Experiences with Pickguardian?

[Starless]

Although the pickup cover gets in the way, it gets in the way in a nice kind of way. Even after removing it, the gaping hole still kind of gapes in a really cool kind of Grand-Canyon-by-Night way. Even the sharp protruding corner of the surround that catches your fingers has a real retro-pain and blood kind of vibe to it.

All in all a design classic, that really doesn't need a non-Ric replacement part to improve your playing experience. I really wouldn't endorse a non-Ric replacement part, I mean, really, I really, really wouldn't.

[cassius987]

Although the pickup cover gets in the way, it gets in the way in a nice kind of way. Even after removing it, the gaping hole still kind of gapes in a really cool kind of Grand-Canyon-by-Night way. Even the sharp protruding corner of the surround that catches your fingers has a real retro-pain and blood kind of vibe to it.

All in all a design classic, that really doesn't need a non-Ric replacement part to improve your playing experience. I really wouldn't endorse a non-Ric replacement part, I mean, really, I really, really wouldn't.

I am in agreement with you for "vintage" looks (even in spite of your sarcasm!) but my 4003FL is kind've turning into a different style of bass--more "vintage modern". I have the old school knobs on it, may go with a Hipshot to enhance palm-muting, and this mod too is mainly with palm-muting in mind.

I'd probably be cool with a "gaping hole" on my 4003 but not on my 4003FL. Just doesn't seem classy enough for that bass.

[rickenbrother]

The sarcasm may cause this thread to get the padlock.

[Mossman]

+1 on Tony being a great guy to do business with.. I have a Pickguardian pup surround on my 4003, and I haven't noticed any difference in the noise level after removing the pickup cover... Only doing a RWRP will quiet these pickups down to any significant degree.

I don't remember if I posted this here before, (so forgive me if you've seen it already), but I asked Tony if he could make a surround w/ a thumb-rest, and he made me this:



I didn't like jamming my thumb in the hole to anchor it on the end of the pickup, and I couldn't get used to "floating" my hand, or resting my thumb on the E-string, so this solution works perfect for me... It may not appeal to the purist sensibilities of some, but I think it looks great.. Like it belongs there... He doesn't offer this as an option on his web-site, (as far as I know, this is the prototype), but I'm sure he would make one like this for you, if you wanted him to.

If you play with a pick, this may be of little value to you, though.. But I figured I'd just thought I'd throw it out there.

[cassius987]

+1 on Tony being a great guy to do business with.. I have a Pickguardian pup surround on my 4003, and I haven't noticed any difference in the noise level after removing the pickup cover... Only doing a RWRP will quiet these pickups down to any significant degree.

I don't remember if I posted this here before, (so forgive me if you've seen it already), but I asked Tony if he could make a surround w/ a thumb-rest, and he made me this:



I didn't like jamming my thumb in the hole to anchor it on the end of the pickup, and I couldn't get used to "floating" my hand, or resting my thumb on the E-string, so this solution works perfect for me... It may not appeal to the purist sensibilities of some, but I think it looks great.. Like it belongs there... He doesn't offer this as an option on his web-site, (as far as I know, this is the prototype), but I'm sure he would make one like this for you, if you wanted him to.

If you play with a pick, this may be of little value to you, though.. But I figured I'd just thought I'd throw it out there.

Hm.... quite a good idea really and one I hadn't addressed since I usually sit my thumb either on the neck Toaster or the pickup surround (!!!). I may have to request this option. I'm getting it in pure white so I don't think it'll stick out much.

[cassius987]

I asked Tony if he could add a thumbrest to the design rather than removing material because I generally have used the pickup shield--which lies above the surround--as my thumbrest in the bridge position. So it made more sense to me to add on or else I'd have to "relearn" that spot. Have yet to hear from Tony but hopefully he'll go along or explain why it's a bad idea.

[cassius987]

Submitted this via e-mail to Tony:

pickupguardplans1.gif

We'll see what he says.

[berth]

Submitted this via e-mail to Tony:

pickupguardplans1.gif

We'll see what he says.

My preference would be one with the same distance till E string as the distance between strings. But I learned to use my E string as finger rest when plucking my A, and use A as finger rest when plucking D, etc....

[cassius987]

Submitted this via e-mail to Tony:

pickupguardplans1.gif

We'll see what he says.

My preference would be one with the same distance till E string as the distance between strings. But I learned to use my E string as finger rest when plucking my A, and use A as finger rest when plucking D, etc....

That's one way of doing it, but for some reason I really like a "constant" anchor. I find myself unconsciously moving between both methods a lot. But I'll take your criticism into consideration for the design... thank you!

[Ric O'Sound]

Submitted this via e-mail to Tony:
We'll see what he says.

Hey, that's actually a pretty clever idea with the thumbrest, Joshua. A fellow bassist here in town also has one of those surrounds from Tony (without the thumb hole) and it looks really nice. It doesn't look like an afterthought and the nice thing about it is that it's completely reversible. I'm guess I'm lucky that I can leave the stock cover on and it doesn't interfere with my playing at all. Otherwise, I would definitely pick one of these up. I'm not a big fan of gaping holes, either.

[cassius987]

Submitted this via e-mail to Tony:
We'll see what he says.

Hey, that's actually a pretty clever idea with the thumbrest, Joshua. A fellow bassist here in town also has one of those surrounds from Tony (without the thumb hole) and it looks really nice. It doesn't look like an afterthought and the nice thing about it is that it's completely reversible. I'm guess I'm lucky that I can leave the stock cover on and it doesn't interfere with my playing at all. Otherwise, I would definitely pick one of these up. I'm not a big fan of gaping holes, either.

Thanks for the compliment! We owe the original creative +1 to Mr. Corcoran of course. Based on what Bert said, I updated my design a bit (now with more shades of gray!):

pickupguardplans1.gif

I think Bert has the right idea. Before I send the update to Tony I'm going to actually measure the string spacing, however. For the neck pickup I just use the Toaster surround! So I really don't need much material to anchor on... But I always found the pickup guard over the bridge position to be a handy thumbrest and I really think I'd miss it, even though I didn't always use it, and do better with a add-on piece than an abcess.

This is really for my fretless. The pickup guard really only gets in my way for palm-muting. For most any other thing I don't mind it (and actually kind've like it!). But now that I'm doing a lot reggae and Police in my practice time, etc., and have warmed up to the HS, I want to be able to palm-mute well. My fretless is a very versatile bass, so I think it deserves to have its versatility enhanced! I kind've see this as similar to a naturally beautiful woman getting a minor makeover. Not a huge upgrade, just a slight paradigm shift that allows her beauty to appreciated in an even deeper way. I dunno, forget my weird analogies!

[Ric O'Sound]

Not a huge upgrade, just a slight paradigm shift that allows her beauty to appreciated in an even deeper way. I dunno, forget my weird analogies!

No, I understand where you're coming from. I think this, combined with the Hipshot bridge, will probably make things more comfortable for you based on what you've told us about your playing style. Let us know how everything turns out.

[cassius987]

Well, Tony is quite certain that a thumbrest won't work because of the properties of the pickguard material. I think it could be made to work but I don't see the point in trying him so I'm going to go along with something pretty similar to Ed's idea since the small pickup surround is fairly inexpensive to replace if I can figure out something I do like better. I'll be shipping my things off to Tony tomorrow and I'll report on what I get back from him later.

[johnallg]

I'd trust Tony - he's really good at what he does.

[cassius987]

I'd trust Tony - he's really good at what he does.

Don't worry, I trust him. I just question whether or not a thumbrest could ultimately work into the design somehow. I think the real issue is actually, "Is it practical enough to try?" and I guess the answer is probably "No," for now. That's okay. I'll make do.