gary mac

You got yourself a major bargain with that lot👍

My SB1 is getting an outing tonight for a local pub gig. 

That's an interestingly different looking bass Jack. Very cool. Wouldn't mind one myself, which is a feeling I haven't had for a while, thought I was all GASSED out

12 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Same as...and I use light strings. 

 

I'll need to scrounge some washers (if it's that easy), Worst case scenario I'll need to visit a local luthier (probably @gary mac)

Happy to take a look at it Mick.

Before ordering I would hold off and check whether you can get full size pots through the F hole.  It might be that you can get them installed through the pick up rout but I'm not sure. I know that with some of the Epiphone guitars that I've worked on, installation was through the f hole aperture and that can be a tight squeeze.

10 hours ago, Kev said:

Yeah, really hope he waived any fee when he just gave the broken bass back?!

Glad it's getting somewhere now, but fill in the massive blank for me;  what on earth caused three preamps to break??  I have been using preamps in basses for 15 years and have never had one fail.

Can't really answer that Kev, but at times during this project I was thinking that the bass was possessed.😕

One morning I came down to start working on it and overnight it had rejected the string tree that, had been living happily on it since its construction. 

Sire weren't willing to supply parts to me for a customer's Marcus Miller that I'm attempting to fix.  

3 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

I take the bass away from Andy and call up @gary mac. Foolishly he accepts the commission.

 

Do you feel like taking up the story from here Gary?

.......just when I thought that I could put this behind me and get back to repairing well behaved basses and guitars. 

Ok. 

After Jack left it with me, I cleared my bench and set about having a look at the electronics. 

It looked like someone who shouldn't be left alone with tools had been at it. I tried to test it out with a multi meter and make sense of what should have gone where but it soon became obvious that it was too far gone to be able to save.

As Jack mentioned, the bridge was a horrid thing, like something you would find on Fred Flintstone's bass, if he had one. So a more standard Fender style replacement was found and installed in the correct position. 

I then ordered a set of graph tech saddles with the built in pickups, a graph tech preamp and battery box etc. The saddles arrived within a couple of days, the preamp didn't. It was coming from Canada and eventually turned up about twelve weeks later. I set about installing it and although a fiddly job, it went smoothly enough. I restrung the bass, made all the necessary adjustments and plugged it in to my little combo. It sounded lovely, for all of five minutes and then the sound just fizzled out and died.😕

After checking and rechecking all the connections, it still wasn't working. At this point I contacted, via email, Graph Tech's technical department in Canada. A very helpful chap then started offering advice and attempting a diagnosis. This was a painfully slow process, due to the different time zones. We went back and forth over a couple of weeks, until he could not come up with anything else for me to try. At this point he offered to send out a complete replacement FOC. 

The replacement turned up very much more quickly than the previous one and I set about installing it. 

I was almost dreading plugging in, as this bass had now been through four preamps. Anyway, I nervously plugged in a cable, turned up the volume and it worked, just as importantly it stayed working and I was finally able to phone Jack with some good news. 

I had spent a ridiculous amount of time on this job and had actually given up on keeping track of the hours spent. I was just happy that Jack would finally have the bass in his possession and be able to play and hear it.

I'm now enjoying a very similar experience with the preamp in a Sire bass.....happy days.

Enjoy that extra string Lozz 

Keep us posted Blue, wishing you all the best.

On 13/06/2021 at 19:16, PatrickJ said:

Gary, what's your rate for changing pickups?  I hate soldering and can never make a neat job of it.

Pm me some details Patrick and I can then give you an accurate price. Cheers.

On 13/06/2021 at 18:52, Lozz196 said:

And very good work too, Gary

Thanks Lozz

Wish you luck in your new home Nik.

Hertford, Stevenage, Welwyn have/had a fairly busy music scene. There is Hertford Guitar Club that meets once a month, I've not been but think it's an open mic type night. Think this one does attract good musicians from what I've heard.

I'm sure there's a social club that we've played in Potton.

I'm in Hoddesdon and offer guitar and bass set up work, mods etc. Have carried out work for a fair few Bass Chatters over the last few years.

A bass with a piezo system in need of attention😂

Good luck with it

A careful approach is a must. Armed, ideally with the correct fret lifting pliers, you need to start at one end and gently manipulate the edge of the pliers under the fret, then work your way across. 

Sometimes the fret will lift out very easily, other times not so. If it seems stubborn, then it's probably safe to assume that it has been glued in. You will then need to use a soldering iron to heat up the fret and melt the glue. Things to be aware of: You need to not hold the iron on the fret for too long, as scorching of the fretboard can occur. Also if there is an edge binding, it can melt.

If the board is rosewood or similar, you are very likely to get some chipping out. There are fretboard protectors available to mitigate this issue. 

If you do get chip out, then rosewood dust and very thin super glue will be required for repairs. 

I doubt that the fret will be re usable, so have a measure up and order a replacement (or two) Northwest guitars stock fret wire in small quantities.

Unless you already have all the tools, it might be more cost effective to pay a tech to do it. 

Good luck with it. 

Humble Pie, Rockin the Filmore   

Super glue and rose wood dust is the way. I recently refretted a les Paul that had some serious gouges to the fretboard. Using the glue and dust method, none of the repairs were visible once finished.

I've always been able to get a clean sound out of mine, first with Markbass cabs and then Barefaced. The only time it got a bit fuzzy, was when the preamp valves needed changing. I swapped them out and it was back to how I liked it. It's a bit of a faff changing them but I got it all done in under an hour.

If you need to get the neck straighter Nick and the truss rod nut feels tight, don't force it. If you are confident in doing the work yourself, you need to get the neck straightened by clamping it. This will take the stain off of the truss rod. Then try loosening the nut first, just to release it. You should then hopefully be able to tighten it (after apply a little lubricant), sometimes an extra washer needs to be added but not always. All being well, this would do the trick.

If you need a bit more detail, happy to chat via pm or phone.

4 hours ago, Thunderbird said:

Cleaning of some sort would be essential in the present covid situation I would of thought 

Maybe a quick wipe with antiseptic spray would of been good bet they didn't do that though 

Not a good plan if the finish is nitro though.

Mick, you should the state of some the instruments that I get to work on. The worse ones are school music department guitars and basses.

2 hours ago, CLR said:

I was thinking it could be the nut but not exactly sure what exactly would be the issue, if the slots are too small or big I don't know which direction to go. Do the pickups effect the sound even when it's unplugged?

The pickups being too close can cause problems even when unplugged. You could try lowering them and see if there is any improvement. If the problem isn't cured, just return them to how they were.

Could be the nut or that the pickups are too close to the strings.

Wishing you a very happy birthday Jack. 

I would liked to have got your bass back to you in time for your birthday but it's been giving me a hard time, plus I'm on shut down until the new year