The Last Bass Outpost

This would be a much better bargain if it were in fact low Z......

https://reverb.com/item/85025740-gibson-eb-bass-humbucker-made-in-the-usa-in-1970-chrome-low-impedance-mudbucker-sidewinder-pickup-very-rare-new-old-stock

Quote from: Basvarken on November 08, 2024, 10:25:29 AMWhy not one black and the other chrome? Like the rest of the bass. I mean, the bass has no gold hardware...

I was thinking at that time, keeping track of each side by color. "G" for Gold & Guitar, "B" for Black & Bass. I'm not sure if Chrome was an option. On the stacked knobs, I wired the base knob for Bass to keep track of that. I agree, it would look better with black & chrome or silver.

Final chapter on the Eastman Doubleneck project. I bought the two Xvive U2 Wireless Transmitters. One in gold & one in black Gold=guitar Black=bass. Coincidentally, those are the only two colors guitar hardware is available in besides chrome/nickel. I bought color coded nuts & washers for the input & output jacks. Hopefully when I'm six feet under, the next owner will be able to figure out what that crazy old man was trying to do!!

I've had two of these pickups for years. They've gotten very hard to come by. I only have a surround for one. I always thought that I could take a cream humbucker surround & pop two holes in each side. As it turns out, the LP Sig pickup is 1.375 wide & a standard humbucker is 1.5. Mounting it in this pickguard allowed me to use it without a surround which would be rarer than hens teeth. The first pickguard, they forgot to omit the pickup hole. it was just days before hurricane Hellen hit their aria. I sent it back & they cut the hole for me to where I just had to open it up a bit.

Wow Rob!! That looks awesome as always!!

Update while the LBO was down...... A months or two ago, I was surfing Reverb & Paradox Guitar started making replacement pickguards for this bass. I asked if I could order one without the pickup cavity cut in & they agreed to do it. I was playing my '74 Les Paul Signature & was getting comments on how great it sounded. I wanted to try one of the pickups in this bass. Long story short, it sounds great! I added a quick disconnect to the ground wire so I could switch the guts reasonably quick. Also, right after I ordered the cream pickguard to match the pickup, they posted many other color options that I might have preferred. It has grown on me!

Thanks Dave & Keith! It's great to see the LBO back up & running!!

Explanation of controls on guitar.........
       Stacked Volume - Bottom Bass / Top Guitar
       Stacked Tone.    - Bottom Bass / Top Guitar
       Guitar Jack.       - Closest to Tone / Both Guitar & Bass signal out of this jack if nothing is plugged into the Bass Jack.
       Bass Jack.         - Furthest from Tone / Separates Bass & Guitar output to individual amps.
       Mute Button.     - DTDP switch mounted in Pickguard. Mutes both Guitar & Bass at same time.

I have been happy with the results. Changed tuners to Hipshot Ultralites on the bass side. Original tuners on guitar side.
The bass pickup is real hot, I have to tune it down a bit with the volume. The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups sound great on the guitar side.
The two Boss WL-20's are working great together. After pairing one set, the next set is supposed to find an unused channel. It has worked every time. The Boss LS-2 is also working well, one stomp switches from guitar to bass & back.
I might buy two sets of Xvive U2 Digital Wireless Guitar Systems. They come in different colors with four switchable channels. They also will fit better in the Boss LS-2, the jacks are very close together.

Quote from: BTL on August 09, 2024, 08:10:26 AM
That turned out great, congrats!

Thanks! Here is the current foot switch setup.....

It bothered me that the LS-2 pedal wouldn't do what I hoped it would do. This is one of the most versatile switching pedals I have ever com across. It has done anything I ever wanted. I have three. I actually looked at the manual, nothing..... It needs to have something in the input to even turn it on and a the output goes to the amp. I wondered what would happen if I bypassed the input to the output with a short chord......... IT Worked!! The A & B Return jacks are too close together to plug in the two WL-20's, but that is easily remedied..........

The guitar went together as planned everything worked like I hoped it would except for the hookup to the amps. My plan was to run both bass & guitar through two separate Boss WL-20 wireless systems into the Boss LS-2. "A" from guitar side to the guitar amp, "B" from the bass side to the bass amp. Hit the switch once, play guitar side through a guitar amp. Hit the switch again, play the bass through a bass amp. The LS-2 didn't work for that application. I dug around through my stash & found a Boss FS-6 that I never had any use for before. It worked fine, with the exception that you have to shut one switch off before you turn the other switch on. I will be on the hunt for an A-B switch that will switch the guitars & amps in one hit.

Wiring is done, everything seems to test ok. Next step, put it back together. Bought a set of Chromes for the bass side, Ernie Ball Super Slinky for the guitar side. The Chinese strings that came with it didn't cut it........

Nice! A friend has an Epiphone fretless EB-1 (short scale), it was fun to play. It will be interesting to try this one.....

Did a portion of the wiring today, just have the stacked pots & jacks left to wire.

The pickup cavity routing is done. Should be able to mount the pickups & start wiring when the pickup screws come tomorrow.........