I just got this super-cool little device for Christmas from my daughter! I had stumbled across it on the Web just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and knew I had to have one, so I put it on my 'Wish List' and my kiddo got me one.

I recently put a set of these strings on my Epiphone EB-0 bass, along with the DiMarzio DP-120 'Model One' pickup, in search of that real EB-0 tone heard on so many older records from the 60's & early 70's.

DiMarzio DP120 Model One bass pickup

I've been looking for the perfect pickup for my Epiphone EB-0 bass, and I have finally found it!
If you 've been reading my blog, you know that I was terribly disappointed in the Artec 'mudbucker' (anyone want that thing?), and I don't really like the way the Epiphone stock pickup sounds (not a real EB-0 type tone at all). So when I got the opportunity and the bucks together, I bought this DiMarzio DP120. It's a drop-in replacement for the stock pickup; fits like a glove.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:

Playing with ‘Feeling’ vs. Playing with Technical Proficiency

I just read a couple of Craigslist posts here in Austin about a certain currently-popular guitarist, the argument being about whether or not he’s a Blues guitarist or a Fusion guitarist, and about whether or not his playing has any ‘feel’ to it or if it’s purely technical in nature.

That got me to thinking about the relative merits of ‘feeling’ vs. technical proficiency in the context of playing a musical instrument. Now, bear in mind that I’m an old guy, and realize that the names I’m about to throw out here are not the currently best-known names in the biz…but if you’re any kind of student of your instrument (specifically, guitar and bass), you’ve heard these names, and probably heard a lot of their work as well.

Let’s take Eric Clapton...

Artec EBC4-CR Bass Pickup Mudbucker Clone

That's it! I give up!

I received the new Artec pickup from the Ebay seller and installed it in my bass. And Guess What? IT HUMS, TOO!!!

I don't know if it's inherent in a 'humbucking' pickup that has that much gain/DC resistance (30 K), but this thing buzzes like a chainsaw, no matter what I try!

It's been years since I've heard a 60's Gibson EB-0 bass, but I really don't remember them humming like this, and this pickup is supposed to be a dead-ringer, tone-wise, for those original Gibson pickups. Huge, Enormous, Fat, Tumescent bottom-end...but virtually ZERO highs.

Artec EBC4-CR Bass Pickup Mudbucker Clone

If you read my review of the Epiphone EB-0 bass that I recently acquired, you know that I got it with a bad pickup, and was looking to replace it, hopefully with something better than the stock Epi 'mudbucker'.

So I began a quest for the replacement pickup, looking at the DiMarzio Model One, Darkstar, etc., all of which cost more than I really wanted to spend on a bass I only paid $100 for. Then I spotted the Artec EBC4-CR on Ebay, and available from Guitar Parts Resource as well. Although the price on GPR was a good deal more than the ones listed on Ebay, I decided to go with GPR because they were shipping from Ohio, rather than from Hong Kong. I just thought it the safer way to go.

However, when I received the pickup and installed it, there was this absolutely horrible 60-Hz hum, approx. 1/4 as loud as the thru-put signal! Well, I thought they probably had a bad one in their inventory, so I returned it, stating the issue it had with the humming (this is supposedly a humbucking pickup, remember...). They sent me out another one...

Gear Review - First Act model ME105 Bass Guitar

Don’t laugh just yet….this little bass is far, far better than the price would suggest! The one I have was advertised (used) on Austin Craigslist for $30, but I ended up swapping a couple of old effect pedals for it straight-up. It had stickers and the residue of stickers all over it, badly needed a truss-rod adjustment and overall setup, and generally looked and played like crap…until I cleaned off the stickers, boiled out the strings (which weren’t really old to begin with), and did a decent setup on it.

General Description/Features:

- Double-cutaway solid Basswood body
- White pearloid pickguard
- Maple neck/Rosewood fingerboard, 32” scale
- ‘P-Bass’ style pickup
- Cast, sealed ‘Gotoh-style’ tuners
- Single tone/volume controls

The finish appears to be a translucent blue with sparkles, over a black base.

Douglas Pisces Bass Review

See all the specifications of this bass here:
Douglas Pisces Bass

Douglas Pisces Bass Initial Impressions

This bass is basically a ‘lookalike’ of a ’51 P-Bass, or if you like, early Telecaster Bass. The model I have is the two-tone sunburst, and I have to say, first thing, that the finish on this bass is just absolutely gorgeous. I’m sure it’s a polyester or polyurethane finish, but it doesn’t seem to be any thicker than a nitrocellulose lacquer sunburst finish would be. It’s very well buffed out, to a fantastic high gloss. I’m not such a huge fan of that enormous black scratchplate, but I think if it were white, against this finish, it would be even more obtrusive. I plan to take it off and see what the finish underneath looks like, and if it’s as good as the rest of the body that’s not hidden by the scratchplate, I just may make a replica from Plexiglas, either plain clear or in a tinted/smoke type, so you can see the sunburst outline thru it. Enough about the finish…suffice it to say that it’s very, very nice. When I first pulled it out of the box, my mouth involuntarily formed the word, ‘Wow!”. That just about says it all.

I found just one little issue in my first few minutes with the instrument; that of its tendency to want to ‘spit out’ the cable plugged into its input jack. The jack’s tip-contact tang was a bit long, so it didn’t “latch” onto the plug tip properly. I tweaked it with a pair of needlenose pliers until it worked, but it’s still not optimal, so I’ll be replacing the jack with a new one very soon.

I had to do the tiniest bit of tweaking on the setup to eliminate a fret-buzz here & there, and it will probably be a bit of an ongoing process until the neck gets fully ‘settled in’ with being played on. The intonation, as best I could determine by ear alone, seemed just about perfect right out of the box.

Click to read more of the Douglas Pisces bass review.

Re-acquisition: Peavey TNT100 Bass Combo Amp

For years, I played an old Peavey TNT100 bass combo, 45W RMS, 1x15". I sold it just before moving from Houston to Austin, mainly just to keep from having to move it. I've regretted that decision ever since.
Even though this amp isn't powerful, or modern, or even all that great an amp as compared to what's out there these days, it had a character all its own, and a good punchy tone that I always liked. At only 45W RMS, it's still loud enough to get along with a small venue just fine.

Peavey TNT100 Bass Combo Amp Features

Killer Guitar Cabinet

Here's a 'trick' guitar cabinet idea I came up with. The drawing gives the general dimensions and such, but I leave it up to you as to how you get there (construction techniques, etc.).

We built a prototype of this cabinet, hooked it up to Scotty's Epiphone Valve Jr. head (5W RMS), using two older Eminence 12" speakers, those old guys with the square magnet structures. We just kinda threw it together out of 3/4" MDF, just to get an idea what it would sound like. We weren't disappointed! This thing has some serious bottom-end to it, and that was one of the main design goals. It's also very efficient, blowing out some very serious volume levels with a 5-Watt amp driving it.

The theory behind this cab is based on the 'tapered quarter-wave tube' idea, and has elements of the horn-loading principle working for it, as well. The 'tapered tube' is tuned to about 72 Hz, which will cover the low-end of 'drop D' tuning on guitar. This really bucks up the bottom and increases efficiency down in your lower registers.

As usual, I picked this little feller up on a Craigslit trade...

Dean Markley K20 practice amp, c. 1980 or close to it.
- 15 Watts RMS output at 4 Ohms
- 8" speaker (pretty stout-looking thing, too)
- One input
- Drive and Clean channels with panel rocker switch to select
- Volume, Master, Bass, Middle, Treble
- Line Out
- Headphone Jack
- Blond Tolex, black grille cloth, black cabinet corners, other hdwe.

This amp looks magnificent for its age; not a single blemish on it, just a little dirt that cleaned off nicely.

Sound:

Epiphone G-400 SG User Review:

First off, a little story about this particular guitar…
Some while back, a friend of mine had mentioned that he’d like to get hold of an Epiphone SG. Some time later, I happened across one on Craigslist for sale for $140, and remembered my friend’s interest in one. So I emailed him with a link, and he bought it that day.

SX SJM-62 ST Guitar

Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We review each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

– A Second Look at the SX SJM-62

Now that I’ve had this SX SJM-62 guitar a while, I though I’d give my review of it a second run-thru. Basically, my opinion of it has not changed a bit since my first review of it here on UltimateGuitarTone. But I’ve discovered a bit more about the guitar, and I’ve since acquired the case that Rondo Music sells for it, as well.

Visit Rondo Music to check out these awesome (and fast selling) SX SJM-62 Guitars!

More About - Peavey Rage 158

Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We review each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

Just a note: The Peavey Rage 258 is now available. You can get the 158 in the used marketplace. Click here to buy a Peavey Rage 258 now.

I mentioned before that the distortion channel on this amp seemed to lose the high-end the more you cranked the pre-EQ gain (distortion) knob up. Well, I figured out how to fix that....TURN THAT LITTLE SUCKER UP, the post-EQ/master volume, that is! I had the opportunity while home alone today to crank that lil' rascal up some, and now I'm going, "Oh, OK!". I was finding it a bit shrill with the tone settings I had for low volume, which was low & mid at about 1/4, high all the way up. With it cranked up, I set all the tone knobs in the middle, and it was 'just right'.