...and a definite mud cutter is using a pick, I just went thru the paces with an assortment of gauges / materials for the first time and everything I liked about this bass immediately magnified.
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The last project bass I bought was a KSD 5 string burner Deluxe. I bought it used, and the pickups were bad (knew that when I bought it) by it was a neck through and was mint condition other then the pickups.
I gutted that thing as soon as I got home. Installed an OPB-3 pre and I'm waiting on my DCB pickups from Aguilar.
Other then that, I might replace the tuners with some hipshots, drop tuner on the B, and a hip shot bridge, but I haven't decided yet.
I gutted that thing as soon as I got home. Installed an OPB-3 pre and I'm waiting on my DCB pickups from Aguilar.
Other then that, I might replace the tuners with some hipshots, drop tuner on the B, and a hip shot bridge, but I haven't decided yet.
I added a stack on the volume knob for a passive tone. Right now I just have
Volume/Tone
High cut/boost
Mid cut/boost
Low cut/boost
I'll probably add a mid push-pull knob, or I found a blend/eq concentric pot I could use for variable mids, thenput the active/passive switch on the highs pot if I can find the right pot for it.
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Got one of those Epi Tobys for the wife to study. Great neck, effortlessly playable for hours, allows for super low action (top notch fretwork, for real, comparable to a Maruszczyk I recently sold which was specially nice). Light, yet it doesn't neckdive. The weak link, as everyone already mentioned, is the pickups and electronics. Sounds thin (bass boost does add some low end punch but not that much "rock" thickness really), too clean/generic, and has some noticeable hiss (this you can tame with the onboard EQ, you lose some bright but the bass is already too bright sounding). If I ever mod anything to it I'd probably try going the good old passive Jazz layout route (+S1 switch most likely) with the stock pickups first, then swap the pickups for some more "in-your-face'ey" ones if it still sounds too clean. I payed 175€ for the bass, so spending anything over half that looks like nonsense, still there's nice used pickup sets to be had for 80/90€ 'round here.
I have a 62 Jazz reissue neck and a SD SBJ1 bridge pickups that I am considering using. They seemed to suck in the last bass that they were in, but I am not convinced that my tech wired it correctly
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The problem with moding a bass like that is you are throwing good money after bad. You will never recover your investment should you decide to sell it. I went through this process for an Indonesian made 5 string I own and decided against it. The advice I got from some experts luthier is just to sell it and buy something you really want.
They're single coils so only thing that can be badly wired is phase (so that when they're both on there's phase cancellation going on). Other than that the only other cause of (at least subjectively) bad tone could be a huge gain difference between the pickups, resulting in a balance that's not pleasant to you when both are maxed. You could ellaborate on what "seemed to suck" meant for you ;-)
I had a set of Area J's that I put in a Mexican J. They were pretty under whelming. They weren't bad, but had a blah tone; I wouldn't buy another set. I ended up selling the bass with no regrets. Not too long ago I modified an ESP B series fretless. This time I used Nordstrands and couldn't have been happier with the results. While I used soap bars, they make a lot of J sized to and in various fittings. I used a blade in the bridge position (you'd use the J blade) and a single at the neck and it has growl and punch that a lot of folks have been impressed with.
I have a few beautiful basses, but i want some cheaper ones but that sound decent. I dont really want to take my ric to a sleezy bar gig, so thats where something like this toby would come into play. For not much money i think i could have quite a gigable bass without risking a lot if it gets stolen or broke. If that happened to my Ric, Gibson or ibanez prestige i would have to seriously consider how that person was going to die!
I get what your saying.
But I already have some great basses. Behind it is a US jaco fender, 2 MIM jazz, an MTD 635 built to my specs. Plus I enjoy it doing this stuff. And I'm not looking to make my money back later (I still have all the original parts and can easily put it back together). The bass feels great and I can make it sing.
I can take this cheap KSD to a gig, one of my MIM Jazz's, or my MTD, either way I'm going to sound like me. It's not the gear that makes the player.
- Jan 12, 2011
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- Jan 12, 2011
- 4,578
- 2,444
- 4,856
- Disclosures
- Artist, Trickfish Amplification Bartolini Emerging Artist, MTD Kingston Emerging Artist. Artist, Tsunami Cables
You're exactly correct. I have done this repeatedly and with great success. You don't have to buy a name to sound good. I'm working on a SX Project and an Allen Eden Project. And some on here would recommend that I just buy a 5k or 6k bass to suit my needs. NOT!!!!!
Plan on it if i go with the jazz pickup idea. I have a feeling both are the same size as the neck pickup
wmhill
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- Aug 20, 2012
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