Quick update on the Tele Bass now that I have some time with it.
It’s a throw back to the old 70s Telecaster circa 78. It’s a 51 P bass body, just a slab with no contours. It’s basswood so not as heavy as you would expect, around 9 pounds. It’s surprisingly comfortable to play.
The neck is all one piece, C shape and 7.25" radius, 41mm nut. It’s comfortable to play. The neck is rolled. Very nice. I am not fast on it yet but I attribute that to playing short scales for a while now. Another week should fix that.
The pickup packs some punch. It would sit very well in a mix, but waiting for my Fender Flats (which are here today) to really report on the sound. My impression so far is it will not punch through like a Billy Sheehan but it will lay down a powerful groove like a Dusty Hill.
The bridge I didn’t think I like, having just two saddles and at that they are just steel cylinders, with no saddle or notch to hold the string in place, but the strings are centered over the poles and never move. Just stringing the bass was easy.
One knock is on the ferrule for the E string. It is very tight and the silk wrapping around the ball is a challenge to fit. No going Steve Harris strings on this one. Not an issue on the other strings.
I don’t plan to make any changes to them. As you move up the fretboard you get these tones out of it, and I think it’s the saddles. More pronounced the farther up you go to the point where it sounds like a pedal is in use. After watching some YouTube experts the consensus is this is due to the barrels. Kinda cool in any case.
It’s a simple design but you know, simple works. The mudbucker is it’s own thing.
I see now what the hype is about. It is a friendly bass to play. The neck is roasted maple, rolled; the body is chambered, and light. I don’t have a strap for it yet, just a 2" woven guitar strap on it and it’s not uncomfortable. Will get a strap today but its not a problem.
For all that it’s a 5 string neck, and consequentially wider, when compared to my Sires and Fenders and ESPs, this is the easiest playing neck I have. Profile, feel, it’s fantastic. As it’s a short multi scale, the .130" B-string is a little loose and if I am not accurate in my fretting, I can generate a little buzz, but only on that string. Will put on the .135 this weekend and that should fix it.
I have found a tone and I haven’t played with the EQ much. But I like the sound, and it sounds good on upper frets too. I was playing Iron Man last night starting on fret 12 on the B and it sounded great.
I have encountered a setback. One of the “teeth” on my plastic nut, I mean, synthesized bone, broke off last night. I noticed after getting this really weird harmonic on the E string.
Real bone nut in the way, about to also see how good Fender warranty is
Yes. You will get a different sound depending on if it is bone, or brass, or plastic. In this case, plastic is cheap and more prone to break and I’m not making a comment on tone here.
Somewhat, but generally not as much as often claimed, whether it be natural bone, synthetic bone-ish material, brass or plastic. And, once any given string is fretted, all nut material influence is out of the tonal equation.
What kind of bone makes the best sounding nut? Is squirrel bone higher pitched than say, moose bone? Does racoon bone sound richer than opossum bone? Would dinosaur bone give you a good aged sound? just wondering!
On acoustic steel string guitars (not necessarily bass) the degree of a bone nut’s density actually does matter.
Being an organic material, there is not as much consistency from piece to piece. Some have more internal pits than others, which can sometimes cause regular string pressure/tuning to affect them sooner than others.
All joking aside, I think with any natural material there’s better and less good pieces, Like you wouldn’t want to make a bass out of a piece of wood with knotholes
