The Knobless Bass!

Behold! A bass guitar with no knobs at all! Dave of Inward Eye's bass has been causing problems lately. We took out the tone knob which was great, but when he pulled out his bass at the next show, the new volume pot we put in started acting up. The fastest fix was to rip the sucker right out! I soldered the input jack to the pickups, and soldered all the grounds together and presto. We were a little nervous to plug it in and test it, but when Dave plucked that first string and a growly full bass tone rang out, we were quite pleased. We taped a few picks over the holes to avoid and sweat and dirt from getting into the wiring. I think it looks pretty rock and roll! It's a good temporary fix until the bass gets some attention. It needs to be completely overhauled. I want to make a new pick guard for it possibly in the future. I love custom stuff.

After the show Dave was amazed at how much better of a show he had. He said he didn't even realize how much he fiddled around with the knobs during the set and how much it distracted him from the show. The knob-less bass gave him full freedom and attention to playing, and being a complete maniac on stage. The only downfall is that I have to keep a closer eye on his bass at the sound board, muting it in between songs if need be to avoid the dreaded low rumble of open strings. Its a small price to pay for a solid instrument that sounds 10 times better than it did a few weeks ago.

Full credit for the idea to remove the knobs goes to Steven "Badger" Agnew (Guitar Tech/Stage Manager for Flogging Molly). He recommended it, we did it, and shit did it ever work. Thanks Steve for the advice. I'll be sure to e-mail you when something else breaks and/or needs improving.

Cheers

Matt