mart

[quote name='lettsguitars' post='1139456' date='Feb 24 2011, 12:19 AM']i've wondered why people dont do this, as you say, i think it's just because nobody else does it. if it fixes your bass, jobs one of them good uns.[/quote] If you'd tried it, you'd know why people don't do it. With many solid-body instruments, if you tie a strap round the headstock (and use the bottom strap button as usual), then the body will quickly dive and the headstock will come and slap you in the face! Which can hurt. I know, cos I've done it! An alternative approach, which doesn't involve facial injury, is to connect your strap as usual, but then run a cord from the strap to the headstock, so as to spread the weight. That works, but you'll need to adjust the strap length to get it comfortable.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1139788' date='Feb 24 2011, 11:52 AM']There seems to be two schools of thought these days. The centre to centre being the same or the stings having the same gap between them.[/quote] And then there's the Fender "oh, any old spacing will do" school of thought

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1139488' date='Feb 24 2011, 01:26 AM']WOW! It's mind boggling that it can be off that much. I'd guess they don't drill the bridge holes at the same time they route the pickup cavities.[/quote] Yep, they clearly don't. The bridge is out by about 3mm. (At least that's what I reckoned when I re-fitted the bridge in the right place!) But what surprised me more was that the neck pocket seems to be out of line with the pickup cavities. Surely they would have been routed on the same machine at the same time? Yet the neck axis does not (quite) match the pickup cavities.

[quote name='silddx' post='1139659' date='Feb 24 2011, 10:04 AM']I just noticed the nut on my Japan Fender Jazz I got a couple of weeks ago is cut incorrectly. The G slot has a wider spacing from the D slot than the others are from eachother. Off to The Gallery to get a new one fitted I reckon. Typical. You can see it here, but in the flesh it's more pronounced. ....[/quote] I thought that string-spacing was usually designed so the centre-to-centre distance between the strings was constant. This, of course, means the [i]gap[/i] between the D and the G string will be larger than the gap between the A and the D, which, in turn, will be larger than the gap between E and A. Without a ruler to measure the centre-to-centre spacing I don't think I'd be able to tell whether a nut was cut correctly or not - our eyes are not good at gauging that kind of thing.

Don't joke! I came across this at the weekend: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/AC-DC-Ukulele/dp/0825637422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298478571&sr=1-1"]AC/DC for Ukulele[/url]

While we're on the subject of guitars, I just got my Ryder goldtop back from having a set-up done. Yes, it was laughable when I bought it: strung with two A-strings, a badly cut nut and not-quite-even fretwork. So definitely not a good buy for a beginner. But now that it's had a fret dress and the nut slots deepened, it plays pretty well. Since the set-up was only £50 and new strings were a fiver, I've now got a quite playable set-neck goldtop for under £150. I'm happy!

[quote name='silddx' post='1138309' date='Feb 23 2011, 11:00 AM']I did that to a 70s three bolt Jazz in a well known vintage guitar shop, made a loud creak! Sorted it though . You can do that on a lot of 70s three bolt Fenders. In fact, the Fender reps used to do it all the time, but behind the backs of the shop owners. Fender used to hand rout neck sockets to be slightly bigger if the micro-tilt didn't fit properly (discs were sometimes punched off-centre). Look at the gap between the neck and the top side of the body if you're buying a 70s three bolt. If you could get a used condom down it, you know what happened.[/quote] Are you saying I need to bring a used condom with me when I go shopping for a bass?!?

Well here's one culprit: a 2008 Rockbass. I don't think the bridge, pickups or neck were in exactly the right place, but the most noticeable is the misalignment between the bridge and the pickups. I've been told that the RBs now have much better QC.

First Bass Owned: Ibanez Rick copy 'Go To' Bass: Warwick Mahogany $$ Fretless 'Your' Bass: Warwick Mahogany $$ Fretless

Isn't it time this thread was pinned like some of the other bass-bash threads?

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1134492' date='Feb 20 2011, 04:39 PM']Got a link? I'm finding this 5 string hunt very confusing.[/quote] It [s]is[/s]was here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.de/E-Bass-Warwick-Rock-Bass-Corvette-5-Seiter-/150562974901?pt=Gitarren&hash=item230e40acb5"]http://cgi.ebay.de/E-Bass-Warwick-Rock-Bas...=item230e40acb5[/url] Unfortunately it has now ended.

There's a lovely RB going on ebay.de. It's not natural ... it's a beautiful sunburst. You like sunburst, don't you?

On all the Warwicks I've played I've only liked the middle position - both PUs on full. But that all changed when I got a $$, which has loads of usable sounds.

Good news! How are you liking the sound of the other pickup now that you have the choice?

Very pretty! But would you ever forgive me if I said it reminded me of this:

If it turns out to be a problem with the pickup, not just the wiring, drop me a PM, cos I've got a spare set of MEC pickups that came out of my Rockbass.

Ooooh yes. And the moral of that saga is ..... er, no, sorry, I'm not sure what the moral is! Edit: For those who don't remember the saga: make yourself a nice cup of tea, find a comfortable chair, and read this: [url="http://forum.warwick.de/24-basses/6515-vampyre-alert-not-ad-please-help-me.html"]http://forum.warwick.de/24-basses/6515-vam...se-help-me.html[/url]

It all goes to show that the camera never lies

That propellor photo is incredible!!

I thought I had a messy office, but even I couldn't hide a bass in amongst the mess!!

The wiring from the pickups shouldn't be too complicated: one ground wire, one live wire (white, I think) going to the balance control, and one wire going to the battery (red, I think). I'd check the red connection first - I'd suspect a dodgy power supply would be more likely than a break within the pickup. If it's any help, I think you want diagram SP RB 120R from this page: [url="http://www.warwick.de/modules/infos/info.php?rndtop&katID=17090&cl=EN"]http://www.warwick.de/modules/infos/info.p...17090&cl=EN[/url]

Forgive me if this sounds patronizing, but have you 1) got the first control (volume) on full? 2) got the second control (blend) fully anti-clockwise? Unfortunately, yes, the wiring on the active models is a bit complicated. You bought this off a fellow basschatter, right? Have you consulted with them? It doesn't seem likely that this has suddenly gone wrong in transit.