B.Flat

Does anybody know where I can obtain a white Stinray pickup cover ? I bought one some tine ago from Strings and Things, who seem to have evolved or dissapeared, but foolishly sold it thinking it would be easy to get another. But NO, can't find one anywhere. Anyone got one surplus to requirements or have tabs on a supply ?

That is exactly what the registration marks on the back are for, this is a decal for factory production use. But they only work if the decal is face down, i.e. the back of the decal on the head of the instrument, the backing paper above it.

Points taken but the why is the decal reversed? You cannot easily slide it off the backing onto the surface, as with normal waterslide decals, plus the registration marks are on the opposite side. I have refinished many instruments, and used waterslide decals on numerous occasions, but the way this decal is presented suggests some other modus operandi. I think I will post on the TB site, might find a retired MM worker !!

Hello. This is really a question for experienced luthiers/builders. I am in need of a bit of technical advice for a refinish job. Many years ago I had a problem with the finish on the head of a pre-eb '78 Stingray. The good people of Musicman responded by sending me a new head decal. Before I had chance to get the job done the bass was stolen, never to reappear. I now own another S'Ray, and again I want to refinish the head. Problem is, when I look at the decal it is printed in reverse, by which I mean the back of the decal is the topside, visible on the backing sheet, (photos attached). There is also a registration line printed on the backing to obtain the correct positioning on the head, all of which suggests the method of fixing is to lay the decal on the head, backing sheet uppermost, positioned with the registration mark and then remove the backing.I am thinking that maybe this operation should be done onto wet varnish, and then wet the backing to remove it when the varnish is dry. I seek opinions and advice as I only have one shot at this, hopefully someone out there has had to do this previously.

I am not sure if this is the right forum for this question but here goes anyway. I have just acquired a '91 Stingray. My main bass from 1978 to 2004 was an MM Stingray, which was stolen from my car and which I have never really gotten over. I have a faithful recreation of the '78 preamp and I hope to resurrect the sound of my lost treasure. However the body of the '91 is swamp ash and much lighter than the '78 poplar body. I would like to hear from people who have maybe done this already or people who think I am wasting my time, or indeed anyone with some contribution to make. The bridge is not through-body but I can modify the existing bridge to do that. The main reason I am posting this is that I can not now remember exactly what the old bass sounded like, only that it was very distinctive, and this '91er does not sound exactly distinctive, if you know what I mean. yes, this all sounds very confused, and it is, but I would love to hear some voices and comments.

Thank you police squad, that is exactly the kind of detailed advice I was wanting ! Excellent!!

OK thanks for replies. BTW "countersunk" means an flat angle to accept a recessed screw or bolt head i.e. it still has a sharp edge but not 90°. a rounded edge to provide a smooth curve is a radius! So endeth the sermon, now hymn N° 139 in your hymn books omitting verses four, seven and ninety-six.

I have not explained myself clearly it seems. The base plate is perfect but ,yes, holes will be drilled and a radius put on the edge so there is no sharp edge to catch the strings windings? These holes and the radius edge will be bare steel,, therefore open to oxidation. So this newly bared steel will need chroming. The question is: 1) is it possible to chrome just this bare steel, i.e. holes and edges, without subjecting the whole plate to re-chroming ( this is where I ask could some resist ,wax or oily coating be applied to the already chromed surface) or. 2)Can new chrome be plated over the existing surface (chromed and newly bared steel) or: 3)Would the whole plate need to be taken back to bare steel and be re-chromed from scratch. I have a feeling that maybe bassists with a biker background might be helpful with this.

Of course Ant advice is always welcome but 'any' advice is better !!!

Hi All. Any advice sought on re-chroming a Stingray bridge/tail piece. I want to convert a top-loader to thru' body by drilling the bass plate as per Guitar Centre 2009 special edition. I know that the holes will need radiussing (is that a word ?) and polishing, but will the whole plate need to be stripped and polished or is there some kind of resist that could be applied to the whole plate except the bare steel of the holes ? As usual grateful for ant advice

Hi Ikay. I have investigated the East mid control but I would prefer a switchable, 800/250hz ?, rather than continuously variable freq. pot. I have looked for self-build mid circuits on the net with no joy as yet (wrong search terms?), do you have any suggestions ?

Can anyone tell me, in layman's terms, If I could add a mid control, with possible two-choice freq. switch, to the existing Ibanez two-band preamp in my 1980 Ibanez RS924 ? If it is possible it would need to take its power from the existing 9v battery. I have a feeling this will not be possible but hope springs eternal etc..............

Hi again Phil. I have looked at the Behringer Powerplay P1. Do you think I could find a small mic. to put in the second input so that I could mix a very small amount of ambience into the IEMs.? If yes would it work directly into the P2 input, and any suggestions where to look for a suitable mic (I do not think high quality would be absolutely neccessary.)

Thanks for the tip. Is there limiting on the Behringer unit you suggest ?

I am a deaf old duffer, being told I am now playing too loud, so some sort of IEM seems to be the way to go. My rig uses a YAMAHA PB1 preamp, which has both post-eq output and 'phones output (with level control on the phones out only) on the front panel.. I need the system to be inexpensive and a wired option need not be ruled out. Would it be possible to run some sort of Bluetooth TX from either of the front panel o/p's ? Advice on ear buds and any other aspect would be greatly appreciated.

OK, now bear with me , this could take some time. We speak of frequencies etc. but what we are really talking about is energy transference, which we remember from school physics lessons is conserved and cannot be eliminated or lost, only changed to our perceptions . Now here is the experiment. Take three identical coins and a clamp of some sort. Clamp one coin to the table, or firm flat surface, as hard as you can. Put another coin to touch the clamped coin anywhere in its circumference edge. Now shoot the third coin to hit the clamped coin directly opposite the second coin touching the edge. This second coin will absorb the energy from the shot coin, which passes through the clamped coin, and jump away. OK, so just another version of Newtons Cradle. But now clamp two more coins on top of the original clamped coin ( now 'High Mass, yes?) and repeat the experiment. The second coin jumps away exactly the same ! So I contend the transfer of energy/frequencies remains the same, irrespective of the mass of the transferring, fixed, mass. OK, so the bridge might have a resonant frequency that may or may not ( I don't know) absorb a certain frequency, but I suspect the greater the mass the lower the frequency so, to keep the maximum amount of frequencies in the string, surely a low mass, high resonant frequency, bridge will be better for the register of a bass guitar ? (But maybe the resonant frequency of any bridge is so high as not to make any difference, again I don't know.) Maybe just better to forget it all and listen to the the beautiful bass lines of great bassists, which are still beautiful ideas even if we hear them on 'less than perfect' equipment. I never heard anyone say a poem was< more meaningful on high mass paper. P'll have to go and have a lie down for a bit

I am looking for comments from people who have changed bridges from high mass to light weight or vice versa. Is there a definitive characteristic for each type or is it all in the ear of the beholder ?

Second apology in one minute, I had not seen your reply to the value query, sorry.

Back again iKay ! 47K, net search produced the answer, and I'm out of your hair now, thanks again for your respnses.

iKay, I must apologise for wasting your time ! I have solved the riddle. One of the resistors on the A/P switch is faulty! However maybe you can decipher the colour code for me, yellow purple orange green, either 47K or 470K

Yes, well that is what I thought but my electronics knowledge is near zilch so I was not sure. These resistors are still in place and connected OK. Would you advise leaving them or replacing with the resistors with values as shown on BassBnnys diagram. Would the change of pickups and their DC resistance have needed a change of these?

The IMohm resistor sounds like the solution, here is the wiring for the EQ switch. BassBunnys diagrams also look very useful, I will try the Mohm resistor first

Hi iKay. I have fitted the DPDT switches and they are performing correctly. However I have noticed that the previously silent active/passive switch operates with a loud click/bang. However the volume of this noise appears to vary from time to time, not from one p/u or tonal setting to another. A bit confusing, any ideas ? It is almost as if there is some kind of static build-up that triggers it, but I am sure I am probably wrong about that. ! You have responded to several of my other queries in the past and I would just like to say again that I am very grateful for your advice;