Lowe Shop Notes

BTL · October 10, 2015, 04:03:13 PM

Thanks guys!

Pickup options for the CHIMERA series LSP now include the new Guild DS1 (upper left), Lollar Pickups Thunderbird, Lindy Fralin Pickups HCP90B, and TV Jones Thunder'Blade:

I spent the day tinkering and took a few photos.

A few neck options to consider...32" 4-inline, 32" 2+2 (both 1.5"), 34" 1.5" and 34" 1.625" (both 2+2).

You can really appreciate how the 32" scale compares when you see how the nut lines up with the first fret of a 34":

And a couple shots of Ridler #2 mocked up with the 32" 4-inline:

Dave W · October 10, 2015, 09:49:02 PM

I'm really impressed at how you've thought this out. Hope they sell well for you.

BTL · October 11, 2015, 08:01:04 AM

Thanks Dave!

This is a business-like hobby for me.

I don't really need it to be a money maker, so I can move at my own pace, experiment, and try out new ideas that interest me.

For example, the 32" conversion neck project has been my biggest success to date.

I've sold more of those unfinished and drop-shipped by the OEM directly to the buyer than all of my completed builds combined.

Still, I have been lucky in that every instrument I've built has sold, and nothing has come back.

I take that as a sign that I'm doing things right.

With each new build I get a little better, and the project keeps me off the streets...

drbassman · October 11, 2015, 08:38:33 AM

Nice set of options. I'm not ready to do that yet!!! Where are you getting the Guild pickups?

BTL · October 11, 2015, 08:42:44 AM

I'm buying the Guild at retail from Best Bass Gear for now.

drbassman · October 11, 2015, 09:42:28 AM

Quote from: BeeTL on October 11, 2015, 08:42:44 AM
I'm buying the Guild at retail from Best Bass Gear for now.

Are they overseas?

BTL · October 11, 2015, 10:00:29 AM

http://www.bestbassgear.com/domestic-shipping-faq.htm#cheapship

I think they are in the U.S.

Dave W · October 11, 2015, 10:57:34 PM

Maybe Bill was asking if the pickups are from overseas.

BTL · October 13, 2015, 08:46:15 PM

That could very well be...

Dave W · October 13, 2015, 09:35:03 PM

Considering the difference in price between the Guild and the Curtis Novak Bisonic type, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Guild is imported.

BTL · October 15, 2015, 07:37:39 PM

The DS1s are complex little machines, for sure.

The country of origin for the Starfire Bass is Korea, so it's safe to say the pickups are imported.

http://www.wwbw.com/Guild,Bass,New-Gear,Country-of-Origin-South-Korea.wwbw?ipp=25&o=2

drbassman · October 16, 2015, 08:38:59 AM

I see they are a US vendor. Interesting. I wonder how they got their hands on the Guild pups. I might just buy one to try it out. I like the one in my Guild M-85 RI.

Alanko · October 16, 2015, 09:45:31 AM

Quote from: Dave W on October 13, 2015, 09:35:03 PM
Considering the difference in price between the Guild and the Curtis Novak Bisonic type, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Guild is imported.

Probably made by Artec.

Actually, it would be cool if the design leaks from the overseas manufacturer and ends up in the generic pickup stream. Imagine a Wilkinson or Artec branded Bi-sonic that cost $40 a pop and performed like the real deal with nowt more than a magnet swap.

A guy can dream, but a cheap Bi-sonic would maybe kill off some of the wanky Tulipmania that seems to surround the type.

BTL · October 17, 2015, 08:22:51 AM

Tulipmania...I learned a new word today.

Alanko · October 17, 2015, 03:02:22 PM

Quote from: BeeTL on October 17, 2015, 08:22:51 AM
Tulipmania...I learned a new word today.

The Alanko Institute of Life Long Learning swings into life.

I don't think it is too unfair a comparison. Daguet Guitars make a perfectly functional Bi-Sonic pickup in a friendlier footprint, but nobody cares. Curtis Novak reissues the entire schmegegge, with a frankly baffling pole-piece adjusters and oversized flatwork, and people go crazy! Fred Hammon made replicas that looked like the originals but had different specs, and people were crowbarring them into any bass that sat still long enough.

I find it all amusing, as the early chat was all about these being the Jack Casady and Phil Lesh pickup. Those guys played basses that were increasingly modified out, so you won't get the Crown of Creation tone, the Live Dead tone or the Europe '72 tone from these pickups necessarily, without other processing. I think Rick Turner et al were blown away by the wide bandwidth of those pickups, but we have 40 years of low-Z and active technology at our disposal now. As I suggested with tulipmania, the price for reproductions, regardless of their accuracy, is high for the ones that look the part visually. The 'Dagstar' pickup is topologically correct, but looks like an odd Jazz bass pickup with four chunky poles. If the appeal was wholly in the tone then the Dagstars would be popular and the Dark Stars less-so.