hamfist

The reasons to go for Fender not Squier would be down to wood choices for me. It is my experience that quality tonewoods for the body (ash and alder etc as opposed to basswood and agathis) make a noticeable difference in the tone of a bass. For me it's a discernible positive difference. I will never buy another bass made from basswood or agathis, unless I play it first and it has some amazing "magic" about it.

Now in stock at Thomann. PJ set for £124. Tempted.

Yup, any of the Ibby SR range instantly come to mind.

[quote name='dazza14' timestamp='1402041787' post='2469383'] I think i'm lucky to be in a band with musicians that are open to change...[/sub][/size] [/quote] You are truly blessed there. Its a rare thing.

[quote name='Guinness21' timestamp='1402018316' post='2469309'] Say hypothetically I went for the knightfall 66, how would you suggest I use it? As a designated overdrive pedal to kick it up a notch from my standard tone, which includes a tech 21 vt bass? OR, would you use it in place of the tech 21 vt bass for warmth and suggest I look at another overdrive pedal? [/quote] Personally I love the Knightfall and hate the VT, but it all comes down to personal taste really. If the VT really does what you want it to for your base tone and you are sure you only want one level of OD above that, then I'd say you only need a standard KNightfall, not the two channel 66. If you are not hugely satisfied with the VT as your base tone, or would simply like more options then the 66 would be an excellent choice. Then you can just experiment and see what you like best. You certainly would have a load of options like that. The 66 also offers the blend which the std KNightfall does not have. I run one Knightfall as my base tone and then switch to another on higher gain settings via a loop pedal (so only one stomp) for higher gain sounds. It works for me, and I have tried (what seems like) a million pedals and configurations looking for my sound.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1401991557' post='2469052'] I'd love to hear some sounds samples as I wouldn't mind fitting some Barts and a John East preamp to my SB320. (Sacrilege that it is to mess with a classic...) [/quote] If I get time I'll see what I can do.

I haven't played the Mayer pedal but the Okko Basstard and the VMT are very different beasts. For what you're looking for I'd go for the VMT over the Basstard definitely. The Basstard doesn't have much "vintage" about it at all. Also, look at the COG Knightfall (I must sound like a real fanboy sometimes, but these really are that good). Much cheaper than the other pedals you mention too !

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1401916921' post='2468381'] I plugged my lead into her too. [/quote] you b@stard.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1401906680' post='2468210'] Is it much lighter now? Both of my Overwaters (Tanglewood-made ones) weigh 10 and a half pounds or more...] It's actually a fraction heavier with the new body. It's all fairly academic though considering that the Badass on it's own weighs about 10lbs. [By the way, we seem to have very similar tastes in basses... I have your old Yammy, have one of those Classic J's and almost bought your Ibby twice from each of its previous owners! (It's been in my flat and I've played it, it's a beauty.) [/quote] Aye, we do seem to like similar basses. That's a pretty callous and hard way of telling me that you've already had your wicked way with my "baby" though. And thanks to all for your kind comments.

I bet these are amazing basses. Can't imagine which genius came up with the stunning name for them though. It's the sort of name I'd expect a company like Harley Benton to call their P clone. I'll never be able to afford one though so I guess it won't affect me. Enjoy your superb new bass !

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1401875237' post='2467652'] I like the headstock! If you change the neck, you'll have start calling it 'Trigger's Broom' though :-p [/quote] Thank goodness for Google ..... I see what you mean ! If I do change the neck, then the neck plate will still be Overwater !

I recently bought a Tanglewood Overwater Classic Jazz from alcytes, which had already been heavily modified .... East J-retro USA Bart PJ pickups Badass II bridge I thought it a really nice bass, played beautifully, good tonal control although lacked a little .... "character" maybe. I really wanted to try a good hardwood body on the bass as they come with a fairly soft poplar body and I do love a bit of natural wood finish too. Discovered these amazingly good value Jazz bodies on the www ..... http://www.kitbuiltguitars.co.uk/parts/guitar-bodies/jazz-bass-style-ash-wood-body.html I ordered one, not expecting too much, but it's a bargain IMO. It's a 4 piece body, but that's not a problem for me. Good, hard Ash. The routings are clean and decent, although I obviously had to extend the neck J rout to fit the P pickup I needed. Still needed a bridge ground wire hole drilling, but I had the drill bit to cope. THe finish is the obvious place where they have saved money, as there really isn't much sanding at all gone on. But, any body will require a lot of attention to smooth anyway before any refinish so I don't count that as a negative either. There are also a few little knots and "imperfections" in the wood, but I think that gives it character ! Anyway, a few days later and my favourite Colron Danish oil and Briwax (both non-stained) finish, I was ready to put it all back together. Firstly, I think it looks a million times better and the mix and match of grains in the 4 piece body looks surprisingly nice IMO. But tonally, this has really brought the bass to life and it now has such a resonant "woody", articulate tone I am very pleased. At the moment I'm quite liking the red Overwater headstock, but if I do change anything on the bass it'll be a new neck as the OW neck is a 40mm nut and I do like them a bit thinner really. But the whole bass works so well as a whole I'll leave it as is for the moment. I'm interested what others think about the red headstock on the natural body. Here's some pics ... [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/overwater-main.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/overwater-body-front.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/overwater-rear.html][/url]

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1401657704' post='2465654'] Bit of a resurrection, but I thought I would just add that the Yammy BB P pickup is actually in the same sweetspot you'd find on a Fender/Squier P. It just looks closer to the neck because the Yamaha has 21 frets instead of the Fenders 20. If you measure from the 20th fret on the Yammy, it's the same. [/quote] Are you sure ? My comments came from the BB424 I used to own. I'm sure the pickup was about 5mm or so nearer the nut (or 12th fret, which is another std place that many folks measure from). I'd never measure from the fretboard end for the reasons you mention. Fender's will be pretty much 11" from the 12th fret to the centre of the P pickup where the two pieces meet. Maybe someone here can measure their BB's ?

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1401648514' post='2465559'] Forgot to mention something which I hadn't considered before doing mine, and I can't guarantee it was definitely from the reshaping, is dead spots. I did a makeover on a Variax and reshaped the above head and fitted 'elephant ear' tuners instead of the rectangular Line 6 ones. I also fitted La Bella white nylon strings afterwards and now have a slight dead spot on the B on G string (5th fret), classic dead spot area I believe. It could be the strings changing the tension on the neck, but I don't think so, more likely is the change in mass of the head, I was hoping that shaving some of the wood off but fitting heavier tuners would counteract each other, but I now have a dead spot that definitely wasn't there before. But I do have a Variax that doesn't look like sh*te . Just something to consider and there no way of knowing until you do it. [/quote] THat's interesting to hear. Worry about creating dead spots is the thing that has stopped me doing the same thing so far. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1401642582' post='2465478'] However, you may well find that just changing the pickup might not make your Roadworn P sound like your USA Fender did. There are so many factors as to what makes a bass sound the way it does, and the pickup is just one of them. [/quote] Very, very true.

Nice one. John East plus USA Barts is a great combo.

IME, in terms of changing tone, adding a bit more gain/overdrive fills out the bass sound in the most musically pleasing way for rock, during a guitar solo in a 3 piece band. A lot of it does depend on your guitarist though. My current guitarist is not quite as musically astute as others I have worked with and he is not good at "filling" his solo space, or using the best tones for the job (all IMO of course. I suspect he disagrees). Other guitarists I've worked with knew how to "fill" a solo and it never needed me as the bassist to fill anything else while they soloed. If it's just not working in a band situation though, sometimes it has to come down to song selection as some songs simply don't work as a 3 piece (with some guitarists) IMO.

Nothing has displaced my COG Knightfall. I run two of them, for different gain levels, all through the loop of a blend pedal, followed by a parametric mids pedal straight after. It's the ultimate in overdrive IMO.

Excellent news !

personally I'd sand down the whole neck and headstock. Reshape with my Dremel and then wet'n'dry. Finally I'd refin with Colron natural Danish oil (3 coats) and natural Briwax (3 coats) for a great satin refinish. Both products available at any B&Q. THe final finish will possibly be a fraction darker than the current colour. Here's a maple neck I did the same thing on ..... [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/oiled-neck-b.html][/url]

I always find that if pickups are not very firmly supported underneath, then microphonic noise from touching/hitting the pickups is amplified. The firmer they are supported, the more this noise is damped. For this reason I always use really firm foam. I want my pickups to feel almost rigid to a medium "prod".