Matt P

I have looked at Nordstrand and they don't make anything standard that would fit, and I don't see anything from Novak either, this bass is an exercise in just returning an abused instrument to useable condition, it's not destined to be my main bass, the incoming custom Letts 5 string will fill that role. This thread was mainly to find out what the options were for a 4 string sized pickup that would work with 5 strings as I was only aware of a few and they seemed a bit thin on the ground. I was hoping not to have to commission a pair of custom pickups in order to restore a budget bass. The Delano pickups would be at the very top of my budget but I have been curious to try them so the money could be found if the string spacing is correct. Matt

Sweet, let me know what they measure, I'm going to get some pictures of my basses sorted tonight so I can post them up for sale, hopefully I'll get a buyer soon as I need some space for incoming gear!. Matt

personally i go for Hiscox cases, they're quite expensive new now but pop up secondhand around the 50 quid mark. i have a couple of the bass sized ones and i just put whichever basses i need for the gig into the hiscox cases and the other basses live in gigbags or on wall hangers while in the house. i also have hiscox for most of my other instruments and they've saved the day on more than a few occasions! i'm going to get one with my new letts and probably for the R*****F***r when Mr Foxon tells me it's ready. Matt

what is the string spacing like on those pickups, the delano website states 17 and 18mm, while the warwick is 16.5mm at the bridge, are yours narrower spacing than standard or did you just rely on the fact that the polepieces are huge so the strings don't have to run over the centres. i tend to get a little obsessive about strings running over the centre of the poles (i think it's psychological thing!) the original pickups are the mec dynamic control ones, the bass didn't have a preamp as it is the cheapest rockbass model which is passive. if i can get one of my bitsa basses sold then i'm interested in the delano's but it might ake me a week or two to raise the money (just had to pay the car insurance and the road tax is due at the end of the month too ) Matt

[quote name='rhythmbug' timestamp='1373455371' post='2137729'] Correct, you can't use the standard J set, needs to be 2 x 95mm ones. Perhaps for your style of music, Barts might be the way to go, as they have darker, more subtle sound. MECs, EMGs and Duncans will be bright and growly. I have EMGs in my Corvette Standard and swear by them, but they don't behave so well with non-EMG preamps; a BQC pre is recommended. I've used a variety of pres and pups in this particular bass and prefer MEC and EMG. I have a set of Delanos that I'll be selling soon but might be out of your price range, as they were about £200 new. Stingray-like tone. [/quote] Barts seem to be a good option provided i can find a suitable pair, which delano's have you got? are they a matched pair that would fit straight in (and line up properly with the strings?) depending how much you're wanting for them and whether i can get my 2 bitsa basses sold i might buy them from you, i've heard great things about delano and would love to try a pair out. i have considered painting the existing piuckups but the pickups have had some of their corners sanded off so i'd need to do some careful shaping work to get them looking right. this is my fall-back option if i can't source some other pickups (or if i cant get the funds together for them)

those prices are amazing! 250 odd quid each and 60 odd extra for a tweeter, that works out about half the price of the midgets! even if you factor in shipping they sound like a bargain! Matt

ooh they sound like a midget rival! i think a [s]head to head[/s] cab to cab shootout might be in order! Matt

hmm, judging by the grill scale and the general look i'm going to guess that they're 1X12" using the scientific method of counting the vertical stripes in the grill and comparing to my barefaced Midgets, they look to be a smidge bigger, no idea who built them though! i think another North East Bass bash is going to be required soon, (but not before my Letts 5 string arrives)

SWR Headlite: £1.65/W new (assuming 660 quid new which is what i think it was) £0.625/W basschat price, if you include the new Barefaced Midget speaker cabs but the secondhand head then it's £3.40/W! or £4.425/W with a new head! the worrying thing is that i've got my eye on one of the new Matamp Hybrid heads, might push the £/W ratio even higher! Matt

hello, i bought a 5 string rockbass corvette from Shockwave a while ago that had been very badly refinished (i don't believe he did the work himself but bouight it as a project and then decided against it) it's this one if anyone is interested [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188159-sold-warwick-rockbass-corvette-5-string/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188159-sold-warwick-rockbass-corvette-5-string/page__fromsearch__1[/url] i've managed to strip the body and it's now nearly finished (oil and wax) my problem is that when the body was originally re-finished (before i got it) the pickups got very badly scratched by the sandpaper and now look awful, i've tried tidying them up with very fine abrasive paper and polish but they still look nasty against the newly re-finished wood. the pickups are epoxy sealed so the original covers are glued in and cannot be replaced (unless someone can prove me wrong!) what are my options for replacement pickups? I'm trying to keep this as a budget rebuild and am mainly looking at secondhand quality pickups rather than cheap new ones. which pickups are likely to work best, i'm guessing that the original MEC's had a blade magnet under the cover, do emg and bartolini have blades as well? the pickups are the jazz type with both being the longer bridge type (95mm i think) and the string spacing is 16.5mm at the bridge so most of the 5 string jazz pickups just won't work/fit. i play all kinds of music but mainly pub rock/blues/indie. the plan is to fit one of Tommorichards fine Sabre preamps as well (the bass was originally passive) the pickups are the final piece of this project and i'm really keen to get gigging with it! thanks in advance Matt

[quote name='paulpirie8' timestamp='1373016591' post='2132743'] My Super 12 just got delivered at my work! Initially I was very excited, now I've realised that I have to sit here for another 6 hours knowing that it's in my car and I can't use it yet! Paul [/quote] I had the same issue when my Midgets were delivered but i had them sitting next to my desk taunting me! worth it though!

i've booked out saturday morning for this, i'll brew myself a nice big cup of coffee and make a bacon sandwich and sit and listen to all the tracks on my good speakers (right through i promise!) i did this for the last one and it was a fantastic way to spend a morning. Matty

part of me would love to have MattAmp across the front! but i'd probably go for whatever the simplest and cheapest option is so that i could afford it earlier. i'm guessing that these will porbably be about twice the price of the OTB but from the reviews i've seen it's common opinion that the matamp products stomp all over their orange "equivalents" in terms of tone and build quality so that's fine by me! Matt

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1372155916' post='2122201'] [size=4]The hybrid was for all purposes a finished product. It has very similar dimensions to the Mini-Mat series, compact and easily manageable. What sold it for me was the range from the tone-stack and the usable gain pot. This can do super-clean to super-dirty. I think it knocks the OTB into a cocked hat. They rate the B&O power module at 450w, and it is the same one that other manufactures rate up to 600w. Has plenty of usable features like bass/mid/treble shift buttons, active/passive with pad and an attenuated DI out. I didn't play through the digital, I was engrossed with the hybrid, and ran out of time, but it's dimensions are similar to other 400/500watt digi heads out there. It would be an easy fit into your man-bag [size=4] [/size][size=4]. It had the same power section as the hybrid, just a SS front end. The tone stack had some different features, but I can't remember them at the mo.[/size] [/quote] SOLD! I'll take one of the hybrids! it sounds like it will it perfectly on top of my Barefaced Midgets, i'm guessing that prices haven't been released yet? i know that they're hand built so will be more expensive than the OTB but as long as they're less than the GT200 then i'll save up for one!

That sounds like the kind of service that i like, what was the size of the hybrid and digital heads? if they could build something the size of their mini-mat guitar heads then i'd have one in a shot, especially if it had the gt200 preamp! it would look fanbtastic on my barefaced midget stack and would give me an all UK built Rig! i'd better start saving just in case! Matt

I had this problem with my new strap, i solved it by following this tutorial [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/70420-schaller-strap-locks-and-how-to-fit-them-properly/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/70420-schaller-strap-locks-and-how-to-fit-them-properly/[/url] and replaced the washer with a 0.7mm plectrum with a suitable hole cut in it, this was thin enough to allow he retaining nut to sit properly and protected the strap from the nut, i also used a drop of threadlock on the thread to stop the nut loosening, Matt

i thought that might be the case! without de-soldering the pot and examining the casing for makers marks and numbers I'm afraid i can't help any more. keep us posted on your progress. Matt

those pictures are better, thanks! hmm, nothing comes up for that number, i would have put money on it being a Bourns pot but i can't find anything on their website.

someone else has been trying to repair one of these too, maybe they've got a source for the replacement pots? http://basschat.co.uk/topic/201700-epiphone-zenith-circuit-board-pot-repair/ Matt

any chance of a clearer pic? are there any brand markings or numbers on the other sides? what's the number that's shown on that side (can't quite make it out)

mondeo hatchback for me, had a focus 5 door before which was pretty good but the mondeo has a massive boot, i can get both cabs, 3 basses (in hiscox hard cases) and my box of pedals/leads all in the boot at once without folding the seats or removing the parcel shelf. and it cost me 1100 quid! might swap it next year but most likely just for a slightly newer one (current one is a 53 plate) my wife had a '96 felicia for a while and it was an excellent car! Matt

finding an original cover is likely to be close to impossible, i'd be looking to have one made, there are various companies who could make a perspex box to fit over the whole turntable. a quick search throws up these companies who seem to be able to produce custom one-offs, might be more expensive than the Michell cover but would provide much better protection [url="http://www.displaysense.co.uk/containers-and-pos-displays/"]http://www.displayse...d-pos-displays/[/url] [url="http://retailacrylics.co.uk/shop/category_17/Clear-Acrylic----Five-Sided-Cubes-and-Boxes.html?sessid=1RZES8y5TM73b71FvsmziyJDetXV4tWOmXv51AHZWp2WtY3dNUaFAaoDxlr0wdSm&shop_param=cid%3D%26"]http://retailacrylic...param=cid%3D%26[/url] [url="http://www.displaysuk.co.uk/products/perspex-display-cases-exhibition-displays-48/perspex-acrylic-display-case-perspex-boxes-561.aspx"]http://www.displaysu...-boxes-561.aspx[/url] [url="http://www.sora-shop.com/Customized-Products/Custom-Turntable-Cover.html"]http://www.sora-shop...able-Cover.html[/url] http://thefrazerco.com/playerlids Matt

i've got 2 Floyd Rose equipped guitars, one is an aria with a licenced one (not locking at the bridge) and my Richardson has a proper original Floyd Rose (locking at both bridge and nut). i find that a long as you get the strings settled in and the nut locked down they stay in tune remarkably well, usually only requiring a minor tweak of a fine tuner or two (even when going from home to a venue) but as BigRedX has stated you do need a spare guitar for live use as breaking one string will pull the tuning out for all the other strings and replacing a string isn't something that you can do in 30 seconds! i have never actually used the trem live though! Matt

with the prices that these go for i'd be looking for a factory head version and sell on the combo. they pop up fairly often and seem to be offered at good prices. Matt

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1371209308' post='2111196'] [/size] [size=4]Pics, or you didn't! [/size] [/quote] yes