Bery Oakley Jr. Tractor Bass

mavuser

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fronobulax

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Nice. Curiously, I'd consider another Starfire bass if it had something like the blue finish...
 

fronobulax

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Love how the Bisonic is crooked.

Something does look funny, but since the strings, pole pieces and adjusting screws all seem to line up for me, I'd place the blame on an optical illusion or the pickguard. Searching for other images got some other pics where the strings are aligned but it still looks "crooked".
 

gilded

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They tilted the pickup so it would match the strings. You guys need to do an internet search on 'tractor bass berry oakley'.
 

fronobulax

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They tilted the pickup so it would match the strings. You guys need to do an internet search on 'tractor bass berry oakley'.

Not "you guys". Just me. Thanks, although my limited recollection of geometry wonders about the bridge installation and spacing. Lots of straight, parallel lines, or so it appears.
 

mellowgerman

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They tilted the pickup so it would match the strings. You guys need to do an internet search on 'tractor bass berry oakley'.

What's interesting/confusing to me about this is that a tilted pickup to match string spacing would mean that the pickup poles were farther apart than the strings... so that means Berry's original Bisonic must not have come out of a Starfire, as Starfire pole and string spacing is significantly tighter than Fender's string spacing (even with the skinnier jazz bass neck). Furthermore, I don't know of any other Bisonic pickups that were around back then with wider spacing... I think that wasn't a thing until remakes/reissues of the Bisonic started being made.
This would lead me to think that the pickup was tilted for a different reason or that it really was just a case of whatever-I'm-not-worried-about-crooked-pickups. Of course that's not to say that seemingly reliable sources may have claimed the crookedness to be intentional for string spacing, I just don't understand the physics behind it or how they would have come across a Bisonic with wider spacing back then?
 

mavuser

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What's interesting/confusing to me about this is that a tilted pickup to match string spacing would mean that the pickup poles were farther apart than the strings... so that means Berry's original Bisonic must not have come out of a Starfire, as Starfire pole and string spacing is significantly tighter than Fender's string spacing (even with the skinnier jazz bass neck). Furthermore, I don't know of any other Bisonic pickups that were around back then with wider spacing... I think that wasn't a thing until remakes/reissues of the Bisonic started being made.
This would lead me to think that the pickup was tilted for a different reason or that it really was just a case of whatever-I'm-not-worried-about-crooked-pickups. Of course that's not to say that seemingly reliable sources may have claimed the crookedness to be intentional for string spacing, I just don't understand the physics behind it or how they would have come across a Bisonic with wider spacing back then?

i thought I read a while back the Bisonics made for a Hagstrom bass back then had different pole spacing than those for a Guild bass (becuase the string spacing was different on Hagstrom and Guild basses). But, I sometimes remember things that never happened...Hans?
 

mellowgerman

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i thought I read a while back the Bisonics made for a Hagstrom bass back then had different pole spacing than those for a Guild bass (becuase the string spacing was different on Hagstrom and Guild basses). But, I sometimes remember things that never happened...Hans?

That would make sense (provided there was a Hagstrom model back then that didn't use the same Hagstrom/Guild bridge)?
 

mavuser

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That would make sense (provided there was a Hagstrom model back then that didn't use the same Hagstrom/Guild bridge)?

looks like the same bridge, but technically it could be designed or set up differently with precise measurements (just like the pickup...)

i thought I remembered that someone, probably here, obtained a vintage Bisonic pickup, and the pole pieces were spaced differently than their Guild bass strings, and the conclusion was that it was for a Hagstrom 60s bass, not a Guild. Disclaimer: 50 percent chance this was all just a dream.

here is a Hagstom example:

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gilded

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Berry had a SF II bass. He stopped using it when he got his '66 Jazz. After a while, he missed the BiSonic sound and pulled a pickup off of the SF II and mounted it in his Jazz. They called that bass Tractor. They now call basses that have been modded like that 'Tractors'. Now you know what I know.

Again, just Google. This time Google 'Guild Starfire Berry Oakley' or 'guild bass berry oakley'. Two pics will come up in images that show Berry with the SF Bass.
 

mellowgerman

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Berry had a SF II bass. He stopped using it when he got his '66 Jazz. After a while, he missed the BiSonic sound and pulled a pickup off of the SF II and mounted it in his Jazz. They called that bass Tractor. They now call basses that have been modded like that 'Tractors'. Now you know what I know.

Again, just Google. This time Google 'Guild Starfire Berry Oakley' or 'guild bass berry oakley'. Two pics will come up in images that show Berry with the SF Bass.

So if that's the case, then the tilt really must be simply incidental. Even if it was the bridge pickup out of the SF and the poles were a bit wider for that reason, I can't imagine that the spacing would have been wider than in the middle position of a jazz bass.
I guess it doesn't make much difference either way because the bass sounded killer, but these little details and reasons behind things always intrigue me. Personally I've never been one to concern myself too much about the aesthetics of my instruments, as long as they sound the way they need to... my current #1, a Frankenstein P bass, looks a little rough around the edges but plays like butter and is capable of the a crazy wide spectrum of delicious tones
 

mavuser

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Berry had a SF II bass. He stopped using it when he got his '66 Jazz. After a while, he missed the BiSonic sound and pulled a pickup off of the SF II and mounted it in his Jazz. They called that bass Tractor. They now call basses that have been modded like that 'Tractors'. Now you know what I know.

Again, just Google. This time Google 'Guild Starfire Berry Oakley' or 'guild bass berry oakley'. Two pics will come up in images that show Berry with the SF Bass.

knew about the SF but did not realize the tractor pickup came from that bass. thanks.

maybe they tilted it so as to be oreinted closer to the offset configuration of a Fender (pbass/mustang) pickup?
 
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