Tuesday 24 April 2012

This post is very anal - Bass Guitar Upgrade!

I've bought myself a bass guitar several weeks ago and I love it.  I bought an ex-girlfriend a Taylor accoustic guitar for a Xmas prezzie last year and it was beautiful thing that you just had to touch.  I picked up my little bass at an aution for a fair price - £95.  It's like new and unmolested.  Until now....

My bass is a shortscale Squier Bronco.  It cost new about £165.  I've been playing quite a lot and this cute, glossy guitar feels like it is built like a battleship, but it is only a 29.5 inch neck.  Very easy to play but you don't see many of the pro's using them.  The guys play top gear so for me to fulfil my little ambition (to play a song on the bass at a gig) I think I should breath a little quality into the electrics.  It's an underdog and I want it to play with the big boys!



After a lot of research and thought this is my rationale.  My bass has a thin sound due to the pick up being a cheap 6 string item used on the Squier Strat copies.  It has to go.  I don't like the finger noise you get - especially when you are as crap as me - when moving around the fret board.  Roundwound strings have to go.  I want a rich complex sound.  These are my parameters.

So start with the strings  I have a posh set of half round (smooth) string coming.  The E is 100 size, the G 40.  These strings give a slightly mellow sound more akin to soul and reggie.  I will play rock mostly so I have chosen a powerful pick up and bright tuning pot.  Seymour Duncan Hot Rail for a Strat neck.  Not as powerful as the bridge version but still very pokey.  Physically it is very similar to the stock pick up I'm replacing so adapting the mounting plate should require minimal if any work.  Being a rail pick up the unusual spacing (short scale guitar) of the 4 strings is also dealt with properly.  Regarding the pots I have gone for high quality Italian 500k items.  These should allow mid tones to come through from the now twin coil pick up.  Ive got a vitamin cap for the tone control and it's a standardish old style 47mf jobber, £11.  The Bronco, being a solid but cheap guitar, has no insulation.  Basically, to reduce "noise" within the circuitry the better guitars have all of the electrics in the guitar screened by an earthed Faraday Cage.  I've got some thin self adhesive foil coming and that should rectify that issue and bring this element up to a professional standard.

This will keep me busy for a day or two!  Before I do anything though I am going to record the stock guitar.  I have a great camera and in addition I will measure the action of the guitar and the distance the strings of the guitar are from the stock pick up.  When I restring it I will have a base setting to set the guitar up to.

I like customising stuff.  My festival manbag is covered in patches from my travels and this laptop is covered in motorcycle themed stickers.  My bike is not standard.  Once I complete this work on my guitar it will be mine.  How will it sound?  It's going to be better because at the moment the tone of my little Bronco is just not good enough to sound interesting - it simply works.  The quality of the componants I have aquired is very high.  Professional standard everywhere so I think the question is whether I will like it and I won't know until I've finished it!

Well.....wasn't that a dull post!!!  So to finish, a band with a unique sounding bass player and a lead guitarist as good and as anyone - including the greats.  It's loud and brash but what do you expect from a speed freak?  What a lead solo, what a bass solo, drummer is a bit good too, powerful stuff.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBFhvEQMPME

1 comment:

  1. Can't wait to have a go.
    Are you going to do the bass in Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) then?

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