Matt P

[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

hmm i'm thinking that a new control setup might be in order then, it's a single pickup but with 4 conductor wiring so each coil can be seperate, just need to decide which control setup to go for, a popular one seems to be volume-tone-series/parallel switch, anyone know of a good supplier for ready wired control plates (thinking of simply removing the current one and putting aside so it can be easily returned to it's current state. another option would be a musicman pre, one up for sale on evilbay at the moment, worth a punt? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120816706573?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 failing that i'll just pick up the correct pots and get out my soldering iron. Matt

Afternoon, i'm currently guardian of my friends OLP while he's working away, i've got full permission to use/modify/improve it but i'm not sure what's going on with the wiring, it doesn't look like anything i've seen before, the controls seem to be volume, tone tone but i can't find any real info on what's in there and only the volume seems to do anything. it's had a kent armstrong pup fitted (he claims i fitted it but i don't remember doing it) i've taken some pics (sorry they're only phone pics, the wife's gone away for the weekend and taken the camera) [attachment=93919:26112011008.jpg] there's also a diagram that i've made of the wiring [attachment=93920:26112011012.jpg] can anyone shed any light on this for me? should i re-wire as per the seymour duncan vol-vol-tone diagram or maybe a series parallel switch or a vol-blend-tone (i've got a blend pot here doing nothing) Thanks Matt

there's a few good places, check out the cumberland, the cluny, the tyne, and possibly the head of steam. I'm sure some other guys will be along soon with more suggestions, Matt

I had this exact problem, i've just downloaded opera mini from the ovi store for free and it let me sign in straight away. Matt

gosh there are a few of us on here, i'm a Christian and play regularly at Heaton Baptist Church, i guess if i wasn't a Christian then i'd still be a guitarist, I only made the transition to bass because of that church, started there when I moved to newcastle for uni, and volunteered for an all-age service for electric guitar duties (which i'd done for many years at my old church), turned up to the practice with my custom super-strat and my marshall all valve 2x12, turned out that the bassist was actually a seriously good guitarist too (much better than me on guitar and bass), and within 5 minutes he had my guitar round his neck and i was holding his mex precision special, so come the sunday service everyone saw me with a bass and assumed that i was a bassist, i would get regualrly asked to play bass and would have to borrow a bass most weeks to play, i even made an "i am not a bassist" t-shirt, in the end i aquired an aria bass and then my yamaha rbx765a but i didn't consider myself a bassist till i bought my precision last year. we're lucky enough to have a nice rig owned by the church (donated by a old member who moved away), Trace Elliot gp11 ah250 with a peavey 4x10 and a modded behringer 1x15, sounds ace when it's cranked up, i'd have to say that playing in a worship band really helps when it comes to seat of the pants playing, especially when the leader starts in the wrong key and you have to wing it. Matt

i always keep bits of old strings for fettling nuts, tensioned in an old hacksaw frame they're perfect for lowering the action a tiny bit or just to smooth out rough spots on the grooves..

bought a bass neck from Jose, another top deal, trade with confidence. Matt

thanks for that, yes measuring from the nut is much better, (you'd never guess i was an engineer would you!) it seems that my j-pup is in the 70's position, and the p-pup is at 712/740mm to the centre of the polepieces if it's useful info for anyone. would still love to have positions for other classic bass pickups, (stingray etc) Matt

hello, I did a search but couldn't find anything, I apologise if I was just being a dolt and missed something, I hear a lot about standard positions for pickups and about 60's/70's spacing for jazz pickups but what are the actual dimensions, (from 12th fret to centre of polepieces in millimetres would be the most useful fo most i guess) I have a couple of basses but no idea what the positions actually are, especialy my beloved 77 precision that had a j-pup added at some point, I love the tone but have no idea if it's in a 70's position or a 60's or just thrown in any old place, it certainly isn't in the same position as the p/j body I bought off here. I thought that some kind of record would come in handy for those building new basses, so i guess measurements of all kinds of basses would be useful, (have a hankering for a Pingray and just saw an ibanez roadstar on here that looked rather tasty) I guess I should start the ball rolling, Fender P-bass (1977) 280mm from centre of 12th fret to centre of polepieces E-A half of pup, 309mm to the D-G polepieces. Matt

mmmmm, what are the pickups in those? they look great and i love a straightforward bass. matt

as another owner of a VM fretless with a fretted p-neck (a sue ryder in my case) i have to echo Darkstrike, the pups have to be pretty close (as close as you can really) then they really sing. i wan't too impressed with mine in a band situation till i moved the pups, now it's just awesome. (but i am thinking of a preamp when i have some spare cash, probably a j-retro) Matt

i'd say that was a bit pricey, the hardware tarnishes pretty badly on those, i've got exactly the same bass but in red (with the tarnished gold hardware) they're good basses mind, where in the country are you? i might be prepared to part with mine for a lot less than that one. matt

yes i forgot about that, the echo park seems to object if you daisy-chain the power, i run mine from a seperate supply, some of the better power supply units can provide an isolated power output for this reason. that aside it's a great sounding pedal and can be had pretty cheaply. matt

i went with the line 6 echo park, has some of the features of the dl4 but smaller and cheaper, has tap tempo as well, picked mine up for 60 quid off gumtree, found it very easy to set and got some great sounds with very little fiddling. [url="http://line6.com/tonecore/echoPark.html"]http://line6.com/tonecore/echoPark.html[/url] Matt

another vote for the hiscox from me, i've got one for almost every guitar and bass i own, strength was proven to me when the guy inthe shop stood on it with my guitar was in it (before i'd even paid for it!) and there's one for sale on here at the moment! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=150629"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=150629[/url] Matt

just bought a loaded Jazz body from Paul, a top Bloke, he even dropped it off on his way to a gig. Matt

this also interests me, i'd love to fit a pre into one of my basses but don't have the cash at the moment (but have some soldering skill) i'd be incredibly surprised if anyone has the schematic for the sadowsky pre though (or any of the other aftermarket pre's). I'd guess that the exact specs of these are a closely guarded secret (hence the black epoxy over the circuit). but if anyone has a generic design for a preamp (2/3 band) then a link would be great, i'm prepared to have a go with building and tweaking and if i get anywhere i'll happily share my findings matt

i'd be surprised if he couldn't help and he quotes prices for most "std" pickups of around 50 quid (for a guitar humbucker), as they are pretty much all made to order (number of windings etc) that shouldn't be too far off, let me know what kind of price he quotes as i'm tempted to order some of these for my next build and it would be cool to have some custom pickups. Matt