Fat Rich

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1363362965' post='2011882'] Fat Rich's fix might explain why this problem seems to effect some basses more than others - maybe the basses leave the factory with the pole pieces more even in some cases than others , and the more uneven the weaker the G string . After that it's just pot luck whether you get a weak G or not , maybe . [/quote] You'd expect having the pole pieces follow the profile of the strings and neck would result in better balance but it doesn't seem to. Fender bass pickups have always had the pole pieces level, although I've a feeling I've seen some of their guitar pickups with uneven ones.

Obviously be careful.... I'd decided I'd either replace the pickup, or break it trying this fix, sort of "Here's goes nothing!" It's a fairly straightforward operation, strings off, carefully undo the 3 screws on the pickup cover as there are 4 springs on the underside of the pickup that leap out and disappear under nearby furniture never to be seen again. Unless one ends up in your eye The pickup is in two halves, remove the springs and lay the pickups face up in the flat rout in the body, so they're resting on the back of the pole pieces of the E and G. This will ensure when you press the A and D pole pieces in from the front they'll click back to the same level as the E and G. I pressed the first one in using my thumb, pretty painful.... for the other 3 I placed a plectrum over the pole piece first. Good luck!

In my experience any EBMM pickup with all the pole pieces level will have good string balance and no problem with a weak G. I've played several EBMM Stingrays with a single pickup that have the issue, they all had the raised polepieces under the A and D string. My Stingray was useless to me, whatever I did with the EQ on the bass, the EQ on the amp, string heights, pickup angles, different strings, different amps, it always had a weak G. Plug in any other basses and there was no problem. Unplug the Stingray and listen to it acoustically, no problem. So I followed some advice on here, removed the strings, plastic cover carefully so not to lose the springs or damage the windings, laid the pickups in the recess in the body and carefully pushed the A and D polepeices into the bobbin until they were level with the E and the G. Reassembled and the problem was solved. Now I can have the string heights wherever I want, the pickup level and get great string to string balance, just like all my other basses. Nothing will convince me that the weak G problem is imagined, the transformation after the pickup fix was absolutely astonishing. I've also read somewhere on the EB forum that the weak G is a deliberate feature to suit Country and Western "click" players (whatever that is!) which is why they still make them that way.

I don't play often below E but sometimes it's nice to drop one in. It took me ages to adjust to 5 strings, then I struggled to go back to 4. Now I switch between them without thinking and enjoy them both. But I never felt the need for a high C string despite owning a lovely sounding 6er.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1363281758' post='2011024'] I've heard of people using 1200 grit sandpaper to work superglue into the fingerboard grain on fretlesses when playing with roundwounds, I'm not brave enough to do it to mine. Anyone ever heard of this or is it a dream I had? [/quote] I used a cloth, literally squirted some glue on and wipe it down the board as fast as I possibly could and even then I came close to sticking the cloth to the bass several times. There's no time for any kind of working in or you're stuck!

My favourite Fender basses are all really light and have a nice round tone with loads of character that works for most styles of music. My heavy Fenders sound a bit honky and somehow less pleasing, although for slap or for playing Jaco style over the bridge pickup (neither of which I really do) they sound great. Maybe you'd be better off trying as many Jazz basses as you can get your hands on before forking out on upgrades for your old bass.

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1363035825' post='2007479'] Great looking bass! But it has more controls than my amp I think.... [/quote] Too complicated for me! I like the regular preamp with the mid switch and frequency sweep as I can have a couple of useful different sounds at a flick of a switch without too much twiddling. Stunning looking bass, some amazing basses coming out of the factory at the moment.

[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1363205610' post='2009864'] .....I'd be sorry to lose one of my existing basses, but I can only play one at once ..... [/quote] Sounds like you shouldn't pull the frets out, a replacement neck or a cheapish fretless to start off on would seem to be the way to go as has been said already. As for lined / unlined, I've always gone for unlined as I reckon I should be playing in tune with my ears not my eyes. This did fall down somewhat when I was on stage once and couldn't hear myself, I had to judge by the pained expressions of the audience how in tune I was ( = sharp, = flat) However it's probably easier to start out on a lined fretless plus there are probably more of them around, but they can be like stabilisers in the long term and maybe stop you really listening. In the meantime look at where you're fretting the notes on your fretted bass and try and get your fingers as close to the fret as possible without choking the string, this'll start building muscle memory so that when you go over to fretless you'll have a head start. Also it's good technique on fretted as you need less pressure to fret a clean note, you'll play faster with less strain. Ebony boards are hard to come by without spending pots of money, mine are all rosewood which sounds the best in my opinion. I find maple too bright and phenolic boards on graphite basses too clacky, but you might find you like that sound. You can coat wooden boards with either epoxy resin, or with super glue if you move really fast and don't mind gluing the cloth and probably yourself to the board, most A&E departments seem to lose patience the third time you show up attached to your bass. Epoxy sounds too bright to my ears, super glue sounds OK but needs to be stripped and re applied fairly regularly therefore all a bit pointless. Flatwound or groundwound / halfwound strings will help protect the fingerboard, but plenty of people use roundwounds and have the fingerboard sanded if it picks up too much damage from the strings, depends how hard you press down and how much you play it. Good luck!

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1363124144' post='2009019'] ...and scarily they just seem so... 'normal' ... you'd never know they were freaks just by talking to them... [/quote] At least you can't accuse me of that

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1363120723' post='2008952'] Traitor. [/quote] They're everywhere

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1363103178' post='2008528'] TBH I've never seen any instrument with the neck so badly damaged that it couldn't be fixed that didn't also have significant damage to the body. In fact I recall a video posted on here some time back that showed someone (bassist from Guitar Wolf?) trying to smash his Fender bass at the end of a gig. He broke a piece off the body long before doing anything serious to the neck (if at all). IMO the bolt-on neck as an ease to repair is a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. [/quote] Exactly, having a replaceable neck is a stupid idea. What bassists really need is a bolt-on body bass.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363084824' post='2008010'] Well, we [i]are [/i]on page three already... so it's about time we started making the same points that are posted on page one. [/quote] And then someone could start a similar thread so the same people can post the same opinions and restart the same arguments

[quote name='alembic1989' timestamp='1363074226' post='2007774'] [b]I had a think ..and decided my near perfect bass would be a J type bass ( because of the lovely slim necks..and back pick up tone) with a thru neck and 24 frets.[/b] [b]Does anyone know of such a beast?[/b] [/quote] I would say that with a neck-thru design it probably will lose some of that traditional Jazz bass sound. Also 24 frets will require a much smaller body that the usual 20 fret design so it might also not look like a Jazz any more, and the smaller body will also lose some more of that Jazz bass sound. In my experience the Jazz neck dimensions are some of the most copied, plus most basses I've played do the back pickup tone pretty well so I reckon you shouldn't have too much difficulty getting what you want.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1363031871' post='2007385'] I can't think of any . It would go against the whole Fender design aesthetic - I am reluctant to describe it as a philosophy - in the same way that it would undermine Alembic to produce a bass with a bolt -on neck . The significant point is however , that most bass players and bass makers broadly agree nowadays that a bolt on neck is best . As with most things , Fender got it right to begin with , thus negating the need for change . [/quote] I think most players agree a bolt on neck is best, but only if you want that traditional Fender sound , which does seem to be very popular at the moment. There's no question in my mind that neck-through designs produce the best response, immediacy and consistency over the whole of the neck (particularly ones using graphite / carbon fibre or multi laminated / engineered timber) but in doing that they lose a lot of the character of bolt on neck. It's also part of the reason Fenders are so inconsistent as their necks rely on a single piece of wood, some sound great, some not so great. It seems guitarists and bass players are mostly a traditional lot and don't seem to embrace new technology, they'd seem to rather play something designed in the fifties. Some players (even the youngsters) describe Musicman as a modern bass (1970s) and Status Graphite or Steinbergers as futuristic (1981). Coming back to the bass in question, I think it's great that Fender built something a bit different but the shape and design are crying out for a neck through construction, or at least an extended neck joint set further into the body. But maybe that's not what the AlienAntFarm guy wanted.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1362932450' post='2006362'] What? When? How? Where? How many melons were used? Aw, I want to see the filthy bass pics! [/quote] Exactly, only hearing about filthy pictures just leads to frustration.

I like the way it looks fairly modern and sleek from the front but then has that giant agricultural chrome neck plate on the back like something from the fifties

I've played Status basses for 20 years..... but only headed ones. But whenever I've tried headless versions I try to play everything about 3 frets up. I think my brain works out where I am on the fretboard from the end of the headstock so when it's not there it moves me up the neck. Plenty of people play headed and headless so I'm sure you'll get used to it, maybe try putting a black bag over the headstock of your Jazz bass to fool your brain quicker

I reckon it's probably early 80s, I think they used black or white strat knobs around this time so they may be original. At the moment I wouldn't say it's a collectable bass. However I said the same about 70 Fenders a decade or two ago and now they're fetching silly money, even the rubbish ones. If it plays well and sounds good then go for whatever price you feel comfortable with, but I don't think it has any great value as a vintage instrument.

Several of my Fender necks have similar grain patterns, they're all fairly stable and have no problems with buzzing. Is there any twist in the neck when you look down the length of it from one end? If the grain is causing the problem I would expect the neck to be twisted given the position of the 'knot'. (I wouldn't call it a knot anyway) Have the frets been levelled and the fretbuzz returned after a while? If so then maybe the neck has a fault. Otherwise I'd suggest getting the frets levelled and see if the problem returns, I reckon it's OK.

I use a combination of left and right hand damping. I used to mute exclusively with my picking hand but when I tried playing with a pick (or occasionally slap) it was chaos. I have my fingers fairly flat on the fingerboard muting any strings I'm not playing. Also fretting the notes fairly close to the frets means I can used less pressure to get a clean note and also seems to make stopping a note easier and quicker too as there's less movement involved. For the picking hand, Truckstop's advice about the floating thumb technique is probably the most sensible approach. I've got into all sorts of bad habits over the years and sometimes hop my thumb onto the strings to mute, or sometimes I mute with my third and little finger while the other two are walking.

Rectools! What were they thinking! Thanks for posting, will download it and give it a try.

I go mainly to meet up with fellow Basschatters and the guys from the Statii forum, the display part of the show is secondary for me. The live performances are usually well worth a look though and make the rest of the show worthwhile. Considering the country has been in recession for years and most other music shows seem to have gone belly up I thought it was a pretty good effort. Good mix of new and vintage instruments, plenty of amps and effects. Noise was a problem if you wanted try anything seriously but I saw a few things I wouldn't have known about otherwise so now I'll track them down and test them properly in a shop somewhere.

I like the way Jens Ritter puts the screws to adjust the height of the pickups in from the back of the bass, also a Strat style socket at the back too. Let's try and keep the front of the bass as free from screws and junk as possible. Edit: Apart from the sandwich, obviously.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1361983076' post='1994027'] Ok, 24 frets then, and a through neck, so it can look like a sandwich at the end. [/quote] How about an actual sandwich at the end?

Wasn't there a thread a while ago about signing up to a guitar builder's website, submitting designs and suggestions and building the resulting design? I'm sure some Basschatters signed up for it, did they ever get built?