icastle

Nope. That symbol means it's a DC power supply.

I had to go and see if all of mine had front markers or not. Pretty safe to say that I don't need them...

These were [b]the [/b]amps back in the mid 80's. They were made by a company called RSD who were based in a farm in rural Bedfordshire and their kit was in use by everyone back then. Level 42, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Genesis and Paul Young all used this kit. By todays standards they're a bit heavy and bulky but they were built to last. The Studiomaster gear you see these days is the result of the finance director buying the company out (I think that's what happened) and not a patch on the quality of the stuff they used to make.

Well if the nut is able to move about then that's likely to be where your problem is. Slacken the strings off so the nut is free and use a couple of drops of superglue to glue it back into it's correct position.

I used to have very 'set' types of music that I'd play and\or listen to, but i've mellowed out somewhat over the years. I play in a folk duo - nice gentle stuff with an occasional murder thrown in. I play in an 'acoustic\roots' trio - probably my favourite, a ridiculously big sound from just three people. I play in a blues band - three out of the four of us are ex folk rockers so some interesting cross species stuff coming out of that. I play in a rock/pop covers band - not always my cup of tea but it's pretty undemanding, pays well and they're a cool bunch of guys who never argue or sulk. I'm also working with a couple of local(ish) singer/songwriters - both acoustic orientated.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1327341472' post='1509636'] Thanks mate So... [attachment=98006:wiring-4.jpg] won't this just short the pickups out anyway? if they are connected like this? Or am I missing something..? [/quote] I think I must have got my diagram references muddled up. What you want is the diagram below, but replace each fixed resistor with a preset... The idea is that instead of guessing what value resistors you need to use (and faffing about for hours trying to 'tweak' it afterwards using piles of odd value resistors), you have a mechanism to preset the values precisely as you want them. Resistors come in preferred values - so if you wanted a 20KΩ resistance the nearest you can get is a a 22KΩ resistor (unless you use two 10KΩ resistors in series, but then it starts getting messy). Presets are infinitely variable between 0Ω and whatever the value of the preset is.

I must confess to being a little bit 'anti charity' for a number of different reasons. Firstly, I suspect that charities are seen as a way of generating a revenue stream to allow the government to wriggle out of it's responsibilities. If a hospital needs a scanner then it should get it without having to have 'Scanner Appeals', it shouldn't be left to members of the public to put their hands in their pockets after they've already paid their taxes in the expectation that it's being put to good use. Yes, I know money's tight but I honestly believe that most of us here could go into any government department and cut out multiple layers of bureaucracy and expenditure within hours. The Gift Aid scheme (allowing the charity you are suporting to claw back the taxable portion of your donation) is a farce - why is it an 'opt in' scheme? If you give £5 to a charity then you expect them to get the full use of that £5, not to have to help them get £1.50 of it back because some ministerial lacky has decided to nick it. It's an opt in scheme for one reason only - it's to generate a revenue stream. If you were to drill down to the 'nth degree' of any charity event then, even with the most canny accountant on board, there is a whole pile of money that is lost in taxation. In other words, we are being charged money to allow the government to wriggle out of it's moral and/or legal obligations. The rules relating to what sort of organisation is allowed to become a charity are wide open to abuse and there are an increasing number of instances where individuals have taken advantage of that for financial gain. There's also the community aspect as well. Everyone would benefit more if you left your money in your pocket and went and made a difference. For example, pop in and see old Betty once a week and fix her dripping tap for her. What's it cost you? Half an hour a week and a 30p tap washer - worth far more to her than the loose change you dropped into that collection box whilst out shopping. It's far too easy for people to stick a couple of quid in a collection box and walk away feeling that they've 'discharged their duties' as a member of a community.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1327339235' post='1509590'] Aha! Thanks icastle I think you might have cracked it! I'll get some of those little preset thingys and have a play [/quote] Excellent I still think your a nutcase but let us know how you get on.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1327336945' post='1509547'] Thanks icastle, So if I use a 5 position switch and 2 tiny variable resistors (presets?) I can fine tune the resistance... Like this? [attachment=97997:wiring-3.jpg] [/quote] Not really. Look at your first diagram and replace each of those resistors with a preset. On the preset you just want to be using the centre connection and one of the outer ones. Something like [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/sub-miniature-fully-enclosedcarbon-preset-potentiometers-6499"]these[/url] would do the trick. They're just tiny pots with a screw slot to adjust them instead of the shaft that you get on standard pots. I reckon with some careful juggling you should be able to get the vertical ones to stand in a circle around the back of the switch - just make sure that the slot faces outwards.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1327335425' post='1509513'] Thanks Ian, yes it seems an eternal struggle to getting the right balance of range of sounds and simple controls. Heres my best guess so far, anyone care to chip in and tell me why this won't work? Not sure the resistor values are right, I'm basing this on the idea that the volume pots are currently 250k as the pickups are single coil... [attachment=97996:wiring-v2.jpg] This is based on a 6position, 2 pole switch I found at Stewmac - its the same they use for the Fender Varitone wiring. [/quote] To get the resistor values I'd be inclined to set the existing pot to get the sound you wanted, disconnect one of the wires to said pot and use a DVM to measure the resistance between the wiper and the track connection (you need to disconnect the pot from the rest of the circuit or else you'll get a false reading). Alternatively, if you replaced those resistors with some miniature 250KΩ vertical presets then, with a bit of inginuity, you should be able to mount them to the rear of the switch. That'd give you the facility to get 'exactly' the sound you want instead of an approximation. Something that just occured to me is that you might get an almighty clunk as you change settings - not tried it so I'm not 100% certain.

Well electronicaly it's do-able although I'd probably use some little presets instead of fixed value resistors. The stumbling block for me would be that having a set of fixed tone settings would reduce the degree of tone control over the setup and essentially remove the option to compensate for string age and venue acoustics. I'd be more inclined to identify the setting that was most problematic to set and use a switched pot to kick that preset in. You might also make it easier for yourself by using centre detent pots and knobs with some sort of marking on them.

Using a match to fill the holes probably wouldn't work as they are too soft and the tension on the bridge would compress the match wood. You'd stand a much better chance of success if you used cocktail sticks and woodglue as they are much denser.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1327273699' post='1508829'] Sounds like 20-30 songs is a bit of a tall order. [/quote] Totally ludicrous. I'm not a church goer, but if I was, the last thing I'd expect would be to sit through a 1.5hr gig.

The remedy is really dependant on the degree of bow. If it's not too badly bowed then slackening of the truss rod, sticking a cheapy set of heavy bass strings on it and overtuning it is a good start - given a couple of weeks it'll probably pull itself back into the right shape. If the bow is very pronounced then you're looking at heating pads, g clamps, blosks of wood and several weeks worth of tensioning the whole assembly every day.

I kinda agree. My 5 and 6 string basses both have active controls with a multitude of knobs and the only ones I ever generally touch are the volume and blend controls. Ironically (and some would say typically ), I've retrofitted a SD preamp to my JB because I could not get a tone out of it that I felt happy enough to perform with.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1327261787' post='1508571'] Somebody needs to speak to someone higher up the food chain. [/quote] Thankyou for calling Heaven. Your call is important to us. Press 1 for God, press 2 for Jesus, press 3 to speak to a member of our angel department. For all other enquiries please float in purgatory...

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1327261749' post='1508569'] I would take a picture but can't actually get it out of the bass! However, I think the spray with contact cleaner I gave it yesterday must have done the job, as another spray just now (using the long nozzle and firing it straight into the switch) has really done the job! Hopefully, problem sorted. [/quote] Excellent Switch cleaner - the liquid version of duct tape.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1327240723' post='1508142'] I like what you did there. [/quote] That's just your mind you sicko...

Well there is one really simple solution that'd keep 'most' people happy. You have a choir who want to sing, you have a drummer who want's to drum and you have a choice between finding a guitarist or a bass player if you can switch instruments...

We do a number of charity gigs throughout the year but got royally scr*w*d over on one we did a couple of years ago. It was initially 'sold' to a band member as a charity do but what they actually meant was that it was a birthday party and that the people involved were too bl**dy tight to pay for entertainment, despite being in a posh club, having smoked salmon and a free bar in an affluent market town that I can't afford to shop in, let alone live there. We put a policy in place where people who approach us are told that we'll only consider it if reasonable expenses are paid, they feed and water us (if it's that kind of 'do') and provide us with some willing hands to act as roadies.

I can't actually find a picture of the switch anywhere. Looking at a schematic I can see that it's a DP3W switch, but there are lot's of different types and the wiring is almost certainly going to vary from type to type. If the switch itself is an open skeleton type (i.e. it has open sides and you can see all of the mechanical parts) then you could try a squirt of switch cleaner on it to see if a bit of gentle lubrication does the trick. If you have no luck then a picture of the switch might give us a clue of the sort of thing we're aiming to find a direct replacement for. HTH

[quote name='mcgraham' timestamp='1327242657' post='1508196'] According to him? 4 until i dropped out... officially? him and his girlfriend. [/quote] Four people? Good grief - I had a picture in my head of about 8 people hearing the complaints he's been making. If he can't organise, manage and motivate 4 people - two of whom are himself and his girlfriend, without being a stroppy git then it's obvious who the weakest link is. So he's now just left with himself, his girlfriend and one other person - even someone with an ego that large is seriously going to struggle to get 'em rocking in the aisles (unless gently backwards and forwards whilst dribbling)... You're well out of it mate, ego and talent rarely come in equal proportions.

Well the Roland kit is very popular with keyboard players and lets face it, you aren't going to go too far wrong buying a keyboard amp from a keyboard manufacturer. Not sure what his budget is but you can get a KC-350 (120W 1x12 + horn) for less than £400. If he's prepared to use the DI out into the PA for larger gigs then he might even get away with a KC-150 (60W 1x12 + horn) for less than £300.

How many members are there in this band?

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1327177423' post='1507559'] Sometimes I think they are lacking in some departments and when they get some control it goes to their head and makes them feel big in other ways. [/quote] Yep, same as the majority of council employees. They're covered in another little rule I have that says 'if you are speaking loudly then you probably haven't actually got anything worth saying'.