RobJF

I'm getting ready to sell my FJB and unsure how best to package it. (Currently intending to put it on ebay, not in here, just because that's what I'm familiar with.) It's in the original flight case and I have a single wall box that fits perfectly for width and depth but isn't quite long enough. I haven't been able to find any suitable boxes for sale, no "guitar box" I've seen on ebay is long enough, 125cm. So is it reasonable to make up a "cap" to go over the end from bits of smaller boxes and plenty of parcel tape? Or is there some other option for packaging flight cases that I'm not aware of? Lock it and send it off bare? (With labels obvs.)

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1337875471' post='1666867'] Unfortunately for you the biggest part of Jaco's tone is Jaco himself not his bass. [/quote] That depends on how you define "tone". I don't pretend I'm capable of playing with his style or technique. But I've recently managed to get quite close to his tone, as I understand the word ("timbre" is the technical term for it). That makes me happy, not because I sound like him -- I certainly don't -- but because I love that sound!

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1337864130' post='1666576'] FWIW, Jaco epoxied his fingerboard, having first removed the frets. [/quote] Good point, assuming it's true. (Not doubting you, but I've heard he used marine varnish, which is very unlikely, at least if it means spar varnish, because that's relatively soft to accommodate flexing, it's a myth that marine varnish is specially hard.) [quote] If you want the Jaco tone (whats wrong with yours?)... [/quote] Umm, I like his better. What's wrong with that?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1337844586' post='1666162']... [/quote] Thanks, much useful and interesting info there.

I'm supposed to be following this topic but I haven't had one email yet! [quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1337700077' post='1664167'] The nut issue, may be a stupid question but do you wind your strings down the post instead of up? Winding them downwards can create more of a break angle over the nut so that it's making proper contact. [/quote] Not a stupid question, it's me should be feeling stupid! I normally wind down but had a bit difficulty with that string and it ended up wound up. I'll have another go at it. [quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1337700845' post='1664199'] On coating the board. It's often an epoxy coating players use. I don't have my board coated at all as I want the sound of string on wood. Someone commented on this on a recent thread. When you have the board coated it's like playing a string on a plastic fingerboard. [/quote] Well I don't want that! Thanks, hadn't really thought about that aspect. [quote] I use halfwound strings. They give most of the brightness of a round but without the damage to the board. Others will say they have used rounds on fretless boards for years without any problems. At the end of the day it comes down to personal taste. I get a lovely 'Jacoy' tone with the halfwounds on my Jazz fretless and they are really quite old now. [/quote] OK, that's useful. I'll probably see how it goes and switch to half rounds if/when I see damage starting.

Chasing that good old Jaco tone, I put roundwound strings on my fretless Jazz Bass. The sound is now great but I have a couple of concerns. I bought the guitar new and it's in super condition, but the fingerboard won't stay that way for very long with the roundwounds being rubbed up against it, I guess. Is it really a good idea to coat it with a hard varnish, as some people do? If so, any varnish recommendations? Other comments? Also, because the E string machine head peg is in perfect alignment with the nut slot, and the string is narrower, when I try to play an open E it's badly out of tune, because it's vibrating from the peg instead of the nut. What can I do about that?

Thanks a lot guys, especially for that great guide!

Hi guys, I recently got a 2010 vintage Cort A6, which I'm very happy with, except that the intonation is out (sharp at fret 12) on the lower three strings. I could probably guess what the answer's going to be, but I've never done any adjustment to any bridge before, and I can't find instructions for this one on the web, so I'm a bit wary of diving in. So the question is: how exactly do I go about adjusting this bridge for intonation? [attachment=95889:DSCF0867web.jpg]

My Warwick had a badly bowed neck and a stripped truss rod. Howard replaced the truss rod, which required removal of the finger board, and because the new rod is sturdier than the old one, I'd say the neck's now better than new. All for a very reasonable price, with fret polishing and advice on various issues thrown in for free. Ace bloke!

Update: the bass is now in the hands of the Bass Doc, who tells me these truss rods are relatively flimsy. He'll be putting in a sturdier one, though that does involve removing the finger board. I've told the guy who stripped it and the shop manager that I won't be pursuing them for compensation or whatever -- not worth the hassle.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1214656' date='Apr 29 2011, 10:19 AM']Do you make your customers pay for your mistakes though?[/quote] To give him his due, he didn't charge me. [quote name='lettsguitars' post='1214732' date='Apr 29 2011, 11:29 AM']just out of interest. what wood is it? a stripped rod is not the end of the world. i would try and find an alternative to stewmac. they are great people if you want quality tools that you will use regularly, but theres usually a 'b&q' alternative to most of their stuff.[/quote] The wood is ovangkol. I'm now in contact with bassdoc and hoping to let him look at it next week. [quote name='LawrenceH' post='1214762' date='Apr 29 2011, 11:58 AM']Any decent professional repairer in most businesses would try and rectify their mistakes, and in a lot of cases carry insurance to cover for them as well.[/quote] I'm going to email him, asking him to look at this thread.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1214337' date='Apr 28 2011, 11:11 PM']This guy sounds like a f****** idiot, total amateur. I would be pretty angry here and pushing for him to compensate you - looking at trading standards if necessary, because they clearly are not competent at what they're doing. A skilled tech or just a decent carpenter would likely have been able to sort this, and definitely wouldn't have stripped the threads. I'm sorry to hear that this has happened to you! Name and shame? I certainly want to avoid this person.[/quote] For reasons I won't go into here, I take great pains to avoid getting angry these days. Think of it as a blood pressure type of thing and you won't be too far off. As for naming and shaming, that seems a bit drastic. I'm in the repairs business myself, computers rather than guitars, and I occasionally make mistakes, which I'd be horrified to see publicised, with no mention of the hundreds or thousands of good jobs I've done for each mistake.

[quote name='neepheid' post='1213688' date='Apr 28 2011, 12:01 PM']Not saying you should buy this as it's a little dear for a one-off fix, but it might give some ideas on how to try to resolve the situation without truss rod removal or neck replacement: [url="http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Truss_rods/Truss_Rod_Rescue_Kit.html"]http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_...Rescue_Kit.html[/url][/quote] Looks interesting, but it's for 'a single steel rod 3/16" in diameter with a 10-32 thread', and wouldn't Warwick use metric sizes? I need to have a look at it but I'm a bit busy with work stuff right now, and away on holiday from early next week.

Got the bass back from the local guitar tech yesterday, and he'd stripped the threads, unfortunately. If I'd spent some time reading basschat before giving it to him, instead of after, I'd have tried tightening the truss rod gradually over a period. So the plan now is to order a new truss rod from Warwick and meanwhile clamp the neck to something like an angle iron (with padding to protect the frets) to try to straighten it out.

[quote name='neepheid' post='1212387' date='Apr 27 2011, 10:29 AM']Of course, but as I said - you can't make it worse by trying. The conversation suggests that this bass is bolt on, so at least you have that get out of jail for a price card [/quote] I wouldn't rule out having a go myself, I do enjoy a bit of diy now and again, but most of my efforts could be classified as bodge-jobs, and I've never tackled anything like an instrument currently at £1799 RRP! (According to [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/warwick-streamer-lx-4-string/7465"]GAK[/url].)

[quote name='neepheid' post='1212365' date='Apr 27 2011, 10:01 AM']I'll buy it for a fiver Seriously though, am I getting the story right here? It was stored for ages with strings at tension and a loose truss rod? Meaning you have some major forward bow? The first thing I'd try is slackening off the strings and tighten up that truss rod, see what happens. It sounds like you can't make it any worse by trying.[/quote] Yes, you have the story right. If only I'd tightened up the truss rod or slackened the strings! But I didn't intend to store it so long, I just got mesmerised by other guitars. (Due to the demise of a relative, for a time I had more money than sense. Now they're better balanced. Though I still have an almost unused fretless Am Std Jazz bass, whose strings I think I'll slacken soon.) But I'm inclined to believe the professional when he says it's beyond normal adjustment. [quote name='lemmywinks' post='1212366' date='Apr 27 2011, 10:01 AM']You could try to pick up an old Streamer Standard bolt-on, they usually go for around £200 and have a proper Ovangkol/Wenge spec neck. Then stick the body/pup/wiring on eBay to make some money back along with the original neck/tuners as a spares/repairs job I have a feeling that a replacement neck from Warwick will cost a fair bit more![/quote] You mean put the Std neck onto the LX? Interesting. It's been suggested that a new neck might be in the region of £300, which is not a lot less than what I paid for the thing in the first place.

I got a used Warwick Streamer LX a few years ago but never got into playing it and it lay in its gig bag in an unheated room for a long time. Recently I got it out and found it had developed a badly bowed neck. I took it to a local guitar tech who says the truss rod was loose but the neck's too far gone to be corrected using it. Then I contacted a Warwick dealer who says it might be worth trying to straighten it by clamping and steaming, otherwise it will need to be replaced. However, given typical prices in the used Warwick market, I'm doubtful whether that would be a sensible use of the money, though I haven't actually had a quote yet. I'm fairly ignorant about all this sort of stuff and would appreciate any comments.

[quote name='Perry' post='1075558' date='Jan 2 2011, 06:22 PM']The hub also connects to the mains ciruit via ethernet cable an the can be recieved in any room. That's the bit I think is giving me the grief.[/quote] That will be it, for sure. Route the amp power through the Maplin "mains conditioner" already mentioned and Bob's your uncle. I'd think.

Thanks again Brian, very encouraging! Rob

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1075101' date='Jan 2 2011, 11:02 AM']Welcome to the forum. I too only picked up the Bass and Guitar after a long break. This is a great forum! Cheers Brian[/quote] Thanks Brian! Your sig asks "who needs frets?" I think maybe I do. But here's a question: Jaco switched back and forth between fretted and fretless -- he said he only played fretless on stage because the strings tear up the fingerboard -- so is that just for geniuses like him, or could anybody regularly play both without much difficulty?

The name's Robin or Rob, not Robert. I'm one of these middle-aged men trying to recapture their youth by returning to some of their youthful interests, with more money but less time, stamina, etc, etc. I played bass, mandolin and hand drums in my late teens and early twenties, but then hardly picked up any instrument for about 25 years. A bit over four years ago I bought a cheap six string electric (what do we call standard guitars now that some basses have six strings?). At the time it was purely for my own enjoyment, with no ideas of playing with others or in public. I've gotten into it in a way I never did with any instrument previously, but not chords! Call me lazy or whatever, but I just couldn't be bothered with all that finger-mangling stuff, when playing melody and bass were so easy, relatively, and so much fun. (Never played chords on the mandolin either.) Now I'm feeling more confident and looking to play with others, and I reckon bass is my best bet. Who wants a guitarist who can't play chords? But I do honestly like bass for its own sake too. I got one, a used Warwick Streamer LX, not long after the six string (or whatever it's called), and more recently, a new Fender American Standard Fretless Jazz Bass, though I've yet to get into playing either much. I'm currently thinking very seriously about buying a six string bass, to get the best of both worlds, bass and lead, in one instrument. At the moment, as well as the Warwick (which unfortunately has a badly bowed neck right now) and Fender basses, I have a Fret King Esprit 3 and a Line 6 Variax 600. The only amp I use regularly is a Warwick Blue Cab 15, which I like with the lead (?) guitars, being into clean, jazzy tones. My practice consists entirely of playing along with music I like, which at the moment works out at about 80% Steely Dan and 20% other. I love the playing of Jaco Pastorius (don't we all?), but I think maybe following him down the fretless route was a step too far for me, and the six string will be fretted. I'm looking forward to learning a lot here, it seems like a super place for UK bass players.