Dream bass

[tfcreative]

Funny this thread should sit here, I was only browsing the bass section of Warmoth yesterday. Now I can't say I know an awful lot about basses per se, but I did have an idea that what I wanted was a alder bodied Jazz with a rosewood on maple neck. Not exactly exotic I hear you say, but a very traditional combination. The real trick is what to put on it - I know nothing about the pickup side of things, but was thinking that I'd like to go down the active route with something that at least looks like a standard Jazz setup. Anyone offer any suggestions? I'd like the sound to be able to cover all the bases so to speak, primarily rock/pop; maybe something that would work in a 'Massive Attack' type setting. Finishes will have to remain a secret, as maybe I've already seen something in the showcase that fits the bill perfectly and I don't want you lot out there grabbing it before I do...  :laughing7:

Well, you're pretty much describing an American Standard Jazz bass. You could build if you want, or you could just get a Highway One Jazz and swap out for nordstrand pickups and a J-retro preamp.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Well, you're pretty much describing an American Standard Jazz bass. You could build if you want, or you could just get a Highway One Jazz and swap out for nordstrand pickups and a J-retro preamp.

I could go for the Highway 1, but where would be the fun in that... :dontknow:

 

[willyk]

Well, you're pretty much describing an American Standard Jazz bass. You could build if you want, or you could just get a Highway One Jazz and swap out for nordstrand pickups and a J-retro preamp.

I could go for the Highway 1, but where would be the fun in that... :dontknow:

No bloody fun at all mate!......and you couldn't put any pictures on your flickr thingey :doh:

 

[JR]

dreams are good until you wake up, and can't remember them, and then you remember that you are actually a fat guy. and thats where the beer comes into the equation.  ccasion14:  :icon_thumright: :cool01:

 

[tfcreative]

Well, you're pretty much describing an American Standard Jazz bass. You could build if you want, or you could just get a Highway One Jazz and swap out for nordstrand pickups and a J-retro preamp.

I could go for the Highway 1, but where would be the fun in that... :dontknow:

Certainly no fun at all. I'm almost done with my first bass build and am already hopelessly addicted; I would probably want to build in your case as well. Personally, I just want to make sure that I'm building something that would be custom no matter who made it. My current build is essentially a jazz bass, except Fender would never make a jazz with a Goncalo/Wenge neck, or use Dingwall FD-3 pickups (not the standard jazz size or sound) or a few other things I've done.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

No bloody fun at all mate!......and you couldn't put any pictures on your flickr thingey :doh:

That's true. Daft as it may sound, that never even occured to me as a reason build my own. Anyway, however standard to the Jazz ideal what I mentioned sounds, there is enough rattling round in my head to suggest that this wouldn't be mistaken for a Fender, I'm just thinking of starting from a very relaiable jumping off point.

 

[pscates]

I wanted to share this with you guys. I came up with this earlier this year. These aren't as photorealistic as my sparkle Esquire and blue "chickenhead knob" bass above (these are flatter, "colored line art" done entirely in Adobe Illustrator). But the idea was to combine my favorite features on various Fender basses into something that was a bit retro/classic in appearance, but with modern P/J wiring and flexibility.

- '51 P-Bass inspired pickguard
- 60's block markers and bound neck
- Tele headstock (with the way a Jazz Bass neck tapers, the standard headstock always looks so gigantic, IMO...the Tele style headstock just seems to fit better, and that's always been my favorite Fender bass headstock...probably because I love Telecasters so much?)

I drew the one, and simply slapped some other colors/pickguard combos together on some copies I made, then fanned them out, added a little text, etc.

 

[willyk]

I like that a lot. Your pickguard design is brilliant. It gives you lots of possibilities for a real custom model. I reckon a goldtop, cream binding, brown transparent back would look awesome......(stop it Willy! you're getting crazy again)

 

[pscates]

Here you go. You're right, that is a nice look! I did one that really adhered to the goldtop Les Paul thing, with cream pickup covers and goldish-rust colored knobs, but it might've been too much. I don't know. I just did the binding and pickguard in cream, like you suggested.

 

[willyk]

Bloody beautiful...... :blob7: how would you like it in this color scheme? Cream pickups and chrome knobs would work. ( WTF am I doing? ...I'm off to therapy)

 

[pscates]

Sure...

Holy crap, that is snazzy-looking! I'll take two, please.      :icon_biggrin:

 

[skydigger]

Here you go. You're right, that is a nice look! I did one that really adhered to the goldtop Les Paul thing, with cream pickup covers and goldish-rust colored knobs, but it might've been too much. I don't know. I just did the binding and pickguard in cream, like you suggested.

Beauty looking bass pscates.  You should send a pic to Fender.

No need to fool around with Illustrator on my behalf, but I'll take one in black w\ a tortoise shell pickguard and a painted matching headstock.  32" scale if you don't mind.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Gecko 5/10 bass, basically a 5 string version of an 8 string.

5 piece maple/walnut/maple/walnut/maple neck, with ebony fretboard, Dunlop 6100 SS frets, no inlay.
All walnut body with a flame koa top.  All gold hardware.

Passive electronics with 2 single coils wired to one single volume control (ala Carvin's TBS4 layout) with a Neal Moser Bass Booster wired into the lone volume control via a Push/Push pot.

Reasoning:  I don't like a bunch of eq functions on the instrument itself, I prefer to let the amp do that, but I do like the added output that active electronics provide.  Usually when playing a bass with actives, I'll run all of the eq settings flat in the neutral position, but I also like a little bit of overdrive, or "bite", so I'll up all the eq settings equally flat to about 75%.  Adding the Neal Moser Booster accomplishes that without coloring the tone, and the added benefit is that if the battery dies out, only the booster is disabled, not the passives, so you can still play if your battery dies.

 

[Mapleg4]

I ordered my G4 a month ago:
Maple body and neck,
Solid Black finish
Schaller bridge and straplocks and Gotoh tuners,
EMG 35DC pickups and a BTC system tone control
I got the EMG's at Guitarpartsdepot.com. They have a really odd system of only putting the most popular pickups one at a time every 2 weeks on their website...

 

[instagator]

Sure...

Holy crap, that is snazzy-looking! I'll take two, please.      :icon_biggrin:

Now that is a cool looking bass :glasses10:

 

[pscates]

Thank you very much! I dig it as well. I love that bound neck with block markers, combined with a Tele-style peghead. And the old-style pickguard too. Nothing outrageous or groundbreaking, of course, just blending some of my favorite parts from classic Fender basses into something different, yet familiar.