The Last Bass Outpost

They are J type. Equal length neck and bridge-4 inches. 67/70 spacing (update-I have decided to leave the beast fretted, but still want to source some hum cancelling pickups)

Sometimes less is more...

I am indeed planning on doing the work. Stew-mac has an ebony fingerboard that would be perfect for the job. Strangely, I feel drawn to do it. Even considered making a ramp that would cover the front pup rout and re-routing the bridge pup for a soapbar. Then replace the second volume  control with a rothstein passive mid control.

Got a bit of a dilemma here... I recently purchased  a Peavey Millennium 5 string bass  from a co-worker, and I plan on removing the fretboard and replacing it with an ebony fretless fingerboard. My dilemma is this: I want to replace the single coils with hum cancelling pickups, and have narrowed my choices down to 4. Bartolini makes 2 models- original bass and classic bass, and Dimarzio makes 2- area jazz 5 and ultra jazz 5. Does anyone here have experience with any of these pups? I have been searching the interwebs and can't find a decent review on any of them! Thanks in advance!

Quote from: Dave W on April 07, 2016, 06:17:01 PM
I never watch awards shows anyway, so I missed Nick Jonas' guitar solo which is being ridiculed on guitar forums.

You didn't miss much!

Bridge ground is good. Looks like I'll be pulling the trigger on a set of Dimarzio Model J's  or Duncan Apollos sometime between now and tax time next year. Thanks for all the advice, folks!

Looks like I'll be pulling the bridge today(after the honey-do list, lol). Hopefully with good news. Thanks to everyone, your knowlege and insight is priceless!

Control cavity is nicely shielded(conductive paint, ground wires attached to cavity wall). Have not removed bridge to see if ground wire is touching. The hum is faint, but (to me)noticeable. tried backing tone control halfway off and got an interesting tone-not sure if I'm in love with it yet, but it ain't bad at all, and no buzz. Looks like I'm stuck with this option or get a set of Model J's

How 'bout Stewart-Macdonald? Though they can be a bit pricey...

No pickguard. it is Squier's budget Jaco model. Haven't had a chance to look at it yet-gotta keep Mama happy, lol. Stay tuned!

Thanks for your insight. I'll take a look in the control cavity for that possible cold bridge ground(wonder why I didn't think of that?), and see what I can do to make this rascal a bit more housebroken. It has Designed by Duncan pups and they do sound great. Wish I had room for a pair of dummy coils.

Quote from: Psycho Bass Guy on March 27, 2016, 09:54:33 PM
Before you spend any money, just pull the pickups and do a thorough shielding job.  Aluminum foil works fine. No need to go for copper. New pickups (single coils anyway) would just hum too!

How would the self-adhesive aluminum tape that is used on ac ducts work? No fluorescents in the music room, and if I stand at an angle to the amp about 6 feet from it, the buzz goes away. It does show up at various distances regardless of my position relative to the amp. House is over a century old and has been rewired, though not by me. It has Romex wiring replacing the original, cloth-wrapped wiring. Not a major thing-I'm not playing out anymore, just not crazy about 60hz buzz. Not enough room for 2 dummy coils(rw/rp pups), and even linear buckers lose that 'something' that makes single coils so sweet. I'll try the shielding and get back to y'all! Thanks again!

I have a Squier VM fretless Jazz bass. Love it to death, but the single-coil buzz is drivin' me nutz! My favorite tone is the bridge pup, but with the dodgy wiring in my house, I have to roll the tone pot half off to kill the dynamo hum. Can y'all recommend a noiseless set that sounds good and won't break the bank(prolly have to wait til tax time next year any way)? any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

Quote from: Highlander on March 26, 2016, 04:41:16 PM
Ta and appreciated... the RD is flawed, but so am I...

I have two neck-thrus... that Thunderbird, which is a Peter Cook, and my "budget buy" in the 80's, a Hohner Jack... curiously enough, both have a an exact replica P "D" profile P neck, in four pieces: three for the neck, one for the board... both are mahogany or similar (in the latter case)... both play beautifully...

I'd love a fretless neck-thru, but the RD is a stunner for tone... all that maple... the original pups were active but were humbuckers with no electronics other than the Moog board...


I'd love to buy and convert an Epi Pro T'Bird to fretless at some point, but more pressing matters exist for me at the moment...

Never 'flawed', Highlander-'has personality'!   With all that maple, I'll bet it projects like a beast! Never played a Hohner Jack, but really like the design-headless fascinates me. A fretless T-Bird would be amazing, but I fully understand 'more pressing matters', lol. Keep up the good work!

That would be hard to pass up, especially if you ever play any gigs where an upright would fit the material better than a bass guitar and don't want to haul the real thing. Just my 2 cents. Very nice bass!