jimmango

Just been looking into those Nordstrand Big Singles, they might just do the trick!! Anyone used them passively?? Would be nice to have them running with vol/vol/tone plus S1 switch. That would leave me withe an unused pot though - or is it possible to wire them vol/vol/tone/tone? Just for more options - or is that a bit strange? Jim

Well what I was actually thinking of doing was ditching the preamps all together and going passive, surely thats gotta get rid of the GB sound! IMHO it just has to much cut/boost that makes it tricky to get the right tone quickly and simply (especially in a rock stiuation). You can just wipe out the whole sound with a quick turn of the mid control! The G&L still has a lot of power but it is difficult to destroy the tone quite so quickly. But i step further... I have played gigs with a jazz and loved the simplicity! But set up with something like the S1 style switching I think it would be a dream! Jim

Yeah unfortunately nick im not in the financial position to be able to buy another bass! Plus, the GB is so great to play it seems silly that it gets no use, dont want to sell it either, as it has been with me a while and played some good shows - i've become quite attached to it!

ferret: Yup, that is one option which I may look into, but I'm in Glasgow... and to be honest, no offense to Bernie... but it can be really difficult and time consuming to deal with him! And im not sure he totally grasps the sound I'm after - certainly not on my last build away. He does know how to build a fine playing instrument though! odub: Yeah I know, I have looked into these options... but still compared to the GB... its a beast. And I have had huge trouble will repetitive strain in the past and just cant risk it for too long!

Hi Folks, Just a wee bit of advice needed on this one... let me explain. I have a lovely GB spitfire that I have gigged all over the world for the past few years, great bass, plays beautifully. But I have just recently finished an album which i played a G&L ASAT on, and have been rehearsing with that recently. And I have to say for what I am after tone-wise (think Aereogramme meets the Blue Nile with some Smashing Pumpkins thrown in) the G&L just blows the GB out of the water. It just has so much more grunt and bottom end and I just cannot get that out of the GB no matter what I try. The GB just has a much more Hi-Fi sound that really sounds thin in the mix in comparison. "Well, just carry on playing the G&L then" I hear you say! But here is the problem - it is just so damn uncomfortable to play with the nose dive issue that I can just see a major tendinitis relapse in the making if I start touring with it. Plus everyone needs a gig worthy spare or two don't they? So here is my thinking... i am going to give the GB an electronic overhaul and perhaps go entirely passive on it. I am thinking that a set of vintage jazz style Wizard pickups would work a treat, and if they could do the S1 style switching to get me some P-Bass tones that would be great too. But is it possible to have these built to fit in the soap bar shape? I don't want to modify the electronics that are already in it (as they are actually ex Mark King and may have some value to them!) but would prefer to swap the whole lot out. I also don't want to do any re-modeling to the body either... This is in no way a negative post against GB basses as I think they are wonderful - but I'm just after something a little less Mark King! Any suggestions/advice? Jim