Matt P

the yamaha rbx basses have a 19mm bridge spacing on the 5 strings, and they're very cheap if you go for the older ones, i only paid 100 for my rbx765. I have no idea if they sound like a ken smith though as i'm not sure i've ever heard one. Matt

i think these are Korean, i have the ma20 guitar (my first guitar) there are a couple of these over on TB and some have just 3 knobs while others have 3 knobs and a switch, the jack is in the correct positionn, if it was mine (and i would like one ) i would swap out what's there for something that matches your needs, here's some links to the TB ones [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/aria-aria-pro-ii-club-part-two-568148/index2.html"]http://www.talkbass....148/index2.html[/url] [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/5-string-club-part-2-a-761369/"]http://www.talkbass....art-2-a-761369/[/url] how about this? use a toggle switch for the series/parallel switching. http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=jass_bass_sp Matt

i actually wanted to learn bass first, i walked into the small town music shop thinking "i want a bass" and i looked at the 2 hanging there and they were useless cheapy rubbish, so my eye went to the acoustic guitars, none of those appealed so I continued along till I saw a red superstrat with a floyd rose and that was the one! about 10 years later (and many guitars) i finally got a bass, haven't looked back since. (although i still play guitar and i still have most of my collection I had plenty of fun being a guitarist though, and still play my beloved McIlroy acoustic most days. Matt

I've got the overwater flats on my yamaha rbx 765 and i love them, apparently they're made by Picato and they have a nice bit of tension. the real bonus is they're pretty cheap. i think mine were about 25 with postage and they arrived quick too. http://overwaterbasses.com/shop-2/bass-strings/ Matt

ok, those pot's aren't in my parts stash so i'll go for preamps with pots please. When i said configurations i just meant additions of a blend pot and any mods required to fit it to say a jazz bass. I'm in for 2 sabre pre's with blend pots and 2 stingray pre's if they're in the pipeline too. I'm in no huge hurry though. And i'll just take one sabre with a blend (to go in my jazz) if you're only making a small batch. Do you want a PM to confirm and sort payment? Matt

what spec pots are needed? Can you provide instructions for different configurations? Any chance of a stacked bass\treble setup? Matt

ernie ball flats on my '77 and i'm probably going for picato flats on my bitsa p/j when i finish building it. Matt

if it can be transferred onto a jazz plate i'd take one, and if the stingray one is on the cards i'd take 2 on olp control plates please. Matt

afraid i can't give you any pointers but i can recommend the guy who sorted my trace (very early gp11) Jez at Arkless electronics in Bedlington (i'm guessing that magpie land is local to me!), did a great job. Matt

I learnt this from a guitar tech about 10 years ago, the link was simply an easy way to explain the method, i think it might be as old as the hills! Matt

i've done this a couple of times and have yet to find a bushing that was glued in, they've all been a tight splined push fit. the method i use is i think similar to what the Bass Doc was suggesting, and almost identical to the method outlined in the link below (but i used the original bolt as i didn't have another that fitted.) [url="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-Tune-o-Matic-bushings-from-Les-Paul-/"]http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-Tune-o-Matic-bushings-from-Les-Paul-/[/url] a bit of something soft under the lower washer is a good idea to protect the finish, and don't forget the earth wire! Matt

[quote name='nick' timestamp='1332105295' post='1583436'] I believe Status flats are also made by Picato. I like them too. [/quote] ok that's enough info for me, ordered! Matt

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1332100709' post='1583341'] All I can add is; Picato make their own [i]and,[/i] I do believe, Overwater strings AFAIK DR make their own, too. [/quote] Ahh this is interesting, i've tried the picato flatwounds and was mighty impressed, are the Overwater flatwounds very similar? i need a 5 string flatwound set and the picato's aren't very available online, and the Overwater ones are more than a fiver cheaper. if someone can give me an answer i'll pull the trigger on the Overwater ones straight away. Matt

before you rush out and by a new pre-amp have a look at the plugs and sockets that are connecting up the current preamp, you might have to fit new plugs to get it all hooked up, another option would be to swap out the transducer at the same time, that way it will all work beautifully from the outset. if you are buying from a bricks and mortar store take the old preamp in with you to compare, if it's online try and get some pictures and info about the connections. let us know how you get on matt

hiscox for me too, have a few of them for various guitars and my beloved precision, i think there's a reason that so many high quality guitars come with a hiscox as standard (including my wonderful McIlroy acoustic). I've never seen a custom instrument come with a gator as standard.

ahh sorry got carried away with the whole crunch thing, i'd say keep your eye out for a Marshall JTM30 (they did a couple of combo versions i think) the clean channel might suit you perfectly, it's the little brother of my JTM622, and they will do a lovely warm clean sound and as the are 2 channel you can set the other channel for a slightly boosted dirtier sound, they can be picked up for about 300 quid. as they have a master volume it's nice and easy to balance the 2 channels out and this makes them very useable (they have a very good balanced xlr out as well so are great for live use, i usually set the master volume to a sensible level on stage (on a stand angled up to my ears) and send the di to the desk for FOH. Matt

another vote for the tiny terror here, i've totally fallen for mine, i like to use it to prove that a decent amp is very important, i've had a few mates come round with cheap guitars that they think are toneless but plug into the tiny terror and they sing. many years agowhen i was young i played guitar in a worship band (different to the one i'm in now) and had an aria superstrat into a solid state fender combo (sidekick 25r) i had real GAS for a les paul and was lining up a deal to get one, the wise worship leader pointed out that the weak link wasn't my guitar but my amp, i went out and bought a marshall valve combo (jcm622) instead and found my tone, that amp has seen me through to this day, only bought the terror as i wanted something smaller as well. a good amp will make almost any guitar sound good, whilst a nasty amp will sound nasty no matter how good the guitar is. i've proved this to mates on a number of occasions with combinations of my amp, my custom guitar and their amp and guitar. the weak link is usually the cheap nasty amp. the terror works well in church as well, i leant mine to the young guitarist yesterday for morning worship, sounded glorious with his squire affinity strat. Matt

how about the third ones down on this page? [url="http://www.axesrus.com/AxeBassMachine.html"]http://www.axesrus.c...assMachine.html[/url] 8 quid each so 32 a set. EDIT- the're sold out, sorry.

how about this? http://www.flickr.com/photos/rycote/4708580237/in/set-72157622938773315 http://www.rycote.com/products/invision_studio/ http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=rycote+usm-l&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=rycote+usm-l&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Foc&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&psj=1&ei=YzVFT_uwDqnF0QX9p7GMBA&ved=0CE0QrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=7a4c02153ade1456&biw=1280&bih=860 (all 3 are the same thing, first one is a pic with the md421 fitted, the second is the manufacturers site, 3rd should be Google page with prices and sellers) not the cheapest around but looks pretty good, they claim virtually unbreakable (but they would) but i guess it would fit a wide range of mic's so fairly versatile Matt

ooh that 750 w version looks fun, I wonder what the smallest number would be for our own tweaked version, a basschat750H. I'd have one (at the right price of course) Matt

ah fair enough, didn't realise the harley benton one was so cheap! the specs are slightly different though, if the head really is 500watts at 8 ohms that would be ace! Matt