what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:07 pm
what bass/guitar are you playing? and why?
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what bass/guitar are you playing?
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what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:38 pm
godin radiators. they are cheap, well made and sound incredible. they go through a rat and into a pro junior.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:26 pm
i've got two Gibson ES-335s, a vintage Telecaster Deluxe, and two Rickenbacker 330s. my amp collection is comprised of a '61 Blonde Bassman piggyback, a '65 Blackface Bassman, a '70s Silverface Bassman 70, a not-so-vintage Handwired Series AC30 with Alnico Blue speakers, and an Orange AD30HTC. the amps that are heads go into a marshall 1960A slant with greenbacks.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:01 pm
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:23 pm
G&L Classic ASAT telecaster. Built like a tank, plays great, as bright as I like it. The neck pickup is my favorite for beatin' on it.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:32 pm
A 70s Yamaha SA2000 - their version of a Gibson ES335 but probably better built and with better parts (at that time).
Really sounds fantastic.
I never thought these guitars would sound good - looked too "jazzy", but in fact they are very capable of some heavy shit.
Really sounds fantastic.
I never thought these guitars would sound good - looked too "jazzy", but in fact they are very capable of some heavy shit.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:33 pm
1976 Travis Bean TB2000. Pretty heavilly modified (not really how I would have liked it, but the original owner did it) with a single pickup in the bridge position. Sounds fine for what I use it for.
It's played through a Sovtek Mig 100 (guitar amp) sometimes with a fOXX Tone Machine for distortion.
It's played through a Sovtek Mig 100 (guitar amp) sometimes with a fOXX Tone Machine for distortion.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 8:11 pm
Guitar - playing frequently
~'80 Lado F-1 Falcon #655 (w/ wonderbar)
Travis Bean Standard #804 (stock)
'74 Gibson SG Special #118xxx (stock)
'00 Gibson Gothic Explorer (w/ custom electronics suite)
'81 Ibanez Studio ST-55 (w/ 3 humbuckers w/ coil tapping and phase control)
Guitar - haven't played in over a month
90's Ibanez Destroyer (mod w/ 3 x humbucker, wonderbar)
'78 Ibanez Musician MC-200 (stock, and for sale!)
60's Kimberly [(q.v. Teisco] (mod w/ roller-type bridge)
'89 Jackson USA "Strat" #10 (mod w/ miswired EMG humbucker in bridge)
'?? Cort Strat (mod w/ stock single-coil neck, kramer bass dual-humbucker middle, EMG at bridge, 5 string DADAA)
'?? Synsonics... guitar... (removed the internal speaker and amp circuit. another $30 pawnshop special)
Bass - playing frequently
'78 Ibanez Challenger [p-bass] (stock)
'81 Gibson Ripper (stock)
early 80's Gibson Victory Artist (stock)
Bass - haven't played in over a month
Ventura P-bass (3 string)
'91 Ibanez SR-800 (stock)
--------------INSTRUMENTS-----------------
circa 1980ish Lado Falcon - #655
neck : neck-through 3-piece (hippie sandwich) super-thin 24 fret
weight : super heavy
p/u : DiMarzio humbuckers (4-wire)
The Lado is perfectly constructed and has the widest range of tones of any guitar i've ever played. two dimarzio humbuckers with coil tapping, phase switching, a veritone, and a built in fuzz with level and on/off switch. excellent sustain. right now, i play it daily as it's my "all the time" guitar, both at home and at practice. there is no style of music that this instrument doesn't do well for, at least no style of music i'd play or listen to. until i get my baritone from Kevin (Electrical Guitars) i am comfortable saying this is the best instrument i've ever played. hopefully it will be "second best" within the next month or two.
the volume knob selects a range from mid-level to amp-drivingly hot. normal setting would be at about 75%. the fuzz is crazy! it sucks for anything other than single notes or perfect 5th or perfect 4th chords. but for power chords, it adds a pretty sick quality on top of the most heavily distorted tone i use (Black Dog -> Super Duper both on). tone control comes in handy. does a great thin-and-whispy as well.
197x Travis Bean Standard #804
neck: neck-through (aluminum) very thin
weight : super heavy
p/u : stock Travis Bean humbuckers
The Beanis an absolute pleasure to play, and does "edgy" very well. huge harmonics and excellent sustain. i haven't figured out how to get it to do super-clean-but-full-sounding without rolling the volume back just a tad and playing *super* soft. rolling back the volume too much makes it lose its balls. basically it wants to scream. very heavy and very bright. almost as heavy and almost as bright as the Lado.
1974 (jan74 pot code) SG Special
neck : set neck, gibson thickness
weight : very light
p/u : two stock mini-humbuckers
The SG Special and EL84's were born to hump each other. It kicks ass both for chimey clean parts and definitely for traditional "rock" type rock. mini-humbuckers have very hot output which cleans up beautifully rolled back to about 7. very useful tone controls. super-bright bridge pickup, similar to Bean
2000 Gothic Explorer
neck : set neck, gibson thickness
weight : middleweight
pickups : mod w/ Duncan Jass neck and Duncan Custom Custom bridge (both are 4-conductor humbuckers)
The Gothic Explorer is the darkest (timbre!) guitar i own, and it's not too heavy. so dark-toned that it was too much. i put a duncan Jazz pickup in the neck and that brought out a little bit of the sparkle that isn't there. great for power chords with a little bit of sizzle. it's so dark there's no point in a tone knob. so i completely redid the electronics. there's not one original electronic component in it. set up to allow the player to dial in two different volume/pickup blend settings selected with one toggle... new config is:
knobs (4):
Volume A,
Pickup blend A,
Volume B,
Pickup blend B
switches (5):
A/off/B knob path selector,
neck : single/series hum/parallel hum,
neck : in phase/off/out of phase,
bridge : single/series hum/parallel hum,
bridge : in phase/off/out of phase
my "goto" setting is almost entirely neck pickup with just a little bridge, neck single-coil out of phase, bridge series humbucker. the B setting has mostly bridge pickup, but with a bit of neck.
1981 Ibanez Studio ST-55
neck : set neck, average thickness, 24 frets
weight : unremarkable
pickups : 3 dimarzio humbuckers (4-conductor)
The Ibanez Studio was modded by a previous owner, and they went NUTS! this is the instrument that turned me on to coil tapping and phasing of pickups. there was a 3rd humbucker added in the mid position (all 3 dimarzio), and its own volume was put in place of the 3-way pickup switch. *8* toggle switches were added,
3 x pickup on/off switches,
3 x single coil vs humbucker switches,
and 2 x phase switches (for mid and bridge pickups).
original two volumes and tones were left in place. huge range of tones, duh!
my "goto" setup is neck single coil, alone. then i set the bridge volume so adding in the bridge humbucking sounds more full when distorted, then i disengage the neck pickup, and turn on the mid pickup out of phase, and adjust the volume until the mid and bridge are cancelling each other out as much as possible, so it's as thin and sharp a tone as any guitar is gonna get. then i go back to just the neck in single coil. when i wanna add beef, i turn on the bridge. when i wanna make it sound more like a Bean, i turn on the mid pickup (which is out of phase). i *heart* electronics flexibility!!
this guitar was purchased as a backup to my '78 Musician, and then immediately usurped it. it's a part of why i have such an appreciation for the late 70's/ early 80's ibanez instruments. all 3 of the ones i own are aces. the appeal of this instrument may be linked to the outre modifications done by previous owner, i can't say as i've never known the instrument in its stock configuration. but it plays and sounds great. and looks purty.
almost all of the guitars in the "playing frequently" category get brought home for periods of time to be my "at home" guitar. i always have at least one at home for daily playing. these guitars have been, in reverse chronology from today: Lado, Explorer, Bean, SG, Destroyer, Musician and i can't remember further back than that point which is like 3 months ago.
BASSES
the Ibanez Challenger is basically a '78 p-bass. ibanez had that whole lawsuit thing (though that was with gibson, not fender) where they got sued for making premium-quality copies of popular instruments. this one is a fine example of a good p-bass knockoff. and it smells great! this is the one my bass player plays all the time... cause it's the lightest!
the Ripper is a beast of a bass. big and heavy, like a bass should be! nice long scale. 4-position veritone control that controls pickup selection and phasing. remember that time on the MTV awards or some shit like that, when Krist Novoselic threw his bass up in the air and when he went to catch it, got nailed in the head and stumbled off stage, bleeding? that's a Ripper right there.
currently my "at home" bass.
the Victory Artist is another heavy MF with a variety of different tones. two pickups, active electronics (bass and treble knobs!), phase toggle. gets a nice aggressive tone. maybe the heaviest instrument i own. currently my bass players "at home" bass.
the '78 musician is for sale, though right now the sustain block/gibraltar bridge are in florida for use in the construction of my baritone. i can get them back sooner if anybody wants it.
~'80 Lado F-1 Falcon #655 (w/ wonderbar)
Travis Bean Standard #804 (stock)
'74 Gibson SG Special #118xxx (stock)
'00 Gibson Gothic Explorer (w/ custom electronics suite)
'81 Ibanez Studio ST-55 (w/ 3 humbuckers w/ coil tapping and phase control)
Guitar - haven't played in over a month
90's Ibanez Destroyer (mod w/ 3 x humbucker, wonderbar)
'78 Ibanez Musician MC-200 (stock, and for sale!)
60's Kimberly [(q.v. Teisco] (mod w/ roller-type bridge)
'89 Jackson USA "Strat" #10 (mod w/ miswired EMG humbucker in bridge)
'?? Cort Strat (mod w/ stock single-coil neck, kramer bass dual-humbucker middle, EMG at bridge, 5 string DADAA)
'?? Synsonics... guitar... (removed the internal speaker and amp circuit. another $30 pawnshop special)
Bass - playing frequently
'78 Ibanez Challenger [p-bass] (stock)
'81 Gibson Ripper (stock)
early 80's Gibson Victory Artist (stock)
Bass - haven't played in over a month
Ventura P-bass (3 string)
'91 Ibanez SR-800 (stock)
--------------INSTRUMENTS-----------------
circa 1980ish Lado Falcon - #655
neck : neck-through 3-piece (hippie sandwich) super-thin 24 fret
weight : super heavy
p/u : DiMarzio humbuckers (4-wire)
The Lado is perfectly constructed and has the widest range of tones of any guitar i've ever played. two dimarzio humbuckers with coil tapping, phase switching, a veritone, and a built in fuzz with level and on/off switch. excellent sustain. right now, i play it daily as it's my "all the time" guitar, both at home and at practice. there is no style of music that this instrument doesn't do well for, at least no style of music i'd play or listen to. until i get my baritone from Kevin (Electrical Guitars) i am comfortable saying this is the best instrument i've ever played. hopefully it will be "second best" within the next month or two.
the volume knob selects a range from mid-level to amp-drivingly hot. normal setting would be at about 75%. the fuzz is crazy! it sucks for anything other than single notes or perfect 5th or perfect 4th chords. but for power chords, it adds a pretty sick quality on top of the most heavily distorted tone i use (Black Dog -> Super Duper both on). tone control comes in handy. does a great thin-and-whispy as well.
197x Travis Bean Standard #804
neck: neck-through (aluminum) very thin
weight : super heavy
p/u : stock Travis Bean humbuckers
The Beanis an absolute pleasure to play, and does "edgy" very well. huge harmonics and excellent sustain. i haven't figured out how to get it to do super-clean-but-full-sounding without rolling the volume back just a tad and playing *super* soft. rolling back the volume too much makes it lose its balls. basically it wants to scream. very heavy and very bright. almost as heavy and almost as bright as the Lado.
1974 (jan74 pot code) SG Special
neck : set neck, gibson thickness
weight : very light
p/u : two stock mini-humbuckers
The SG Special and EL84's were born to hump each other. It kicks ass both for chimey clean parts and definitely for traditional "rock" type rock. mini-humbuckers have very hot output which cleans up beautifully rolled back to about 7. very useful tone controls. super-bright bridge pickup, similar to Bean
2000 Gothic Explorer
neck : set neck, gibson thickness
weight : middleweight
pickups : mod w/ Duncan Jass neck and Duncan Custom Custom bridge (both are 4-conductor humbuckers)
The Gothic Explorer is the darkest (timbre!) guitar i own, and it's not too heavy. so dark-toned that it was too much. i put a duncan Jazz pickup in the neck and that brought out a little bit of the sparkle that isn't there. great for power chords with a little bit of sizzle. it's so dark there's no point in a tone knob. so i completely redid the electronics. there's not one original electronic component in it. set up to allow the player to dial in two different volume/pickup blend settings selected with one toggle... new config is:
knobs (4):
Volume A,
Pickup blend A,
Volume B,
Pickup blend B
switches (5):
A/off/B knob path selector,
neck : single/series hum/parallel hum,
neck : in phase/off/out of phase,
bridge : single/series hum/parallel hum,
bridge : in phase/off/out of phase
my "goto" setting is almost entirely neck pickup with just a little bridge, neck single-coil out of phase, bridge series humbucker. the B setting has mostly bridge pickup, but with a bit of neck.
1981 Ibanez Studio ST-55
neck : set neck, average thickness, 24 frets
weight : unremarkable
pickups : 3 dimarzio humbuckers (4-conductor)
The Ibanez Studio was modded by a previous owner, and they went NUTS! this is the instrument that turned me on to coil tapping and phasing of pickups. there was a 3rd humbucker added in the mid position (all 3 dimarzio), and its own volume was put in place of the 3-way pickup switch. *8* toggle switches were added,
3 x pickup on/off switches,
3 x single coil vs humbucker switches,
and 2 x phase switches (for mid and bridge pickups).
original two volumes and tones were left in place. huge range of tones, duh!
my "goto" setup is neck single coil, alone. then i set the bridge volume so adding in the bridge humbucking sounds more full when distorted, then i disengage the neck pickup, and turn on the mid pickup out of phase, and adjust the volume until the mid and bridge are cancelling each other out as much as possible, so it's as thin and sharp a tone as any guitar is gonna get. then i go back to just the neck in single coil. when i wanna add beef, i turn on the bridge. when i wanna make it sound more like a Bean, i turn on the mid pickup (which is out of phase). i *heart* electronics flexibility!!
this guitar was purchased as a backup to my '78 Musician, and then immediately usurped it. it's a part of why i have such an appreciation for the late 70's/ early 80's ibanez instruments. all 3 of the ones i own are aces. the appeal of this instrument may be linked to the outre modifications done by previous owner, i can't say as i've never known the instrument in its stock configuration. but it plays and sounds great. and looks purty.
almost all of the guitars in the "playing frequently" category get brought home for periods of time to be my "at home" guitar. i always have at least one at home for daily playing. these guitars have been, in reverse chronology from today: Lado, Explorer, Bean, SG, Destroyer, Musician and i can't remember further back than that point which is like 3 months ago.
BASSES
the Ibanez Challenger is basically a '78 p-bass. ibanez had that whole lawsuit thing (though that was with gibson, not fender) where they got sued for making premium-quality copies of popular instruments. this one is a fine example of a good p-bass knockoff. and it smells great! this is the one my bass player plays all the time... cause it's the lightest!
the Ripper is a beast of a bass. big and heavy, like a bass should be! nice long scale. 4-position veritone control that controls pickup selection and phasing. remember that time on the MTV awards or some shit like that, when Krist Novoselic threw his bass up in the air and when he went to catch it, got nailed in the head and stumbled off stage, bleeding? that's a Ripper right there.
currently my "at home" bass.
the Victory Artist is another heavy MF with a variety of different tones. two pickups, active electronics (bass and treble knobs!), phase toggle. gets a nice aggressive tone. maybe the heaviest instrument i own. currently my bass players "at home" bass.
the '78 musician is for sale, though right now the sustain block/gibraltar bridge are in florida for use in the construction of my baritone. i can get them back sooner if anybody wants it.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:18 am
'04 SG Standard~ My everyday player, stock
'98 SG-X~ with a Duncan Distortion
Aluminum bodied Tele~ the body should be here next week, ready for assembly. It will have a Strat-head maple neck (Warmoth) and a Duncan Custom P-90 in the bridge...kind of my version of the Esquire.
'05 Edwards SG~ JB/'59n stock pickups, high-quality Japanese copy, I am currently selling this guitar.
'98 SG-X~ with a Duncan Distortion
Aluminum bodied Tele~ the body should be here next week, ready for assembly. It will have a Strat-head maple neck (Warmoth) and a Duncan Custom P-90 in the bridge...kind of my version of the Esquire.
'05 Edwards SG~ JB/'59n stock pickups, high-quality Japanese copy, I am currently selling this guitar.
what bass-guitar are you playing?
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:21 am
From the other thread:
Travis Bean TB-500 sn#252 - bridge pickup replaced with Custom P-90, so I can get the "classic Travis sound" on centre swtich and a more "standard guitar sound" on the bridge setting.
Gibson SG, with an Airzone in the Bridge for Helmet-tastic crushing distortion and a PAF Pro in the neck for warm fuzziness.
I run these through a vintage Mesa Boogie Mark I short-scale head and whatever cab I'm using at the time. The Travis-Mark I sound is the best clean sound I have ever heard in my life... period -I use a Crowther Hot Cake for overdrive. The SG through the Mesa + RAT = crushing wall of guitars...
That's me...
Travis Bean TB-500 sn#252 - bridge pickup replaced with Custom P-90, so I can get the "classic Travis sound" on centre swtich and a more "standard guitar sound" on the bridge setting.
Gibson SG, with an Airzone in the Bridge for Helmet-tastic crushing distortion and a PAF Pro in the neck for warm fuzziness.
I run these through a vintage Mesa Boogie Mark I short-scale head and whatever cab I'm using at the time. The Travis-Mark I sound is the best clean sound I have ever heard in my life... period -I use a Crowther Hot Cake for overdrive. The SG through the Mesa + RAT = crushing wall of guitars...
That's me...