Get your thrash on

[Rayman]

So my Frank Bello pimp job is done.

 

A fun project, just because.

 

I stripped out everything basically. There was nothing wrong with it stock, but I decided to just have fun with it.

 

The only original parts now, are the wooden ones. I didn’t want to throw silly money at it, so I was sensible on the spending, basically thinking that everything should be black. I think it looks better than the stock chrome hardware.

 

Wilkinson tuners, black bridge, strap locks, knobs….. @KiOgon loom …. Alan Entwhistle (?!?) pickups, which seem well made and pretty high output.
 

What do you think?

 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Rayman

[Rayman]

Early impressions are good….. and yes I’m way too old to be playing basses with skulls on them, but **** it. Anyway, Frank and I are exactly the same age, so…..

 

Firstly, it’s heavier than it was stock. The pickups are very beefy, and the bridge is a chunky thing too, so that could be why. I don’t think the tuners are particularly heavy compared to the stock chrome ones.

 

After the setup, the action is great, although I like a low action, and this is going to be my ‘rock’ option, so it’ll be slung low, and it’ll get spanked, so the action is a fraction higher than I would normally have it.

 

Nice tone, higher output than stock, the Alan Entwhistle pickups are big. Very deep, with very powerful magnets on them, that wanted to stick to everything, including each other. The pickup covers are also unreasonably chunky, and wouldn’t drop into the existing routs. Thankfully after removing the covers, the new pickups fitted perfectly into the stock covers, and dropped right in. 
 

The new loom is fab of course, and probably would’ve been great with the old pups, but… I had these others kicking around, so in they went. They sound good to me. These basses are Volume/Volume with no tone, so I suspect it’ll just be all up full on everything. 
 

The Wilkinson tuners……. erm….. meh. Are they an improvement on stock? Not sure. To me they feel a bit crap to be honest. I bought some Gotoh 707s for my Epiphone Embassy, that feel lush in comparison. So I’m not feeling the love for Mr Wilkinson right now.

 

We’ll see how we go with it. The necks lovely, frets are good, it sounds and plays great, but I need to spend time with it. However with another incoming project on the cards, it’ll be a while before I can do that. I’ve got basses coming out of my ears here. 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Rayman

[Rayman]

Thumbs up to the pups 👍🏻

 

……but it’s a thumbs down to the tuners…. probably going to get Schallers when I feel the need. These feel very clunky to me.

[Rayman]

Finally….. then I’ll shut up

 

Is it worth spending time and money on a Squier bass made in Indonesia?

 

It depends. If you like it, and you’re going to keep it (which at the time of writing a plan too, but you never know) then yes. I like it, I’m an old rocker and a Frank fan, so yes.

 

If you’re planning to “upgrade” it and sell it for a profit, absolutely no. 
 

I’ve done this project as practise for my tech skills, not to make it saleable, because, it was great as it was, and buyers mostly prefer unaltered gear that they can pimp themselves if they wish, like I have.

 

It’s great thing, despite Mr Wilkinsons intervention.

[Rayman]

Update:

 

I’ve had nightmares with this thing…. it wasn’t right as it was…. So much tinkering later……

 

I wanted black hardware, just because it looks more metal to me, and I wanted red pickups, like the ESP Frank Bello used to have…. So….

 

Herrick pickups fitted…. When they arrived one of the pickup wires had come off, so, out came the soldering iron, no big deal….. although I want to say they don’t appear to be amazing quality , they do sound good on first listen. I’m going to live with it for a bit and see if we bond.

 

Still annoyed by the terrible Wilkinson tuners…. they will go when I find decent replacements, but for now I’ve spent WAY too much time and money on this bugger. All my other builds have been pretty straightforward, but this thing has put up a fight throughout.

 

 

[Rayman]

By the way….

 

I did email Entwistle pickups for help/advice on the previous pickups that I’ve just removed, as I was struggling to get the sound I wanted. They didn’t reply. FYI. 

[neepheid]

Just imagine the doge picture is in the background, CBA doing it, posting on the phone.

 

SO MANY RED

SKULLS SO FEARSUM

BLAK HARDWARE SO METUL

 

[Rayman]

🤘🏻

[Rayman]

Absolutely wicked Jaco tone from the solo’d bridge pup, probably not the first thing that springs to mind when you see this bass…. 
Nice modern tone from the P bass pup, and similarly a modern clean tone from both together, although the bridge pickup is pretty noisy, but that could be down to the dodgy electrics in my old flat. It seems to be a thing here for some of my basses.

 

These pickups were not cheap. It was a gamble, because I’d never heard of them, and honestly, looking at how they’re put together, the jury’s out on if they’re worth it….. the wire is very thin and fragile, one of the covers cracked very easily while fitting them and turning them over reveals hand cut circuit board as the base. I dunno…. I’m going to rehearse the bass and see how she goes. It’s certainly been a learning curve, but there’s no danger of this bass taking over the number one slot in my collection at this point.

[Rayman]

Ok, so as a final note....

 

I've spent the last couple of days with this bass, and it's really grown on me. Very very comfortable to play, one of my more ergonomically comfortable basses. The pickups, yep, they've grown on me too. I really love the bridge pickup on it's own, played over it, the tone is the most Jaco esque I've heard in a while. I've played mostly groovy trip hop and funk type stuff, for which it's really awesome..... no metal at all, but I'm sure it can do that too. The P pup is tight and modern sounding and together they sound.... tight and modern?  Not a traditional tone, but they're not meant to be being Neodymium magnets. The bridge pickup is a bit noisy, so at some point I'll try and shield it, but as I've said, the electrics at home don't help, and if you move around the room the buzz comes and goes, so I don't think the bass is the problem, and jazz pups buzz.... so....

 

Anyway, that's it on that one for now. A nice addition to the collection, and very different to any of the others, so that has to be a good thing.