Billy Sheehan tribute bass finally finished........or is it?

godofthunder · July 20, 2020, 03:47:08 PM

Seeing as I am sliding into retirement I am wrapping up a bunch of projects. Turns out Billy's bass is a '69 and has a alder body, it pays to fact check

any how it's all wired up and functioning, I will probably swap out the ash body for alder at some point.

amptech · July 21, 2020, 12:22:35 AM

Wow, nice vid. Makes me wonder, though.. was Billy inspired by Rick Laird? Rick used his mud'd P (ash/rosewood) around '71/'72 I think..

Your axe is quite similar to my '74 P, although I only have blend and tone - and wound down the mud to match the 10K5 P pickup.

It was my main bass (along a Grabber) for close to 20 years, but I hated it in the end and went all SG/short scale.
The Rick Laird thing was an attempt to honor this bass a couple of years ago, and make me justify keeping it, but I still don't use it
and will get rid of it this year I'm afraid $:-\$ Sorry for disturbing your thread Scott, but the maple/ash/mud theme got me going

gearHed289 · July 21, 2020, 07:56:37 AM

Cool vid Scott. Nice bass too!

4stringer77 · July 21, 2020, 08:05:23 AM

Had to try to find some old examples of Sheehan live from back in the day after seeing your vid. 1981 is the best I could come up with here. Recently uploaded too.

Nice job with the bass.

godofthunder · July 23, 2020, 05:03:39 AM

I took the bass to rehearsal last night, what a monster! My Jazz bass is getting a muddy!

Basvarken · July 23, 2020, 08:59:22 AM

Better dust off those GFR songs then!

godofthunder · July 23, 2020, 09:16:51 AM

I know right!?

Basvarken · July 23, 2020, 09:19:35 AM

Rob · July 23, 2020, 03:37:51 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on July 23, 2020, 09:16:51 AM
I know right!?

I heard Mel's bass live and it was a monster.

Alanko · July 25, 2020, 02:28:17 PM

I'm guessing a Sidewinder and P pickup don't really play ball? At a guess if you turn both up the P bass will rob the mudbucker of most of its mojo?

Always been subtly tempted to do this, but it would be an obvious 'Wife Bass' after the fact. I would also be removing a lot of wood, so it would be a one-shot deal and it would instantly ruin any residual value in my P Bass.

godofthunder · July 25, 2020, 05:11:34 PM

I built this bass from parts, I did the routing, finishing etc. The body was a unfinished by Taro woodworks, quite reasonable at 75 bucks I think, the neck is Allparts. I have more invested in the Gibson pickup than the neck and body.

Highlander · July 26, 2020, 04:03:14 AM

I found it very difficult to try and easily "balance" the Mudbucker with the Lollar pup in my Thunderbird so stopped trying... tending to run the beast full-throttle Mud or full-throttle 'Bird...

Bodies and necks are so varied in prices so I tend to wait for what I want... presently looking for (ideally) a leftie maple to fit rightie after a fretless conv, but with other projects sitting...

godofthunder · July 26, 2020, 05:50:10 AM

I worked with it at rehersal and was able to work with it and get a full yet punchy tone, I was pretty pleased actually and couldn't put the bass down. To play a 7ender and have the notes bloom and sing was quite a treat ! I'm looking at my Jazz bass with a raised eyebrow.

4stringer77 · August 31, 2020, 07:15:14 AM

Did you folks catch this one? I wanted to share here in case there are those here who haven't. Also interesting to hear how Billy developed the ideas for the wife and thus the Attitude based on his preferences and influences. I wonder why his Attitude's angled screws at the bottom of the neck heel haven't caught on with other builders if they work so well at improving the tone as he claims.

Pilgrim · August 31, 2020, 08:09:27 AM

When it comes to a claim like angled neck screws improving sound, one word comes to mind: Psychoacoustics.