The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: daan on May 04, 2013, 07:12:48 PM
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http://www.rondomusic.com/spb1100wh.html
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/spb1100wh5_zps45510286.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/spb1100wh5_zps45510286.jpg.html)
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/spb1100wh1_zpsd8837746.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/spb1100wh1_zpsd8837746.jpg.html)
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/spb1100wh4_zpsf685b113.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/spb1100wh4_zpsf685b113.jpg.html)
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/spb1100wh3_zpsbf5bc847.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/spb1100wh3_zpsbf5bc847.jpg.html)
I'm a sucker for semi-hollow basses, I used to have a Hofner that was really nice
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/5-20-10078.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/5-20-10078.jpg.html)
and an Ibanez that was also nice,
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/608a91b5.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/608a91b5.jpg.html)
both of which I had to sell to pay bills. I also had a fake EB-2 that was terrible and don't miss at all.
(http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/dannew2008/h2/3k23m43o25T35X45S1b6ff8d3bbe9b35710d6.jpg) (http://s427.photobucket.com/user/dannew2008/media/h2/3k23m43o25T35X45S1b6ff8d3bbe9b35710d6.jpg.html)
So instead of actually working on the bass I have now (Hondo fake Jazz bass) I'm farting around on the net and see this Douglas thing that really reminds me of my Ibanez. I think I had that bass for about 3 weeks, and really regretted having to sell it. Now I see this thing and I can almost afford it (well, if I actually finished some of my crap so I could sell it). So somebody on here needs to buy this, so they can tell me it's a dog and I'm not missing anything.
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Nice bass, but that MM pup looks really out of place.
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Nice enough for a starter at that price...
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Nice bass, but that MM pup looks really out of place.
...Perhaps, but only if you have a pre-conceived idea of what a semi-hollow should look like. The Ibanez Artcores (see pic above it) have a similar pickup. Doesn't put me off.
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probably because the artcore pick up is not sitting on top of a glaring white bass.
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Yes, the contrast in color is much greater. I admit that I like chrome pickups on white basses, but that wouldn't be a non-starter for me.
And BTW, I have my own share of pre-conceived notions....
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I have a large number of hollowbodies, including a black Douglas(and an Ibanez as pictured above, which I am not using), its a great bass for the price. I usually have black nylons on it to max-out the thump. A cool thing; it's 32" scale but is the same size/length as a 30" EB-2 so it fits the Gibson's case. The bridge is set further back.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/0112121722a.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/iamthebassman/media/0112121722a.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/Copyofdouglas007.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/iamthebassman/media/Copyofdouglas007.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/Copyofdouglas005.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/iamthebassman/media/Copyofdouglas005.jpg.html)
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Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days!
I have one of these basses on order. I tracked down one in Sweden. Oddly the seller tells me it is red! Never seen one of these in that colour. Seems that the Douglas SPB1100H, and the Shine bass of the same name is the exact same thing; a loose EB-2 bass with a MM pickup in the P-bass position. Rondo currently have one in Sunburst, if ye fancy.
I will post some photies when it arrives, if it arrives. I've just sent a mystery man a bunch of Swedish krona.
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Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days!
I have one of these basses on order. I tracked down one in Sweden. Oddly the seller tells me it is red! Never seen one of these in that colour. Seems that the Douglas SPB1100H, and the Shine bass of the same name is the exact same thing; a loose EB-2 bass with a MM pickup in the P-bass position. Rondo currently have one in Sunburst, if ye fancy.
I will post some photies when it arrives, if it arrives. I've just sent a mystery man a bunch of Swedish krona.
They do look the same. AFAIK Douglas is the house brand of Rondo Music and I believe Shine is the name used in the UK, at least for this bass. Looking online now, it seems Shine is the brand name of Saein Musical Instruments of Korea. They may be the manufacturer or only an exporter.
Do you have doubts about the seller? I hope there's no problem.
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The seller is Tip Top Musik in Stockholm, Sweden. Apparently he/they are good, if idiosyncratic. I've had to use an international bank transfer to pay for the instrument, which I set up on Tuesday, and I've heard nothing yet from the seller.
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Hope that works out for you.
At that price, with medium scale, and considering it looks like a mudbucker will fit nicely in there, it is very GAS inducing. Love the white.
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I'm leaning more towards sticking other pickups in MM cases to fit the existing route. I suppose the guts of a mudbucker could be shoehorned into there...
Still nothing from the seller.
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Not much info on seller's website. At least there's a physical store. May be a one-man operation considering the limited hours.
Why are you planning on replacing the pickups before you even have it in hand?
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I don't like the sound of MM-type pickups with the coils in parallel, whilst in series they can be overly mids-heavy. I trust Shine to make a great quality bass in terms of fit and finish. I'm looking at the bass as being 95% brilliant, whereas the pickup might be the weak link in the chain, purely because fat humbuckers tend not to crop up in the middle position of 32'' scale length instruments.
It is a big pickup of a known, fairly standardised size that is in a good position on the bass. Too many hollow or semi-hollow basses use idiosyncratic pickups in weird locations, either right up at the heel of the neck or right up at the bridge. I've never been that impressed with the Epi Jack Casady basses I've tried, and again that pickup is pretty much a bespoke item. The Aria TAB66 bass has weird minibuckers right up against the bridge and neck, with a gaping void in between. The Epi Casady bass has that transformer system, which I'm not dead against, but it is more idiosyncratic technology on a fairly budget bass. The Warwick Star bass is out of my immediate price range, the Fender Coronado is sodding heavy and the couple I've played have felt totally dead. Everything Italia make is ugly, in my opinion. The Guild Starfire II reissue is more my thing, but again it is out of my price range.
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Fair enough.
The MM pickup (with coils in parallel) was designed for use with their preamp. To me, that pickup/preamp combination works great, as a single pickup in the original position. Anything else, I'd have to hear before passing judgment.
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Holding up my hand for a minute, I have two basses with MM pickups. One is a Cort GB74 and one is an OLP MM2 Stingray copy. Both have Epiphone Thunderbird pickups in the neck position (virtually the 24th fret position on the OLP). On the Cort the bridge pickup is wired in series, with a coil tap on a pot and a series-wired 4.7 nF capacitor on another pot, so I can halve the pickup if I need to (noisy) or just cream off the bass frequencies if I need to.
On the OLP bass the pickup is also in series and runs through a pot with a 4.7 nF wired in series, but no coil tap. I removed the magnets from the pickup (ceramics) and replaced them with small neodymium magnets, but only on the coil nearest the bridge. I experimented with the magnets on different combinations of pole-pieces. For example, I could charge the E-A poles on one coil and the D-G coils on the other. The non-magnetised pickup coil functions like a dummy coil, and because it is close to the sensing coil, and near identical in resistance, it functions pretty well! The pickup still sounds fat, but that is probably the product of the coil and pole-piece design itself. The Thunderbird pickup is for woody low end, and the MM pickups add enough sizzle, crunch or punch as required. Solo'd they also sound great. Both basses are passive, but can go from a dubby EB-0 thump through to a completely modern-sounding treble twang when required.
When I got the OLP the wiring was totally botched by the previous owner. The Cort was (presumably) stock, and I rewired the MM pickup in it to be in parallel. It sounded like a Stingray, and that is when I learned I didn't get on with that tone. :mrgreen:
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I think it's great there's a lot of choice in semisolids nowadays.
- Warwick makes a Chinese version of the Star which is afforable sounds great! And very well made. It has a middle pickup and even the bridge pickup is very useful. 32"
- The Hagstrom is great too. Coil split, a bridghe pickup which is very in the middle.
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Never seen the Warwick in the flesh, but I've had a bash on a Hagstrom Viking. The fit and finish was a bit sub standard to be honest. I was put off by the rotary pickup selector which was already loose and sloppy. From memory it was right down the end of the treble horn, so would be a bear to replace or repair.
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i tried a viking . the neck was too small in every direction. plus it was way expensive at the store i tried it.
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I thought the Viking was expensive for what it was; a criticism I also have for Eastwood guitars. Nothing bad, but the Viking didn't feel any better or more luxuriant than a cheaper Ibanez Artcore, and the electronics look like they might have presented issues down the road. It is a shame that Ibanez never really distributed the double cutaway Artcores over here in either configuration, otherwise I would settle for one of those!
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My Shine bass arrived! It is bright red, rather than wine red. I really like it!
I've strung it with D'Addario Chromes. I had to sink the nut slots slightly and take some meat off the top of the nut to keep it all happy. I removed the Tele-style knobs off of it and put on some tophats that I had lying around. I also straightened the neck slightly, though it seems to play better with a bit of relief and higher action. I could really tune the thing up to G standard and it would function fine; the strings are a bit low tension compared to what I am used to.
I have all the pieces on order to make up a different pickup for it. The electronics seem a bit cheap, so I might rewire it all with coax. I plan to install a Precision-style pickup into an empty MM-style pickup case, and buff the top of the pickup to a gloss finish.
I also plan to fabricate a couple of pickguards, one aged white and one black, both 3-ply, for the bass. It looks a little naked without one, but most generic ES335-style pickguards have a neck pickup route.
First impressions are good. I will drag it along to the first rehearsal with a new band later this week and see how it gets on under fire.
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I still love my Douglas. I haven't felt the need to mod it (well, I'd LIKE to mod it, but it doesn't really NEED anything...)
I'd like to see how your pickup ends up, that sounds interesting.
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Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days!!
So here is my bass:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/Meddled/IMG_3929_zpspy8wqycl.jpg)
The fit and finish of this bass is perfectly excellent, and the design avoids some of the pitfalls I feel are present on some semi-hollow and true hollow basses (flame suit on). There isn't needlessly long wiring runs, simply to locate a switch of pot down the far end of one of the horns. The bridge is also perfectly functional and normal, unlike a Trapeze design. I've heard horror stories about the Hagstrom Viking reissues, for example. The wiring also lacks the usual idiosyncrasies, so there aren't any weird passive filter matrices or panels of toggle switches. The pickup is also in a fairly logical place for a single pickup instrument.
Flame suit off.
I did not mind the stock pickup, but it seemed mercilessly hot for the job required. I also felt it was a bit vanilla really... the bass could have been anything. I didn't get a Stingray characteristic from it, just quite a compressed mids-heavy tone.
I'm surprised there aren't more basses that stick a series-wired humbucker in the 'sweet spot' middle position, though.
I've made some modifications since I first received it. I carved the pickguard myself, using a Vantage 'guard as a template. I cut it from a parchment Telecaster pickguard that I swapped out on my Fender. I was going to put on a black pickguard, but the white paper template I created looked so good. It reminds me, subtly, of a red Mosrite Celebrity III bass I saw on Ebay a while back.
I also added a Stratocaster-style output jack. The top is surprisingly thick, and the supplied output jack kept coming loose. I couldn't ever get it tight enough, and I damaged the wiring a few times trying. The Strat socket gave me another means of accessing the wiring run, and it spreads the strain of the cable a little more over the top of the instrument. It also fires the cable out at an angle that directs it straight to where the strap is, so it is quickly out the way and off the top of the instrument.
I also added the MXR-style knobs.
The pickup worked pretty well. I purchased a cheap black MM-style humbucker and chiseled out the epoxy and coils, until I had an empty black case. I used a G&B branded P pickup in its place. I used various tools to chop down the flatwork until I could get both pickup halves inside the pickup case. I also reversed the coils, so that the D-G half was closer to the neck, and the E-A coil closer to the bridge. I drowned the whole thing in black epoxy as a final measure.
I have the bass strung with D'Addario chromes, and it makes a nice clunky, dunky tone. It doesn't sound too muffled or too booming, and it doesn't sound too much like a P bass either. It records pretty nicely. I'm really not sure how to describe it. It doesn't sound like any other basses I've heard or played, but it also doesn't sound too unique or unusual either. You wouldn't know it was a hollow bass necessarily. It isn't an EB-2, Starfire, Coronado or Jack Casady model, but I suppose there are wee bits of all of them in there.
I've just become involved in a psychedelic project, and this bass seems like a good choice. I've ordered a few empty MM humbucker shells, so I'm going to roll another pickup with a skinned Thunderbird pickup. I have a shelf of Epi-style Thunderbird pickups I got from various sources, so I'm not entirely sure what one I've just skinned. It might be from my Tokai Thunderbird, which would be good if true.