squire fretless jazz bass. What to do? What to do?

[Stratman44]

As most of us on the forum probably know, squire has, like fender been known for using really great quallity tonewoods. Its the electronics that are not up to par. 4 years ago i bought this fretless jazzbass, it is a great feeling guitar with a great finish, but it has not produced the sound that i desire, i am playing through a Trace Elliot, so no trouble there what so ever. I plan on, once i have proper funding, getting some top of the line electronics for this bass, suggestions? I want a unique sound. i have done reserch on David Certin's electronics, aprox $150 without pups, but i am not convinced compleatly. Im going to sand down the riting on the headstock to get rid of the squire insignia, and either leave it blank or put a fender decal on it. ive also thought about road wereing the entire bass, suggestions.?????? :dontknow:

 

[Stratman44]

More Photos.

 

[Stratman44]

even more photos.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Hmm, David Certin doesn't yield anything in Google... that's for an active preamp, I hope for $150? As far as pickups go, I lurve my Dimarzio Ultra Jazz as well as my Kent Armstrong lipsticks, both are somewhat unconventional as far as Jazz pickups sound.

Road-wearing the thick Urethane finish on that would (a) look contrived and a bit silly and (b) earn the scorn of most of this forum. But in the end it's your bass, and  if you decide to attack it with a belt buckle and some sandpaper, more power to you...

 

[mayfly]

I put a set of Lollar Jazz Bass pickups in my bass players Jazz.  An amazing improvement in sound quality.  Lows are low, highs are high, and it's got that Jazz bass growl.

I liked them.

I would not bother with an active setup.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

If you are looking for a place to browse for fun bass stuff, I'd recommend Best Bass Gear.  They are very nice, ship incredibly fast, and really try hard to get you pointed towards the right gear for the sound you are after.  Most of all, they are really cool people.
Patrick

 

[stubhead]

I'd second the BestBass Gear recommendation -

http://www.bestbassgear.com/

If you look down the left side, they've got (apparently) every kind of preamp made, and a pile o' pups, too. A preamp is a good idea if you plan to be playing direct to the mixing board - it will function as a DI (direct) box. However for normal use, it's not really helpful unless you have some specifically-kinky tonal desires. It's just a case of:

If you want to sound "normal", like 97% of the bass players on 97% of the music termed "great" - you should use normal bits to get there. I used a plain-vanilla $62 DiMarzio, and it sounds exactly like.. a fretless P-bass! And I'm sure that if you conducted a legitimate blindfold test, the $65 Duncan, the $115 Duncan "Antiquity", a Fender, a GFS,  or a Bill Lawrence P-bass pickup would make it sound like... a fretless P-bass!

They've GOT this one figured out.​

:hello2:

 

[Stratman44]

Hmm, David Certin doesn't yield anything in Google... that's for an active preamp, I hope for $150? As far as pickups go, I lurve my Dimarzio Ultra Jazz as well as my Kent Armstrong lipsticks, both are somewhat unconventional as far as Jazz pickups sound.

Road-wearing the thick Urethane finish on that would (a) look contrived and a bit silly and (b) earn the scorn of most of this forum. But in the end it's your bass, and  if you decide to attack it with a belt buckle and some sandpaper, more power to you...

Certainbass.com sorry spelled it wrong.