Matt P

double check the polepiece spacing, i had an epiphone les paul and it had wider spacing than a gibson (so the lovely seymour duncan JB i scored from ebay didn't line up) personally i prefer the zebra uncovered pickups in a les paul but each to their own, ebay can throw up bargains if you search carefully, i paid about 25 quid for the jb and they sound great, (especially matched with a 59 or a jazz at the bridge) another option might be catswhisker, slightly cheaper than wizard and all built to order (you tell him the tone you want and he builds the pickup) [url="http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html"]http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html[/url] Matt

definately have a go with the Fenders and see what you think, they are very nice but i found them just too loud, great tone but i couldn't get the tones i wanted at low enough volumes. i ended up with a tiny terror and a 1x12 cab (fender with a celestion neo) if you want a brit tone keep your eyes peeled for the Marshall JTM30 series (30w available with various speakers), should be well within your budget and they'e a lovely amp, i've got it's biggest brother the JTM622 (60w 2x12) and it's wonderful, mine has a lovely ac30 type growl when cranked, even my tech was impressed (i think he bothered the neighbours with if for quite a while) they've also got master volumes so very easy to dial in the right tone at a sensible volume. another option might be the smaller Laney amps (lc and vc series) very cheap and with good valves (and possibly an upgraded speaker) they sound very nice. Matt

hello, i think you will struggle to get a bigsby to work with this guitar due to the construction, but what about this instead? (similar price as far as i can tell) [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008[/url] should be a very easy fit and as a bonus the arm comes off for those times you don't want it. and if you ever decide that you don't need a trem anymore it will leave no trace and you can easly swap back to the hardtail. Matt

hmm i wouldn't try it then, the open tuners will be a nightmare to paint and then the black is likely to wear off on the gears, and whatever you do DON'T paint that badass! it will never look as good as a proper black one and you will seriously devalue it. personally i'd replace what you can like for like and sell the gold badass, then get a different bridge in black (plenty of cheap options) and keep the money ready for when a proper black badass II pops up. Matt (edited due to stupidity!)

i'd not reccomend it, it's a pretty fiddly job to get it looking good, you'd probably have to dismantle the hardware to get a good finish and it wouldn't nesseceraliy stick very well without proper surface preperation, what bass is this? (i looked at your sig and none of the basses have gold hardware as far as i know) i'd price up some replacement black hardware, if the parts are fairly standard (fender for example) you might be able to get the whole lot cheaply on ebay or in the BC classifieds and then sell the gold stuff to get some money back. Matt

before you go out and investigate new chairs double check the arms on the comfortable one you have, they might just unscrew, i've got one of the more expensive ikea ones that came with armsbut i just left them off when i built it (they're still in their wrapping under the desk) failing that i think that most of the ikea ones come self assembly so the arms should be optional in fact they seem to be an added cost extra [url="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/20652/"]http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/20652/[/url] this is the one i've got, very comfortable but not the cheapest. [url="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/"]http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/[/url] Matt

bought a SWR Headlite from Soliloquy, arrived very quickly and very well packed, a top Guy To deal with. Matt

having read the official statement it seems like a good thing, moving production back to usa should boost sales over there and over here it should get a little easier to get hold of eden gear (judging by the number of shops that stock Marshall) and of course theres the legendary Marshall customer support (i've got a few of the guitar amps myself) matt

i actually really like this, i have a soft spot for the black-black-maple thing, and then i checked out the bass solo (laughed so hard i stopped breathing), just for that i feel that i must own this bass! i've actually played a few vintage guitars and they're excellent so this bass has just popped in very high up my want list, with an added j-pup it would serve me well when i don't want to use my 77. Matt

blimey judging by the number of reply's since i started typing my last post, Howard is going to spend the whole year building P/J's for basschatters.

I would ask (i've got his phone number somewhere as well i think) but i've also got most of a p/j in bits lying around waiting for me to assemble it and i've been telling myself that i don't need another bass repeatedly for the last 6 months, maybe once i've bought a new amp (which is actually needed and getting more urgent as time wears on) i'll have a quiet word about having a copy of my 77 built that doesn't give me backache. I did actually enquire many years ago about a custom build (back when he ruled his little emporium on Nun Street) and the price quoted was very reasonable, even allowing for inflation i'd guess that it was still reasonable especially considering the quality and the fact that it would be exactly what i wanted. Matt

[quote name='Chatty' timestamp='1325350521' post='1482429'] How much are the stock PJ's going for these days? [/quote] the real question should be "how much does the Bass Doc charge for one of his masterpieces" Matt

i've seen this in the flesh too (was being carried by a very proud small boy) and it's an absolute stunner. Matt

i got a polytune which was exactly what i wanted, also permission to get a new head in the new year so i'm watching the classifieds carefully. Matt

i'm a big fan of Kenwood for in car audio, i've got a couple (older models though) any of these would seem to fit the spec; http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/products/car/cd_receivers/usb/ Matt

mmm that's very nice, let me know if the black olp needs a new home, i've really been enjoying the one i have on loan, wouldn't mind one for myself. matt

it can happen, i have a few basses but my '77 p-bass is the one that gets pulled out of the rack the most often, it originally belonged to a friend and i played it just after ge bought it, it totally sold me on p/j equipped p-basses, i spent the next 6 months playing loads looking for one that felt right, in the end i found a perfect 78 and did a swap (with money my way) i've played a few more since then but the 77 is the one for me (even though it's heavier than the moon and gives me backache after 30 minutes) the only thing i ever miss is a low B but i'm working on a copy of it that's slightly lighter (not hard!) and strung BEAD. (don't often use the G) Matt

welcome to basschat Zac, you've picked a pretty difficult project there, as icastle said you're going to have to cut that front board into sections and then re-connect all the joints, i doubt that you can just disconnect the features that you don't want unless you have a [i]very[/i] advanced knowledge of the circuitry, i'd also say that having (accidentally) snapped a board myself it was a nightmare to repair and that was a very simple board with just a handfull of connections. judging by the pictures i'd guess that the big board would need to be cut into 3 to re-configure it better and this would give you loads of connections to make. i'd also have a think about heat, there's already a fan and some vents on the back, if you put this into a smaller box there's a chance that it could suffer from overheating due to bad airflow. (i imagine that Ashdown modelled up the airflow around the components when they designed it to prevent overheating.) have you priced up how much the materials are going to cost for the new cabinets? from a quick check on the for sale forum here this amp would be worth about 140 quid, if you add in what the materials are going to cost i'd say you could pick up a 2x10 and a head from the classifieds for the same amount. Matt [size=2](Edited for spelling)[/size]

[quote name='V4lve' timestamp='1322740473' post='1455089'] I replaced the electronics in my mm3 with an Artec SE2A Active EQ. Big improvement. [/quote] I looked at those artec preamps, they look the business and are very affordable, i'm going to keep this bass passive but i'm considering fitting an artec to my precision bitsa. Matt

ooh i llike that, have real GAS for a sonic blue precision now. Matt

ahh thanks for that mcnach, i thought you'd be along at some point, looks like this is an early one then, i think i'll keep the wiring as it is and swap out the whole plate, is it the same as the musicman ones or do i need to find an olp one? and can anyone point me towards a 3 position rotary switch? Matt

try catswhisker http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html he has made one off designs before, not that expensive either , check out the specials page matt

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1322513137' post='1451988'] make a copy of the original 2eq musicman preamp and stick that in that is what I would do [/quote] that's a fine idea, but i might save that for when i get myself an olp ( really fancy one having played this one a fair bit) i might just put in a vol-tone switch setup for this one, i don't think my friend's a fan of batteries in basses, thanks for all the help Matt