ikay

i have done, what do you want to know?

As BRX and ET say, how much live use it will get depends on the musical situation and the bands you play in. I play fretted in a party/function band but exclusively fretless in two other jazzier bands. Having said that there's nothing wrong with using it for only a couple of songs or just playing it for pleasure. Fretless opens up a whole new dimension of sound and expressiveness, Who knows, it may take you in a whole new musical direction. If it takes hold you won't look back and you'll wonder why you didn't do it before!

Distance from 12th fret to pickup centreline is a fairly standard way of doing it. On a standard P it's 295mm to centreline of the two pickup halves

I find myself curiously drawn towards the K162 - http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Kay_K162_Pro_Bass_Review. I've read various reviews and watched YT demos but would be interested in first hand comments from anyone here who has tried one of these. Or suggestions and views on other retro style basses (either original or reincarnation) that have a certain special 'something about them'. Short/medium scale semi-acoustic or funky little solid body types. [attachment=159785:Kay K162.jpg]

Full details of the old JZ3 here if that's any help - https://www.audereaudio.com/JZ3.htm

Just bought a Babicz from Ryan. Pleasure to do business with, many thanks! Best, Ian

Early 60s by the look of it, very similar to this - [url="http://www.daydreamguitars.com/enlarge.asp?ref=Picture_151%2Ejpg&title=HOFNER+SOLID+BASS"]http://www.daydreamg...FNER+SOLID+BASS[/url] Or a single pickup version of this - [url="http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/vintage-hofner/myhof/myhof1.html"]http://www.vintageho...hof/myhof1.html[/url] The plain 'diamond' pickup (without screws/staples) is quite unusual I believe

As well as the other usual suspect (Badass) the Babicz full contact bridge and Hipshot A style (no through string version) will also fit a standard 5 hole mount. The Hipshot only has three screws but these match the outer and centre hole of the 5 screw mount.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1395524735' post='2403446'] Beautiful bass, Ian. [/quote] Yes, koa top and built for JG. Has a Stingray 3-band preamp as JG prefers the voicing over the Zon pre. Used on many sessions and albums - Kate Bush, John Martyn and others. Bit of a special one

We like to keep them to ourselves - here's my rather lovely 90s Legacy Elite fretless 5 (ex J. Giblin) [attachment=158352:IMG_0276.jpg]

My understanding is that all the Zon Bartolinis are custom wound to emphasise the low mids. I guess the 'Original' series will come closer than the 'Classic' which has an extended frequency range. The pickup on my 90s Legacy Elite is the same size as a BD5C soapbar but has four screw mounting holes where the BD casing only has 3. Zon customer support are usually very helpful - [email="[email protected]"][email protected][/email]

Just bought a set of Model J pups from Stephen. Pleasure to do business with, quick delivery and all exactly as described. Many thanks! Ian

[quote name='Legion' timestamp='1395224233' post='2399836'] I've got some figures for these at home as I've owned most types and made a point of weighing them all - I'll let you know the details when I get home [/quote] Can you post weights for as many types as you have details for - be useful to have for future reference. Cheers

Here are a couple of posts that may help: http://badassbassplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15882 - "I've contacted Hipshot. It looks like HB2 are ~22g lighter (each) than Schaller BMFL" http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/tuning-peg-weight-155613/ - Schaller BMFL weighs 110g (second post down) Which puts the HB2 at 88g or thereabouts.

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1394907954' post='2396603'] Hmm you have exactly what I have.................. I must be doing it wrong [/quote] I'm sure mixing a piezo with a two pup jazz config rather than a single HB/SC will give different results. Different types of pups and piezos will also give varying results. A[font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]re you using Graphtech piezo saddles? [/color][/font]

I have the East piezo/mag pre (MPM-01) in my ACG fretless with piezo bridge and mag pickup. Excellent bit of kit and very flexible for configuring all sorts of mag/piezo configurations. In my case both the mag and piezo are buffered through the MPM-01 which allows for a very smooth and progressive blend between the two. Personally I get a lot of mileage out of blending the mag and piezo. Adding a bit of piezo to the mag opens up the sound and adds sweetness to the top end. Adding a bit of mag to the piezo progressively adds a bit more bite and focus. Lots of sweet spots for different situations on tap from a very full and open acoustic sound at one end to punchy and authoritative at the other.

This vid is fairly conclusive evidence that the bass itself has at least something to do with it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFjA0cshhvc

John East does a drop in preamp for the DJ that fits with no mods - http://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/j-retro/dj-retro.html

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1393852492' post='2384980'] Is there any point when the nodes move every time you fret a string in a different place? [/quote] Agree that it's a constantly moving target but it's still interesting to understand the fundamental tonal differences between various pickup positions. Part of the point of the post (it was mine) was also to demonstrate how the nodes shift and harmonic content changes when fretting notes (see second graphic).

The 'Dual P Pickup Club' thread from TB may be of interest - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/dual-p-pickup-club-588469/