neepheid

I bought a DeArmond Starfire a while back from tayste_2000 who in turn got it from EssentialTension. It had a few things wrong with it - these are outlined in ET's original for sale thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=31912&hl=starfire"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;hl=starfire[/url] Well, it took a while (a small family problem, now resolved) but it finally got here this weekend. I'm pleased to report that the easiest problem is fixed - the wonky knobs. ET reckoned they were glued on. I bloody hoped not, as one of the tone pots was loose. I managed to remove the knobs by sliding the folded over edge of an old T-shirt under the edge of the knob and pulling up on it. They were damned hard to shift but I got them removed eventually. Once I tightened up the nuts on all the pots, I squeezed the split shafts slightly with a pair of pliers to make putting the knobs back on a little easier. It was still bloody hard work. But they're all tightened up and on straight. My attention turns to the more perplexing problem, the crack between the fingerboard and the neck from frets 2-4ish. I am going to attempt to get some glue in the crack using a syringe then clamping it down to hell. I don't see fixing the dings next to the bridge as being a priority. A drop fill of lacquer might smooth it out. Now to find some suitable syringes and needles.

[quote name='lojo' post='508419' date='Jun 8 2009, 06:30 PM']Hi Going to build my first bass, but I am going to use an off the shelf neck first time round Will be copying a jazz bass to scale, keeping it simple first time round, making and spraying the body (wow i can have any colour I like!) So I need to go shopping 1. Any recommendations for best place to purchase a decent finished maple neck w maple finger board ? 2. Any recommendations on make of hardware and electronics, I have no preference if they are standard fender or not? (I plan to order these soon to put pressure on myself to get on with the body construction) 3. Any comments very welcome at this stage Thanks for any comments[/quote] To be honest, eBay is as good a source for necks as any. Brand new necks are rather expensive from your usual suspects (WD Music, Allparts, etc.) Pickups, well with Jazz ones the world is your oyster - so many varieties.

Welcome to the forum

I installed a Big Combo (I guess its a Thumper and an Eighty-Four?) in a PJ Jazz recently. I liked the sound, but I was less impressed by the rather sharp edges of the pole pieces, caught my thumb when muting the E string a little.

A while back, Geoff bought a Squier P body from me. Paid promptly and everything went smoothly.

I recently acquired this 31 year old, she was in a bit of a state as can be seen here: In the middle of cleaning some white gunk off the pickup casings: Well, I decided to give the old "coke soak" a try on the tarnished metal parts. Colour me amazed. And here she is, fully assembled: I haven't given her a good go through the rig yet, but even through headphones/bass trainer last night I was impressed. Proper play tonight!

[quote name='noelk27' post='505599' date='Jun 4 2009, 05:07 PM']Planning on converting a four-string G&L L2000 to string through body, and looking for recommendations as to suitable replacement bridges.[/quote] Are you sure you want to do that? IIRC the G&L bridge is a nice one with locking saddles - but quite large. The chances of finding a direct replacement are slim. You might be left with screw holes on the sides. Furthermore, if you perform this then you're going to harm potential resale value if you come to sell it. If you're sure you want to do this, I'd put forward the Hipshot A-style bridge. Adjustable in all directions. As seen here:

I've emailed them in the states to see if anyone knows what's going on. They were pretty helpful with questions about neck dimensions etc.

[quote name='neepheid' post='504391' date='Jun 3 2009, 01:09 AM']I've just ordered a Chaos 4. Hope the shop actually has one [/quote] And it looks like I'm being bedevilled with supply problems - the shop phoned me up to say that they've none in stock and they asked their suppliers when new stock's coming and they've got no idea. Bah humbug.

I've just ordered a Chaos 4. Hope the shop actually has one

Practice, practice, practice. And plenty of practice as a band - don't do what I did and do my first gig off the back of only 3 whole band practices. Try to relax. If you make a mistake, keep calm and carry on - join up the song as soon as you can. Try to enjoy it. It seems like you've got a reasonably relaxed gig for your first one with probably a supportive and captive audience. Good luck.

Good job on the bending. I'd be a bit wary about using steam too, but I'd be interested to know how it goes. What an improvement over the comical effort it arrived with

Welcome to the forum

[quote name='lee4' post='503219' date='Jun 1 2009, 07:33 PM']I've re-strung my Yamaha with 45-105 flats,and after a day I found that the E string has broken a chunk off of the nut.Luckily I have found it and glued it in with UHU.Is this going to work,and do I need to re-cut the slots?[/quote] As long as you put the bit back in exactly the same place as before and used a strong enough glue then you should be fine. However, you have to ask the question why it happened in the first place. It may well be that those flats are a little too wide for the slots - did they exhibit any objections to going in the slots when you first strung up? If so, you may need to marginally widen the slot.

[quote name='henry norton' post='503154' date='Jun 1 2009, 06:36 PM']Has anyone here tried moving the big wooly humbucker from the neck closer to the bridge position on their Gibson or Epiphone EB-0?. I've seen it done on a couple of basses but never heard the results. It could produce some really interesting results - especially if the coils were made switchable between single, series and parallel. I'm thinking of giving it a go - has anyone got an unwanted EB-0 humbucker kicking around???[/quote] Yes, Gibson did: [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/1972gibsonEB0.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/1972gibsonEB0.php[/url]

[quote name='Metalmoore' post='501041' date='May 29 2009, 03:45 PM']Anyone know where i could get grain filler? B&Q? Homebase? I got my paint in this morning but cant spray the body as its ash and needs to be filled first. What can i do about this?[/quote] [url="http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=22802"]http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=22802[/url]

Welcome to the forum

No, you're not alone - I don't get along with thin necks. They can be either wide (P or wider, like my Les Paul bass) or chunky back to front (like the Rockbass Corvette I sold recently - Jazz width but chunky with it) but thin necks I don't like. I did have a Squier Jazz a few years ago but I just didn't take to it. I used to say that having the strings closer together meant my sausage fingered technique meant I touched the wrong strings more often, tweaked them with a nail or whatnot, but the Corvette proved that isn't the case. I guess I just like the feel of a substantial neck.

Would have looked better without the mudbucker - stick to the Burns Tri-sonic (or equivalent), 2 or 3 of them would have looked much better, and much closer to the guitar version it's trying to ape.

[quote name='BassKS' post='498602' date='May 27 2009, 11:30 AM']hahah, good one. Thats what I was hoping to do. the difficulty arises to find a long enough drill bit. But it can be done then thanks neepheid. BTW. If I chose to get a set of bartolinis passive with epoxy casing it shouldnt be bad, should it?[/quote] I had a Jazz with Barts in it once. It didn't like fluorescent lights very much, and that was with an earth.

[quote name='BassKS' post='498578' date='May 27 2009, 11:01 AM']Hi there, I noticed that some basses have the earth strip exposed to the rest of the world while others have it routed inside the body and makes contact under the bridge. Is there any way that one may get rid of the strip? It doesnt look nice or would that be defying the laws of electromagnetics and keep the circuit open which would result in crazy humming and buzzing. Thanks[/quote] No earth on a passive bass is probably bad. You could do what you propose, but you'll have to make alternative arrangements for earthing. If one doesn't exist, drill an angled hole from somewhere under the bridge plate into the control cavity. You'll need quite a long, narrow drill bit Run a wire through the hole and solder it to a pot casing. Job done. Doing this to a vintage instrument will most certainly harm its resale value, if that bothers you.

Welcome to the forum

I've gravitated towards thicker necks as time's gone on, so out went a Squier Jazz, an Epiphone EB-3. Had a acrylic bodied bass but it weighed a tonne so that was out. Had a brief dalliance with short scale basses until I realised that I was capable of playing long scale, so bye bye went a Squier Bronco and an Epiphone EB-0. Currently I have a P bass (everyone needs a P bass) and my main gigging bass is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I got that because I thought it looked beautiful. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to have a lovely wide neck. Once I gave it the full EMG treatment (HB pickups + BQC 3-band EQ) it became the beast it should have always been. I have ideas about installing a pickup selector switch in the usual LP position for completeness (it's just separate volume for each at the moment), low battery indicator and other such creature comforts. I have my custom builds, but they're a different matter altogether.