Immo

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1386273107' post='2298188']
Interestingly, this discussion about curly leads has led me to purchase (...)
[/quote]
Same here. I was buying some stuff for my project bass (strings, screws, bridge cover etc.) and found some Warwick RockCable curly cords sold insanely cheap, so I bough a 5m cable. Will express my opinion when I'll test it.

Mine's gonna be [s]fixed[/s] modified soon, so I'll leave you guys with "sought after" Encores with my "Custom Shop" one.

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1386171894' post='2296718']
People have had brilliant results with waxing instead of full on painting. There are build diaries somewhere. I think it was Truckstop and his ibanez blazers that I'm thinking of.
[/quote]
I'll do some research, but those are cosmetics; the structural changes (routing and fixing the position of the bridge) and electronics (new wiring, pots and switches) are my primary concern now

Speaking of the structure, I have a driller at a standby. Will fix the bridge today. Also, I'll prepare the pickguard for new electronics.
Speaking of the latter, I bought three B500K pots and two DPDT "on-off-on" switches for new wiring (serial/off/parallel for each PU).

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1386168752' post='2296663']
Looking forward to seeing the paint stripped... Maybe these are a source of decent quality bodies.
[/quote]
The thing that keeps me away from the repainting idea is a fact that I have no experience, ability or equipment to do a repainting, while the cost of cheapest professional guitar painting offered around is equal to the price of the bass itself.

As I promised, here's my new build diary for the Encore project:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/223971-immo-custom-shopencore-twinsplit-p-bass/"]LINK[/url]

Finally!
Work, general indolence and other stuff led to suspensions of all my projects I used to coin as "Immo Custom Shop". But enough! Finally, it's time to do the job again!

Previous projects (a Tele/Jag bass mixture with EB-3 electronics and Thinline Tele Bass) are postponed as they demanded building nearly from scratch. My new project is based on something slightly less demanding. Already at the time of acquisition, the bass is nearly fully operational.
We are talking about a nice material for a project bass, an instrument manufactured in the vile depths of 90's in India - Encore Precision Bass. White pickups, Fender type headstock and blocky string tree = 100% Indian Encore.



[i]Project bass, he said?[/i] Let's head back to the start. Two years ago I found an offer - a white split coil PU from Indian Encore P-Bass. That little P-thingy reached my mind telepathically and asked me to buy it, so I reached deep into my wallet and fulfilled it's demands. Said pickup sounded pretty well when tested (suspended upside down on a pickguard over the strings of another bass). It was white/creamy, so I started thinking about the white bass with black pickguard. And then about adding a the black split PU in the bridge position.... And so I was thinking about it, and the years passed by. Then suddenly 12 days ago I was idly browsing the internet sales and came across this here Encore bass, with the same type of pickups and origin. I immediately thought - man, that's it! Called dibs on the bass, I bought and two days ago it finally arrived!

God, the maintenance of this bass was sloppy! Strings - rusty. Screws, springs - the same. Neck - a bit bananized (as we call it in Poland), action: ~ 1cm, pots - loose, bridge - not in line with the neck.
A little worried, I took the bass apart and found some interesting wood:



What kind of wood is it? Cosmic wood, mahogany, oak, stone-pine, limba, korina, rosewood, walnut, nyatoh (a.k.a. nato or Indonesian mahogany) or... God alone knows what else, each asked person had his own idea. I'm still not sure what it is, but it sounds cool and resonates nicely - that's what matters. The body is very heavy, no neck-dive. Lacquer's battered and boring, so I guess eventually repaint it, especially if the whole body has interesting grain.
Inspection of the neck made ​​me realize that the truss rod nut was completely loose, explaining why the neck was bent under the pressure of the strings (with no strings it was actually straight). Unfortunately, the nut has a hole for the allen size 17/72 inch (or some other ridiculous imperial measure; in metric, it's approximately 5.6 mm). As you can guess, 5mm allen slips, 6mm - won't fit.

So, I started to bring the bass back to usefulness. I tightened the truss rod a bit with the screwdriver (temporary solution). I added some old tapewounds, replaced the bridge with a one with several slots per string on each saddle), lowered the action... Okay, rock and roll!

Geez! Electronics cracks and creaks when I try to negotiate, butterfly part of G tuner falls into the annoying vibration and string A induces a strange sound inside the neck. The sound of that bass! for the price, it sounds sensational (especially A string) - like a true thoroughbred P-Bass! With it's quite comfortable neck and a decent, though battered body, it makes a great bass for project and I'm sure I haven't wasted my money. I think I found an instrument which, after renovation, will be really great!

I came up with a plan.

Things to do :
- doing some decent neck adjustment
- drilling new holes on the bridge so it won't be misaligned and askew
- replacing the pickguard with a black one (with holes suitable for Encore PU, which has a slight diference in shape to standard one)
- routing a new cavity for the second split coil PU
- changing pots (I'll keep the original capacitor, as it works perfectly the way I want it to work) and jack and setting up a V-V-T configuration (or maybe VBT, though this variant seems better for two single coils)
- installing a thumbrest, bridge chrome cover and white chicken- head knobs
In the first phase ready bass should look like that:



If there are funds and ambitions, the next points would be:
- Adding some custom electronics with some switches, like this maybe:



- Repainting the body for some nice transparent color (or maybe transparent black?) and custom pickguard

I'll keep you updated with news and pics. Keep your fingers crossed!

Love the idea of 30+ YO all passive bass connected with 40+ YO all tube amp via wireless system. Even if it's not destroying a tiniest bit of sound, it's so disgustingly modern!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH9IqDpVo2A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdMEON3iY2M

Two best non-LP songs by PJ in my book. And quite opposite, one's a ballad, another - a powerful rock song.

G string tuner has a loose "butterfly" part - it rattles when the bass is played. The bridge is misaligned with the neck (almost 1cm to the right, if placed upright), so G string tends to "escape" from the fretboard - thus, I'm not playing the bass as for now. But when I played it with a shirt tied around the headstock (to prevent the rattle), it sounded nice, like a pedigree P-Bass. I'll try to remove some lacquer from the PU cavity to check the state of wood underneath. If it'll look as cool as the neck cavity, I'll consider stripping down the boring lacquer and putting on some nice, transparent colour. Right now I'm thinking Transparent Orange.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1386002650' post='2294503']
I've read that Indian Sunn Mustangs are Black Limba/Korina. Don't know how true that is, but it would account for the weight.
[/quote]
Here's the wood grain in neck cavity of my Encore P-Bass, not sure what is it:

Mine came through. Quite heavy. Not the best state, neck's a bit bent and strings are rusty, the same goes with all screws. But, damn, I pulled the bass apart and found beautiful wood grain in the neck cavity and overall quality of the wood (despite some streaks of darker wood on the rear of neck, maple is really nice). Tuners need better washers and pots are quite lousy and loose. But otherwise, the bass will be a great asset for a nice project I have in mind.

Not really sure what wood the body is made of. It has those tiny elongated "pores" and looks more like a mahogany or rosewood than ash.
Will start a new Project Thread about this baby.

I have a friend who wants to buy LP guitar and the price is awesome. One tricky thing, though - we're in Poland.
Would you ship? I don't want to give him unnecessary G.A.S., ya' know.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1385914635' post='2293545']
(...)I read all the bumf on the packaging from fender about how 'curly leads have changed' and that they 'don't 'suck the tone out of your guitar any more' etc, etc. So I plugged it into my bass and it sounded horrible. There was [b]no high end[/b] at all and it sounded [b]very muddy[/b]. I still have the lead but I don't use it any more. (...)
[/quote]
Funny, cause DeeDee Ramone used them and he had LOTS of midrange and high end.

The basic problem about curly leads is that they're springy. This means they could slap you or something in the operational diameter, they can entangle with other cables and some say they really love to pop out of jack sockets before even stretching into full length. However, those arguments were used by people who begun their sentence with "Well, they say that...", so I think they're not that bad. I really want one.
Besides...

I'm a huge fan of PJ from any period of their playing. My favourite album? Hard to say, it's easier to point the one I like least - "Binaural".
Others are simply great, and Jeff Ament's bass playing is wonderful, especially in songs like "Rats", "Jeremy" and "Just Breathe".
"Mind Your Manners" seems to be a natural consequence of their playing and is not that "revolutionary" really, but it's a really great song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWQYYavheUA

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1385852587' post='2292973']
Aren't all fish slippery?
[/quote]
Wasn't that an idiom? Aw, hell, it probably was an AMERICAN idiom. Sorry, not too good in switching between languages of kings and presidents

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1385848863' post='2292912']
I'm sure that you'll notice a few if you look long enough.
[/quote]
Of course. But never noticed it like, you know, a slippery fish hitting my face.
[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1385849930' post='2292923']
Unless that his arbitrary opinion that we don't have any?
[/quote]
My arbitrary opinion is that Basschat.co.uk is a cool place.
Kids! Start your accounts today and post daily!

The only fault on my part is that I express my opinion on Behringer stuff, often without any arguments... I guess when an amp dies after 1 minute of playing, a person could be prejudiced, especially when hearing some similar news from colleagues. But anyway, I apologise.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1385831896' post='2292663']
I don't mind that so much, just as long as it is presented as opinion. I'm less keen when those regurgitated opinions are presented as FACT (usually in block capitals), as "myths debunked" or as some sort of pseudo-scientific "proof" in a discussion. This is a common ocurrence on a number of internet forums. I've nothing against a bit of conjecture in a discussion if it's not masquerading as anything else.
[/quote]
That's exactly what I'm trying to say: no [i]IMHO[/i]'s, no [i]I think, that[/i]'s, no [i]I'd suggest you[/i]'s - just simple statements without any argument, that may be viewed by an inexperienced person as a widespread opinion that goes without saying among the people who are more knowledgeable.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1385830225' post='2292641']
(...)
They may even be repeating an adoptive POV that they have read elsewhere and they haven't
themselves managed to get beyond the bedroom
[/quote]
No, I'm talking about experienced players who're simply a bit snotty. One of the "opinions" I posted above was from a guy who's an owner of a recording studio. He considers only a one Jazz Bass configuration to be "worthy" (specific hardware, no pickguard etc.) and others "don't sit well in the mix", he says (and thus he has 4 JB's, each set up in an identical way, one of them fretless). I consider that to be a dangerous opinion as it sometimes discourages players form trying and looking for their own sound and equipment configuration.
[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1385830225' post='2292641']
(...) How much it all matters..?????
[/quote]
I guess it matters, when their opinions will be spotted by a beginner who'll read them out of context (like, when he'll see only a fragment in Google search results. He'll be wondering if he should, for example, play with pick, and he'll ask Google and will see some fragments of posts suggesting that pick playing is for "suckers" and will be quite sure it's a wide opinion.

Personal story (not about the bass, though): I met a boy once, from a family who collect vintage cars. He said that Chevrolet Chevelle (that I liked at that time, but simply for the looks) is a weak car with nothing to offer. After I started to become more interested in parameters and data, I discovered Chevy Chevelle to be one of the most popular muscle cars... and quite powerful, too.

"Are abitrary opinions dangerous?" or "Another thing that makes Basschat.co.uk a great site for bass players!"

One thing struck me today while I was browsing the Polish forum for bass players: there are some old (in terms of length of their "career" with bass) bassists, who love to give their arbitrary opinions without the sacramental "In My Humble Opinion". People who are young and inexperienced will Google some troubling questions and they will be directed to that forum and there they will discover that a guys who's been playing bass for ~12 years are saying pretty gems like:
- "X type of effect = [explicit word for "homosexuals"]"
- "one mustn't practice with effect pedals"
- "playing with pick is for weak and punk rockers"
- "replace your bridge with X, your pickup with Y and strings with Z, remove the pickguard, and maybe your bass will have at least decent sound"
- "that X bass will sound well only with Y genre"
- "X is the only genre worth playing"

All are actually stated somewhere on the forum. I'll be damned. But here on Basschat I haven't noticed much of those personal opinions that are presented like they were Absolute Immanent Truth. And that's another thing that's really cool about you guys!
Anyway, what are other arbitrary opinions of that kind you think are specifically dangerous for young, innocent and - above all - inexperienced players? Do you think it's really dangerous?

I think it applies to all basses which have two distinctive and powerful features and one of them is a big PRO, another - big CON, for example:[list]
[*]great sound + horrible neck comfort (Ibanez ATK310 was that thing for me)
[*]big versatility + excruciating weight (that's why previous owner of my Peavey T-40 sold her to me)
[*]stylish, classy looks + problem with using it with some music genres (I guess it goes with basses like '51 P-Bass or Telecaster II Bass)
[/list]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1385586996' post='2290083']
Huh? In England, condemned people are executed by use of normal chairs?
[/quote]
Yeah, people are tied to them and poked with soft cushions.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1385587892' post='2290102']
It's not a serious attempt to halt its evolution...!
[/quote]
Never attempted anything nearly like that, as it's pointless

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1385583952' post='2290034']
What? You know about writing, and language and that?

Please! Share your wisdom with us!
[/quote]
Unfortunately, he's right. One of the basic rules of language (and communication in general) is that through custom and frequent usage, most vocabular atrocities become common and accepted ways of communicating. If something is widely used by a lot of people, it slowly gravitates towards being a rule. If someone manages to communicate something via means full of errors, but still message is interpreted correctly, the whole communication process was a success. Unfortunately, with harm to purists.

However, an error of using contradicting words interchangeably or misspelling names is not a custom. That's straight up vocabular ineptitude.

American English is American English - a form of English. The same way as an electric chair is an electric chair - a form of chair.

[i]Also looks like one knob is missing.[/i]
Yeah? We wouldn't have guessed.

Indeed, "immaculate" has a new definition from now on.