Baloney Balderdash

So I kind of pondered for some time on having the J pickup cavity of my P/J Ibanez Mikro Bass, which is my main, routed out for a humbucker pickup of some kind, the DiMarzio Model P pickup I have installed in the Mikro currently being the only pickup on my Mikro that is actually connected, and as I love the classic gnarly Thunderbird tone I kind of settled with the idea of having the J pickup cavity routed for a Thunderbird pickup (I don't mind if some of the J pickup caviity will be left sticking out after routing it out to fit a Thunderbird pickup, minor cosmetic mess ups doesn't bother me at all), but I think at least using the edge of the existing J pickup cavity towards the neck actually will fit pretty well with where the bridge Thunderbird pickup cavity also stops towards the neck on a real Thunderbird. Making it look something like this : Now my question is if I want that gnarly traditional Thunderbird tone what are my options for pickups that will deliver that (I am fine with cheap pickups, just as long as they are also great pickups, but more expensive suggestions are welcome as well)?

People Are Strange (by The Doors)

I will most likely have a clone of the Fender Blender octave fuzz build at some point in the new year, which is capable of some pretty out of control over the top fuzz tones and might be the most wonderfully abrasive and harsh fuzz ever made. Also I am quite certain that I'll buy the 27" scale Harley Benton Baritone CLG-414BCE NT acoustic baritone guitar, which has gotten some amazingly great reviews (even the Fishman piezo/preamp system it comes with allegedly is supposed to sound great, very natural and close to the acoustic tone of the guitar), but only costs 269£/291 Euro. Most likely already placing my order on one coming either January or February 2021. And I've also already settled for which strings to get for it, namely a gauge .070 to .016 set of 80/20 Bronze Elixir Nanoweb acoustic baritone guitar strings. Really looking forward to get one of these, and most likely it will replace my electric guitar as the main instrument for the songs I am working on for my alternative folk project. Here's how the Harley Benton acoustic baritone guitar looks : Here's the link to it on Thomann's homepage : https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_baritone_clg_414bce_nt.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjQiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D And here's a thorough YouTube demo/review of it :

Some fairly big changes since my last post (still planing to get a proper pedal board to attach my pedal setup to within the not too distant future) : Making my entire signal chain look like this : 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass (strung with gauge .090 - .068 - .052 - .038 D'Addario XL nickle roundwound steel strings, tuned in G1 standard tuning, 2 half steps bellow A standard bartitone guitar tuning, and having a DiMarzio Model P pickup wired directly to the output jack socket) ->> TC Electronic SpectraComp (always on compressor) ->> TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini (always on digital polyphonic octaver, used as an 1 octave up effect mixed with clean bass signal, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings) ->> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (parallel effect loops mixer/switch) ->> ={ [Loop A Send] ->> Joyo Orange Juice (low gain overdrive, with some highs cut via the tone knob, always stacked into the Metal Zone in front of it and mixed with the Black Rat distortion in parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> Boss MT2 Metal Zone (high gain metal type of distortion, always with the Orange Juice behind it in the same effects loop stacked into it, and always mixed with the Black Rat distortion in parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser (EHX Small Stone clone, used in the high feedback and deep sweep mode, almost always used mixed with flanger in parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> [Loop A Return] ->||<- [Loop B Send] ->> Joyo Orange Juice (always on, except for when using my high gain distortion setup, relative low gain overdrive that is always mixed with the clean {bass+octave up} signal from parallel effects [Loop B]) ->> Mosky Black Rat (Rat clone, in [Turbo] Rat mode (diode clipping), quite raunchy and fairly dark sounding high gain distortion, always mixed with the {Orange Juice -> Metal Zone} from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> Monarch MFL-22 (flanger, most often used mixed with phaser in parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an about 50/50 ratio) }=>> Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz (Boss FZ-2/Univox Super Fuzz clone, octave fuzz, set to [Mode 1] with the gain at noon, often used with the {Orange Juice [Loop A]//Clean signal [Loop B]} stacked into it) ->> Boss TR-2 (tremolo, almost always used combined with the chorus effect in front of it) ->> TC Electronic Shaker (Vibrato blended with clean signal, via the Toneprint editor, functioning as a deep lush chorus effect, almost always used combined with the Boss TR-2 tremolo) ->> NUX Tape Core Deluxe (Roland Space Echo tape delay emulation) ->> Zoom G1Xon (exclusively used for reverb effects, which are as follows:: a very subtle, always on, main plate reverb :-: a more prominent plate + hall reverb :-: a thick lush plate + hall + tape delay reverb :-: and finally an extremely thick and lush reverb pad used with volume swells consisting of plate + hall + tape delay reverb) ->> Zoom MS-70 CDR (exclusively used as an always on EQ, utilizing six 2 band fully parametric equalizers to fine tune the tone by cutting/boosting various frequency bands -/+ 1 to 2 dB, 2 of the bands used to sculpt an about -9dB/Oct downward slope, starting at about 4kHz) ->> Behringer BEQ700 Bass Graphic Equalizer (always on, with the 50Hz, 120Hz, 400Hz, 500Hz and 800Hz bands boosted ever so slightly) ->> [Effects Return] (poweramp input) of Peavey Solo Special 112 (160W, solid state guitar combo, with the build in 4 Ohm 12" speaker unit disconnected and instead hooked up to the SWR Triad I bass cab) ->> SWR Triad I (400W bass cab, equipped with 1x15" + 1x10" speaker units + high frequency tweeter horn, the 15" speaker unit receiving the full signal, the 10" unit only receiving the part of the signal that is between 100Hz and 5kHz, and the high frequency tweeter horn receiving everything above 5kHz of the signal, with the build in tweeter attenuator set at noon, which according to the manual is the "normal setting", practically meaning an about -4dB cut of the signal send to the tweeter) =>> The Box PA 502 (300W full range passive PA speaker, connected in parallel to the Triad I cab, equipped with 1x15" + 1,7" high frequency tweeter horn)

Now's the Only Time I Know (by Fever Ray)

Well, I have to break to you that you are wrong, in fact the Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Baritone string set is made specifically with Bass Vi type instruments in mind, despite having Baritone in their name, though a bit too short for the specific Fender model (because of the bridge positioning/how the strings are attached needing a bit longer string length), I think in specific these Ernie Ball strings are made for the Gretsch Jet one. And as I mentioned the set that D'Addario make specifically to fit Fender Bass VI got a low E string that is just gauge .084, though I agree that would be way too thin and floppy for a low E, so not sure what the reasoning behind such a thin gauge for the low E is. Most Bass VI string sets will feature a gauge .090 or .095 low E string (the Schecter Hellcat Bass VI in question is fitted with a gauge .090 low E string from factory), and in my opinion that is quite fitting for a low E on a 30" scale instrument. Personally I have always used a set with a gauge .095 low E string for 30" scale short scale basses, and to me they always felt just right and never too floppy. What most people doesn't realize is that even though the tension of the strings will be lower on a shorter scale instrument they will actually feel much stiffer, contrary to common believes, just think of guitars which usually will have much lower string tension than basses typically would, or how a wooden stick laid out between two points, kind of like a bridge, gets more flexible and will require less force to bend the further the two points are apart. A gauge .105 for the low E string on a 30" scale instrument in my opinion would feel way too stiff (and be way too thick with the tight string spacing of a Bass VI type instrument), despite having lower tension than it would on a 34" scale bass. On top of that comes that the way you would typically play a Bass VI type instrument compared to how you would typically play a bass doesn't require for the strings to be quite as rigid and stiff, in that a Bass VI type instrument in many ways, beside the lower tuning, and in in some cases a bit longer scale length (some baritone guitars will have a 30" scale length as well), actually have more in common with a baritone guitar than an actual bass in terms of how they are typically used and played.

What about a LFO based auto "wah"/filter pedal? Like the Mooer Funky Monkey for instance?

Ernie Ball 2837 Slinky Baritone is a great set for Bass VI type instruments, with a gauge .090 low E string, versus the just gauge .084 low E string in the D'Addario Bass VI set which would get way too floppy, in my opinion .084 is way too thin a gauge string for that tuning on a 30" scale instrument, and I honestly don't understand why D'Addario would do thing, a gauge .090 or .095 low E string on a 30" Bass VI type instrument will be much more fitting.

On the silly side I got two dummy knobs on my bass that are purely there for cosmetic reason and serve no practical function, since I wired the P pickup I installed in the bass directly to the output jack socket, yet I am very conscious about and insisting on having them turned up to the max position, which actually does matter a little from a purely visual point of view, since one of them got numbers from 0 to 10 printed on it and the other being a chickenhead style knob, and that despite my bass actually looking pretty battered as a whole and me generally not being overly concerned about how it actually looks otherwise. Of stuff that actually does really matter I am also really specific about and quite a perfectionist when it comes to the tone of my bass, having spend hours doing relatively minor EQ adjustments of my basic always on clean tone (using my Zoom MS70 CDR multi stomp pedal as my main equalizer, having set up a patch with six 2 band fully parametric equalizers, being very specific about the Q value of the different frequency bands I have dialed in, but only cutting or boosting -/+ 1dB on most of them, and non of them more than -/+ 2dB), as well as on my drive pedals, and continuing doing minor adjustments almost every time I pick up the bass, something I didn't use to really pay much attention to, if any, but I think became increasingly important to me as my experience with recording, producing, mixing and mastering my own music grew, gradually making me more and more aware of the finer tonal details of instruments and music in general (which I think would be quite obvious if comparing my musical productions through time), which I guess is only a good thing, even if certainly making dialing in my tone considerably more circumstantial.

Long Gone (by Syd Barrett)

Love You (by Syd Barrett)

Talkin' 'bout a Revolution (by Tracy Chapman)

The Dreamer Is Still Asleep (by Coil)

Girlfriend (by Eric's Trip)

Actually I want it to be really intense as how I use it is parallely blended with a more subtle flanger effect via my Boss LS-2, and I want it to still give that somewhat envelope filter-esque quacky "wauh" sound. It is quite dark though, true, and really darker than I'd ideally prefer it to be, but I actually found a passable solution to that, that also solves the volume drop, by having a quite low gain and relatively bright overdrive placed in front of it. Thinking of it it might be possible for me to use some kind of envelope filter with a character somewhat similar to that phaser like swirly quack instead, if such an effect exists. In that case, any recommendation for an envelope filter pedal that would be capable of producing that kind of sound?

Newer thought I'd say this but I have almost just dropped the EHX Black Finger as part of my setup, along with the Behringer UV300 Ultra Vibrato with a faulty buffer that somehow made my bass sound more mids focused and snappy. The reason why I even considered it was because the preamp tubes in my Black Finger gave up, so I had to find an alternative, and in the same instance I thought I would find away around not having to have the Behringer Ultar Vibrato take space up in my setup, and with a slight adjustment of the EQ, using a patch of six 2 band fully parametric equalizers in my Zoom MS-70 CDR and a Behringer BRQ700 Bass Graphic Equalizer, which I guess would be 2 of my other always on tone pedals, and with one of my Joyo Orange Juice pedals blended with clean signal via my Boss LS-2, I found the perfect replacement for those two pedals. The Orange Juice being a sized and pared -down clone of the now discontinued Tech 21 Oxford preamp/overdrive pedal, meant to be an analog emulation of an Orange amp, that in the effort to size it down to about as small as a pedal practically can get had most of the EQ section of the original sacrificed to now only feature a standard Tone control and a Voice control, which is basically the same as the original's Character control, which is a pre gain stage EQ control, only with the difference that while it boost a quite wide curve around a center frequency of 800Hz turned above noon, like the original, instead of cutting the same area bellow noon, like the original, it instead cuts a wide curve around a center frequency of 400Hz. I have it set with the Tone control at dead on noon and the Voice control (aka 800Hz) boosted a bit, I think about 3-4dB, and then the Gain turned up to a light overdrive, blended with the clean signal of my bass via my Boss LS-2, giving me some of the same slight tube breakup I used to get from the Black Finger, as well as some of the same punch and snap I got from the Behringer vibrato's faulty buffer, in addition resulting in an overall much clearer and more articulate kind of tone than before. And after much parameter tweaking in the Toneprint editor I also replaced my always on compressor last in my effect pedals chain, right before my EQ setup, previously delivered by the DBX 160A model in my Zoom G1Xon, with my TC Electronic SpectraComp fully programable 3 band compressor, placed at the very front of my effect pedals chain, right after my bass. The EHX Black Finger might very well come back into use once I've got some new preamp tubes to replace the faulty ones, but this far I actually don't really miss it and am more satisfied with the tone that I got now than I was before. Here is the Joyo Orange Juice with the setting that I use, blended with just about 40-45% clean signal or so, via my Boss LS-2 (and, as you might be able to tell from the foort switch and the plugs of the patch cables, the pedal is much bigger on this picture than it is in reality. Also note that the black part is actually a lid that can be closed over the control area to protect the settings of the pedal, and that the drive setting might seem higher than it in reality is, due to the fact that some of it's initial travel, up till just about 9 o'clock or so, is actually clean, not really adding any overdrive, though of course depending on how hot the input signal is, as well as how the Voice, pre gain stage EQ, knob is set) :

Quite a nudge up in price from the Behringer I use now, which, beside the volume drop and lack of controls, actually sounds no short of amazing. However I will consider it, even if it would be way way more expensive than any of my other effect pedals, and not even an effect that will see much use. Still for the few passages where I do need the effect it will be quite essential, and as I am already considering the Earthquaker Devices Grand Orbiter, which I got recommended in a similar thread that I made on The Gear Page forum, and the Wombtone wouldn't be considerably more expensive than that, if I chose to spend this much on a phaser pedal I might as well pay a little extra and get what seems to be the superior one. In any case thanks for your suggestion.

Although lacking in the department of parameters that can be controlled I found the Boss CE-1 model of the Zoom MS-70 CDR (and possibly others of the multi stomp boxes) to actually be an amazing sounding chorus effect that is not all that far from the effect it seeks to emulate. Really a shame that Zoom didn't update and include that effect for their newer line of multi effects. When that is said the chorus I currently use is actually a vibrato effect, namely the TC Electronic Shaker Mini, and even though you can actually chose between a couple of chorus effects, under the modulation menu, in the Toneprint editor, I programmed the one I use using the vibrato modulation, just blended with cleans (as that is actually what a chorus is, a pitch vibrato effect blended with clean signal), the one described in this thread I made about it : In my opinion one of the best chorus effects I've ever heard, though extremely thick and lush, so might not be to everyone's taste.

So, does such a thing as a clone of the original old EHX Small Stone phaser with sweep/depth and feedback/resonance control and no volume drop when engaged exists? And in that case how would I be able to get hold of one? It needs to be the old original version of the small stone circuit, cause the new version, even if claiming to feature the same circuit, is not nearly as lush sounding, plus there's a hole in the sweep with the color switch set to high depth and feedback, like sweeping too deep, out of range, that the original doesn't have. For now I got the ultra cheap Behringer Vintage Phaser, which is a faithful clone of the original circuit, unfortunately including the volume drop, but I absolutely love how it sounds. Directing me to someone who is willing to make custom effects or mod my Behringer would be fine by me too.

Monster show by my musical heroes since my teenage years :

Liberator :