neepheid

Binding and blocks are not the sole preserve of Jazz basses, and thank deity for that!

I know exactly what #7 is but I won't spoil the surprise...

I've heard them referred to as "Fartolinis" - very mature. Honestly I think they're the three point bridge of the pickup world...

You didn't even notice I was wearing a hat, did you?

I'm 5' 9" and I don't give a monkeys what anyone thinks about me playing a T-bird.

Babicz and Hipshot are the only ones which spring to mind. The makers of lower priced hardware make money because of selling in large volumes - making a three point replacement doesn't fit into this kind of model because it's just not called for that much. You can fit any bridge you like to whichever bass you like, but as you recognise, it won't a straight drop in. A lot of work just to get away from a bridge which basically works just fine and it's just fashionable to rag on it IMO. There are worse bridges out there (even if Gibson made about half of them, lol). I don't think you'll notice a change from 17.7mm to 18mm string spacing. We're talking the outside strings being less than half a mm further out from where they are now. Height might be an issue - the three pointer does sit quite high. You also don't mention what bass this is on? Flat top or carved? Are the bridge post ferrules flush with the top of the body or sitting proud? But at the most basic level, I'd say that if you "hate" the three pointer that much then put your money where your displeasure is and buy one of the drop in replacements.

Who would like to join me in Tribe "don't be a d!ck"? It's an aspirational tribe...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C3V74M27 The 0.25 degree one is really hard to see the taper on, but the 0.5 and 1 degree ones are definitely tapered, and the 0.5 one demonstratably works - the neck heel is on the deck at the front and there's a gap at the back.

Christ, does it devalue the bass if you clean it (internally)?

Wow, that would be some cutter (and some router, frankly)

Oh, and a little catchup on odds and sods I had been pottering around at but forgot to mention... The top horn strap button was in at a funny angle (at least for the strap buttons I intend to use, and it annoyed me, so I filled and redrilled it (only got a pic of the filled hole - plus waiting for the felt washers to arrive). Also did that final fettling of the MM pickup route and now I'm a lot happier with the string to pole piece alignment. Seen worse on an actual MM, ooh, neep, you shady biatch

The bass was upside down, the roller had to sit on the neck itself and the 25mm cutter with roller didn't quite reach even at max plunge. Could have pulled it out of the collet a bit, but then there was a chance I might not have cut the very top (well, bottom, because we're upside down) of the area I wanted to cut. So yes, I did need to use this scary so-and-so...

Scary router bit arrived (a 50mm bottom bearing flush cutter) and I managed to trim the excess material from the neck pocket without maiming myself or the bass. Obviously some finishing off/shaping to do, but that's it started anyway.

Fixed that for you

We have reached the frustrating "waiting for stuff to arrive" part of proceedings. But little things have happened. - the neck shims arrived, and I put the middle one (0.5 degree) one in. Can get a low enough action now, but the G saddle is pretty near the deck. Will try the 1 degree one and see how high that makes the saddles then decide which I prefer. - With it all strung up, did a basic setup on it and it intonates fine, not a lot of room left on the E saddle back travel, but there's a fix for that if needs be. - I found my nut files and lowered the slots to somewhere where they need to be, might chance my arm and grind them down a touch more. - I dealt with a high second fret by recrowning it - I know you should probably get the neck straight and check all the frets, but it's playing really nicely apart from that one so opted to spot fix it instead. Today a scary router bit should arrive and I'll be able to deal with the excess neck pocket material. And hopefully use the router on this bass for the last time.

Where would you put a hat anyway? You're headless!

+1 for the Duke, was sounding great last night in my Fazley Hot Rod. Also consider the Entwistle PBXN (Modern) if you fancy a brighter, more "modern" sounding pickup with plenty of output. Just watch out for those super strong magnets - don't pull them apart, slide them apart - the magnets can be stronger than the glue sticking them to the pickup itself...

Fine steel wool. Yes, keep it away from pickups...

It was mostly used to dry off cables and monitor wedge - it was one of those kind of nights!

Well, spill the beans then! You can't leave a comment like that hanging...

Played with Nine Lives last night at the Balaclava in Fraserburgh. Pretty good night, was a bit quiet at the start but it filled up during the first half and was nice and busy in the second half. Saturday night is the night to play in Fraserburgh, by my experience, should you ever find yourself playing there. We had a hen party (I think) and a divorce party all in one night. The divorcee in question was well oiled by the time she arrived though - spent half the time on the floor, she'll feel that today! Also in a new first for my gigging career, I got my bottom spanked by a lady with a miniature tambourine - a new peril when going for a wireless wander! Spanked all the way back to my amp so I was and to give credit where credit is due, her timing was not awful - kept me right anyhow! I took a highly unprofessional course of action and brought two basses I had been modding and mucking about with this fortnight - the Jet Star with the added Peavey T-40 pickup and the Fazley Hot Rod which recently arrived at Neep HQ and got a pickup change (Tonerider Duke) within an hour and a half of arrival, and copper shielded the night before. What could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing, as it happens. Maybe I'm lucky, or - whisper it - maybe I'm getting half decent at modding basses... The Fazley Hot Rod in the first half was a joy to play. With no controls to eff around with I could honestly sense the freedom from thinking about it and just enjoyed playing. The Tonerider pickup is a great sounding pickup - lots of output but more than enough low mids to really punch through with quite an aggressive sound. Really happy with it. As for the Jet Star, being wary of a boomy sound from the T-40 pickup neckwards, I hedged my bets at the start of the second half - both pickups on, T-40 in single coil. And it was... OK. Compared to the Fazley in the first half I was having a less good time. Part way through the set, I switched to T-40 pickup only, in series and wow, what a difference. I needn't have worried - the sound was much more satisfying, heavy but not boomy, lots of low end substance but never muddy. Much bettah! You know what my rig is by now! Which again only needed to be up about a quarter on the master to easily fill the pub with bass.

Telling us what's making you unhappy with the OBP-3 might help.

Next gig for me is a rare live outing with The Inevitable Teaspoons on Friday 5th September at Krakatoa in Aberdeen. Please come - the original headliner bowed out and we could do with some more bodies in the kirk, if you know what I mean. https://www.facebook.com/events/1246508667088048

Basswood's not balsa, what's the BFD?