Warmoth Dinky Jazz bass build - The time cheap pickups sounded better than the expensive ones

In this video, I tell the story of a Sadowsky-inspired Warmoth build. Features a chambered swamp ash Warmoth Dinky J body with a quilted maple top. Maple neck and fretboard. Fender lightweight tuners and bridge.
You won't believe the cheap pickups that sounded better than the expensive ones in this particular bass. To this day, I am not sure why.... or how....
The bass was recorded direct through a Line6 Pod Go, through my usual GK800MB model settings. No EQ or compression was added to the bass track in post.
Strings are D’addario nickels. A bit old at time of recording. (It’s a borrowed instrument)
00:00 Intro
01:25 Description of parts used
02:31 Pickup selection
04:57 Select by EMG?!
05:48 Sounds
08:27 Intro to the track
08:57 Track featuring 3 different sounds
jonathanwong.bandcamp.com

[@bass-hiroshimanick2534]

Hi Jonathan, I just now by chance came across your channel and I'm glad I did. This Warmoth is an absolutely beautiful bass I love that quilted top and your playing was really nice, I enjoyed the video.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks so much for tuning in and the positive feedback!

[@bass-hiroshimanick2534]

@@jonathanwong458music , you’re welcome. I’m looking forward to more of your videos.

[@jonzee2600]

Wow hate to hear that. I built three Warmoth basses a PJ a P and also a jazz Bass with a chambered body and they’ve all sounded amazing. I’ve used swamp ash on two of them with maple fretboards and the other one was alder with a rosewood board and I’ve used various pick ups from D’Margio EMG Nordstrand, and also Aguilar. Maybe it’s the flame maple top for that high-end residence? Sadowski from what I’ve seen use a maple top on the body.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Wood is (was) a living thing and has its own character. Ever tree is different. There was a PRS interview where he spoke about how the same species of wood but from different trees could sound different! All part of the instrument journey. In the end, the owner was happy with the result, it fit his goals and that’s all that matters! Thanks for watching!

[@StevenDoyleLuke]

Love Quilt!

[@jonathanwong458music]

Me too. This top looks like it has a pair of eyes!

[@quiquepuche6393]

Your bass sounds fantastic and I'm glad that you were able to make it work. I had a similar experience with a Jazz Bass build. I used a Warmoth Swamp Ash Jazz Bass body with a maple neck/fingerboard (I can't remember if it was Mighty Mite or an All Parts) and used the same Fender pickups (Classic Jazz Bass that now called Pure Vintage) that sounded fantastic on a MIM Jazz Bass with alder body and maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. The bass lacked low end and the top end was too bright and very unpleasant. I replaced the maple neck/fingerboard with a Fender maple neck with pau ferro fingerboard but left everything else intact and with the new neck, the bass gained low end, growl and sustain. I'm still not in love with the sound with the standard jazz bass pickup configuration but I added a push pull potentiometer on the neck volume to switch from parallel to series and the sound in series is killer (reminds me of a Gibson Thunderbird). Every guitar and/or bass build is a lot of trial and error because every element in the build has a frequency and resonance that interacts with the frequency and resonance of every other element in the instrument. I may be wrong but my take was that the frequency of the pickups were probably similar to the frequency of the maple neck and was probably causing some phasing (frequency cancellation).

[@jonathanwong458music]

Interesting perspective! I think certain woods (and their own unique resonant frequencies) respond differently to different pickups. I know the whole tone wood debate is a rather heated one, but I do think different lumbers sound different and even different pieces of the same species can sound different. I come from the classical music world, so these little things matter. They matter to a much smaller degree on solid body electric instruments, but it can make the difference between an ok instrument and a truly 'alive' one! So yes, you are likely right in that something in the pickups was accentuating some unpleasant frequencies, or cancelling something great out. I'm not smart enough to put science behind it, but when it's right, it's right and when it's not, an instrument is just 'meh'. Partnership of the all the different parts involved! The owner (my friend) is quite happy with how this build turned out! And everybody likes different things! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@jeffrobodeen400]

did you consider adding in the "quartersawn" neck option?....in my opinion, whether a bass builds for $1,000 or $3,500 it's probably the best $100 one could put in for a build....virtually guarantees no dead spots on the fretboard. I'm just amazed at builds even over $4,000 leaving this cheap yet most important feature out.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Great option and suggestion! Thanks for watching and sharing!

[@arnlmndza]

I love stories like this. :) For the P sound, try backing off the neck pickup a little bit, there's a good p tone in there.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks so much for watching and for the tip!

[@arnlmndza]

@@jonathanwong458music Do let me know it if works on your bass :)

[@jonathanwong458music]

@@arnlmndza This warmoth belongs to a friend. It's not mine! But I'll pass it on. Thx!

[@michaelhedden9437]

It is a beautiful bass. With the tone fully open, honestly, it sounded a little muddy to me. Maybe that is what he liked but I wanted to ask if you had tried different values of pots and tone caps before you decided to change the pickups?

[@jonathanwong458music]

Hi! Great question. Yes, we had 500k pots initially, then went to 250s to tame the highs. We stuck with the same standard 47 orange cap. The strings on this Warmoth, at time of shooting, were on the dead side....may be why it's a bit muddy. I'm just borrowing the bass for the video:). Thanks for watching!

[@57precision]

Great video. This has been my biggest fear with doing a Warmoth build, buying a pile of really expensive and individually nice bass parts and then when you put it all together it just doesn't sound inspiring. Then you're either tail-chasing to try to find out what it is or you have to take a bath and sell it. And you can't just call Sweetwater and send it back. Especially interesting on this build is people rave about Model J's generally. Personal preference also is a big factor, I think this bass is too muddy and would be looking for a pickup change.

[@jonathanwong458music]

Thanks for watching! So much is personal preference but the good thing is, there are so many options now…to the point of being overwhelming at times! A lot also depends on how one’s fingers strike and impact the strings. I agree, for a J and how I play it, it’s on the muddy side. But for the owner and how he plays it, it sounds like a different instrument!

[@sfmag1]

Also,the tuners effect the tone.

[@jonathanwong458music]

They sure can! Sum of all the parts. Thanks for watching!

[@ericmullenaux5265]

How's the neck dive with that super light body?

[@jonathanwong458music]

That particular warmoth had lightweight tuners so it didn’t dive terribly. It felt better standing with a strap than sitting without one. Thanks for watching!

[@bobbydiaz7205]

DiMarzio really sounds muddy because of it's humbucker coil i believe

[@jonathanwong458music]

The dimarzio model J is humbucking, yes. Muddiness wasn’t the issue though, it was lacking in low mids and had harsh highs in this particular bass. They sounded great in a different bass though!!