Bigwan

I'm in the middle of fettling one of these as a gift. Out of the box the tuners felt awful, there were high frets all over the place and they felt rough when playing, the strings were binding on the string tree and the neck finish was so thin as to feel raw. Weight isn't bad, probably about 9.5-10lbs at a guess. Nut (although slightly too narrow for the width of the fretboard) is cut to the correct depth. Action is a little high, probably to compensate for the level of fretwork. A bit of a beast to play as a result, especially given the neck in the first position is fairly hefty! A set of Wilkinson tuners went on (after significant filing - still need a bit of lubrication), hipshot-esque string tree, a light level and crowning of the frets (my first attempt at this! Also got all Roger Sadowsky on it's ass and took progressively more off the frets after the 12th - seemed to work well), rolled the fingerboard edges a little with the shank of a screwdriver, polished up the neck with Kiwi mid tan shoe polish in an attempt to darken it down a bit (not sure it worked but it's taken the raw feel out of the equation), and a proper set up and you know what? Now it feels and plays brilliantly! Nice low action easily achievable. I may still replace the bridge with a Wilkinson as the current one looks and feels pretty cheap under adjustment. Probably needs shielding but I'm on a clock so that might have to wait. Would definitely recommend these if you have the time and inclination to do this level of work. As a confidence builder this wee project has been great. I've a couple of basses that need frets leveling so I'll not be frightened to tackle that sort of thing any more.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMPEG-SVT3PROU-AMPLIFIER-32116-318-/182447598156?hash=item2a7ab96a4c:g:SaMAAOSwTglYmeuW

Who knows. Something to do with declared value perhaps. Never heard of anybody in the UK ordering from Prymax who did have to pay said fee...

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1486558519' post='3232734'] Just to clarify, are you saying if I buy from them I won't have to pay import duty on it? [/quote] [size=1]Yes... Shhh...[/size]

I have a Kala Exotic Mahogany and a deko HB. In all honesty I couldn't recommend the Kala at all. With the original strings on it it has a kind of charm, but putting better strings on reveals SERIOUS intonation issues. I've tried the pyramid roundwounds and a set of tapewounds and both are atrocious. I had seen a thread on that other bass forum where a few people complained of a similar issue that needed a bridge reset to fix. It's probably compounded by the common pickup issue mine also experiences - the pickup is epoxied to the underside of the bridge, but requires the whole unit to make contact to the body of the bass via the bottom of the bridge channel. Well epoxy doesn't leave a nice level surface and if it doesn't touch correctly you get dead strings. The E on mine is virtually inaudible. The Kala fix? Loosen the strings and pull/roll the saddle in the slot to seat it better... If I'd bought it myself it would have gone straight back for a refund, but it was a birthday present imported from the states... Other than a few sharp fret ends the HB is every bit as good to play. Doesn't look as pretty, but I can live with that...

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1486384914' post='3231259'] Cheers guys, I'll look into the Bearfoot. Bigwan, you mentioned in another thread about a [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]pedalparts clone of the Bluberry (presumably the original BJFE one?[/font][/color] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]Is that the one you have? If it is, how do you get on with it? Would it meet my needs as in the first post? [/color][/font] [/quote] Yes it's one of the older style pedalparts kits that I hacked to BJFE specs. The kit has been updated so no hacking is now required, although I'm not sure if it's the Bearfoot or BJFE versions you can build with it. As Danny has said the standard BJFE is a little dark for my tastes (nothing a little EQ wouldn't fix) but being the tinkerer I am I made a few mods suggested by Josh Broughton (from that other bass forum) which brightened it up and made it a much more flexible pedal. As standard it's great, but the modded version is even better. I'd been meaning to get back to fiddling with the pedal and putting it in a bigger enclosure to allow me to add a few switching options and make the tone control a little more usable (a little nudge makes a huge difference and all the really nice sounds are between 9 and 2 o'clock), but I haven't got around to it just yet. Stacking my Blueberry clone and an Ashdown Lomemzo Hyperdrive makes for a really flexible drive section.

Doubt the body is either!

Looks-wise I couldn't agree more, but it prictice it counter the old P+J mix problem you here folk talk a lot about.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1486378186' post='3231169'] I have 2 PJ's (one I modded and one I bought) and IMO a PJ just sounds like a P with a bit more EQ. I have the J turned off on my Mike Lull PJ5 because it sounds better as a straight P. My Jazz basses and Lakland sound better than the PJ if I want that sound. I'll swim against the tide here and say I don't think a PJ is worth the mod. If you want to cover the sonic territory you still need a Jazz or another 2 pickup bass so adding a J to a Precision is just the sound equivalent of putting go faster stripes on it. If you have a P bass that sounds good, be happy with it. If you need a different sound, get another bass. Sometimes more is not better. [/quote] ...or go the ezbass RW with dual P route... https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site:+basschat.co.uk+ezbass+roadworn+dual&espv=2&biw=1536&bih=774&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0mqGNp_vRAhWJ7SYKHbOKC2wQ_AUIBygC&dpr=1.25#imgrc=-eXEIvn3yoUPtM:

BJFE blueberry (or Bearfoot version as Danny suggests - slightly different feedback/tone circuit topology). The Mad Professor version is higher gain than either and does get into fuzzy territory.

I'd go with modding the RW myself. A bass you know and love. Adding a J probably wouldn't hurt resale if that was a concern.

Tom's great to work with. Worth the wait!

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1486109063' post='3229232'] This actually looks like a good cheap pedal for metal if you don't want to splash the cash: Joyo Orange Juice: [media]http://youtu.be/Uq9CDL4Jdyo[/media] [/quote] To me that sounds miles better than the Darkglass stuff, but I'd have to hear it with my own gear. I've been toying with buying myself one of these as a cheeky birthday present next month.

[quote name='GazWills' timestamp='1486032266' post='3228607'] I stupidly sold the purple SSBS Mini (above) last year, missed it so much I just got another one (sparkly silver this time!!) Such a great pedal! Only problem is I sold the Metro 24 board I used to have, and I can't fit 6 pedals on my PT Mini - really need to stop selling things so quickly! [/quote] Easy fix! Loose the modulation!

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1486031080' post='3228599'] Hi, Bigwan Harry tracked this down for me to use - it's a Northwest Guitars product and is basically a Hipshot clone: [url="http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/hipshot-style-string-retainer-string-tree-for-electric-bass-guitars/"]http://www.northwest...c-bass-guitars/[/url] The only thing I would suggest is that you consider some better screws (or maybe even go BA nuts and bolts all the way through like Ibanez). Because it is holding down three strings, there seems to me to be a hell of a lot of force bearing down on two not-overly-long and very thin screws. With a tiny pilot hole and much care, it is actually doing the job, but it must be on the very edge of its design capability. The tree itself, though, seems to be very good quality. [/quote] Thanks Andy. I'll give it a shot with the supplied screws. If it should fail I'll do the Ibanez bolt through job. Cheers!

"[b][font=Times]Ideally I would like £1000[/font][/b]" Wouldn't we all...

I don't think the Lomenzo really does warm drive (I say that as the biggest advocate of the pedal there's likely to be around here). I think the intention with the pedal, and how Lomenzo uses it himself, is well explained in his youtube video. You'll note from the video that his bass sound is lovely and warm BEFORE he kicks the pedal on... For a warm drive I'd recommend the BJFE version of the Blueberry, as I frequently do! They're pricey, but if you know somebody handy with a soldering iron pedalparts.co.uk do a complete clone kit. I use the Lomenzo and a Blueberry clone combined to great effect (pun intended).

Hi Andy, do you have a link to the string retainer you used for this bass? My HB-50 arrived yesterday and the fitted tree isn't fit for purpose. Neither are the tuners but the Wilkinsons are sitting ready to be fitted - unclear whether they'll need ground down like these at the minute. Might get a way with a light filling going by initial investigations!

Wooden cavity cover, wooden battery compartment cover and wooden truss rod access would say 'hand made with care taken' to me. Bridge placement could be a factor of bridge pickup placement, bridge saddle position is a function of string type and gauge so I wouldn't read too much into either of those. And it's a Schaller roller bridge (and I think Schaller M4 tuners - the screw tab coming out of the bottom instead of the side is a giveaway) which are excellent quality. I think I've seen that Thompson make before, and not very long ago... Though it was on Bassist Ireland on Facebook but can't find it now... I think this is a quality one-off build myself. just has the misfortune of looking like a load of knockoff Chinese imports and will probably sell cheap as a result.

Not much to add. Try everything you can. My wife bought me a USA precision as a wedding gift and I love it.