mellowgerman
Senior Member
For some time I had been saving up for a particular excellent-condition '67 SFB. However, over time I got more and more comfortable with the long scale of my jazz bass. Finally, I decided, instead of buying the starfire, I'd put together my own 34" scale fauxfire bass. I picked up a particularly good specimen of an Ibanez ASB-140 semi-hollow. I've had good experience with these in the past and this one was affordable and actually pretty fantastic all stock. BUUUUT, of course I wanted to get rid of the stock humbucker and get something with a little more of a 60's SFB vibe and decided to give the Hanson Chi-Sonic pickup a try (same pickups used on the Lakland hollowbodies). Finally received the pickup yesterday, installed it, and am absolutely thrilled with the result. Electronics are one single coil chi-sonic pickup, vol, tone, passive overdrive switch, and a passive 5-way mid notch selector switch with corresponding contour knob.
The pickup has a comparable tone to the bisonic (which they used as inspiration for their design) but with a voice of its own; seems to me to have a little more mid-frequency emphasis and a bit punchier, if that's even possible. I chose the neck position model so it's not quite as hot and a bit warmer in tone -- closer to a vintage bisonic than a dark star in terms of output.
Anyway, here's a picture! Cell phone camera doesn't really do the finish justice but it's the best I've got
The pickup has a comparable tone to the bisonic (which they used as inspiration for their design) but with a voice of its own; seems to me to have a little more mid-frequency emphasis and a bit punchier, if that's even possible. I chose the neck position model so it's not quite as hot and a bit warmer in tone -- closer to a vintage bisonic than a dark star in terms of output.
Anyway, here's a picture! Cell phone camera doesn't really do the finish justice but it's the best I've got