The Last Bass Outpost

I was recently given a Strat copy at a charity gig. I've never owned a Strat before so this gives me chance to try out some pickups I was given 20+ years ago by UK luthier John Birch. They were experimental and as far as I know never went into production; he called them "Full Range". I plan on keeping the Strat wiring options as standard but to maybe try to take the pickup name at face value I'm planning on switching out both of the tone pots to Fender TBX pots, since I already had two of those in my bits box too. Does anyone know of any reasons for or against the idea; I know that Fender put one TBX and one normal tone pot into the mid-90s "Contemporary Strat" but I don't know if there was a sound reason for that.

I haven't measured the pickups but I believe they were low imp intended for a MIDI application, so making the guitar "active" might be a future option if the sound ends up disappointing.

This job is just something to keep myself busy with during Corona lockdown, so no great shakes if it doesn't work. I've already discovered that I'm good with a Dremel by making the pot area cavity bigger with a seamless join to take in the much bigger lower TBX. 

Pardon...? 

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

I saw Slade live 36 times, the majority of the time I was stood directly in front of Jim. I also saw Motorhead live 16 times.
My tinnitus is pretty bad.

They look like John Birch mini humbuckers, I just couldn't see the bajillion pole pieces that JB pickups tend to have. It could be down to image degradation or the film it was originally captured on.

Slade had a close working relationship with John Birch, so I wouldn't be surprised if the bass made multiple trips to him. When the bass was refinished white it also lost the mudbucker and gained a bigger batwing pickguard. After the mods the bass was closer to the custom basses John Birch built for Jim, so maybe Jim requested the mudbucker be removed and it was the refinish that was above and beyond the work requested.

It's a John Birch "Superflux" pickup. It only has single row of nine poles. They were John's attempts at a "blade" style pickup. They were very overwound and had a lot of range. It also meant that they could be used in guitar or bass, so Noddy Holder has one too in his Telecaster neck position.
This is my Tele with one in it.



The refinish of that bass happened a couple of years after the above video. I met and knew John after he built me a bass and he told me that the mudbucker was disconnected. Jim mentioned in passing to John he was "thinking" of getting a white bass. The next time his bass went in for a set-up John took his cue to refinish and restyle it. The mudbucker was removed which made no difference to the sound since it didn't work anyway.
Jim was not a happy lad, livid in fact, but he didn't have it for long. It went back into John Birch's workshop over Xmas of '75 and the place was broken into over the holidays, the bass was stolen and never seen again. It's out there somewhere.

We all have opinions, some stronger than others, but lets keep this a place for even-keeled discussions and remember this thread for the reasons Denis started it: to offer simple condolences to those who have suffered most...

Good grief... common sense... and from me of all people...

Looks like your common sense fell on deaf ears, too many preferring to trawl over & over old, old ground.

Started with the very best of intentions without a doubt, but hijacked as though it was an event from the distant past. Shameful, & more shameful that those involved haven't the good grace to recognise that.

Michty me!

I once met a Scott from Shetland (in Prague of all places).  Nobody new his nameso they all called him Shetland.  After a pint you couldn't understand a word the fugger said.... which is probably why nobody knew his actual name.

I knew a woman from Skye, & she sounded kinda German in her accent. What a woman though!

Yep, well.  I read something recently about a guy finding a well under his living room floor in London - turned about to be a several hundred year old well.

I used to live just outside a village called Lasswade near Edinburgh, Scotland. They were renovating a local bar to build a restaurant area & found a well that was also a few 100 years old. They had the water tested & last I heard it was going to be bottled & sold from the bar.
There's a small castle where I live now that has a well under the cafe floor, I don't know why they don't do the same.