The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: Stjofön Big on September 17, 2016, 02:25:16 PM
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Anyone around familiar with these? http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/rock-n-roll-relics-thunders-bass-tv-yellow-serial-16486
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No never seen it before. But it looks pretty cool.
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We had a three page thread about it back in March http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=10030.0
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Ah I see why I missed that. I must have thought that was just another Kiss topic, bound to derail into the Ritchie Blackmore trap. ;)
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Thanks, Dave! Completely missed that link. Agree with the points in it, concerning the stupidity in making the beat-up look, the placing of the pup, the pickguard style, and the price of it. But the TV-yellow looks nice on that bass, doesn't it!?! (Always look for the things that makes the stuff nice http://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/tongue.gif )
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Ah I see why I missed that. I must have thought that was just another Kiss topic, bound to derail into the Ritchie Blackmore trap. ;)
A reasonable assumption. :mrgreen:
Thanks, Dave! Completely missed that link. Agree with the points in it, concerning the stupidity in making the beat-up look, the placing of the pup, the pickguard style, and the price of it. But the TV-yellow looks nice on that bass, doesn't it!?! (Always look for the think that makes the stuff nicehttp://bassoutpost.com/Smileys/default/tongue.gif )
Yes it does. They do have the color done correctly, it does have the limed mahogany look of the originals. It's odd that they're using African mahogany though, especially at the prices they charge.
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Never seen one, but I think the placing of the pickup is a good thing. When I was about 15 years old I had a custom EBO with the body reshaped and the pickup moved back to about the same place where this one is. In my opinion, that is the best thing you could do to an EBO. It took a lot of the bottom end mud out of the sound and provided a bit more treble bite and turned the mud into more of a growl. I had a great Jack Bruce kind of sound with that old bass. I also had a similarly equipped Epiphone that was completely stock, with the same pickup way up toward the neck, so I had a good source for a side to side comparison. In my opinion, moving the pickup back toward the bridge was a huge improvement.
Rick
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That's no mudbucker on this bass. Looks like a T-bird pickup although there's no telling what's under that cover.
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That's no mudbucker on this bass. Looks like a T-bird pickup although there's no telling what's under that cover.
No, it doesn't look like a mudbucker , but in my opinion Gibson put the pickup too close to the neck on both the EBO and the EB2.
With a mudbucker, I would move the pickup way back toward the bridge. With anything else I would still move it back a few inches.
It cleans the sound up considerably, particularly with mudbucker.
Rick
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Interesting. I never played one of the mid-70s EB0 basses with the mudbucker in the middle, but I had always assumed with a pickup that has essentially no treble and barely even any mids, that it wouldn't matter much where you put it!
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I've played a few '73-'75 EB-0/EB-3s. The mudbucker doesn't have much going on above 1Khz but it is there and you will hear more of it in the middle position. OTOH I wouldn't call it cleaned up b/c it's just way too overwound to be clean.
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I've played a few '73-'75 EB-0/EB-3s. The mudbucker doesn't have much going on above 1Khz but it is there and you will hear more of it in the middle position. OTOH I wouldn't call it cleaned up b/c it's just way too overwound to be clean.
That is my impression too. Not cleaner, the lows/sublows are still there, but it feels more focused. It's a mud with a twist of Pee!
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That is my impression too. Not cleaner, the lows/sublows are still there, but it feels more focused. It's a mud with a twist of Pee!
I would say that is a good description.
Rick
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I'm building something like this at the moment.
Long scale.
I'm in doubt if I should use Kluson Banjo/bass tuners or not.
(https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14206029_10210184145745142_918754546462789061_o.jpg)
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Beautiful, Rob! Can you give us the process behind your choice of pup?
Body and neck, did you make them yourself?
All in all, a really beautiful piece!
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That picture above is just a photoshop mock-up.
But I'm making good progress with the build.
I won't soil this topic with tons of pictures.
But here's the latest pic:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xlt1/v/t1.0-9/14390988_10210342888033600_5867014021899402171_n.jpg?oh=9d365ae8643b99f63bc564d54730c45a&oe=586F97B6&__gda__=1484459647_72ffccac71407db40bc52f17116e9798)
Just bought two nice pieces of mahogany. And started sawing, routing, sanding etc.
The pickup that I'm using was originally a Seymour Duncan BassLines Quarter Pound that I scored off Ebay some years ago. But I had it rewound because it was dead.
I have yet to decide on the exact location of the pickup, but I'm leaning towards the position of a Music Man Sting Ray (as seen in the mock up).
I chose the single coil fifties P style because I want the bass to be a bit of a hybrid between a fifties Fender P and a fifties EB-0.
I'm building this bass for Greg Chaisson (ex Badlands).
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Thanks for the info. If you are in need of a Eb0 pickguard, I could send you one for free. I don't need it.
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That would certainly save me a lot of time!
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Thanks for the info. If you are in need of a Eb0 pickguard, I could send you one for free. I don't need it.
I bet you could trade that for a Thunderbird hand rest...or a repro. I could make that happen.
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Carlo, my Eb0 pickguard is a repro, bought from Jeannies P-guards, at $23.00, a few years ago. They are still available on the bay, http://www.ebay.com/itm/GIBSON-EBO-BASS-PICKGUARD-1959-SOLID-BLACK-GLOSS-60-THICKNESS-/251579229697?hash=item3a934a6601:g:JHEAAOSw9NxTtySe So they are not comparable in any financial way to the T-bird hand rest.
Anyway, I just realized that you, Rob, need to have a pickguard that is suited for the placement of your pup. Which mine isn't, if you check the Ebay link. But it's yours for free if you want it. If I remember correctly, Jeannies can adapt the indentation so it suits your pup, at a few dollars more.
Otherwise, you Carlo, can have it for free. I don't have any use for it, as the body of my very own Eb0 copy is vaulted(?), and the pup placement is wrong, anyway. So instead I went for black soft plastic. Looks all right in my eyes. But one learns as the years go passing by...
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Carlo, my Eb0 pickguard is a repro, bought from Jeannies P-guards, at $23.00, a few years ago. They are still available on the bay, http://www.ebay.com/itm/GIBSON-EBO-BASS-PICKGUARD-1959-SOLID-BLACK-GLOSS-60-THICKNESS-/251579229697?hash=item3a934a6601:g:JHEAAOSw9NxTtySe So they are not comparable in any financial way to the T-bird hand rest.
Anyway, I just realized that you, Rob, need to have a pickguard that is suited for the placement of your pup. Which mine isn't, if you check the Ebay link. But it's yours for free if you want it. If I remember correctly, Jeannies can adapt the indentation so it suits your pup, at a few dollars more.
Otherwise, you Carlo, can have it for free. I don't have any use for it, as the body of my very own Eb0 copy is vaulted(?), and the pup placement is wrong, anyway. So instead I went for black soft plastic. Looks all right in my eyes. But one learns as the years go passing by...
Thanks for the reply, Stjofön, I'll stick with the repro I made for mine. Would have been a crime to cut up an original anyway!
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/1960%20EBO/P1080065P_zpsvdixcrxm.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/1960%20EBO/P1080065P_zpsvdixcrxm.jpg.html)
Next time a TBird pup cover comes up on Ebay and you have an interest, I'd be happy to facilitate in any way.
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Thanks Carlo. Give me a word if there's anything you want from the Northern Sweden!
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Thanks Carlo. Give me a word if there's anything you want from the Northern Sweden!
Will do!
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That EB0 of yours, Carlo - is the only successuful adding of a fender pickup to a gibson bass I have ever seen! Always nice too see it.
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That EB0 of yours, Carlo - is the only successuful adding of a fender pickup to a gibson bass I have ever seen! Always nice too see it.
Thanks, it seemed a good idea at the time! Now, not so much. I'm really looking forward to how Rob's turns out.
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Been working on the bass today. And one thing I can't decide upon is the tuners.
At first I had decided to use Gotoh Resolite closed gear tuners. The light weight would certainly help prevent the neck dive. Although I shouldn't worry about neck dive too much, because I'm making the body a little oversized and quite thick.
But then Greg (the guy that I'm building it for) asked me if I was going to use the Banjo tuners.
So I checked at the Kluson site and it appears that they have reissued them.
http://www.kluson.com/vintage-diecast.html
They certainly look the part
(http://www.kluson.com/images/kbt_9004slc_p_a-u3838.png?crc=3886909670)
But shipping costs are ridiculous ($40.95)
What do you think? Go for the vintage touch? Or be pragmatic and buy the Gotohs?
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I'd use Resolites. The banjos are only acceptable if it's a wall hanger IMO. If the customer wants them just have him pay the difference in your total cost vs the Gotohs.
You don't set the shipping rates so why get upset about something you can't change? Bottom line is all that matters.
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If I were the buyer, I wouldn't consider using the banjos at all. But I'm not your customer.
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Are the recent bass banjo tuners that horrible? I'm working on a '58 Explorer bass project now, and had almost decided to use them..
Are they tough to tune up with, or is the problem that they do not stay in tune?
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Problem is, I don't know.
I can't imagine Kluson is making rubbish.
They look good in the pic on their site.
But the old ones have a bad reputation. I don't know why exactly.
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Their reputation is that they don't stay in tune well, the gear ratio is too low, the post is too small. I've never owned a bass with banjo tuners so I'm relying on what I've heard.
The reissue Klusons claim to be the original design, that may be fine for purists. I'd avoid.
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Their reputation is that they don't stay in tune well, the gear ratio is too low, the post is too small. I've never owned a bass with banjo tuners so I'm relying on what I've heard.
The reissue Klusons claim to be the original design, that may be fine for purists. I'd avoid.
All true, Dave. As a dumb 20 year old with little $$ I paid almost as much for a set of 'Made in W.Germany' Schallers as I did for the bass. I could tell the banjos sucked, even compared to the crapola tuners on my Kent.
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My vote - as someone who loves old EB's with banjo tuners - is avoid them like the f#cking plague. They don't work. The tension of a typical bass string yanks the post so it will pull from the internal gear. The teeth slip and it detunes. On a 30" scale you have to use the light lower tension strings. I would want an oldie to have them. I would never scratch build using them.
If you want to retrofit an old one without reaming it out you can use Grover Imperials. Same size shaft and ferrules but beefier guts.
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Thank you guys.
In the meanwhile the buyer has bailed out. He had some car problems and had to come up with $3000. So buying a new bass was suddenly no longer an option...
So I can choose whichever tuners I wish. 8)
So I've ordered a set of Schaller lightweight tuners. I think they will look right at home on this bass.
(https://www.allparts.com/assets/images/p/TK-7970-010-web.jpg)
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They'll look good and help with the balance.
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Saw this on Instagram today and thought of you guys:
(https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5457/30320965372_eb8334213c_z.jpg)
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Stumbled across these while trying to find CME Bassment on facebook.
(https://scontent.ford1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13680951_1099977093416391_316867989351991914_n.jpg?oh=05ece6d999c3189d106f8b42657c116d&oe=5862284F)
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Very nice!
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Aren't those the same brand as in Staffan's original post?
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Yep!