Ou7shined

Can you swap the longer D/G screw over to the E/A and vice versa?

The simplest thing to try would be replacing the cap. Are you sure the control circuit is wired up correctly?

Bass 2 (especially the soloed bridge pup)

What are you on about? Yours is collect from Tamworth preferred and his is collect from North London preferred. Completely different.

Hi noobie. Unfortunately your Ric is quite worthless. I'll give you a tenner just to take it off your hands. Seriously though Lewis, welcome. Feel free to stick around after your sale.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1175460' date='Mar 25 2011, 12:23 AM']what happened to it? what did you do to it to fix it? (I'm jealous, I want to be able to do what Rich does)[/quote] I stuck it in a box with some other necks and it learned by itself what the right thing to do was. I have a plan (when I get time) for removing the skunk stripe and inserting a small metal half pipe support at the point where it came through before if the innards are damaged.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1175455' date='Mar 25 2011, 12:20 AM']....You wanna whack that neck on eBay - "Neck for a 1968 Leo Fender bass with original tuners"![/quote] Might be worth a try.

[quote name='hellothere' post='1175462' date='Mar 25 2011, 12:24 AM']I thought rust was oxidixation And it is only on the side of the frets, where you can see them going into the fret-board. I'll give them a proper clean all over when I next change the strings. But for now should I just leave it or clean them with something? If I need to clean them what kind of cleaning soultion should I use?[/quote] Yep rust and patina are both forms of oxidisation. However rust keeps on eating into the metal while patina forms a protective barrier which halts the corrosion. Clean it off for now and wipe the sweat off the neck after each gig and it'll never come back.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1175431' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:54 PM']...Well, the OLP is absolutely spot-on. It's a quality instrument, don't you know? I've told you so again and a again It was a tiny bit off initially, but when I had the fingerboard finished the guy also readjusted the neck and it is spot-on now.[/quote] He's done a smashing job. [quote name='mcnach' post='1175431' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:54 PM']vaguely but you haven't tried their "half wounds"? I just remember them being pretty amazing bright things with the feel and character of flats... but only the G string behaves that way, so here's a very confused Spaniard.[/quote] I have but it was only one time and on someone else's bass. From memory, I found them just to sound pretty much like rounds (they were new) but played like flats only they sort of dragged on your finger tips. Kind of pointless in a way. I'd personally rather go for one or the other. [quote name='mcnach' post='1175431' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:54 PM']Those are some that I must try at some point (it gets expensive to try all these strings!). I hear they're some of the lowest tension flatwound strings around.[/quote] Yeah they really flop about a bit. I have Hotwires on my Shuker and TI's currently on my G&L L-1000. The TI's I find are focused on the lower mids which is fine for whumpy old skool P bass tones but where the Hotwires excel over them is that they have a more open range and I find that compliments my hot single coil Lollar to a tee. At some point I'll probably get some Hotwires for my L-1000 to open up the top end a bit more again.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1175428' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:52 PM']Oh and Rich, what sort of Tension are the Hotwire flats? My SR is fine with the strings i've thrown at it so far, just a bit nervous about putting higher tension strings on it after Greene King's neck issue.[/quote] The tension is low, not as low a TI's but a fair bit under what I'd call standard tension for rounds. Peter donated that neck to me to "experiment" on - the bumps are now gone. I might bung it on a body soon and see if they come back.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1175401' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:29 PM']I have stopped reading that thread Rich but I hear you mate [/quote] He-he it was fun.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1175405' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:32 PM']Now that is a beautiful and intellectually exciting beast...[/quote] Why thangya. Oh and Beedster, Bravo.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1175377' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:05 PM']Well spotted, got a good eye for these things! Yes, the alignment is not perfect, but the slight angle of the picture (I tend to take pictures from the right, avoiding reflections of flash etc) combines to exaggerate the effect. There is a generous space on the fingrboard at either side of the strings, but especially on the right (which the angle of the picture disguises a litle bit). If I were to move the bridge just 2-3mm to the right, the alignment over the pickups would be excellent, and the fretboard would look perfectly aligned with the dot markers centered properly and the strings evenly separated. This is something that I plan to do soon, probably at the weekend. It's a pretty fast and painless job. I do not think the effect I hear is due to the pickup alignment, because I noticed it as I was stringing, unplugged. Maybe I should record a clip. If I remember well... you have used Status Hotwires, right? I just don't recall whether you used straight flats of "half wounds"[/quote] Well it is what I do to earn a crust. I noticed it in this pic too... I suppose it could be the angle again, although your OLP doesn't seem affected by it. Aye, I use Hotwire flats. They are fecking fantastic strings and spank the competition (which cost twice the price) into submission imho - of course getting the hype mongers to agree with me on this has proved futile. I mean how can a set of strings at half the price compare to the crème de la crème of strings? Sound familiar? I use TI's too so I have a fair basis for comparison.

[quote name='tommorichards' post='1175372' date='Mar 24 2011, 11:01 PM']Im looking for something simple that measures magnetic strength for pickups, maybe as well as polarity (not a compass) Does anyone know the name of what i am looking for? Ive searched the bay using some search terms, but im not sure if they are correct.[/quote] You could place a small piece of ferromagnetic material on the magnet and see how many gram weights it takes to pull it off. That sort of thing?

[quote name='mcnach' post='1175268' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:29 PM']Well, here's my SR#1. Changed the black nylon tapewounds (went to SR#3, which is being converted to fretless) for a set of Status Hotwires "half wound", and left it untouched, except for putting a black pickguard on. I used it yesterday for rehearsal, featuring a few ska rhythms... it sounded pretty good, pretty good. Only these "half wound" strings seem a little odd, they sound just like flats, except for the G string, which makes me feel there's something wrong. But that's on another thread...[/quote] That look purdy Jose. I notice that the string alignment over the pups is way out. Judging by how well the strings suit the neck (E and G running parallel to the edge) it would suggest that the problem isn't bridge alignment but that the pups themselves are out. Could this explain the uneven effect you are describing?

[quote name='mcnach' post='1175245' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:11 PM'](thinking... I have three bodies, three... and three sets of tunes "for" a Fender) [/quote] Ch-ching!

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1175224' date='Mar 24 2011, 08:59 PM']Hilarious £50 'economy delivery' charge, taking 6-8 working days. Does the courier strap it to the back of a bike and delivery it in a neon mankini for that?[/quote] Maybe the extra cost is for the backup van, you know in case the first one runs out of diesel.

Haha 2 bids in the last 3 seconds.

[quote name='TRBboy' post='1175108' date='Mar 24 2011, 07:21 PM']I don't think it's fair to make the assumption that just because I take a backup bass, I don't know how to look after my gear!...[/quote] Who said that like?

That "blue rust" is actually patina (oxidisation) from the brass in your frets. Have you seen the colour of the Statue of Liberty? It actually protects the metal from further corrosion. Should you get your frets re-fretted? It's probably a little drastic, just a clean up will do - unless they are so corroded that you feel the unevenness.

[quote name='TRBboy' post='1174496' date='Mar 24 2011, 12:39 PM']...The main question I'm asking myself reading this thread is; If you own more than one bass anyway, why wouldn't you take a backup?[/quote] It's a simple matter of necessity, convenience against the ability to cope with the situation differently. Tuners go on the fritz too (arguable more frequently than you snap strings at gigs) yet I doubt anyone on here would look down their nose at you for not taking 2 tuners to a gig. The concept of a backup bass is good and if it works for you then fine but the implication that you are not doing all you can by not taking a backup is IMO not so good.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1174245' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:09 AM']... I very much doubt that it's possible to change a string in 30 seconds on a bass. 2-3 minutes (including stretching out and tuning) if you have everything to hand and probably more like 5 minutes on a darkened stage in a gig situation. That's against 10 seconds to swap your bass over......[/quote] Calling me a lair like? I'm not talking snipping the ends off and fannying about - I'm taking about getting it on and tuned up and off you go. Maybe I'll have to make a yootoob to prove it. Taking 5 minutes to put one string on in my book IS completely unprofessional.

[quote name='OzMike' post='1174158' date='Mar 24 2011, 05:18 AM']I think you maybe comparing the wrong statistics. If you assume there's a 1% chance of breaking a string, then: - with one bass your chance of having a string breakage cause a delay is 1% - with two basses, the chance is 1% of 1%, i.e. 0.01% In the former case, 1 out of every hundred gigs (on average) you'll have a problem, in the latter 1 out of every ten-thousand (on average). ....[/quote] It doesn't work like that though. It is slightly counterintuitive. If, for argument's sake we say there is 1% chance of a string breaking on stage then that chance event applies equally to every single bass in the whole world that plays that night. Like if you continually flip a coin, just because you get 10 heads in a row the odds don't go down that you will get another one, it stay 50-50 every flip. If your explanation were true, then with all the thousands of basses that play that night around the world, the chances of a string popping are quite literally infinitely impossible - therefore taking a spare bass is utterly stupid.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1174149' date='Mar 24 2011, 01:56 AM']It's not so much that by not bringing a backup you're not doing your bit. It's more that if you're being a professional, you should try and have a plan B for as many problems as possible. Bringing a spare bass is a great plan B for all of your bass guitar hardware problems. If you have room for one in your car, considering the amount of hassle it could save, why would you not bring one? If you'd just driven halfway across the country to a gig, then your jack socket decides to go iffy (even if you checked before you set off, it has to go at some point, why should it be between a rehearsal and the check rather than the check and a gig?) and you don't have a spare, what do you do? Play with your bass cutting out? Hope that another band would lend you a bass (as said on the other thread, I'd never lend out an instrument, I know a lot of people are the same)? Not play? If it's a paying gig, you really should have something. There's only so many examples I can give of why a backup would be important, it should be obvious why it's important to try and make gigs run as smoothly as possible. Not taking a backup bass because you couldn't be bothered to pick it up on the way out of the door strikes me as odd. I don't want to offend anyone here, but if I was in a band with someone that was prepared to risk having a gig not run smoothly because they couldn't be bothered to spend 2 extra seconds picking up one more thing, I'd seriously question their commitment. If anyone can offer a good reason not to take a spare bass (assuming there's room and no other constraints on physically getting the bass to the venue) to a gig, I'd be interested in hearing it. Things like "I haven't broken a string in X years" or "it only takes 2 minutes to change a string" are kinda irrelevant because you could break a string at any time, even if you've never broken one and it only takes 10 seconds to change a bass. [/quote] Point taken but the implication that we don't cover this particular eventuality through being lazy, unprofessional or risk taking saboteurs is a tad closed-minded, it's just that our plan B is different from yours. What happens if you pop a string on your backup too (it's statistically just as likely to happen)? Gig over? If my jack socket went wonky, I'd fix it with chewing gum and silver paper if I had to - although I do carry a small tool kit (including a wee gas soldering iron) with me so it probably wouldn't be necessary to get so Heath Robinson on it's ass. Some of us have the luxury of walking to some venues. An extra bit of significant kit that might only get used once every 500 gigs can be a bit of a hinderence... especially on the way home.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1174137' date='Mar 24 2011, 01:17 AM']Regarding this, you're a lot more daring than I am. I'd never lend someone I don't know one of my basses. Until I got my bomb proof rig I didn't even like lending my amp out. That's without even thinking about people sweating all over it.[/quote] I'm 6'2" and build like the proverbial. I find people tend to respect my gear well enough. (although not any old Tom, Dick or Mary gets a shot of it you understand)