new custom build bass PB54 style

[Duroc17]

Had this made by James Mitchell in Electric Relic Co in Bath

 

Lot of thought went into what i wanted - aftermarket natural 54 contour body in alder not ash, chunky neck no fake logo, hand wound Fralin pickup, cloth wiring, 0.10 orange drop capacitor, old bridge, low tension La Bella flats and then let James do his thing - had to tweak it a bit since getting it and had one proper rehearsal but love the thing already - took 8 weeks from order to delivery approx and sold 2 basses to pay for it - inc one PB that I loved - but I'm happy - it's fairly lightweight and sounds like the 70s - I doubt i'd have the money if this was original - it wasn't cheap but it's a lovely thing

 

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Very cool.

[meterman]

That is beautiful 😍

 

I don’t really need one but, oh lord I’d certainly love one!

[hooky_lowdown]

Beautiful. Why did you go for a two saddle bridge, these are notoriously difficult to get intonated?

 

 

[Duroc17]

39 minutes ago, meterman said:

That is beautiful 😍

 

I don’t really need one but, oh lord I’d certainly love one!

I’d been thinking about it for too long so had to try it. Got an idea for another down the line 

[Duroc17]

13 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Beautiful. Why did you go for a two saddle bridge, these are notoriously difficult to get intonated?

 

 

I did ask for 4 saddle but then went old school and it’s intonated ok - I don’t go up the dusty end much - maybe the odd chord. That said I wanted the truss rod at the top, so I could get at it - so not too traditional 

[Grahambythesea]

Curious you say it sounds like the 70s when it’s based on a 54?

[Duroc17]

8 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Curious you say it sounds like the 70s when it’s based on a 54?

For me it's a frame of reference to bass sounds on records from the 70s that I like, like David Hood's Muscle Shoals work, flatwounds, quite muddy sounding, or Superfly bassline by Joseph Scott (Jazz bass with flats) - I dont really listen to a lot of 50s stuff apart from Jazz but that's mainly double bass, though i'd like to get more into Monk Montgomery's electric bass stuff. It's based on 54/6 as I guess that's when the contour came in on the body

[LewisK1975]

Lovely, one bass missing from my arsenal is 50's style P and I'd love to have one.  Out of curiosity, do you know how the labella low tension flats compare with TI flats?  I've tried TI's on a few of my basses and wanted to enjoy them but they're sooooo low tension, just can't get on with them..

[Duroc17]

1 minute ago, LewisK1975 said:

Lovely, one bass missing from my arsenal is 50's style P and I'd love to have one.  Out of curiosity, do you know how the labella low tension flats compare with TI flats?  I've tried TI's on a few of my basses and wanted to enjoy them but they're sooooo low tension, just can't get on with them..

you'll like la bellas then imo they have more tension, i really love the TIs were my go to for years but last 2 basses used la bellas great tone better than TI, less clack but i'd prefer a lower tension like TIs as i play really soft and like the action low as poss but tone is all for me - so la bellas win this round

[LewisK1975]

7 minutes ago, Duroc17 said:

you'll like la bellas then imo they have more tension, i really love the TIs were my go to for years but last 2 basses used la bellas great tone better than TI, less clack but i'd prefer a lower tension like TIs as i play really soft and like the action low as poss but tone is all for me - so la bellas win this round

Thanks for that, I can be a bit heavy handed but also like my action as low as possible, so finding the right strings and then getting the setup correct for me is always fun!  I've found Dunlop superbrights are the perfect roundwound for me, but the search for the right flatwounds goes on!