mentalextra

Well its mostly done now. My old £30 j bass copy has been "upgraded". It sounds fantastic and makes all the right noises, I am so pleased. I have decided that I would not strip and repaint it. but leave the battle scars as character. The old tin plate bridge is in the bin replaced with a high mass version. That was a bit of a story as even after careful measuring it wasnt right. In the end I had to fit the E and G string to get the string positioning right. Thanks to willyf87 for the jazz pups. Cleaned up the fretboard and fitted some roundwound strings. The difference in sound is amazing and the feel and playability are outstanding. There is a little snagging list. I will have to set the intonation and string height properly, it needs a tweak. The machine heads have a question of doubt over them or maybe Im looking for problems where there arent any! I am genuinely over the moon though. Thank you all so much for the help and encouragement.

Oh, right. Although they are not the first to smash guitars; its all been done before!

I've sort of hankered after one for a while. Why are they so thin on the ground compared to Fender. After all, plenty of SG and LP about. Are they a bad guitar? Also, does anyone know what made Gene Simmons decide on a Gibson Bass, bearing in mind Fender must have broken their back to get him using one of theres?

OK, thanks for the info.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r83vDshp_v0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r83vDshp_v0[/url] What about this? keyboard or guitar?

But, as I said up the top. What is so special about a "stack knob"; is it age, rarity?

[size=5]U2 on Glastonbury[/size], wow should be good. .....................ok, maybe not? Although they do have lots of guitars!

I run a small trading business on Eaby and I never use ParcelForce. There are always problems, always! You get the impression that if there were only one parcel a year to deal with it would be late! I consistently use DHL. I know the two guys that pick up from me and they are always courteous and professional. So far!

Can anyone identify what effect is used on the bass guitar. It is very distinctive and found on lots of reggae tracks. You might need some speakers with a decent bottom end! lol Cheers [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0H5BsbxyO8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0H5BsbxyO8[/url]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='1276619' date='Jun 21 2011, 07:42 AM']yep, you can use the intonation adjustment screws to fine tune to 34" scale (or whatever scale length your neck is), so that gives you maybe an inch to play with on the final hole positions needed for screwing.[/quote] Ok, thats great. The new bridge has totally different mounting holes so that will help. Im just waiting for all my bits to arrive then I will take it apart. Give it a coat of paint and put it back together with the new bits. Thanks for the help

Also I have seen a youtube video where a guy obtained the position for a new bridge by measure the scale length, from the nut to where the string touches the saddle; I believe 34" on my j bass. Anyone used this method? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHtaJLYLBE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHtaJLYLBE[/url]

No, you're right. I just had a measure up. Shame, that would have explained why they routed such a large opening, so why bother to accurately route the bridge pickup and not the neck. Weird? Is there a wider after market neck pickup that some players prefer?

Well thats the thing. I rather like the "no scratch plate" look. Could you explain to me about the P bass pickup thing?

Why do some replacement jazz type bodies have a large "oversize" cut out for the neck pick up? I have just been skimming through Ebay and noticed one or two like this eg "mighty mite". While some appear to have the snug, "close" fitting pick up cut out? Eg: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/No12-Alder-2-2kg-jazz-bass-electric-Guitar-body-/140540823450?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item20b8e2c79a"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/No12-Alder-2-2kg-jaz...=item20b8e2c79a[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mighty-Mite-unfinished-Ash-Jazz-Bass-body-2703A-J01-/280696174262?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item415acbb6b6"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mighty-Mite-unfinish...=item415acbb6b6[/url] As opposed to this? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jazz-Bass-Replacement-body-/230610513093?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item35b1752cc5"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jazz-Bass-Replacemen...=item35b1752cc5[/url] .....and this? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JAZZ-BASS-BODY-NATURAL-SOLID-ASH-UNFINISHED-/300565648362?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item45fb1bd3ea"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JAZZ-BASS-BODY-NATUR...=item45fb1bd3ea[/url] Can anyone make sense of this for a newbie please? Cheers

[quote name='JayPH' post='1267322' date='Jun 13 2011, 02:32 PM']Guys. I can't believe I did this. Banged on the corner of a desk: [url="http://s1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee381/JPH10/Fender%20Bender/"]http://s1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee381/...ender%20Bender/[/url] How would you go about damage limitation? i don't want any more paint to chip off. It doesn't add character it displays the fact that I am a f***ing idiot who has not been able to look after this beautiful instrument properly. A friend was telling me to colour it in with a brown felt tip pen on the wood that's showing and then apply laquer to it? I also read you could use clear naiul varnish. I don't want to make it worse. f*** [/quote] In the antiques world this sort of mark would be called general "patina" or usual age related marks for an object that is meant to be used not looked at. Found on instruments and firearms etc. Dont worry too much.

[quote name='Steven69' post='1263422' date='Jun 9 2011, 11:07 PM']This one any good to you.......? [url="http://www.johnrosk.btinternet.co.uk/goodbye.html#goodbye"]http://www.johnrosk.btinternet.co.uk/goodbye.html#goodbye[/url][/quote] Nice one, thanks. Although this guy is not playing those tabs and it sounds spot on to me! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vs0S3TfkSo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vs0S3TfkSo[/url]

[quote name='ahpook' post='1263338' date='Jun 9 2011, 09:56 PM']my first amp was an 80's linebacker 30 not a great amp iirc - very boxy sounding, but fine for noodling. i'd say even £50 is steep[/quote] Fair enough it can stay there. Its over an hour drive back.

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='1263324' date='Jun 9 2011, 09:47 PM']see if he will offer you £50 to take it off his hands![/quote] Are they crap?

I was coming home from work just outside Colchester tonight and while trying to find a town in essex with a working cash point, happened upon one of those shops that sells old 35mm cameras and watches. He had some old records and tucked in the corner of the shop window was an amp. Laney linebacker 30. Looked OK. Price label said £70. Worth going back for it do you think? Might offer him £50?

Hi, On the Stranglers "Goodbye Toulouse" bass line, is that an Arpeggio? Also, it seems that the tabs are different depending on where you look. Youtube also has some good attempts, but they dont all play the same "pattern". I guess the only way is to study JJ but he seems to have the knack of turning away from the camera at the appropriate moment. lol Cheers

[quote name='Jigster' post='1257551' date='Jun 5 2011, 06:16 PM']yes mart - decided I'm going to leave it anyway and just take it back[/quote] Take it back. You have already paid for the warranty in the purchase price. You are entitled to use it, surely. Manufacturers take notice of warranty claims, you could help improve things in future.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1257398' date='Jun 5 2011, 03:39 PM']A badass 2 or a Gotoh 201 will use the same screw holes as a Fender 5-screw bridge. Some other bridges you can still use the centre screwhole for bridge placement.[/quote] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-BRIDGE-SADDLE-BLACK-INDIVIDUAL-STRING-NEW-/400143967852?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5d2a70666c"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-BRIDGE-S...=item5d2a70666c[/url] I've noticed on Ebay some individual bridge fittings, but I have never seen these on a bass? What are the pros and cons? Also I have seen a youtube video where a guy obtained the position for a new bridge by measure the scale length, from the nut to where the string touches the saddle; I believe 34" on my j bass. Anyone used this method? Cheers

[quote name='mart' post='1257140' date='Jun 5 2011, 09:54 AM']This is right, so you have some margin for error. If you've got the bass perfectly set up at the moment (ok action, and correct intonation), then you should be able to use the position of where the saddles are now to show where to put the new bridge, just like you say. I'd stick a couple of bits of masking tape on - one each side of the bridge - and put a pen mark level with the E saddle on the tape on that side and a mark level with the G saddle on the other bit of tape. Then when you swap bridges you can line the new one up by these bits of tape. Before you do this, you should probably also tweak the intonation screws on the new bridge so that each saddle has roughly the same amount of forward/backward space as on your current bridge.[/quote] Thanks, good advice

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1257008' date='Jun 5 2011, 12:31 AM']The front/rear placement is not so critical since you will adjust the intonation anyway, as long as it's within the bridge saddle screw range. More important to get the bridge centred reasonably accurately relative to the neck (and pickups). What replacement bridge are you thinking of using?[/quote] Something more susbtantial than the "B&Q" design I have at the moment

[quote name='mart' post='1256816' date='Jun 4 2011, 08:54 PM']I had to move the bridge on a Rockbass because the strings were out of line with the neck. I put up a thread on the Warwick forum describing what I did: this is where I started talking about the bridge: [url="http://forum.warwick.de/17-rockbass/13065-great-rockbass-renovation-project.html#post201247"]http://forum.warwick.de/17-rockbass/13065-...html#post201247[/url] I'm sure there are others way of doing this, and probably better ones - I was making it up as I went along! [/quote] Great, thanks. It makes interesting reading. My bridge is obviously in the correct position and I am changing it to upgrade/improve the worn out original. I like the way you used the strings to set the rearward position. How did you set their length accurately when you have to undo them to get the bridge off? Also, could I mark the position of the ends of the strings now and use that as a reference point for the new bridge?