HowieBass

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1475225947' post='3144110'] Are they snooty attitudes? I referenced them because the styling is similar, that's all. Cort make decent quality instruments at affordable prices, nothing wrong with that - in fact, in the early 00's I lusted after one of that tiny bodied with one huge soapbar basses that they made, thought they sounded great! It's just that other than the headstock these new Gibsons looks uber generic, which is really what Cort specialise in as they make basses for so many other people. [/quote] There's a Tanglewood branded (it's a Cort) Curbow for sale here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CURBOW-TANGLEWOOD-BASS-GUITAR-WITH-FREE-CARRY-BAG-/191978443134?hash=item2cb2ce917e:g:oXUAAOSwgApXC9f6 and judging by the size of the pickup it's a Mighty Mite - I've got a 5er with the same pickup and being an early run instrument the preamp allows you to adjust treble, mids and bass with the slap switch both on and off (later Cort Curbows have a preset EQ shape with the slap switch engaged).

I reckon the preamp in the Thunder is also the same as that in my Spectrum LX - as another BCer mentioned you can get a great sound by keeping the passive tone set fully open and then add some bass boost with the active. Flicking between the coil tap options on mine (the dual tone toggle) also changes the sound in a useful way in both passive and active modes. Have fun with it!

I'm another who likes the Grabber/Ripper shape - this new one is totally boring.

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1475151926' post='3143477'] Def sounds like that might be the problem. Was just going to suggest reflowing all the solder joints - can't always see a 'cold' joint - and/or replacing the ic with a new one. Resistors can fail as well so not necessarily a capacitor problem even if it is a faulty component. [/quote] Grangur's already replaced the IC so it won't be that... maybe it is just a dry joint at the output pin!

The only way to increase string tension/reduce compliance is to change the strings. Why are you unwilling to do this if you don't like how the current set feels? If you don't want to change gauge (because this might involve some work on the nut) then you can still get a higher tension string by choosing one that's constructed to be stiffer - try going for a thicker core or a hex core.

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1475049410' post='3142519'] They can't dry out as they aren't 'wet' to start unlike electrolytics. They can still go faulty though but electrolytics are much more likely to show problems especially after 10+ years. [/quote] This was actually my point! Would the low voltages (9v and 18v) be likely to age the capacitors in the preamp?

Do non-electrolytic (ceramic?) capacitors dry out?

The back looks better than the front, in fact had they used roasted ash for the whole body and a maple fingerboard it might start to look interesting.

Are you intending to use the Silvercrest unit to feed power to the Volto? It could work if the Volto can output power whilst it's receiving charge.

Just put it through a decent octaver. Job done.

You've not mentioned what preamp you're thinking of using (so I don't know what options it offers) but if you keep a passive/active switch do you intend to run the pickup with no tone shaping?

I think you might struggle to find anything cheaper for a 50K stack pot - another option is remove the active on/off toggle and enlarge the hole to take another pot. Are you keeping the dual tone (coil tap) toggle?

You could try a treble/bass stacked pot then you'd use the existing three holes for vol, treb/bass, mid if you go for a three band preamp.

I understand about a tenth of what you've done and I'm still massively impressed!

Maybe you ought to look out for a battered old Peavey 4x10...

What that Jazz bass wiring schematic doesn't include is your toggle switch - were you intending to use it to switch between pickups as neck/neck+bridge/bridge? You obviously don't need a toggle selector with a VVT passive design.

I don't know what schematic/instructions you've followed for your wiring but you should only have a capacitor on the tone pot. Have a look at this Are you planning on fitting pickup surrounds to hide the gaps between rout and pickup? Probably worth using conductive paint or copper shielding tape in all the body cavities too.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1473838253' post='3133416'] Isn't that what this thread is about? [/quote] It is but the assumption was made that a thinner neck means thinner tone and thicker neck means thicker tone; it might well be that thinner neck means a thicker tone and a thicker neck means a thinner tone - as I said earlier it's how the instrument body (neck included) couples with the vibrating strings that determines which partials decay faster. You could have a neck made of a very light wood and a neck made with very dense wood, both with the same profile (thickness) and I'd expect them to have different resonant modes. That's why when you put strengthening rods inside a neck you can eliminate dead spots but you certainly haven't changed its thickness.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1473834676' post='3133395'] Besides, didn't Geddy's original 1972 Jazz have its neck "shaved down" to a slimmer profile? I don't recall him ever saying that this made the tone thinner in away way... [/quote] A thinner neck doesn't necessarily suggest you'd exfect/fear a thinner tone, any more than a thicker neck would create a thicker tone - it's all about how the neck vibrates and how it couples with any of the vibrational modes of the strings. Dead spots are extreme examples of how a resonance in the neck robs energy from a vibrating string (I assume it's mainly the fundamental note it couples with). If the neck and body couple with some of the higher partials (harmonics) then they'll be less prominent and this is how I imagine tone is affected.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1473787852' post='3133155'] I'm not saying all of the tone of the instrument is determined by the pickup. Clearly, woods, construction etc make a huge difference be instrument acoustically but surely that all becomes redundant once you use the pickups? Prime example, if you have a jazz and solo the bridge you wouldn't retain the low end response and resonance that the wood type brings to the acoustic tone. It would be manipulated by the voicing of the pickup (if it transferred into the pickup in the first place) surely? [/quote] The pickup (placement and type) certainly does determine tone but it can only reproduce what it's seeing (in the string). If the body and neck resonate strongly at certain frequencies then those modes will be less strong in the string itself (because the energy has passed from string to instrument).

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1473773488' post='3132997'] Genuine question (maybe slightly on & off topic!)... Ive worked in music retail for a few years now and I can hear the difference between wood types used, body shapes and how they change resonance and other elements discussed with an acoustic guitar, a violin, a double bass etc. One of the guys I work with can hear the type of pick that's been used if we blind test him! So I understand that these factors are important for projection of an acoustic instrument's tonal character. However, I'm really struggling to see how any of those tonal factors can be picked up by a magnetic pickup? Surely it's actually not possible without using a microphone that has the technology to translate actual waveforms into an electrical signal? I can understand the sustain maybe would be picked up as the quality of the instrument would increase sustain which would be carried through to the amplifier but I can't see how any of the other factors could affect it. I was under the impression that the strings interrupt the magnetic field of the pickup and create the signal? So surely the characteristics of an alder body would not interrupt the magnetic field at all, let alone in a different manner to a walnut body or a mahogany body? [/quote] You're assuming that the strings are vibrating 'cleanly' with no interaction with the body (include neck in there) of the instrument. That isn't the case. Rest your chin on the upper horn of a bass and play it and you'll feel vibrations passing from the string, through the body of the bass to you. I like to think of the body of the instrument as a filter; any resonances in the body (and I'm still including the neck here and indeed the headstock) will effectively rob the string of vibrational energy at particular frequencies. The more the instrument body resonates, the less energy there is in the string. I've seen a video that involved luthiers Sadowsky and Tobias where one of them called the headstock a heatsink; it's where you can lose the vibrational energy from a string (I think it was Sadowsky and he talked about having a thick neck to headstock transition). A stiff neck will resonate differently to a more flexible neck - that's why you can tune out dead spots by adding graphite rods or making necks stiff with multiple laminates.

I'd also count a fingerboard as another lamination - there's a glue join there and often a difference in material and density/hardness.

Now that's what you call a chunky bridge! HNBD

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1473290570' post='3128856'] I've written to them twice and asked them to make a demo vid with this pickup but they're totally blanking me. They only have videos of the guitar pickups. The pickup in the CV Precision sounds reeeeally good - the general consensus is that the Squier CV Precison is a fabulous bass and the demos of that bass certainly back that up. It sounds better than some Fenders! I can't get verification that it is the Tonerider pup, but yes, that pickup is on my shortlist. It's crazy cheap. [/quote] Tonerider refuse to confirm they make the pickups in CV guitars and basses... most probably due to a non-disclosure agreement with Fender but many others have confirmed that they even use the same part numbers for the units. Apparently the only difference is the Toneriders have vintage cloth cable, the CV only have plastic covered cable.

The Tonerider TRP1 is supposed to be exactly the same as the pickups fitted to the Squier Classic Vibe P basses https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tonerider-TRP1-Precision-Plus-Pickup/dp/B0050YRJXW