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Post by dunkelfalke on Nov 26, 2009 22:25:13 GMT -5
Hello again
here I am, modifying my Hohner Bass. Since that beast has got humbucker sized pickups the only bass alternative would be EMG HB and I am not interested in those.
What do you think what would a real guitar humbucker sound on a bass? I've got two of them spare, one a cheap PAF copy and the other a GFS lipstick humbucker.
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Post by newey on Nov 26, 2009 22:59:53 GMT -5
Dunkelfalke- According to the Alan Ratcliffe link I posted in your other thread, this bass already has "guitar-sized" humbuckers. I don't know whether this means they are actually guitar humbuckers, or a bass winding in a HB size factor. I put a Strat SC in my P-bass copy and I like it just fine. I don't see why a guitar HB shouldn't work just as well or better. There's some discussion of using guitar pickups on a bass in my preliminary thread on that bass build. guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=pup&action=display&thread=3829 |
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Post by dunkelfalke on Nov 30, 2009 16:39:29 GMT -5
Just tried the GFS Lipstick for the bridge position on the neck position of the bass. It sounds very interesting, very defined and clear, almost acoustic with the difference that you hear the sound of the tonewood resonance on the acoustic.
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Post by D2o on Nov 30, 2009 16:49:27 GMT -5
Just tried the GFS Lipstick for the bridge position on the neck position of the bass. It sounds very interesting, very defined and clear Cool What? D2o  |
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Post by D2o on Nov 30, 2009 19:31:35 GMT -5
Hmm ... now that what you have written has sunk into my head (it takes a while sometimes), I find it rather intriguing.  Thanks, D2o |
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Post by dunkelfalke on Dec 1, 2009 9:37:05 GMT -5
I am not sure how to describe that. If you are listening to an acoustic guitar you hear that wood resonance sound. This is missing in the sound. Maybe the best description would be that my bass now sounds like unplugged but much much louder. |
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Post by D2o on Dec 1, 2009 9:45:03 GMT -5
I am not sure how to describe that. If you are listening to an acoustic guitar you hear that wood resonance sound. This is missing in the sound. Maybe the best description would be that my bass now sounds like unplugged but much much louder. Yeah - I get what you're getting at ... and I know what you mean about it being hard to explain - which is why I didn't get it at first. Once I did, the concept of a piezo and a blender came to mind - JohnH has done it, and someone else just did that ... treguiars, maybe?? Anyway - thanks for the report. Good stuff!  D2o
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Post by newey on Dec 1, 2009 23:29:18 GMT -5
I used a Diesel single-rail Strat pickup in the neck position of my P-Bass clone build, after the discussion in the thread I linked to, where speculation was made concerning possible problems with poles being mismatched to strings. The rail avoided that, as does the lipstick tube HB. Since we're 2 good out of 2 attempts on this site, I think we can conclude that guitar pickups work fine for bass use and provide some opportunities for tonal variation, although no conclusions on the use of 6-pole guitar pickups can be drawn since we haven't attempted it yet (although pole-piece pups have been used in the past, apparently satisfactorily- it may well be a non-issue). The Strat-ish guitar in my Avatar uses a GFS lipstick tube HB in the bridge position, the same pup DF has now tried in the neck of his bass. I like that pup lots, although I wouldn't describe it as an acoustic sound. For a HB, it's more bright and chime-y than a PAF type, and is very responsive to picking dynamics. I have the coils wired for series/parallel, and I use the parallel setting a lot for rhythm stuff. The series setting can be quickly accessed by a quick push on the Vol knob for a bit more bite for lead passages. So, DF, if you get the urge ( , you might want to try wiring the lipstick HB for series/parallel and see if that expands your palette even more. |
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Post by dunkelfalke on Dec 2, 2009 3:39:22 GMT -5
I surely will do when I have all parts availiable to finish my bass. For now it was just for a test, knotting the humbucker's wires directly to the output jack (I'm currently out of solder).
Will try a standard humbucker with pole pieces later this week or even maybe this evening (CET).
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Post by gitpiddler on Dec 2, 2009 5:51:43 GMT -5
Offhand, it seems to be a matter of how the pup is mounted to the body that determines how much 'wood' comes through. 5 years ago I was messing around with an octave setting using my direct mounted, potted Duncan JB on Tele clone through an old Peavy Musician 200W beast at a friend's house. I had the same amp 25 years ago when I was building this guitar, but sold it to pay for school. I was floored how it sounded like the tightest, richest electric bass I've ever heard, "Wood Deluxe" ;D. I played cello in orchestra when I was a kid, sitting in front of the standup bass section, of which my younger brother was a player, and I was reminded of the quality of tone I heard then. Of course EVH used a lipstick on his MM doubleneck, and I imagine he potted the coils on it judging by the tone he got. I just thought I would mention that the best electric bass I've played was that Tele through a Digitech octave  . Ironically, my brother asked for an electric bass, then gave it up for golf. The volume pot from that bass lives in the Tele. Our youngest brother has started playing the P-bass in the church band he and I are in, though singing is HIS primary focus. I'm proud of his progress so far  |
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Post by dunkelfalke on Dec 3, 2009 3:35:16 GMT -5
I tried a cheap PAF Custom copy in the bridge position and it sucked. It hummed like it was a single coil, the sound was very unarticulate and muffled, the strings not directly over a pole piece sounded faint. This won't do.
Will try to add some chorus and hall to the GFS Lipstick to achieve the acoustic bass sound.
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