CHRISDABASS

99 percent of the time it will be a bit of dirt in one of the pots! We've had guitars come into the workshop with the owner convinced he needed new pots and a switch. We saved him time and money buy just giving it all a good clean Buy a can of super servisol spray and give the pots a squirt in the little hole on the back while turning them! That usually does the trick If that doesnt work i'd imagine a bad solder joint some where. Maybe on the input Let me know if you need a hand Cheers Chris

Lovely basses!! Played 4 of these now and all were excellent for the money! I'd throw a set of wizards in there! Cracking pickups!

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1365787136' post='2044625'] Though so, it would seem a bit odd to go to all that effort and then use a plastic nut! [/quote] What other material would you suggest? Brass? bone? We find graphtech to provide a way better sound than bone and far better workability than brass. They produce a sound that we really like and don't grab the string and cause tuning issues like some materials can. Also don't forget that the nut only affects the sound of the open string. as soon as you fret a note the nut is completely out of the equation.

Hey One of the best ways i have found to check the relief of a neck is press the E string down on the first fret with the index finger of your left hand and using your little finger on your right hand hold down the same string on either the last fret or at the fret where the neck joins the body. This makes a straight edge out of the string and you can clearly see the relief between those points. (i then use the thumb on my right hand to to press the string down in the middle to give me an idea of feel) I would say the issues you are having with clattering high up is more to do with the shim pushing that end of the neck up, making the last few frets slightly higher than they should be. This can be solved quite simply with what is sometimes called fall away. This process makes each fret from around the 15th onwards progressively lower than the one before it (by only thousandths of an inch) this stops all that clattering and makes the notes sound as they should If you'd like any further info on how to do this then please let me know cheers chris

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1365627408' post='2042151'] Very nice, but is the nut plastic or some other material? [/quote] Thanks! We use graphtech nuts on all our instruments

I like to use birchwood casey tru oil (gun stock oil) it is very easy to apply and brings out the best in the wood. It is also easy to repair should you need to do so in the future

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1365014966' post='2034220'] You could get a British luthier to build you one to your spec and it would be a million times better than anything Fender vod ever produce. [/quote] And knowing fenders prices it would probably cost about the same!! Haha

[quote name='andy159' timestamp='1364846486' post='2031715'] and when replacing the nut do you need to use glue or is it ok just to slot it in? [/quote] I'd recommend just a small amount of glue to stop it shifting side to side

[quote name='phlebas' timestamp='1364042891' post='2021211'] So, I'm in the process of making a squier precision special V into a six string (never liked the wide string spacing and thought this might solve the issue). I'm happy filing the slots myself but am trying to find the right size nut. I bought a bone blank on eBay but it's too thick. Don't fancy sawing it as I'd only be taking off 3mm (bound to run into issues), and filing/sanding it down will take hours with hand tools. Any suggestions? [/quote] I may have a blank i could send you.... If you're happy to wait till friday when i get back from holiday i can double check and send it to you

That clover is a beauty!!! Saying that i dont think you can beat a good jazz! I'd get the jazz and see how you get on with having the 3 of them

Cool! Well we'll be passing at least twice so we could call in if you like? First time will be tomorrow afternoon and then either thursday evening / friday afternoon of next week.

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1364421602' post='2026401'] These look great. I've been following the stuff on Facebook for a while... I'd really like to try one of your singlecut designs. [/quote] Where abouts are you based? You're welcome to try one anytime We're based in west yorkshire but often travel around the country with our instruments We're heading down south on friday for a week and will be visiting london, beaconsfield, stadhampton and winchester. So please let me know if any of those places are near you and i'll bring a bass with me Cheers Chris

Hey Check out the latest build diary here http://basschat.co.uk/topic/203571-alpher-instruments-5-string-bass-build/page__pid__2025081#entry2025081

I have some brand new wizard 84s (never got around to installing them) for sale if you're interested?

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1363953566' post='2020017'] is this the super lightweight one? [/quote] The super light weight one is the 5 string bass. This one is still quite light thought at 7.5 pounds

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363903098' post='2019378'] Tsk! If you can't discuss manufacturers' QC and customer service policies on a forum, where [i]can [/i]you? [/quote] What he said

[quote name='Schnozzalee' timestamp='1363692892' post='2015851'] You built those!? What's your brand name?? Alesker? [/quote] I did We're called Alpher Instruments Sorry the old logo has a bad choice of font!