The purpose here is to share my experience of what it is like to begin the journey of becoming a bass player. I learned that I love to teach and offer helpful tips to both men and women that are new to playing the bass, and this channel is perfect for that. The targeted audience here are primarily adults, who have the financial means and wherewith all to make the crucial and responsible decision(s) to start on the bass guitar.
In order for you to get your chops, you need to first get your bass. That is my channel's purpose.
The other side of the equation is my creative side, seen in my performance videos. The art of music production is a passion of mine for the last 30 years. I am more technical than musical, which means that I am never happy with my performances, and or never satisfied with my final mixes LOL. It is ellusive to get that perfect performance/mix, but the journey of getting there, if at all, is what drives me so. 호세 크루즈
Hola Christian! Gracias por su pregunta. Sinceramente, no tengo ninguna experiencia con pastillas Wilkinson porque no se encuentran en muchas guitarras en los Estados Unidos en grandes cantidades. Sólo unos pocos fabricantes utilizan Wilkinson, y son marcas de las que nunca he oído hablar. Guitarras Vintage: Esta marca utiliza a menudo pastillas Wilkinson en sus guitarras y bajos eléctricos, especialmente en sus modelos de estilo Stratocaster y Telecaster. Guitarras Fret-King: Las guitarras Fret-King suelen llevar pastillas Wilkinson, conocidas por sus tonos de inspiración vintage y su fiabilidad moderna. Guitarras Revelation: Las guitarras Revelation también utilizan pastillas Wilkinson, ofreciendo una combinación de asequibilidad y calidad artesanal. Guitarras Gordon Smith: Conocidas por sus instrumentos hechos a mano, las guitarras Gordon Smith a veces vienen equipadas con pastillas Wilkinson, mejorando sus capacidades sónicas. Lo bueno es que Wilkinson parece estar disponible en buenas cantidades en otras partes del mundo como América Central y del Sur, así como en una gran parte del Sudeste Asiático. Si está pensando en las pastillas Wilkinson, lo más probable es que las disfrute si sus pastillas de serie no rinden como usted desea. Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor DeepL.com
I started playing in 1971 so I don't think I'm a beginner. However I find Bass chops for beginners really interesting. I'm still learning new things about bass each day!
Hi Mark. I'm so glad that you are finding this channel useful. I marvel at how many non beginners watch and subscribe to my channel. I suppose it really does have something for everyone, and I'm eternally honored.
Hi Joey. Yes. those are nice, and I would hope that they are "incredible", as you say, for the nearly $300.00 US. price tag for a new set. On my next update video about pickups, I will include your suggestion along with the rest. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the question Rey! Yes, where makers ultimately decide to place pickups in the body has a great deal to do with how it sounds as well. Some basses that have a pickup near the neck have a more bottom end-like sound than pickups mounted near the bridge, which are often much brighter or produce more treble tones. A lot of basses will have two pickups like this, and the end user just blends them together to taste.
I've got a 1981 Ibañez Blazer Bass and thinking of change pick up set for a DiMarzio DP122BK+G Do you think is it a good upgrade? What other pick up set else would you recommend?
A $90 dollar DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan pickup will sound better than most factory pickups from 1981. Go to: d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/diagrams/Sixties%20P%20Dimensions.PDF Make sure the dimensions for that new pickup will drop into your bass.
Some people complained that I was giving a lengthy shout out to some cool people, so that was my polite response to them by putting the topic time in the title.
I have always love the clean crisp sound of EMG's they are very versatile, I recently got an Ibanez premium bass with the Nordstrand pickups, and I am really not happy with the tone, they just change the sound of everything in my pedal board, and harmonics are terrible, I don't know if I should sell it or maybe change them out, I put EMGs in my chep Fernandes bass back in the 90's and it still sounds great.
Hi Tony, What you see in this video is my SG with the 1st Gen BadAss bridge, which was eventually installed on my new P-bass that I got as a Father's gift. The bridge that is on the SG now is a Fender Vintage style low mass bridge. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001L8NFCU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
The mod I want to do is on my Fender American Deluxe P Bass that I bought new in 2000. It didn't come with an active/passive switch, so I would like to install one for the times when I forget to check my battery and don't want to have to replace it in the middle of a set.
The Kickass really does kick ass. One of the things I absolutely love about it is the ability to adjust string spacing. The badass bridge could not do that once the saddles were filed.
Hi Brian. Indeed. I think that's one of the many reasons why HipShot is such a hit within the aftermarket upgrade realm. The stuff is made to exceed OEM hardware.
Hi Brian. No I have not. But Lindy Fralin and Tom Brantley are two independent guys making excellent custom winds for people at the premium price level, I will include them both when I do an update on the whole bass pickup stuff at some point soon. Thanks for the tip!
The Fender sounds fuller with the tone up full, and a touch brighter with the tone rolled all the way off. Maybe could make the Sire a little bit closer by changing the pots and tone capacitor.
I have three here. One is a pristine, untouched Jazz. One with EMG and Leo Quan hotrod stuff, and the third one with just a Leo Quan upgrade. They each sound unique from one another, and I love all three!
@@TuneItOrDie4001 I recently purchased a Sire V-7 Fretless 2nd gen. I tried the oem pickups and preamp, EMG Active J Set (with passive VVT), and DiMarzio Area J set with the Sire preamp. . My favorite is the stock setup after carefully shielding the pickups! They are just more growly and well... Jazz Bassy!
@@prestachuck2867 The Sire Line is one of the ones I talked about in the Intermediate category of suggestions. I always regarded them as "Already upgraded" because of how well they are made and sound out of the box.
@@TuneItOrDie4001 I have to agree with you now. I did upgrade the tuners to Gotoh Res-o-Lites, and other than the additional shielding, that's it! My Pedulla Buzz now stays in the studio, and my Fretless Sire V-7 goes out on the road with me.
I rewire all new bass's ,just done my 75th Anniversary Fender Jazz, fitted a new pickguard, a brass nut, Guyker brass saddles, SD Apollo linear dual coil Jazz noiseless pickups, CTS 8% tolerance linear pots (250k) hifi grade polypropylene caps (5% tolerance) & 4k7 resistor (1% tolerance) i use the Greasebucket tone set up,much better sound imo..i fitted a TinyTone dual contacts mono jack socket, 200% more contact & a snug solid fit then finally a full set up, dress fret ends & check fret levels, set neck releif, bridge height & intonation....i have Nordstrom 'Big Breaks' pickups fitted in my active/passive playing Ibanez SR 600E...great quiet pickups when playing active or passive...don't leave batteries for to long unchecked as if they leak acid they can do a lot of damage ,especially cheap batteries...good video, good advice...👍🎸
Awwwww, you must have missed the part where I tell the audience that the links below are there for all to continue their research on their own. This is what discriminating buyers do, in case that eluded you as well.
Mr Cruz. Love your channel very very informative. I have a few bass's .on my 2 fender p bass I have a original badass 2 bridge. On my 3rd fender p bass I have a hipshot kickass not to fond of it . I want to thank you for help on finding the right bass bridge.
This is fantastic news, and you're welcome! It really validates this channel when a viewer finds the information useful, and often finds the suggestion I make work for them. I am however, curious as to why you did not like the Hipshot. That product line has enjoyed enormous success in general, and seldom do bassists regret their bridges. Can you elaborate, or at least let us know what Hipshot did to fix the issue for you?
Well, I filled in the rest of the song with instrumentation, except for my singing on it. Recording my keys, bass, and guitars were hard enough. Singing on this would have ruined it IMHO.
I have just bought my first ever bass guitar and never played one, so very much a newbie. The previous owner fitted "Fender Squier Tuners" and "Wilkinson M series pickups" so it looks like it's already "pimped up". when I've learnt to play it I can decide if its the sound I want. Thanks for posting.
Hi Michael, the narrow neck specification is probably an incorrect use of the term for Ibanez EXB guitars. The EXB-445 has a neck width that is similar to the P bass 5 string, but not as narrow as a Jazz 5 string for instance. The thing that people ubiquitously say is a narrow neck is actually the depth of the profile, or thickness one perceives while griping the neck with your hand. This is Ibanez's "Wizard" neck, which is one of the thinnest profiles around in it's day, and it is what Ibanez designed primarily because they are fast to play on, due to the smaller "D" shape that is significantly less pronounced as it is on other basses. Replacing the nut on one of these basses should be fairly straight forward. I would imagine that the nut width is a fairly common one to get if the original plastic one is broken. A good aftermarket bridge for this guitar would also have the standard spacing between strings that are probably going to be similar to what the factory bridge is already. So no, it should not be an issue to upgrade the nut and bridge on this bass. I am the original owner of my 1993 EXB-445, and all I did to it was put passive EMGs on it, and that's about it. That thing is amazing to play!
Greetings from Peru! This is great channel! I modded my 2 basses. One is a Squire Jazz Bass vintage 79. I put a Hipshot bridge (so far, my favorite) and switched the pickups for DiMarzio Ultra Bass. I went a little beyond that though… I shielded the cavities with copper (they were painted with conductive paint, but it wouldn’t hurt) and since the DiMarzios are hum buckets internally, I added switching capacitors to use them in series or parallel. And of course, I had to do a paint job to that beauty, hehe! A long time ago, I tried a Fender Jazz Bass Geddy Lee edition, which had a Badass II bridge. It was totally out of my price range, but it was the inspiration for my new bass. Now, I wouldn’t change my bass for any other. My other bass is my first bass, a Squier Affinity Jazz Bass. I put the other bass’s pickup there (Duncan Design pickups, not bad at all), shielding, Hipshot bridge and Fender tuners. Shielding and paint job, of course, and…. I removed the frets and treated the neck so now I have also a fretless, hehe! I wish I could share pictures. but I enjoyed this and the pickups video. Brought me good memories!
I've been considering getting an upgrade for my ibanez mikro, getting an upgrade in quality that has the same feeling and look as ibanez as well as being passive and having a PJ configuration and is also a short scale (as I've tried long scale and my little T-Rex arms hate it) incredibly difficult to find. The thing is I do love my bass dearly and I can't imagine parting with it, but I also don't know if spending basically the same price as the bass when I bought it in a set of pickups like seymour duncan quarter pounder is a good idea vs to trying to find a "leveled up" bass that has the same qualities I already love on this one... How do you resolve this dilemma? 😅
I love your advice. Just wanted to say I have a Boss B1X4 zoom pedal. About 100 bucks. Has massive experimental sounds, a drum machine (easily used), a wah wah pedal, a looper, and more. The best practice device I've ever seen. It even has tone samples from big name players. I don't work for Boss or anything like that, just thought I'd share something relatively cheap and useful in experimenting for a good tone.
I'm thinking to upgrade pickup for my old Yamaha RBX300, which I bought it in 1992. It Is actually in perfect conditon, and love It. Any sugestions whats should I expect with the change ?, worth It or not ?
Hi Morgan, You can actually choose from many makers for that one, since it only has one P-style pickup on it, with a one volume and one tone. You obviously like the bass since you've had it for 31 years. So I would ask you to consider how much money you want to spend? Dimarzio DP122. Seymour Duncan has 8 flavors for you to pick out. Bartolini offers the 8S and 8SU in a slew of configurations to suit what you want to do and spend money on. Aguilar's AG 4P-60 is also a good one. Finally, EMG offers two flavors for your RBX300 You can get an active set, or a passive set with a negligible price difference between the two now. Let me know what you go with. You are looking at spending zero to stay where you are, up to about $160.00 or so dollars U.S. on this. Where you cap off at within that price range will determine what from the above will apply to you.
Paul, thank you! This is good news for BadAss fans. I just wonder what the difference is between their Omega BB-3351-002 and BB-3342-001 Leo Quan copy of the original. They only talk about what the BB-3342-001 is made of, but say nothing about the Omega BB-3351-002, which, aside from the unfortunate pre-grooved saddles appears to be identical to the BA2. I get why they pre-groove their stuff, but I always loved making that choice myself with my own file hand tool. Granted, the BB-3342-001 does have the string through the body design, which the original did not, so it's a win-win situation for everyone now that I think about it.
I haven't bought any effects pedals yet and I'm looking forward to watching this video. However, after much research and scrutiny, I purchased a bass, a Gibson SG short scale EB3. I was looking at many bass guitars in the price range of $500-$800+. But I came to the conclusion that I should buy something that I really wanted, rather than buy a bass guitar based on it's cheaper price. It was a tough decision because there are many nice bass guitars out there. Even though this purchase may have set me back a bit, I'm happy with my decision.
Very informative. You have a very patient, calming, relaxed kind of voice. Very straight forward to the point with explaining things, I'm sure you're a great teacher. A few years ago I went down the Glarry bass rabbit hole here on RU-vid and ended up buying one and I've been doing mods ever since. lol! I straightened the neck, lowered the action but I can't get the intonation right on the A and E strings. Got a Wilkinson bridge coming in a few days, hoping that will solve the problem. Also the E string is tapping the fretboard and pick up. I'm starting to think I should've gone with a $200-$300 Ibanez as my first bass but it's been fun and educational. I'll get her right eventually. 🤞😁
@@TuneItOrDie4001 Great. I thought all I had to do was swap it out. Oh, well. I've done everything except take it to a professional. Just delaying it at this point I guess. Thanks! 🙂
@@i94yeh2p It just might be a direct swap, don't worry just yet. All my LEO QUAN bridges were in fact, direct swaps, but each one was done on a guitar that was built to solid specifications by the maker. I'm sure Glarrys are made pretty solidly because they indeed serve their community well with affordable stuff. But like anything else, their stuff may need some extra curricular refinements when upgrades are being considered. Let me know how new bridge goes on. It's probably gonna be easier than you imagine.
@@TuneItOrDie4001 Yeah. I think if i were some recording professional then having an autowah or dist pedal or octaver would be necessary. That said, being a regular guy, you just need to sound good, so you remain excited to play. Tech21 does it. Octaver is all i would consider because I enjoy funk music and it reinforces clean playing. But that is it.
Thank you Patrick! I really lucked out on this bass when I got it new in 1994. I guess it was one of the last ones out of the Mexico factory before it went up in flames. Today, many MIM Squiers are highly sough after, almost as much as the MIJ ones. I just love how crazy different it sounds in comparison to my other guitars.
@@TuneItOrDie4001 it does have a nice clang to it. MiMs are good basses. I have both a Squier PJ and a MiM J in my crosshairs. I don't know if i would use active emg because changing the batteries behind a pickguard would be a pain in the ass. Would probably be Dimarzio or the GZR set.
@@iamgribs I do have a 2018 MII PJ, and I'm totally happy with the stock pickups, though I did install my last Leo Quan 1st Gen bridge on it, and I could not be happier
