Rayman

Neck dive sorted. With a strap button on the neck heel and a wide leather strap (thanks to @Mudpup). Awesome.

Absolutely wicked Jaco tone from the solo’d bridge pup, probably not the first thing that springs to mind when you see this bass…. Nice modern tone from the P bass pup, and similarly a modern clean tone from both together, although the bridge pickup is pretty noisy, but that could be down to the dodgy electrics in my old flat. It seems to be a thing here for some of my basses. These pickups were not cheap. It was a gamble, because I’d never heard of them, and honestly, looking at how they’re put together, the jury’s out on if they’re worth it….. the wire is very thin and fragile, one of the covers cracked very easily while fitting them and turning them over reveals hand cut circuit board as the base. I dunno…. I’m going to rehearse the bass and see how she goes. It’s certainly been a learning curve, but there’s no danger of this bass taking over the number one slot in my collection at this point.

🤘🏻

Oh **** I hate that too….. Pulls classic car into garage: ”Ooh she’s thirsty”

I have such a massive aversion to naming inanimate objects…. like cars and guitars. They’re just things…. not family members. But each to their own.

Indeed ….. very cool looking too, and sounding fabulous of course. Yep, you can play any genre on any bass. If the instrument fits you, then play whatever the heck you want on it, it’s just a bass, that’s all.

I think the assumption is, that a Thunderbird = ROCK !! But I’m finding mine to be perfect for funk, jazz, dub, hip hop and indie…. I absolutely love the tones. It’s more versatile than you think, if you move your fingering positions around and play with the controls. The only real downside is the ergonomics in terms of the neck dive, and you can’t get away from the stretch to the nut, unless you sling it low and hold the neck up. I honestly didn’t want to like it as much as I do, it was just a project, but it sounds SO good.

By the way…. I did email Entwistle pickups for help/advice on the previous pickups that I’ve just removed, as I was struggling to get the sound I wanted. They didn’t reply. FYI.

Update: I’ve had nightmares with this thing…. it wasn’t right as it was…. So much tinkering later…… I wanted black hardware, just because it looks more metal to me, and I wanted red pickups, like the ESP Frank Bello used to have…. So…. Herrick pickups fitted…. When they arrived one of the pickup wires had come off, so, out came the soldering iron, no big deal….. although I want to say they don’t appear to be amazing quality , they do sound good on first listen. I’m going to live with it for a bit and see if we bond. Still annoyed by the terrible Wilkinson tuners…. they will go when I find decent replacements, but for now I’ve spent WAY too much time and money on this bugger. All my other builds have been pretty straightforward, but this thing has put up a fight throughout.

My first thought was that these were Knock off, they’re that bad….. but the source is a very reputable store, admittedly via eBay, but not from some random shop. That said, and as has been pointed out, maybe I’m being harsh, because they’re just budget parts at the end of the day, I was probably expecting too much.

Oh blimey ok…. Don’t go down that road then! It seems to me that the whole section of wire needs replacing, but it should be possible by a skilled tech/electrician. Trouble is you might need Roland to supply the replacement parts. Did they give you details of any Roland recognised repair folks?

Yes, you’re probably right, I was probably expecting too much. Tbh I’ve never been much of a modded/upgrader…. and this Squier and the Thunderbird were meant to be fun projects. The TB turned out perfect at every stage, totally delighted…. the Squier though has put up a fight…. every part of the build has been a headache. I wanted black tuners, and had heard good things about Wilkinsons as decent parts, but I was disappointed on this occasion.

Sunday I’m with the horse

Fridays I’m with my girlfriend

I hear you…… maybe it’s the same reason I let Mrs Rayman whip me with a horse crop on a Saturday night….. I don’t know

No idea if such a repair would affect the sound quality of the signal afterwards......

It should be possible to cut, tidy up, re-attach and shrink wrap the wires, but it's hard to see the wiring configuration. As you say, taking the phones apart and replacing the whole wire could be complicated. Roland probably don't want to be bothered with it, but I'm sure a decent tech could figure it out.

Seems like hit and miss then? I took delivery of some silicone lube today, gave the tuners a good seeing to.... but they're still horrible to use. My old Sunn Mustangs still have the original open gear tuners, which feel luxurious in comparison. I realize that Wilkinson are budget parts, of course, but as one can see above, a lot of people rate them, and would look to them as decent for upgrading cheap tuners. In my case at least, I disagree, they are cheap, so not worth the effort.

It’s certainly a stretch to the nut, unless you strap it quite low…. I’m usually just below waist height, which brings the neck up a bit….. but there’s always the dive, which I’ve never been able to solve…. Just part of the experience I guess. Tonally, I love the sound so much.

I felt like I was supposed to be upgrading the stock Squier tuners, but I felt the opposite. Even lubed, the Wilks felt cheap and clunky.

Hmmm interesting. It’s frustrating to me because I’m fine with most tech stuff, but electronics are my Achilles heel, and pickups are a mystery to me. The problem was that the covers are really chunky and wouldn’t fit in the routs, so I popped the covers off top put them into the original Fender ones (into which they fit perfectly), but in so doing the jazz pup magnets dislodged. I haven’t a clue how they go back together. For the sake of 25 quid for a new one, I might just do that…. OR, go for something else.

Maybe I was just unlucky. I realise they’re only a couple of steps above budget, but I expect them to feel pretty good, compared to the Squier ones, but maybe just not last that well? I dunno…. personally I’m disappointed with them.

I did lube them yes, and no the ferrules are good. They just feel cheap. But yes you’re right, you get what you pay for