Knobs with or without green (and maybe also red) electrical tape?

[Baloney Balderdash]

So I can't quite decide what looks best, the knobs on my bass with or without green electrical tape (also known as insulating tape), or perhaps as the paintshopped photo with respectively green and red electrical tape, applied.

 

So beside the first image being of lower quality than the two other, which do you think looks best?

 

Hopefully you opinion will help me decide.

 

I should perhaps add that this is an Ibanez Mikro Bass, which has been my main instrument of choice for quite some time.

 

 

Knobs ala au natural :

 

 

Knobs with green electrical tape applied :

 

 

Knobs with one of the two knobs having been edited in Paintshop to be red (respectively green and red electrical tape applied to the two knobs) :

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Baloney Balderdash]

So this is what I decided for, for now at least, luckily it is quite easy to change, should I change my mind:

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[simisker]

.

Edited February 13, 2023 by simisker
Not necessary.

[Baloney Balderdash]

38 minutes ago, simisker said:

Also, I'm guessing you must have left the "Crime Scene Forensics" camera filter on by mistake.

No, I just have a really old crappy digital camera that makes post editing necessary if I want to make my shots look remotely decent, which is not always equally easy and not always unequivocally successful or without compromises either. 

 

And for some strange reason, as you can probably tell from the shots I posted here I get best and most authentically (authentic in relation to the actual motive that is) looking photos with the camera turned downwards, shotting from above at my motive lying flat bellow it.

 

Whenever I try to take pictures horizontally, with the camera in regular orientation, as you normally would, the shots always end up looking very off, like the lighting and colors being completely off and the picture also lacking details and depth, compared to the motive I am photographing (I suppose it could very well be a tradeoff of the camera trying to keep everything in it's line of shot/sight sharp and in focus).

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[thodrik]

Personally I like the red and green together. Reminds me of the old 'Green = play' and 'Red = Stop/Record' buttons on my childhood tape player. 

If proceeding on that basis though I would probably get the back pickup coloured green as well to work alongside the red coloured front pickups. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

2 hours ago, thodrik said:

Personally I like the red and green together. Reminds me of the old 'Green = play' and 'Red = Stop/Record' buttons on my childhood tape player. 

If proceeding on that basis though I would probably get the back pickup coloured green as well to work alongside the red coloured front pickups. 

I already played with that in PhotoShop, cause I had the same thought, but looks really weird. 

 

Like too much going on and ruining the symmetrical balance.

 

What did look great though was just having a stripe of red in the middle of the two pickup halves respectively, instead of covering completely as it is now, like a single red strip of tape going across the two pickup halves respectively along the line of pole pieces, but I have run out of red electrical tape, so will have to wait with trying that out in practice till I get restocked. 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[PaulThePlug]

I think you are connecting the pup straight to jack, correct?

I'd be going back to the side jack and using blanking grommets or caps in the 3 holes...

Or 2 if you keep the front jack.

Not a fan of the tape on the pickups...

I'd Black nail varnish on the poles...

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

I think you are connecting the pup straight to jack, correct?

I'd be going back to the side jack and using blanking grommets or caps in the 3 holes...

Or 2 if you keep the front jack.

Not a fan of the tape on the pickups...

I'd Black nail varnish on the poles...

Tried all that out in PhotoShop, and personally I think it end up looking too boring that way (jack output socket is staying where it is, as I moved it there for a reason, that reason being that barrel type jack sockets, even the high quality ones, are just not reliable and always end up malfunctioning).

 

For a more classy/sharp look, with less color distractions going on, I have considered going through with this look though:

 

Those were made with white electrical tape, but the stripes on the upper part of the body would eventually start to move and deform, because I tend to rest my arm wrist on that part of the bass, and the adhesive of the electrical tape wasn't strong enough to keep it in place (which though is also the advantage of using it, easy to remove without too much adhesive gunk left behind, along with the fact that it is easy to clean, should it get smudgy over time, since it is made of a somewhat rubbery plastic material), so if I go through with this it would have to be a permanent thing, like actually painting it on, and properly, using masking tape, several layers of white paint and following clear coats.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[simisker]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

No, I just have a really old crappy digital camera

 

Sorry - misplaced humour, not intended to be rude

 

Can you get electrical tape in funky colours? Metallics, sparkles etc? Everything's better with sparkles.

Edited February 13, 2023 by simisker
Added sparkles. Ting!

[Bassassin]

I think you should go full Type O with that. 🤘

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

44 minutes ago, simisker said:

Sorry - misplaced humour, not intended to be rude

 

Can you get electrical tape in funky colours? Metallics, sparkles etc?

 

You can get it in quite a variety of colors, but I don't think any too funky, and almost certain not metallics and sparkle, since it is made for the purpose of being used with wiring (like for covering wire splicings and similar), hence the name electrical, or insulating, as it is also called, tape.

 

But you might be able to get tape with those kind of qualities made from a similar flexible rubber like plastic material.

 

Not the direction I am personally going for though, if it was meant as a suggestion, rather than for your personal use, the Aria Pro II in the background of those photos I posted was decorated like that back in my teens, partially as a joke (however too much work to remove now (I tried and it feels as if the adhesive of those stickers has somehow almost vulcanized with the finish of the bass or something like that), and I suppose it does have it's own quirky funky charm to it too).

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Passinwind]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

You can get it in quite a variety of colors, but I don't think any too funky, and almost certain not metallics and sparkle, since it is made for the purpose of being used with wiring (like for covering wire splicings and similar), hence the name electrical, or insulating, as it is also called, tape.

 

But you might be able to get tape with those kind of qualities made from a similar flexible rubber like plastic material.

 

 

Just curious: why tape? To me something like what these folks offer would be much nicer: 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114677753582

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Passinwind

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, Passinwind said:

Just curious: why tape? To me something like what these folks offer would be much nicer: 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114677753582

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Tried all that out in PhotoShop, and personally I think it end up looking too boring that way (jack output socket is staying where it is, as I moved it there for a reason, that reason being that barrel type jack sockets, even the high quality ones, are just not reliable and always end up malfunctioning).

 

For a more classy/sharp look, with less color distractions going on, I have considered going through with this look though:

 

Those were made with white electrical tape, but the stripes on the upper part of the body would eventually start to move and deform, because I tend to rest my arm wrist on that part of the bass, and the adhesive of the electrical tape wasn't strong enough to keep it in place (which though is also the advantage of using it, easy to remove without too much adhesive gunk left behind, along with the fact that it is easy to clean, should it get smudgy over time, since it is made of a somewhat rubbery plastic material), so if I go through with this it would have to be a permanent thing, like actually painting it on, and properly, using masking tape, several layers of white paint and following clear coats.

 

 

Thanks for making me aware of the existence of that shop though, wasn't aware that anything like that existed, definitely something I will consider in the future, even if having to pay shipping costs likely to be same as the order it self and on top of that an import fee that would be about double the shipping cost isn't exactly optimal.

 

Also tape is ready at hand, cheap, easy to fit, to apply and remove (electrical tape at least is), for trying out stuff.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Passinwind]

29 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

 

Thanks for making me aware of the existence of that shop though, wasn't aware hat anything like that existed, definitely something I will consider in the future, even if having to pay an import fee many times what an order from there is likely going to cost isn't exactly optimal.

 

Also tape is ready at hand, cheap, easy to fit, to apply and remove, for trying out stuff.

 

 

They make a wide variety of other variants, and at least used to offer custom formats too. I have an unfortunate preference for custom made wood ones,  and even without tax, import duties, etc. they are often very expensive.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Passinwind

[crazycloud]

2 hours ago, Passinwind said:

Just curious: why tape? To me something like what these folks offer would be much nicer: 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114677753582

 

 

I was going to say, that I prefer no tape on my knob, especially the gaffer/duct variety. It's probably not the forum to explain how I know this, but if I did, I might no longer be a member of a certain House of Lords 'club'.

 

Thanks PW for the tip, gonna have to order some of them.