a 4 ply white/black/white/black pearl pickguard from WD.
I also have a 2019 Fender Kingman acoustic, and a 2022 Fender Jazz V not pictured.
And I have 2 wall hangers as well, but don't count them in my bass count. A 1988 Epiphone Accu Bass and a 2015 FSR Squier Jaguar. The Epi is EMG GZR P pup equipped and just needs a good setup, but it's heavy. The Squier needs new pups and controls and not worth it to me to spend the money and time on.
My main 3, left to right....
1) 2019 MIM Player Precision with gold anodized aluminum pickguard and FCS 62 P pup
2) 2024-2025 Ferner Custom
ordered Sept 29th, 2024
picked up Sept 19th 2025
2 piece choice alder body with forearm & belly contours
Quilted flame maple top & matching control cavity cover
3 piece maple/mahogany/maple neck, vintage C profile slimmed to 20mm(1st fret) 23mm 12th fret
Macassar Ebony Fretboard, 10" radius, 1&5/8ths bone nut
Mother of Pearl block inlays and binding
3mm side dots
Hip shot tuners with Xtender
Hipshot brass A style, string thru bridge
Neck Pup - Delano JMVC4 FE/M2 in the Fender 51P position
Bridge Pup - Delano MC4 FE/M2 in the Wal bridge position
Controls(passive) - vol/vol(concentric) 3 way series/single coil/parallel switch, single knob tone control
3) 2019 Am Performer Precision PJ, no greasebucket tone circuit, CTS, Switchcraft & Vitamin Q control components and Aguilar's hum cancelling PJ pup set, all covered with a 4 ply white/black/white/black pearl pickguard from WD.
I also have a 2019 Fender Kingman acoustic, and a 2022 Fender Jazz V not pictured.
And I have 2 wall hangers as well, but don't count them in my bass count. A 1988 Epiphone Accu Bass and a 2015 FSR Squier Jaguar. The Epi is EMG GZR P pup equipped and just needs a good setup, but it's heavy. The Squier needs new pups and controls and not worth it to me to spend the money and time on.
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First orange bass is Alleva Coppolo LG5 Classic
and the white one ise Fodera Emperor 5 Standart
Both basses are incredible
My only bass. I don’t see the need to buy another, but I probably will, anyway. One of the stock fender pups gave out, I replaced both with some drop in jazz Seymour Duncan’s.
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Hi everyone, new member. I posted my bass above. But how did I get here? Let me explain as unnarssistically as I can.
We moved to another state back in 2011 with my job, snatching my kids away from their schools and friends. Transition wasn’t bad for anyone except for my 6th grade daughter. You can imagine, I won’t spell out the drama.
We try and try to make it up to her, she eventually come out of her funk and we move on. But Christmas of 2013 approaches and when she asks for a bass guitar, we - still feeling residual guilt - decide to make a bass guitar happen. We go to the local music store and order one. Not knowing anything about bass guitars, we get her a Fender Jazz. I could have sworn we did a custom but in retrospect it seems like our selections aligned with a US Standard Jazz Bass that was a common make, so I think now they just ordered that.
For my daughter, it turned out to be a mistake. She was delighted with it and played it as best she could, but it was just too big. We should’ve got a Mustang or short scale bass. So she played it for awhile then just put it away, throwing all her effort into clarinet at which she is very good now.
The bass laid in its case for almost 12 years. Untouched. Unplayed.
Back in 2019 I start tinkering with a strat knockoff we had gotten for my son that he had not a care for. Nothing special but it eventually led me to get a PRS and a Strat over several years. I liked playing but never got deep into them. More of a hobby for my hands while watching TV. Something was missing I enjoyed playing but just not a 6 string.
Then recently, I picked up the bass and found I really liked playing it over the others. I noodled around with it learning the basics as best as one can in early 2025 from YouTube. I mention my efforts to our bassist at church and tell him I would love to play in the band/orchestra some day. He states point blank that he wants to take a break for awhile and that maybe I could spell him for a bit while he focuses more on the production side. It’s a BIG church with a large media production team of which I am also a part. I agree and he says he will talk to the hear of music.
I figure I had better learn how to really play from sheet music so in anticipation of actually being allowed to play, I start learning worship music and how to read sheet music, all the while getting better at bass. It pays off huge, I am put on the schedule to play with the band in June.
I thought I would be just another head on stage within the orchestra and nobody would really see me. Nope. Turns out that was the first Sunday the orchestra was taking a break for the summer and now just the core band (drum, lead, acoustic, keys, piano, and bass) was on stage. Standing. Up front. Broadcast on the web to thousands. I am nervous but I push through and did fine. Well enough that I am now solidly on the rotation and have been playing often in the band. I still swap with the other fellow off and on.
It’s crazy how I managed to back into playing bass in a band when a year ago I had no inkling on bass and no urge to be in a band. As it stands now, I love it and can’t wait to learn new music on a weekly basis.
We moved to another state back in 2011 with my job, snatching my kids away from their schools and friends. Transition wasn’t bad for anyone except for my 6th grade daughter. You can imagine, I won’t spell out the drama.
We try and try to make it up to her, she eventually come out of her funk and we move on. But Christmas of 2013 approaches and when she asks for a bass guitar, we - still feeling residual guilt - decide to make a bass guitar happen. We go to the local music store and order one. Not knowing anything about bass guitars, we get her a Fender Jazz. I could have sworn we did a custom but in retrospect it seems like our selections aligned with a US Standard Jazz Bass that was a common make, so I think now they just ordered that.
For my daughter, it turned out to be a mistake. She was delighted with it and played it as best she could, but it was just too big. We should’ve got a Mustang or short scale bass. So she played it for awhile then just put it away, throwing all her effort into clarinet at which she is very good now.
The bass laid in its case for almost 12 years. Untouched. Unplayed.
Back in 2019 I start tinkering with a strat knockoff we had gotten for my son that he had not a care for. Nothing special but it eventually led me to get a PRS and a Strat over several years. I liked playing but never got deep into them. More of a hobby for my hands while watching TV. Something was missing I enjoyed playing but just not a 6 string.
Then recently, I picked up the bass and found I really liked playing it over the others. I noodled around with it learning the basics as best as one can in early 2025 from YouTube. I mention my efforts to our bassist at church and tell him I would love to play in the band/orchestra some day. He states point blank that he wants to take a break for awhile and that maybe I could spell him for a bit while he focuses more on the production side. It’s a BIG church with a large media production team of which I am also a part. I agree and he says he will talk to the hear of music.
I figure I had better learn how to really play from sheet music so in anticipation of actually being allowed to play, I start learning worship music and how to read sheet music, all the while getting better at bass. It pays off huge, I am put on the schedule to play with the band in June.
I thought I would be just another head on stage within the orchestra and nobody would really see me. Nope. Turns out that was the first Sunday the orchestra was taking a break for the summer and now just the core band (drum, lead, acoustic, keys, piano, and bass) was on stage. Standing. Up front. Broadcast on the web to thousands. I am nervous but I push through and did fine. Well enough that I am now solidly on the rotation and have been playing often in the band. I still swap with the other fellow off and on.
It’s crazy how I managed to back into playing bass in a band when a year ago I had no inkling on bass and no urge to be in a band. As it stands now, I love it and can’t wait to learn new music on a weekly basis.
That's a looker! I've never put my hands on one, never seen any in shops. How do you like it?
I love it. Out the box setup was pretty much spot on! I was able to lower the saddles even more, but the action was pretty low to begin with. Neck is lovely.
It weighs 9.5lbs so not lightweight, but not bad for a swamp ash body, and the bridge is a big 'ol chunk of metal!
The P pickups have some output, while the MM pickup has some approximation of the MM sound.
Only thing I could critique is the preamp, just sounds boomy, sounds great in passive though. I have a Glockenklang 2 band preamp I'm going to fit at some point.
They are great instruments for the money. I have the Jazz and PJ from their MV line and they are crazy good vfm.
I didn't know those HB's even had a passive mode.
I bought an older Aria STB with similar pickups and 2 band EQ recently, unfortunately there is no real passive mode on there, but with the EQ flat, it does sound good to me.
The 2 band EQ can get too boomy/shrill, but in the right amounts it does add a lot to the sound.
Coming from someone who prefers the simplicity of a passive bass.
Attachments
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,618
- 222,146
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
