First bass kit (fretless P)

[Toolman76]

My friend that I jam with (drummer) is hounding me to make this thing active. He says since it's disassembled, I might as well rout for a battery. Thing is, I'm not really ready for that. I have active basses, and while louder I don't like the fact that I have to keep buying 9 volt batteries. I prefer to plug and play. Besides, I am not good enough a player yet to want to hear myself playing louder. I also have spent enough money on this thing for the time being. He's been a drummer for 35 years, so I figure he knows more than I do but I'm just not sold on the idea. My plan was to wire it passive and learn to play it until I feel I need to make it active, then upgrade (probably when I add another pickup). He thinks I'm wasting the Bartolini by not boosting it. Also, it's a 50's style P bass with a small cavity (2 pots) and I doubt a preamp would fit without extra routing. Any thoughts? I just want to learn to play the thing!

[blinddrew]

Is it your bass or his?

[Toolman76]

Point taken

[blinddrew]

Hopefully in the light-hearted way it was intended. Sorry if it came across a bit curt.

[Toolman76]

No worries, it was. I most likely will not take his advice. I was just not sure if I was missing something about the active thing.

[Simon Barden]

I've got a passive Lakland P-bass with a Bartolini and it's just fine. It's ex-Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Gary Moore) and he used it for playing 500 We Will Rock You shows in London. So if a passive P-Bass with Bartolinis is good enough for him, it should be good enough for you.

And if you want to play louder, just get a bigger amp.

[Simon Barden]

Looking back you were still spraying poly on 27th June, or is that just when you posted the pics and wrote the words? If so it's been a maximum of seven days since the last coats went on, maybe less if you sprayed after that. You'd normally wait 2 weeks minimum before polishing (though I often do my first sand level sooner as the rougher surface gives a greater surface drying area). And if you've put a lot of coats on, it's gong to take longer than two weeks.

How long was the poly drying for?

[Toolman76]

I left the poly on for 30 days to cure, but wasn't happy with the yellowing, so I sanded back, re stained and did the body in nitro. You are probably right, Simon. I thought I let the nitro cure sufficiently but thinking back, I may have gotten impatient and done it too soon. I thought it cured in a week, but now I know it is at least two. I have read that if sanded/polished before total curing, nitro can shrink back revealing orange peel and low spots. Guess what the front looked like! That also might explain why my lacquered pick guard removed finish from the body at the screw holes after being on for a bit of time. My June 27th posts were catch up. I haven't been keeping up the diary as I go, so I did one large update. I am going to let these coats dry for 2-3 weeks before polishing again. I am reading a few books on finishing in the meantime, and already understand some of my mistakes. Glad to hear your take on the passive bass, I think my friend just has a stiffy for active basses!

[Rabbit]

I think the whole active thing is just a perceived difference. any circuit you can crowbar into the instrument can be stuffed into the amp or a pedal. A bass is already heavy, why add extra weight? There are plenty of louder passive pups. Just as Simon mentioned with the Barts. I put Bartolini soapbars into Dora, and it's way louder than my other basses.As for tone, My amp gives me a wide range without me needing to clutter my instruments with extra complication. It's just one more thing to go wrong and one more thing to die in the middle of playing when the battery dies.

As for the finish, very few finishes are actually fully cured in a week, except maybe the UV cured ones. So far I've learnt that everything in this caper takes time and patience.

[Toolman76]

Indeed it does. It seems I was getting impatient. Time to dial it back!

It's just one more thing to go wrong and one more thing to die in the middle of playing when the battery dies.
.

My thoughts exactly! I've got enough things to remember to grab when going to practice or perform.