Show your GK/Piezo bass

Started by fokof, April 25, 2011, 07:29:03 PM

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fokof

After the GK3B thread here's the Piezo one.


So my 2 main bass
-Carvin LB75PF with a Ghost/Hexpander kit
-Carvin neck/ Warmoth body with a Ghost/hexpander/piezo preamp



greyfin10

Haha, I noticed the necropost warning when I start this.  Nice feature.

But yes, I really want to post here :)

Fokof, I thought I saw you discuss the pros and cons of Pieze vs. GK3B pickups somewhere, but I can't find it anymore.

Currently I own two Modulus FB5s, and I'm not satisfied with either the Adhesive approach OR drilling holes in the top of my bass.  Or at least, if i were going to drill holes, I think I'd go all the way and get the internal kit instead of the clunky GK3B I have now.

Graphtec looks very very attractive in this regard, but what will I give up going this route?

fokof

Quote from: greyfin10 on January 20, 2012, 01:22:23 PM

Graphtec looks very very attractive in this regard, but what will I give up going this route?

I prefer by a very long shot , the looks of a piezo setup. The GK3b pickup is ugly as hell (even the internal kit) me thinks.

The though part as far as I'm concerned is the output jack. It was a chalange to fit both 1/4" jack and the 13 pin out.
The graphtech electronics being so little , there was no space issue inside the cavity


I made a thread back in Carvin forums when I moded mine , photos & all:
http://www.carvinbbs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13012

fokof

#3
Latest addition:



gandolf

Nice one!

almost fooled it was a guitar.....looks like the necks is much less broader/wider than the ussual 6 string basses....is that right??

fokof

#5
.

Antonuzzo

Here's one of mine. An early '90s Jackson Eliminator.  This has a little story behind it - I got it when I was playing bass with Dave Sharman, who had a Jackson endorsement, so I got it at factory price (which still wasn't cheap).

It's a really good instrument - a fast neck with no buzz or dead spots, very decent-sounding active electronics (a warm, Warwick-like tone... not what you'd expect from an instrument with such HM styling).

The looks are something you love or hate, I guess - it's all love for me.

Anyway:

Here is the beast in all its glory:



A detail of the install. I had to raise the action slightly, and remove one of the knobs:



It's a funny thing. Jackson are so well-known and lauded for their guitars but their basses seem to slip under the radar.  They change hands now for a pittance - around £2-300 for a well-built Japanese instrument is not bad value.

fokof

#7
Got a fretted 6 string Carvin last year , my first 6er , didn't know what impression it would give me.

Well , I bought her fretless sister this year   8)

Added the same stuff : Graphtech Ghost kit and a thumb rest.



gumtown

Nice matching set,
I noticed the intonation is set quite different between them, different type of strings?
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Elantric

#9
http://www.amazon.com/Godin-A4-Ultra-Bass-Natural/dp/B003C80SBS/ref=sr_1_29?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1416407463&sr=1-29&keywords=godin+sa



http://www.godinguitars.com/godina4sap.htm


A4 & A5 SA Fretted and Fretless Basses
The new A4 & A5 SA basses now with synth access, feature the endless sonic possibilities brought to you by Custom Godin electronics. They come equipped with individual saddle transducers at the bridge and a 13-pin output jack, allowing the player to connect to a multitude of 13-pin devices and computers via Midi. Incredible acoustic bass sounds are available through the ¼" output jack and controlling your tone is made easy with the Custom Godin Preamp section voiced specifically for the A4 & A5 SA. The two chambered body design found in all of the A-Series instruments is also at work in the A4 and A5. This design resists feedback as well as the negative effects that loud stage levels can have on top vibration.



Specs
Rock Maple neck
Rosewood Fingerboard on Fretted Version, Ebony on Fretless version
12" fingerboard radius
34 " Scale
1 13/16" nut width (5-String)
1 1/2" nut width (4-String)
Two-Chamber Silver Leaf Maple body
Solid Spruce Top
Custom Godin Saddle Transducers and custom preamp
Volume, Mid, Treble and Bass controls
Natural Semi-Gloss

mapperboy

#10
My first Warwick Thumb 5 with GK2 strapped to bridge (very difficult to find room and successfully mount Roland mag PU and controller on these babies) -probably would be better to perform wood butchery on the chambers (gasp!) and go for an internal GK install kit.
Note the colour-coded fret positions markers for my early classical bass clef reading exercises!



"No such thing as spare time.
No such thing as free time.
No such thing as down time.
All you got is life time. Go!"
- Henry Rollins

rowka

Sorry for the necro bump.

fokof, I'm very interested in the details of the recessed GK jack.

ped

I thought I had posted mine already but can't find it - here she is


bonzodog

Just had a Gk-3B kit installed in 2 basses. Here is the 1st one - a lefty Lemmy clone. A toggle was used for bank/down instead of the 2 buttons






gumtown

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

whippinpost91850

Very Nice! From a fellow Lefty

Val_K

#16
Hey V-folk,

just recently discovered this forum, it's an awesome resource!
Here are some pics of my modded Carvin LB75 with external GK-3B.

It is a somewhat unconventional setup.
For starters, I completely disfigured the pickup under influence of Gary Willis, who notoriously hacks his gear a lot. The idea was to make the pickup fit the overall "interface" of the bass better - the usual non-symmetric positioning of the Roland pickup on 5-string basses just bugs me too much, so I followed Gary's steps and cut off the "extra" bit with a knife.

I then frankensteined the cover to house a shorter version of the pickup, hacking off the mounting ear peaces in proccess - I just stick it on with some double-sided foam tape.

I then asked a luthier to drill a small hole near the bridge, connecting to the electronics cavity. I replaced the original Carvin 3-band preamp with a Bartolini 2-band, so I had one spare hole over which the GK control box thingy has been mounted, with the wire threaded through it, into the cavity, out from under the bridge to the pickup.



fokof

#17
The whole GK'ed family for my VB/SY

gumtownadmin

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.