Carvin Piezo Bridge

[Ed Friedland]

Well, I got my new Carvin fretless 5 string with the P-bridge option. I love it! The bass is Swamp Ash, ebony board (with lines, thank you very much!). It has 2 J99s and the P bridge. I took it out on a jazz trio gig tonight and the Piezo sounds great all by itself. It can be made to sound hugely fat and round with the 3 band eq. It blends nicely with the magnetic pickups, adding some sparkle with the treble opened up. The piezo articulates well and has a "burnished" edge to it. Not harsh at all for fingerstyle. Being as it's on a fretless, I can't really judge the slap tone accurately, but I experimented a little. I think it would work best for slap used very sparingly. Just a touch added to the magnetics gave the slap a nice crispy bite, but I'm afraid too much of it might be to brittle. I loved using it in piezo only on the fretless, it really accentuates the spreading sound from the fingerboard "mwah". The bass itself is great with just the J99's, it has the punch, attack, growl and sustain that I crave from a fretless. It plays real easy, looks great - nice big grain from the Swamp Ash with a clear Vintage Yellow finish and black hardware, matching headstock. They also gave me the Bunny fingerboard treatment of a Super Glue coating. They have only done this for Bunny and a few other endorsers as it's very time consuming and messy. Don't ask them to do it, cause they won't. (sorry) The hard finish is nice though, it gives it a glassy feel, and I'd describe the sound as being more "crystal-like" than a raw wood fingerboard. I don't know if I prefer it to the plain wood or not, but it will save my fingerboard from wearing out quickly. Anyway, a big thumbs up for the P- Bridge. I'll have to try it on a fretted bass to see how it slaps though, fretless is not the best vehicle for slap testing!

 

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www.edfriedland.com

[g.]

Ed, what neck did you get on that bass? - is it 5-piece? Also wondering if they are going to do the BB wings on more basses. I like the thinner LB75 neck, but always thought the longer strap-horn made for better balance and position.

 

Still getting an incredible amount of tones out of my Carvin fretless 5 and rig. I can fool most people that I am playing a fretted until I start playing slide-and-wiggle. I don't think anybody notices it's not a Fender either, when I go for that sound live. In recording situations, maybe ; }

 

...One thing I did was take the thread-wrap off my (Smith Compressors) tapercore B string all the way to the tuning peg when at pitch, which really tightens up the B string. It was already good, but this is superb. I think it changes damping focus. May not work on all strings but I am guessing any tapercore could benefit.

 

Another interesting (to me anyway) phenomena: I got longer screws for my bridge barrels from Hipshot, so that they went all or most of the way through the barrel when set at proper height. Before, especially on my taper core, they only had a few threads supporting. Guess what?: now there is better conduction of vibration. Subtle but seems more punchy. Sustain is probably about the same.

 

Looking for a neck coating myself, for wear purposes, have a local electric guitar luthier looking into it. I guess I should ask luthiers on TBL or MusicPlayer what works well on ebony (I've heard some stories about separating). I'd like something semitransparent that could blend the lines in a little more without obscuring them. I've thought about a purpleish dye in epoxy or whatever is recommended.

 

Anybody got input on ebony-friendly fingerboard coats?

 

 

<-- greenboy ---<<<<

[Ed Friedland]

Greenboy,

I have a regular one piece maple neck, my experience with the 5 piece neck was it helped sustain and clarity on the B, but it hurt the attack of the note. Just MHO. I got the LB neck on the Bunny body. I suppose they'd do that for anyone, it's just a glue job, and the pieces fit for either. It may cost extra.

 

Very interesting idea about the bridge saddle screws, I should look into that. Every little bit helps, and it does make sense if you think about it. I put on a set of Smith Rock Masters today (ran out of LaBellas) and notice the silk on the B string doesn't extend more than 1/8" from the post, even with the string through the body. I guess I can't try that little trick of yours.

 

Carvin used SuperGlue for the neck coating, I don't know if other people use that, but I know all luthiers dread that job, they will try to talk you out of it if they can, or charge you so much you'll change your mind. It's a nasty job!

 

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www.edfriedland.com