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Wilcock Basses - Where's the Love???

#64
Näyttökuva 2020-8-17 kello 19.06.52.png

Heres my bass face! :laugh: I had a blast playing my Mullarkey on HAIR-musical last week! I will get a recording from it sometime soon, I will share it with video when I can :)

I have been playing some party and wedding gigs with it also! Really loving it! Its like a weird combination of P-bass and Höfner I think :bassist:
 
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#65
I just recorded mine on a neo soul/disco record. Used the "back" pickup which is more like a better defined pbass pickup, and it was perfect.

unfortunately, everything is in lockdown so im not sure when the singer can show up at the studio to record over the tracks. Hoping soon so i can post once the track is released.
 
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#66
Super cool trick if any of you all record on electronic style tracks (Or any style really)
Play the short scale higher on the neck or the root on the A string and up. Record and then drop the pitch -12. The sound is incredibly well preserved and sounds really thick. Its crazy good with this bass in particular.
 
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#67
AngelCrusher said:
Super cool trick if any of you all record on electronic style tracks (Or any style really)
Play the short scale higher on the neck or the root on the A string and up. Record and then drop the pitch -12. The sound is incredibly well preserved and sounds really thick. Its crazy good with this bass in particular.
Click to expand...
Nice! What plugin are you using for pitching?
 
#70
RudyTardy said:
Rad. I gotta get better at live tracking in Ableton, such a great program. I'm a 20+ year Pro Tools guy and elastic audio sucks a** for this kind of thing so I end up using plugs.
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Yeah i only mix in protools and thats if im in a studio thats not mine. Writing music in ableton is a pleasure for me. It handles audio samples so well so its a great match for tracking in hardware.

for a live band recording, pro tools is fantastic.
 
#72
AngelCrusher said:
Basically know a guy who has both and was able to give them a go when it was convenient. Mullarkey model vs 2 pickup model Serek.

The Mullarkey model to me, is the best sounding short scale I have ever played. Hell, one of the best sounding basses i have ever played. I like deep, warm tones that retain definition. This bass does that extremely well. I don't play heavy rock or metal anymore. If I did, the Serek would maybe make more sense, but honestly I have a G&L L2500 and a Sadowsky P/J that can deliver for me there. The Serek had a cool sound, but it was thinner than what I like. If you compare it to the Mullarkey, the Mullarkey simply has a deeper tone. I also think the build quality is higher as well. The Serek's to me seem a little overpriced for what they are. Dont get me wrong, they are freaking sweet basses, but I think $1,500 to $1,800 is the range of what I would personally pay for one. The Mullarkey, even with shipping to the US is less than the Serek, yet its quality and tone (to me) is better. In a perfect world, I would own both quite honestly, but I've never felt the need to own a lot of basses. The Wilcock will be my 4th, and for me that is a lot.

I really enjoyed playing both of them - a whole lot. I can see how people are switching to short scales more and more. Builders like this make it more appealing, but I also think the buyer should be wary on how much they are spending on a hot trend + heavy instagram influencer pushes as well.

Brings me to your Sandberg. I feel like that bass is a smart buy. Great price for it and we know they make great basses. If I didn't love the Wilcock so much, this was going to be my purchase. Real interested in your impressions and comparisons to your other basses. My shopping list for shortscales was:

Serek
Fender JMJ
Wilcock
Sandberg

I did not get to play the Sandberg, but the Wilcock basically won me over and I knew it was the one for me. The JMJ was really cool too, but the Mullarkey tone is grail for me.



Thanks! Those Maghinis look so rad. Damn! I am a sucker for that type of neck, but since the Wilcock is so warm, I went with flamed maple this time to balance it out a little.

Yeah the Mullarkey, IMO is a complete bass that does a nice variety of warm tones. Bonus of course being that its a lot easier to carry around to sessions and gigs.

I do think that they will get US distro at some point. They are going to catch on and the demand will go up a bit, since they are a pretty unique short scale, but the tone is rather studio friendly.
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Wondering if you could tell me a couple of things about your experience comparing the Wilcock and the Serek.

I have a Serek Midwestern 2 with a Guild BS-1 in the neck position and a Novak BS/DS in the bridge position. What pickups did the one you tried have? You said it had 2 but not which ones.

How would you compare the neck shapes. Serek's description to me about the neck when I was ordering was that people thought it felt like a small baseball bat. I think that description was pretty accurate. But, sometimes I feel it's too narrow past the 7th fret on and I'm bunching up my fingers more than is comfortable. I also have a Supro Huntington 1 that has a pretty wide neck. I kinda want something in between.

Anyway, thinking of getting a Wilcock but can't try and neck shape/feel is pretty important to me.
 
#73
It's interesting to me. That demo is not at all the tone in my head that I'm chasing, but...tomorrow I'm recording one tune where that tone would work fabulously. First time in 40 years of playing that I've really needed that tone, and with my fretless and a bit of foam, I'm pretty close, but with that bass, I could nail that one tune...and then probably put it in a closet for another 40 years.

Everyone has their own thing. Not mine, but still very cool.
 
#75
Collin Lyle said:
Wondering if you could tell me a couple of things about your experience comparing the Wilcock and the Serek.

I have a Serek Midwestern 2 with a Guild BS-1 in the neck position and a Novak BS/DS in the bridge position. What pickups did the one you tried have? You said it had 2 but not which ones.

How would you compare the neck shapes. Serek's description to me about the neck when I was ordering was that people thought it felt like a small baseball bat. I think that description was pretty accurate. But, sometimes I feel it's too narrow past the 7th fret on and I'm bunching up my fingers more than is comfortable. I also have a Supro Huntington 1 that has a pretty wide neck. I kinda want something in between.

Anyway, thinking of getting a Wilcock but can't try and neck shape/feel is pretty important to me.
Click to expand...

i wish i could tell you the pickups but its been months now. I think they were the darkstar style.

The necks are pretty similar but i dont feel like im bunching up on the wilcock. Its really such a well made instrument that im really taken by how easy it plays and how perfect the action is straight out of the case.

the serek is a bit more of a rock n roll tone and the wilcock is more r&b if i had to make a pretty basic generalization.
 
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#79
phillipkregg said:
Anyone purchased a Wilcock recently and noticed a big price increase?

This one on Reverb is listed at $3000, but last year a brand new one was about $1700:

Wilcock BiSonic short scale | The Guitar Shop NYC | Reverb

View attachment 4080627



And this one at The Bass Gallery is over $2600 USD:

View attachment 4080628

Was thinking about contacting Viv for a custom build, but looks like they are way out of my price range now.
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Prices are definitely creeping up. However, Guitar Shop NYC is selling that used BiSonic at a ridiculous mark up, banking on someone wanting it because Tim L played it on a few shows. A new one is £1750 (currently $2335 USD).

Seems the walnut one is a unique build so it is £200 more than a standard Mullarkey.

Guitar Shop NYC is charging $2700+shipping for a standard Mullarkey order which includes "a case, setup, and strings of your choice." So it's basically a "value added" upcharge.
 
#80
:):):)
phillipkregg said:
Anyone purchased a Wilcock recently and noticed a big price increase?

This one on Reverb is listed at $3000, but last year a brand new one was about $1700:

Wilcock BiSonic short scale | The Guitar Shop NYC | Reverb

View attachment 4080627



And this one at The Bass Gallery is over $2600 USD:

View attachment 4080628

Was thinking about contacting Viv for a custom build, but looks like they are way out of my price range now.
Click to expand...

I predicted this would happen earlier in this thread. The build quality is substantially higher than anything in the 1500-2k range and the demand is shooting up. I was stunned when i got mine, as its rocketed up to become my favorite bass.

i think these are special basses and always have. The tone is unique yet sits in the mix (especially for smoother music like r&b, electronic,jazz,hip hop) perfectly, and the neck is perfect. Action on par with sadowsky. In my defense, I tried to tell you all this would happen! :)
 
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