brensabre79

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1347968302' post='1807249'] Does the polepiece material differ from model to model as well as the magnet material? My SR 5 had AlNiCo magnets and didn't rust at all. My Ibanez polepieces rusted like mad, so I reckon not all polepieces are created equal... Solution? Silver nail varnish ? [/quote] Yeah there are all sorts of different magnets. The more traditional ferrous ones have iron in which rusts instantly. The Alnico ones don't rust, ceramic/neo ones don't either. But the old school ones, they rust!

I don't think I have come across an amp modeller that really sounds and feels like a good valve amp being cranked, they just don't sing in the same way, I've tried Boss, Line6, Zoom and Digitech stuff. One exception is the one I use for recording guitars now, a [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vox-Tonelab-Original-/320984316604?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4abc27fabc"]VOX Tonelab[/url] - it has a valve in it so its less of a simulation. It also has cab models in. Its quite simple (and a few years old now) but what it does it does pretty well for me. And its MIDI programmable! Never tried it live though. I've also not tried the current version.

Dunno about Denmark Street but I was looking for one the other day and played a black Aria Electro Acoustic. Actually it was really nice, smooth and easy to play and I hate Arias usually! It was secondhand though at £170, and in Brighton. If you go for the Phantom branded ones they are all pretty much the same anyway. Fender do some pretty low priced acoustic guitars, not sure about the basses - but you can't go wrong with them, if its a dog you can sell it easily enough

Mine went rusty and black years ago. Still works fine. I've never put nail varnish or anything on t. Its what you might call a genuine relic effect. It might seem a strange concept to some but this process of Relic'ing is really straightforward, all you have to do is play the bass for a while and that's what happens! You could try painting them silver again - I think that's what they do to them. They are magnets at the end of the day so they will be magnet coloured naturally. Look at pictures of any old guitar with exposed pole pieces - they are black. There are even companies that sell pickups that are pre-blackened. One of the reasons the older instruments sound so good is the degrading of the pickups, traditionally from years of playing. It helps the signal break up a bit. Seriously though, if you want the bass to remain in showroom condition, don't play it.

Hi there, nice to meet a fellow '79 Sabre owner

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1337451403' post='1660354'] I didn't know about this allowance either - well spotted! [url="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm"]http://www.hmrc.gov....rivingnoneu.htm[/url] Any here ever done this? [/quote] I haven't but my dad used to do something similar when he was a working musician, he'd go out with a Marshall amp and Burns / Hofner / Hagstrom guitar (this was years ago), go straight to Manny's in New York and come back with a Fender Twin and a Les Paul or Strat. Every 6 months he'd do the same as he was working cruise ships and Jazz clubs between London and New York.

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1347914493' post='1806677'] Protetcion Racket [url="http://www.djmmusic.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=GB7051"]electric bass case[/url] is pretty deep front to back, so it may well fit in one of those! [/quote] Cheers, yes 4" deep should cover it! I'll check it out,Thanks [quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1347916630' post='1806715'] A gig bag for an acoustic bass guitar would fit I'm sure, I got one from the gigbag company. [/quote] Thanks, might be too deep though, its only a semi

Possibly not, but the Ritter ones I have barely fit my Jazz bass, its really snug in there, so even a little extra depth would be a problem.

Just sold my Goliath 4x10 2 weeks ago! shame. Damn fine cab, seriously loud, seriously heavy. Built like a tank If you go for a i or ii. check the speakers very very carefully!! Those PAS drivers are discontinued, there's no recone kits around either. The i was actually designed by Eden and the ii was an improvement on the original design and is widely regarded as the best one to get. After Fender took over the cost cutting inevitably began to creep in, they changed the spec too. I still have my slightly creased PAS drivers, I ended up replacing with Eminence BP102s, while the work with the cab low down they lack a bit up at the top of the mid range.

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1347887166' post='1806124'] Creates space between neck and heel. Not a great idea apart from action adjust. Tonally not on. [/quote] I concur Mr Letts. I took mine out of my Sabre and the sustain improved dramatically, the previous owner had cranked it right up

I've just purchased myself a semi-acoustic bass. An Ibanez Artcore AGB140. It's full scale (not short scale like the newer ones) but it has no case. I can't seem to find one either. There is a hardcase made by Ibanez but this is discontinued. So I was wondering if there was a gig bag out there that would fit? Any ideas? Thanks!

They are like people, each has their own personality. Thats the way I look at it anyway, there are som many variables between two seemingly identical instruments that it can be very hard to pin down the cause of the difference. It's usually a multitude of things. I had a strat once, it played like a dog, I lent it to a guitarist who ultimately smashed it up because it wouldn't stay in tune and played like the aforementioned dog. He broke the neck and split the body. I repaired it, glued the thing back together, set it up, and it was a different instrument!! Sounded great, amazing sustain and played like a dream. Go figure

Yep Fender, Musicman and G&L all pretty much the same. I have to say though I don't think the 3 bolt system is as solid as 4 - maybe thats why they all went back to 4 in the 80s?

I think they are still velcro. I know mine is, its from January this year. Just get a screwdriver into the very corner and prise it off.

Good link! Nice one Paul

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1347580762' post='1802839'] I have always thought the 'Precision' name was a bit of a misnomer, especially on the fretless. That big woofly sound, nothing precise about it! [/quote] It was the first fretted bass guitar, before that everyone used a double bass. So by virtue of the fact it had frets, so you could play the notes precisely with ease, it was named Precision Bass. So you're right a fretless Precision isn't really a Precision at all as it is anything but precise! Personally I think the Jazz Bass is better suited to the fretless disposition, although I don't use mine for jazz music. I have a Yamaha for that.

Check out Maplin or RS for the 4 way. You can get a rotary switch which is adjustable for the number of clicks from 2 to 8 from Maplin. Its a bit plasticy but it works.

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347694333' post='1804017'] You didn't answer the questions at all. Telling me you've played gigs on cheap guitars is irrelevant if none of them are the same as this bass. I also asked you what was not set up correctly and you didn't answer, you just repeated what the problem was. I know what the problem is. What I don't know is what cuases it. Frankly the signal to noise ratio in this thread has become impossible. [/quote] Lots of people have tried to help wishface, and answered your questions, myself included. You're right about the signal to noise ratio but I can't help feeling you have exacerbated this by retorting. I said earlier that all this "you said this .. I said that.." isn't helping at all. This is not a technical support service, and if you don't like the answers you get there is no line manager to complain to I'm afraid. No refunds or compensation. We are just a bunch of bass players trying to get along and help each other out when we can. I think after 13 pages and 146 posts on the matter my patience and generosity have waned. You have a new set of strings and I think there is more than enough info on this thread to help you set up your bass. If you don't understand the step by step guides both on here and in the step by step links then you will need to get someone to look at your bass. Thanks to the way this thread has descended I don't think you'll get any more offers from here so you should probably look at the list of guitar techs/luthiers in the repairs forum and take your bass to one of them. In the words of Duncan Bannatine... This is completely ridiculous. I'm out.

Yep he's pretty honest about the stuff he mods - even if you don't agree with stickin Fender decals onto Squiers at least he says so!

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1347605124' post='1802893'] shock horror! really? a bad Wal?? not from the maker for sure...your guy hadn't looked after it, simple as. [/quote] Yes I think it was very poorly looked after, although he had no trouble playing it well - but I guess he'd got used to it! Not saying Wal's are bad at all, but the one I tried was a huge letdown - I guess its like that thing about never meeting your heroes. I'm over it now, I still want one, with two pickups, in black with no scratchplate mmmmm

Here's mine, taken in better days, sadly the varnish has cracked on the fingerboard and headstock now - the varnish on the back of the neck came off a long long time ago! Wizard 74 neck, Wizard 84 bridge, EMG EQ, Badass bridge. Never had the thumbrest or covers.

It's definitely not a Fender, the end of the neck isn't rounded enough. I think it looks a bit too rounded to be the Ibanez though, although it is extremely close! Maybe it has been customised (new pickguard without the holes), or more likely photo retouched! There's no way you'd have a two pickup bass with only one control is there?

Ignore that, for now we are looking at approximate measurements, there's really so little between them you don't need to worry once the basic setup is sorted you can experiment to get it just how you want it. Hence my guide - which I trust you have printed out and read through several times by now - was very simplified. First we just need to get your bass somewhere near set-up properly so we can determine what the problem is by ruling everything out. The neck radius is the curve of the fingerboard, you'll notice its not completely flat it has a slight curve to it.

Is it a Jazz Bass copy then? 3 controls? I would go with Master Volume, Blend and Tone in that case. So each pickup would go to its relevant stack on the blend pot, the outputs of the blend pot would go to the volume and on to the tone before going to the jack socket. I can do a diagram but there should be loads of these on the net, its probably the most common jazz bass mod - although personally I hate blend controls - I have a 5 position rotary switch on my Jazz. I think with the pots and treble its the other way around, the 250k ones are darker 500k brighter. Hence 250k for brighter sounding single coil pickups and 500k for humbuckers... There's a handy article about it [url="http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Electronics/Pots/w101-controlpots.html"]here[/url]

Right, so go to the next step... set the action height at the bridge and then check the nut. Where are you getting the fret buzz? 1st fret? 5th fret? everywhere?