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Wood & Tronics Club

#22
J.Wolf said:
interesting that you are after the Janek sound, but your spacing preferences are very "un Janek" :) IIRC, his fodera is 16mm at the bridge, or something super skinny like that. 20mm is very wide, even for me. and I played a 19mm 6 for years
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The tops are not really arched it's just to show that the tops are gloss finnished, altho it wouldnt be hard i guess to get a little arch in there maybe, there's actually a little roundess to the upperpart to the body of a Chronos allready. I'll ask Enrico good point there anyway.
The reason I want 20mm has nothing to do with the sound just has to do with what my fingers feel most comfortable with. I played a 36" Fodera Emperor before that had this wide spacing and that felt the best to me...
16 or 17 is unplayable for me gets my finger tangled up somehow. I know Janek uses the tight spacing as he refers to economy of movement which may work for him but not for me I'm affraid. Also the wider neck its about 5 mm wider so it's crazy to name it real wide compared to a 6er which I'm used to. Also it gives way to get the same mass into the neck when wanting a little less meat on the back of the neck for instance then a little narrower one. I thought about this Jake so it's not some impulsive thing...;)
 
#24
Hi Bram, Jake, and all the bassists who are paying attention to our work.
We are proud to see the Wood&Tronics movement here, and I will try to follow it myself as much as possible although workshop activity sometimes keeps me away from the Web for a few days.

I look forward to the growth of the Wood&Tronics Club!

Enrico
 
#26
I'm interested in a used Wood & Tronics Chronos 5 w/Nordstrand Dual Coils, but I know from experience that Nordstrand's parallel-wound DCs aren't my thing. Should I expect a W&T with Nordy dual coils to be wired series or parallel? I much prefer a series wind, but something with good clean top end - not muted or muffled (as happens when a parallel-wound pickup is wired in series).

Unfortunately, I can't play the Chronos in question. Would LOVE to have one, though! And hopefully I will someday.
 
#28
I'm sure he would, but being that's it's here in the US and used, I'm not sure how cost effective it would be to ship to Italy for that. Swapping out the Nordstrands is no big deal, but it is additional expense.

I'd mainly like to know what the "typical" set up is (series or parallel) for a W&T with dual coils.
 
#29
lowfreqgeek said:
I'm sure he would, but being that's it's here in the US and used, I'm not sure how cost effective it would be to ship to Italy for that. Swapping out the Nordstrands is no big deal, but it is additional expense.

I'd mainly like to know what the "typical" set up is (series or parallel) for a W&T with dual coils.
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The typical wouldn't be nordstrands they did that before but they maily use Dolf Bassculture pu's now. Great pickups if not the best out there. They also use Kent Armstrong which are great to and even saw some basses carrying Haussel aswell which are also pickups I love.
And they can wire whatever you like. Shoot him a mail, never killed nobody:D

Oh yeah and Enrico told me once they have some "older" basses that maybe he can sell you for a nicer price if that what your after, again shoot the guy a mail.
 
#30
Correct me if im wrong (as I often seem to be), but couldn't you have the pickup wiring scheme changed by a local luthier? Only the wiring has to change, not the pups themselves correct? Also, as much as I love careys dual coils, the dolf dual coils are freaking amazing to my ears
 
#31
J.Wolf said:
Correct me if im wrong (as I often seem to be), but couldn't you have the pickup wiring scheme changed by a local luthier? Only the wiring has to change, not the pups themselves correct? Also, as much as I love careys dual coils, the dolf dual coils are freaking amazing to my ears
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Well, you're almost correct. Nordstrand offers 2 different winding configurations for their Dual Coils. The "parallel" winding has more wire and is designed to sound better wired in parallel, with the classic parallel mid-scoop, deep lows, and snappy highs. The "series" winding has less wire and is designed to be brighter and clearer (and not as hot) when wired in series, with strong, clear mids, and clean "natural" highs.

The problem is that "wound for parallel" Nordstrand DC's sound pretty dark and not real bright when wired in series mode. They *can* be wired that way, but they don't sound as good to my ears. The "wound for series", OTOH, will have a little less output, but a better balance of lows, mids, and highs.

So the question, then, is should I expect that an older W&T Chronos with Nordstrands was originally wired series or parallel, and which version of the Nordstrand pickups were used?

I'm sure the Dolf pickups are fantastic, and there are some other great pickups that could be swapped in if the Nordys aren't what I want. I'm just not sure I want to spend the money on an instrument knowing upfront that I will probably have to drop more on pickups. This is all based on my previous experience with Nordstrand DC pickups and knowing already that I don't care for their parallel pickups.

It's kinda like buying an EMG-equipped Fodera knowing you don't like EMGs. Sure, they can be swapped out, but perhaps it's better to keep saving/searching for the one already set up how you want...

My initial questions probably didn't make much sense. It's all in the context of the particular bass in question with it's Nordy DCs, my previous experience with Nordy DCs, and the fact that Nordstrand offers 2 different winding configurations for their DCs, one of which I don't care for.
 
#32
It seems you've tried both the parallel and series Nordstrand duals already right? In my experience with a lot of pickups (including the Nord series duals) a series wind will give you less high end and more emphasis in the midrange, and also more volume. Parallel will give you something like a wider "J' sound, with more high end, a little less midrange, and less volume.

I can't say I'd personally worry about whatever pickups are in a bass, as long as the route for them is interchangable with other choices. If you don't like the pickups but your love the bass, just switch out the pickups to something else that you prefer.
 
#33
emjazz said:
It seems you've tried both the parallel and series Nordstrand duals already right? In my experience with a lot of pickups (including the Nord series duals) a series wind will give you less high end and more emphasis in the midrange, and also more volume. Parallel will give you something like a wider "J' sound, with more high end, a little less midrange, and less volume.

I can't say I'd personally worry about whatever pickups are in a bass, as long as the route for them is interchangable with other choices. If you don't like the pickups but your love the bass, just switch out the pickups to something else that you prefer.
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I shouldn't worry about the pickups as I've almost never left a bass alone. Even my stock EBMM SR5 is about to get a new pickup/preamp mod and my still-stock G&L L2500 fretless is about to get it's own wiring mod. I've never been shy about it (and I do it all myself), but the Wood & Tronics is in another class from the basses I've always owned, so screwing with one to make it what I want seems like less of a good idea. Not cause it can't be done, but just cause I shouldn't *have* to if I spend that kind of cash up front.

But maybe I will anyway and just see how it goes. It's a beautiful bass and I'm sure it plays phenomenally well. My wife even likes it - and she's been anti-singlecut for as long as she's known they existed. I should do it now while I have her blessing on the shape!
 
#35
IMO, find the bass that plays and feels perfect, and if you have to sink a few hundred bucks into new electronics to get the tone/response that works best for you, so be it. At least at that point you have a bass that looks, feels, and plays perfect, and it also satisfies your tone goals. That said, buying a bass without playing one first is daunting, especially if you've never played a bass of that brand before. I could gush for hours about my W&T, but that doesn't mean you'll like it.

Thanks for straightening me out as to the options on Nord dual coils as well. I wasnt aware of the difference.
 
#37
uncle said:
I've played a lot of brands before, fender, Musicman, Fodera, Alembic, ... you name it.... For me my W&T basses beats them all!
The sound and the playability of the basses are just great and the look is fantastic! Enrico and Eric are doing a wonderfull job!
For me W&T basses are the best!
Click to expand...

Hi Uncle (Dirk) how nice to see you here!
And boy does that Zoid look nice...and it sounds even better cos I actually got to play that Zoid and the Chronos at Dirks home a few months ago.
That Zoid had so much character and resonance to it, it's MAGIC!

Again nice to join us Uncle your meber #5 of the W&T club!

Regards
 
#38
Thanks Bram!

Did you already decide what design it's gonne be! They certainly look stunning, all three of them!
My favourites are the natural looking (woods in it's original taint): the light wood with the W&T logo in the body and the buckeye burl one! Leaning a little more to the one with the logo in the body...
The green one is stunning too but it's not my personal taste....
One thing you can be shure of is that you are getting a hell of an Instrument... but I guess you know that by now! :-)
Don't forget to post some pictures as soon as your bass is ready!

Greetz,
Dirk
 
#39
uncle said:
Thanks Bram!

Did you already decide what design it's gonne be! They certainly look stunning, all three of them!
My favourites are the natural looking (woods in it's original taint): the light wood with the W&T logo in the body and the buckeye burl one! Leaning a little more to the one with the logo in the body...
The green one is stunning too but it's not my personal taste....
One thing you can be shure of is that you are getting a hell of an Instrument... but I guess you know that by now! :-)
Don't forget to post some pictures as soon as your bass is ready!

Greetz,
Dirk
Click to expand...

Sure I will post pictures, I havent decided yet what it's gonna be. For the poplar topped ones, the figure of the wood will help choose between the green color or natural finnish, Enrico would send me a pic of some top woods.
I am really enthausiastic about the buckeye one, but the tricky part is to get that wood, as they don't have that in stock. In Europe there inst a real market for pieces of buckeye, so we have to import it from some lumber specialty business to get a hold of a good and useable top. Costs and labour are in the balance so I havent decided yet what top it's gonna be, also i want Enrico to help me decide.

Anyways thanks for the kind remarks on the mockups!
 

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