New Gecko 5

[glpmkr]

Just a few pictures of the Gecko medium 5 finished last week. The neck is from the showcase, the body is walnut, ordered separately. The pickups are Seymour Duncan NYC Passive Soapbars - apparently not in production at the time of ordering, so these are probably among the first in use - so far, so good. The controls are volume, tone and blend. The volume and tone controls are also push pots for coil splitting.

I am really happy with the way it turned out, especially the neck - the maple figure is spectacular. It's big and heavy, but it balances and plays well.

 

[glpmkr]

Oops! - sent it off before attaching the other pictures...

Now I get an error when trying to send three more, so I'll try it in batches.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

I like that. I want to play bass more.

 

[glpmkr]

A couple more...

 

[DocNrock]

Killer!  Beautiful flame in the neck, too.  :kewlpics:

 

[nathan a]

Geckos are just the coolest damn basses ever.

 

[guitlouie]

Oh, man.  I think I can safely speak for most of us and say....show us some more of that neck.  Holy crap.

 

[glpmkr]

Ok, another pic. The neck not only looks spectacular, it is great to play. The asymmetric profile is easy to move around on yet feels rock solid.

 

[NonsenseTele]

Nice one!

 

[Wyliee]

Tell me more about the pickups.  I've had my eye on them.

What is the spacing on your Hipshot bridge?  The strings line up well with the polepieces.

 

[ognolman]

Wow-- that is some sweet-looking wood.  Very nice!  Every time I see Walnut I have to fight back the urge to buy another bass body.

JBD

 

[glpmkr]

Tell me more about the pickups.  I've had my eye on them.

What is the spacing on your Hipshot bridge?  The strings line up well with the polepieces.

The bridge is a chrome/brass Hipshot A-Style, string spacing 0.75". The pickups came as a neck/bridge set and dropped straight into the standard Warmoth EMG40 routs - no modification required. The strings and polepieces line up so well you'd think they were designed specifically for this bass.

My original intention was to use the Warmoth/Hipshot individual string bridges, but was told that, due to the extended scale length, they don't fit on the Gecko body, so I opted for the A-Style bridge on the recommendation of the Warmoth people.

I have not drilled holes for through-the-body string mounting, but I may do this down the track a bit.

I used some foam rubber underneath the pickups rather than springs around the retaining screws - it just seemed easier.

The wiring is relatively straightfoward. Each pickup is wired in parallel humbucking mode with a push pot switch for single coil. The blend pot then allows adjustment between the two. I toyed with the idea of a series/parallel switch but have not implemented it, and probably won't.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wyliee]

Great info.  The biggest question is how do they sound?

 

[glpmkr]

Great info.  The biggest question is how do they sound?

I was afraid you'd ask that 

I am primarily a guitarist with relatively little personal bass experience - ie. I don't really have anything to compare with, so read my comments with that in mind.

Note also that the strings are brand new D'Addario ProSteels (EPS170-5SL), as supplied by Warmoth.

The pickups are quiet, helped possibly by doing all the recommended shielding on the bass.

To me the sound is very clear and strong. There isn't the muddiness that seems to happen with some of the humbucker basses I have heard. Because I have wired the coils in parallel, there is not a big difference in the output when switching from single to dual coil mode. The tone fattens up a bit but retains clarity.

I will learn more about the tonal adjustments as I progress, but it seems to me that I can dial in a good range of tones from fat and bottom heavy to almost piano-like. This is exactly what I was after. The reason I went for these pickups was that the sales blurb suggested that they would give me, an inexperienced bass player, a large enough range of sounds to allow me to learn over time what tone and feel suits me and the music I play. The reason I listened to the sales blurb was that I have had good experience with Seymour Duncan products in the past.

There don't seem to be any obvious bright or dead spots over the fretboard, which is probably more of a comment on the instrument itself rather than any one component.

My verdict so far is that I really like the sound and have only good things to say about these pickups.

Sorry I can't give any comparisons with other instruments or pickups yet. I will get opinions from other bass players as well.

 

[dinothespaceman]

Nice one, Dude!

Thanks for the pics....it always helps to visualize the final product.  I love my Gecko as well..the walnut is fantastic!  I agree that it is a heavy rig but I like to feel the instrument as I play.  Again, Well done!  :hello2: