mellowgerman
Senior Member
Okay, this all started some time back when I acquired my Fender Mustang bass. I was absolutely blown away by the way it felt and played, but it was sort of a one trick pony and the tone (though a solid one) wasn't really my cup of tea. So, since construction and quality wise this thing was a gem, I knew I wanted to keep it for as long as economically possible - hopefully for the rest of my natural life.
So anyway, as for the tone, I started playing around with it by switching out the stock pickup for a dark star (single magnet, instead of the standard dual magnet design). Awesome tone, but I was interested to see how well the dark star would play with others, so I added the dimarzio model one in the neck position, with a coil split switch which allows me to choose single coil or humbucker mode. Again, awesome sound, but I was still curious about potential for a bridge pickup. That's when I decided to give the DeArmond Turbo Jet pickup a try. Just installed it and absolutely love all the versatility. The whole package is wired up with two stacked concentric pots (volume for each pickup and a master tone) and a mini toggle for the model one coil split.
I thought I'd share all the different sounds with my fellow LTG'ers, so here's a soundclip for y'all. Keep in mind that the clip reflects the flat wound strings, my clanky fingerstyle playing, and the fact that the tone knob is all the way open. So there are still plenty of options in terms of strings, pick usage, different fingerstyle techniques, and rolling off the tone knob. Another aspect that colors the tone in this clip is that this demo was played through my 1972 Fender PA 100 tube head and my custom EV 1x18 cab; and recorded through a standard peavey mic into some cheap audacity recording software. Needless to say it doesn't quite do the in-person sound justice, but you get the idea.
The clip is broken up into the following different pickup selections:
1. model one solo'd (humbucker mode)
2. model one solo'd (single coil mode)
3. dark star and model one (humbucker mode)
4. dark star and model one (single coil mode)
5. turbo jet, dark star, and model one (humbucker mode)
6. turbo jet, dark star, and model one (single coil mode)
7. dark star solo'd
8. turbo jet and dark star
9. turbo jet solo'd
10.turbo jet and model one (humbucker mode)
11.turbo jet and model one (single coil mode)
http://www.supload.com/listen?s=sX6fR6
and of course, here's the photographic evidence:
So anyway, as for the tone, I started playing around with it by switching out the stock pickup for a dark star (single magnet, instead of the standard dual magnet design). Awesome tone, but I was interested to see how well the dark star would play with others, so I added the dimarzio model one in the neck position, with a coil split switch which allows me to choose single coil or humbucker mode. Again, awesome sound, but I was still curious about potential for a bridge pickup. That's when I decided to give the DeArmond Turbo Jet pickup a try. Just installed it and absolutely love all the versatility. The whole package is wired up with two stacked concentric pots (volume for each pickup and a master tone) and a mini toggle for the model one coil split.
I thought I'd share all the different sounds with my fellow LTG'ers, so here's a soundclip for y'all. Keep in mind that the clip reflects the flat wound strings, my clanky fingerstyle playing, and the fact that the tone knob is all the way open. So there are still plenty of options in terms of strings, pick usage, different fingerstyle techniques, and rolling off the tone knob. Another aspect that colors the tone in this clip is that this demo was played through my 1972 Fender PA 100 tube head and my custom EV 1x18 cab; and recorded through a standard peavey mic into some cheap audacity recording software. Needless to say it doesn't quite do the in-person sound justice, but you get the idea.
The clip is broken up into the following different pickup selections:
1. model one solo'd (humbucker mode)
2. model one solo'd (single coil mode)
3. dark star and model one (humbucker mode)
4. dark star and model one (single coil mode)
5. turbo jet, dark star, and model one (humbucker mode)
6. turbo jet, dark star, and model one (single coil mode)
7. dark star solo'd
8. turbo jet and dark star
9. turbo jet solo'd
10.turbo jet and model one (humbucker mode)
11.turbo jet and model one (single coil mode)
http://www.supload.com/listen?s=sX6fR6
and of course, here's the photographic evidence: