New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

Kais

Kais

New member
Primarily a guitar player, but I've been learning bass for a quite a while now. I had a beater Squier Bronco (Now for sale), but I really grew out of it and didn't like the tone at all. Was successfully able to trade my guitar amp for a bass amp. I needed a 1 stop shop for bass, something with a very wide palette of tones, and something I wouldn't need to upgrade (pups, tuners, ect). Just wanted it to be ready to go at all times and sound good. So I picked up this axe. The gold pickguard looks kinda lame, but I might change it, or it might grow on me.



$_57.JPG


$_57.JPG


$_57.JPG
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

Those are nice basses. I used to gig and record with a passive one before they made the current active version of them.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

A brown tortoiseshell 'guard would go nicely with the paint and fingerboard colours. A chunkier bridge wouldn't hurt. Your investment deserves a proper, fitted hardshell case.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

Funkfingers said:
A brown tortoiseshell 'guard would go nicely with the paint and fingerboard colours. A chunkier bridge wouldn't hurt. Your investment deserves a proper, fitted hardshell case.
Click to expand...

+1 on the pickguard and hardshell case suggestions.

Chunkier bridges are nice and usually bring more sustain but the active electronics kind of make up for not having one at the same time.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

pass on the hardshell case...the gigbag will be sufficient. Whenever I jam I carefully place my items in my own car and make sure none of my items get damaged. You should see my 10 year old explorer, not a single scratch. I'm kinda crazy about taking care of my gear.

I'll have to see the bridge and see how this one performs. My MIM Strat's bridge is perfect imo. The pickguard, I was thinking tortoise or black, haven't decided yet
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

I really like it as it is, but if you have to change it I'd go black.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

dg27 said:
Three of mine have Gotoh 201s and I love it.
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+1 for the Gotoh 201.

It's a definite improvement over the vintage-style Fender bridge, even if you're using active pickups. I don't know if Fender still uses it, but it used to be stock on all of their non-vintage MIA basses.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

I think the gold pickguard looks sharp. I'd leave it, but if I was going to change it, I'd go with black. Tortoise will also work, but it something I personally wouldn't do.

I second the recommendation for a more substantial bridge -- not only will it help with sustain, but it will dramatically improve the aesthetics by removing the only cheap looking thing on the bass. And I also second the recommendation of getting a hardshell case.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

After that, consider a Steve Harris P pickup paired with a Hot Stack bridge.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

Definitely not going to change pickups haha. These actives sound pretty damn good.

I have a graphtech nut laying around I bought for $8 I think for my squier. Anyone think that nut is better than this mim one? It's a perfect swap if so...

Ending up going with black pearl pickguard, I'm not digging the gold. I'll post pics when I do, I'll have to drill another hole as this bass has 4 knobs not 3.

Strings are in good shape but I have a pack of rotosound or whatever laying around. I'm going to loosen to strings a bit and condition the fretboard, looks very dry.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

Still thinking about the bridge, if it's a suitable upgrade or the stock
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

qaiso said:
Definitely not going to change pickups haha. These actives sound pretty damn good.
Click to expand...

The pickups in that bass aren't active; they're just a Fender Vintage P and a Vintage Noiseless J run into an onboard active EQ. If you wanted, you could absolutely swap the pickups for any other passive P/J set and use them with the onboard preamp. If you do so be sure to use a noiseless / stacked J so that you're not boosting 60 cycle hum with the preamp. I second Demanic's recommendation of the Hot Stack J as the Classic Stack isn't loud enough to balance in a P/J setup. I had a similar setup in one of my basses about 6-8 years ago before I switched to EMGs.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

dystrust said:
The pickups in that bass aren't active; they're just a Fender Vintage P and a Vintage Noiseless J run into an onboard active EQ. If you wanted, you could absolutely swap the pickups for any other passive P/J set and use them with the onboard preamp. If you do so be sure to use a noiseless / stacked J so that you're not boosting 60 cycle hum with the preamp. I second Demanic's recommendation of the Hot Stack J as the Classic Stack isn't loud enough to balance in a P/J setup. I had a similar setup in one of my basses about 6-8 years ago before I switched to EMGs.
Click to expand...

Well I just swapped the nut to the graph tech, and it sounds a bit clearer. I'm actually pretty happy with the pups at the moment, deep and good mids and treble when I need it.

I found the gotoh for $40, just thinking if its worth the upgrade. The pickguard is also coming shortly.

Next thing this thing needs is a proper setup and intonation.
 
Re: New Bass Day, The Final Chapter

qaiso said:
Well I just swapped the nut to the graph tech, and it sounds a bit clearer. I'm actually pretty happy with the pups at the moment, deep and good mids and treble when I need it.

I found the gotoh for $40, just thinking if its worth the upgrade. The pickguard is also coming shortly.

Next thing this thing needs is a proper setup and intonation.
Click to expand...

A Gotoh 201 is absolutely worth $40. I'd expect it to improve the sound as much or more than the new nut.
 
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