Assembling a 'tractor' jazz bass clone/tribute.

[Muziekschuur]

I bought a Guild bisonic neck pickup from the USA. I ordered a jazz bass clone that has a ash body and I ordered a maple block neck.

For people who don't know what a 'tractor bass' is.

Berry Duane Allman was a bassplayer in the Allman brothers band. He put a guild bisonic pickup in the front jazz pickup place. It means it has some extra sub bass and the two single coils get somewhat more high end and aggressive. I hope to modify the body and finish the body and neck in nitro. Still waiting for the neck. And I might need some new pots and I am in the process of buying a Fender set of single coil pickups.

 

[Muziekschuur]

 

[Muziekschuur]

Berry Oakley - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My mistake. I ment Berry Oakley. Duane is I think his son: Berry Duane Oakley – The Allman Betts Band

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

Berry Oakley - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My mistake. I ment Berry Oakley. Duane is I think his son: Berry Duane Oakley – The Allman Betts Band

I was gonna say: that young man in the pictures is not Berry Oakley.

 

[MVE]

Here is Tractor is all it’s glory along with one of the greatest slide guitar parts ever played: (this track best played LOUD)

 

[GreyBeard]

Back in the day I modified my entry level Hagstrom with a mudbucker off of a Kalamazoo bass placed at the neck position and the original single coil at the bridge. I loved the way it sounded and played it until it was stolen.

 

[fhm555]

Here is Tractor is all it’s glory along with one of the greatest slide guitar parts ever played: (this track best played LOUD)

Here's Oakley Junior with Bloodline. I saw them several times at a downtown music hall. I'm pretty sure that's the original tractor. At that time they were too young to be alone in a bar, so they were being chaperoned by Robby Krieger. The only member who was not a rocker's child was Joe Bonamassa.

Bloodline (band) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Muziekschuur]

Thank you so much.... Yes I believe that's the original Tractor bass. A while after that Fender made a clone but there were no new bisonic pickups available at that time. So Guild provided a substitute.

 

[Muziekschuur]

Since the bass body has a different place for the bridge jazz pickup I have to move that cavity. I need to fill half of the cavity with new wood. So I was thinking about these pickup rings.

 

[Muziekschuur]

This is a rocktile jazz bass. As you can see the pickup for the bridge is further away then on a Fender. The neck will be replaced and I have a brown tortoise three layer pickguard. New tuning pegs and I think I will created a cavity on the back so I can easily install a second jack for stereo output. That cavity I then allso can use for weight saving. The body has a poly clear on it. That will be stripped.

 

[Muziekschuur]

I think I will paint the bass and headstock in nitro cellulose lake placid blue... But I am open to suggestions.

 

[Muziekschuur]

I took off the neck. I marked where my router needs to kiss the wood to create some room for the bisonic front pickup. And where the back pickups (the two jazz bass pickups) should come.

 

[Muziekschuur]

 

[definenredefine]

Out of curiosity, why not use a double coil Jazz pickup in the bridge position instead of 2 separate pickups? I don't know much about the "tractor" design so may be what I'm asking defeats the whole purpose...

 

[Muziekschuur]

I had two of those pickups. Those humbuckers made of two jazz bass single pickups. So that would have been a possibility. But they stayed at my ex. When I found out she was cheating. I like the look of the two single pickups. The separation between the two pickups might do something for the sound. Warwick uses those two single coils in the bridge too. So I think I will stick with single coils on this build.

Here is a Warwick Thumb. They sound amazing because of the two single coils near the bridge.

 

[Muziekschuur]

I need to get the router deeper in the wood since the pickup is deeper then jazz bass pickups. But now I can modify the pickguard.

 

[Muziekschuur]

I just looked up what signature had the Bill Lawrence humbuckers (based on low wound jazz bass single coils). It is Roscoe Beck. Known for his bass playing with Leonard Cohen. Those pickups were later put into modern player jazz basses. (in 4 and 5 string versions). And now in the Mono Neon bass. With that silly outfitted boy who thinks he can play bass with a teapot on his head.

 

[Muziekschuur]

Roscoe Beck with his signature jazz bass that holds two humbuckers consisting of paired jazz bass single coils. (These are 4 wire allso).

They can't be found for sale. I had 2 of them that I bought when they blew them out..

 

[Muziekschuur]

Here is a link to a Bill Wilde Q filter. I might try it on this bass.

Q-Filter

The Q-filter is a noisefree inductor with exceptionally low resistance, encased in a 1” cube for easy installation, that is used on the tone control to reduce the impedance of the pickup overall or only in the highs. A traditional tone control uses a capacitor to preserve lower frequencies while...

www.wildepickups.com

 

[Muziekschuur]

Here is a video with a Precision with a bass Q filter.



Here a Gibson Nighthawk with a Bill Lawrence Q filter.