1st build - hybrid

[ack1961]

I haven't put any strap buttons on yet because I want to give the sides another shot of Poly, but from all indications of how it sits in my lap, it's gonna dive.

Edit:  I put strap buttons on. I moved the back button up towards the E string, and the balance isn't too bad.
Doesn't dive nearly as bad as I thought it would and with a wider strap, it'll be alright.

[godofthunder]

Dat's the coolist baby !

[Iome]

Nice, how does the mudbucker sound in that position?

[ack1961]

It's not as hot as the Telebass HB, but it's surprisingly brighter than I was expecting.
Solo'd, it's pretty snarly and even with the original .33uF cap it's got a pretty good range.

Where I really like this bass is both pickups on and about 40% rolled off the tone knob.
I'll try to post some sound clips.

[Iome]

Oh yes please post some clips. I thought mudbuckers where much hotter than 7ender buckers...

[Dave W]

It's not as hot as the Telebass HB, but it's surprisingly brighter than I was expecting.
Solo'd, it's pretty snarly and even with the original .33uF cap it's got a pretty good range.

The output of each pickup is about the same. The mudbucker has a stronger fundamental and fewer mids and highs but you have it in the bridge position which picks up less string movement and less fundamental. So it doesn't sound as hot. The Tele Bass HB has a very loud midrange which comes across as hot in either position.

[ack1961]

The output of each pickup is about the same. The mudbucker has a stronger fundamental and fewer mids and highs but you have it in the bridge position which picks up less string movement and less fundamental. So it doesn't sound as hot. The Tele Bass HB has a very loud midrange which comes across as hot in either position.

Thanks, Dave.
Can you explain the difference between a "fundamental" and "midrange" to a layman?

[Dave W]

By fundamental I mean the fundamental frequency of a note, also called the first harmonic. Low end is generally considered the fundamental and lower harmonics (multiples of the fundamental frequency), highs are the upper harmonics, midrange is what's in between.

The Gibson mudbucker was designed for "pipe organ lows", as Bill Lawrence put it, without much regard for mids and highs. The closer a pickup is to the bridge, the less the string movement over the pickup, and as a result, it doesn't pick up as many lower frequencies, which is why any pickup sounds brighter in the bridge position. With the Gibson, its power comes from those lows, so in the bridge position it won't be as strong sounding because its mids and highs aren't that strong. Hope that makes some sense.

Sometime you might also want to look up Fletcher-Munson curves.

[ack1961]

By fundamental I mean the fundamental frequency of a note, also called the first harmonic. Low end is generally considered the fundamental and lower harmonics (multiples of the fundamental frequency), highs are the upper harmonics, midrange is what's in between.

The Gibson mudbucker was designed for "pipe organ lows", as Bill Lawrence put it, without much regard for mids and highs. The closer a pickup is to the bridge, the less the string movement over the pickup, and as a result, it doesn't pick up as many lower frequencies, which is why any pickup sounds brighter in the bridge position. With the Gibson, its power comes from those lows, so in the bridge position it won't be as strong sounding because its mids and highs aren't that strong. Hope that makes some sense.

Sometime you might also want to look up Fletcher-Munson curves.

That was a great explanation, thanks. 
The electronics portion of this build was very interesting, although I really just slapped it together.
I'm going to read more material so I can make more educated decisions on the electronics for my 2nd build.
Thanks again.
Steve

[ack1961]

Thinking of something a little different for the headstock logo for "AckBass":

or something like this on the headstock:

[Pilgrim]

LOVE IT!!!

Bill is my hero.   

[sniper]

Bill is so cool. I love it...it's purrfect.

[Highlander]

Definitely like the cat...

[drbassman]

Very cool, it's the "cat's meow!"

[Lightyear]

Go with Bill!  I assume that's where the "Ack" moniker came from?