Guybrush's gear

[guybrush threepwood]

Right then, thought it might be about time for this... Unfortunately the pedalboard still needs sorting out...

[attachment=44671:IMG_0992.jpg]

So what do we have here... Starting from the back - the Markbass rig. A Jeff Berlin combo, with the New York 15 cab. I can't describe how great this sounds, the tone is so clean, pure and punchy. I was always a sucker for 10s, but here are 15s that are just as defined but with the added low end that 15s bring. And the weight of both combined is less than my old 4x10. Result.

[u]Fender US American Traditional Jazz[/u]
Absolutely lovely jazz that I got from [b]Rasta[/b] in a trade for my Warwick Corvette. You may have seen it before - I believe it's gone around the forum to a few different people. Anyway, it's a 1999 Olympic white (which is now a lovely cream colour). It's also turned into a bit of Frankenstein bass with none of it's original hardware remaining - the controversial one piece pickguard was swapped for a tortoise shell guard with a 'proper' jazz control plate before it came to me, and it also had Kent Armstong pickups fitted, along with a Gotoh bridge. The Kent's have now gone, and have been replaced with DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pups. (I've also changed the capacitor for a .022, to compensate for the slightly darker sound of split coils). I've replaced the tuners with hipshots, and even the neckplate has been changed for a Fender 'big F logo' plate, which completes the look. (What a snob, eh?)

This bass is lovely to play, with so much honk it's unbelievable. I like to back off the neck pickup slightly for a biting tone that cuts through beautifully. When it's slapped, the DiMarzio's make it sound very much like an active bass - really deep and bright. However, it comes into it's own with a light fingerstyle touch; it responds incredibly, with strong harmonics, and notes high up the neck sing out.

[u]Homemade Fretless Precision[/u]
My first homemade bass - well, more like home-assembled, there are obviously a couple of rough points here and there. Oh well, it's all a learning curve! So, it's a Mighty Mite ebanol neck with the original tuners from the jazz, and has a alder body. The pickups are from a S1 series US Precision, kindly donated from [b]Zero9[/b] and the bridge is a vintage style Wilkinson, with brass saddles. The action is spot on, and the bass has a lovely thick and powerful tone, but a more 'traditional' fretless sound can be acquired by playing behind the pups. Strung with roundwounds for a big [i]mwah[/i] factor!

[jon_kemo]

That Jazz was mine before Rasta and it was a lovely player and looked gorgeous but I just don't like the sound of Jazz's despite several attempts now!

[chriswilliams666]

Nice to see a Thumb Rest in a place that can actually be used. In my opinion anyway! [quote name='jon_kemo' post='773797' date='Mar 13 2010, 06:51 PM']That Jazz was mine before Rasta and it was a lovely player and looked gorgeous but I just don't like the sound of Jazz's despite several attempts now![/quote]

[guybrush threepwood]

It's nice to know of former owners Jon; it's such an amazing bass, it really changed what I listen for in my tone. Before I was really into modern, active basses, with endless EQ options. Now I love only having the options of volume and tone, with simple EQ on my amp. IMHO, endless EQ means endless twiddling! Anyway, what's not to love about the sound of jazzes?

Cheers Chris, I decided to put the thumbrest there as I like to play down by the bridge... Thing is I don't actually use it that much; with my small hands it's far more comfortable to rest on alternate strings! I still think it looks pretty sweet though...