Rayman

Well I bought this as my next project. The description on the ad included that the neck had been glued on, probably because the neck screws had stripped the holes in the neck wood. So I expected to find a clumsy looking botch job, but for the price it was worth the risk. Check out the original Lake Placid Blue colour where the pick guard was! Anyway, it turns out the glue was a very nice clean job, the screws are fine, the neck is absolutely solid. You’d never know there was any issue previously. Hated the black aftermarket guard, so off that came. Electrics are all perfect, so just a clean and an inspection, no problems. Absolutely beautiful fretboard, but the frets needed a bit of crowning/filing/polishing…. Next an absolutely fabulous white pearl pick guard from Tim at Scratch It, perfect fit, beautifully made and highly recommended. Brand new EB Slinkys and a full set up, and honestly, this is an absolute stunner of a bass. It looks amazing, plays beautifully and sounds absolutely killer. Sire…… how do they do it?

My milestone bass will be the one I keep for more than 6 months.

It’s a very ethereal moment, the choir, and the perfect way to close the experience. Oh, and thanks, I’ll let Mrs Rayman know 👍🏻

And I admire her even more for it.

This

BBC Philharmonic last night, playing Holsts Planets Suite. What an amazing orchestra. The layers of sound were absolutely mesmerising, and you can’t go wrong with 8 Double Basses. The Bridgewater Hall is the perfect venue, and for once, Mrs Rayman and I felt like youngsters

As above. I ended up putting a 500K volume pot, 250K tone pot and .33 cap, for a kind of all round tone. CTS all the way for me.

Yeah I had one. Good basses. My only criticism was the Epiphone logo on the headstock. I just wish they’d be a little bit more subtle about it. The bass though, was great.

Absolutely

Nah. 40+ years of turnover, three figures in terms of numbers….. I wouldn’t know where to start. There’s pictures of a lot of them in my Dropbox, but there’s so many I’ve long since forgotten about. I remember the first though, a Columbus Jazz, late 70s (it was new then), but between then and now is a blur. I’d probably get very depressed if I started thinking about all the amazing basses I’ve let go.

Just a note of caution, and I think I’ve done a similar thread before….. Basically, when you buy used stuff, guitars, amps whatever…. never trust anyone . Check the item over, take your time, make sure it works, plug it in and try it, and just be sure that it is as advertised. I Say this, because a couple of months ago I bought an Ashdown ABM 500 head. I specifically asked the seller to test it and be sure that it was all good. I picked it up, he was a lovely chap, we talked about gear, life etc…. and I totally trusted him to be genuine. More fool me, because he was a lying t@#t. It was knackered I was told yesterday by Ashdown, who were just servicing it for me. Thankfully Dave Green worked his magic, and it’s now as good as new, after many new parts and some added expense. It’s the third item I’ve bought recently, where I discovered down the line that it was not as described by the seller. Often, people sell stuff, not because they’re just moving it on, but because there’s something wrong with it, and they’re going to hide that issue from you. My point, don’t trust anyone. At all. Thankfully BC has been a pretty safe place for buying and selling, as most (not all it must be said) of us are good people. Just be careful, that’s all.

There’s a YouTube video for almost every situation. From building a fender P or J style control plate, fret dressing, straightening a warped neck, everything. If there’s a specific issue you’re looking for help on, let me know, and I’ll help you look for it.

I have to add, I’m no expert, and I’ve made many errors along the way, but after straightening a warped neck recently (actually really pretty easy, maybe I got lucky), and having built many of the (passive) control plates on many of my basses from scratch, I can honestly say I love doing it. A full refret is not something I’ve had to do yet, but certainly dressing and polishing them is pretty relaxing exercise with headphones and a decent podcast on. Slow and easy is the key, patience is a virtue when it comes to this stuff. Making it a slow methodical, almost zen type exercise is really fulfilling. Small adjustments, nice and steady. This from someone who normally has absolutely no patience at all 😒. The idea of the OP was as a result of a conversation with a guitarist friend, who paid a tech to do some work for him. He’d literally never touched a truss rod, and wondered why his action sucked. Not everyone is technically minded of course, no shame in that at all, but it’s so gratifying when you can solve some of these issues for yourself without having to rely on a paid professional.

[email protected] He’s servicing one of my heads as we speak. Top man, he’ll sort you out, just give him plenty of time, he’s very busy.

You might think, that if there’s adjustments to be made to your bass (and let’s face it, there usually is), or there’s an issue that needs fixing, you need to find someone to do the work for you. That means time, money, trust, and that also means you’re letting someone else understand your instrument. I’d strongly urge you to try doing your own work. It’s incredibly satisfying and fulfilling, and there’s absolutely no better way to understand and bond with your bass. It’s taken lots of hours, mistakes and triumphs, but I pretty much know how all of my basses tick. I know what’s going on ‘under the hood’ so to speak, and I understand the little faults and foibles that each bass has. Almost like learning the personality of your bass, because they all have one. There’s nothing to fear as long as you take your time, watch lots of YouTube videos, and just enjoy the process. Truss rods are a piece of pi$$, changing a pot is also very straightforward, nothing to fear at all. Make servicing your bass part of the experience of playing it. It’s a brilliant feeling to know that you can make your own bass awesome and solve your own problems without having to pay someone else to do it.

Yep, I have a ticket. Should be a good night.

No. Never have, never would.

I’m really into a set of Rotosound Monel flats currently on an Ibanez Jet King. Super nice focused tone, and I’m usually a TI guy too.

Well, I rehearsed with this bass last night. Absolutely blown away, and I’m very surprised to say that. The sound was tight, focused, punchy and incredibly resonant, which can’t just be down to the pickups. The bridge has obviously contributed to that, but I also feel like the neck and body played a part, definitely a sum of all the parts. I barely had to touch the strings and it just rang out. I feel like the stars have aligned with this bass, when actually I just thought it would be decent. It’s way more than decent. Even the band made comments about the bass tone last night. Result.

It’s a solid shaft, so you need a knob with a fixing screw rather than just “push on”. Any 6mm knob should fit.

And now….. it’s finished A lot of work went into rebuilding this bass, and I’m delighted. Absolutely brilliant instrument. The Quarterpounders sound fantastic, so it’ll slot right into our live set no problem, alongside the Thunderbirds. Turns out the tuners are absolutely great. Smooth and steady, so they stay. So, I started with basically a body and a neck. Both were good quality timber, and provided a good base to build on. The electronics were junked straight away. I’ll keep the pups, you never know, but the pots and the awful bridge went in the bin. My list of jobs on it: Fret job, ends and polish. Clean and oil the fretboard. Hi mass bridge from Bass Wielder. Strip and lube the tuners. SD QP pickups. New controls, CTS pots, jack, cap etc. Set up with new strings. Very pleased, really enjoyed working on this one, and I’m delighted with the result. This is a really fab bass now, and I’m looking forward to gigging it. Another great addition to the collection.

I had to shorten the E and A string intonation screws with a Dremel…. Now, it intonates absolutely spot on.

No, I haven’t done anything about damage. I don’t mind chips and dings, they’re all part of the story of the guitar. The only “work” I do is on working parts that affect the playability of the instrument. Anything cosmetic, I don’t tend to bother.

Yeah, it’s getting harder to hit the high notes 😆

Just hooking up the pups, trying to make it as neat and tidy as possible. everything works perfectly. So just the bridge to put back together, then get the neck back on and string it up.