BassBod

I must say, when I emailed them Pyramid got back very quickly and are sending a replacement etc and they seem very honest about the breaking issue. What worries me is that I was putting them on a Jazz bass, so there was nothing at all unusual about the headstock design or tuner spacing. If it were a more unusual design I don't see how you would know if they be a "safe" fit. I've had a set for at least two years on one bass, no problems..and I moved a set through at least three basses over a year or two with no problems. It seems the E string breaks if the full wrap goes round the tuner, and will probably break straight away? Don't fancy carrying spares, @ £28 a set!

Yet...just don't let the "thick" bit touch your tuner post....only the thinner core wire. Well, that's what they told me yesterday.

If the E string breaks...yep, Pyramid Golds! rant over...

I've just had a load of hassle with Pyramids - the black plastic ones are virtually impossible to intonate to a reasonable degree, so I put a set of Golds on and the E string broke before it got up to pitch. Expensive business flatwounds! And relax.....

Having spoken to Wes about a custom build I looked at the finances again and decided funds were just too tight at the moment. But I did have some nice Jbass components that could be re-assembled to make a decent instrument. I ended up sending him a box or two of components (neck from Bravewood, with a strange orange finish and some stubborn fretting issues...Japanese alder body with a bad rattle can finish and a few nasty dents) to make up a good stack knob early style Jazz. The bass was given a full re-finish (nitro, olympic white) and fitted with Suhr pickups, stack-knob pots and string damping mutes. The fretting issues were sorted, and finally the paintwork was lightly distressed. [attachment=58624:P1000457.jpg] End result is a lovely old style Jbass, fitted with Pyramid big black plastic coated flats and the original design mutes it sounds....jazzy. The action looks high, and it is, but easy to play due to the softer feel and lower tension of the strings. Intonation gets iffy past the 12th fret, but I think that's a combination of the soft strings and the upward pressure of the mutes from under the strings. [attachment=58623:P1000458.jpg] I was impressed by Wes's enthusiasm and honesty - there were some issues with the finishing, and he was totally honest about it. The original plan for a "factory finish" was changed to a "lightly distressed" look - problem solved. He also re-worked some of the body contours, to make them more akin to an early 60's Fender. There are one or two slight issues - one of the lower knobs was fitted upside down (making it sit higher than the other) and the jack socket is touching the control cavity wall, making for a stiff jack - but easily sorted. Also the chrome upper knobs weren't available from suppliers, so its got black ones for now. Overall, I'm very very happy with how this worked out, and wish Wes all the best for his future builds - highly recommended.

Wes recently "restored" a Jbass of mine....very pleased with the results, and excellent honest communication throughout. Full report and pics to follow! Edit - full report now in reviews section....

Try and found out what the deal is with the moved bridge, while you're at it? I'm guessing its got something to do with intonating those big fat roto strings.... The paint job should be fun!

Here's a few pics of the Kent Armstrong/Clifton magnetic - [attachment=58554:P1000448.JPG] [attachment=58555:P1000450.JPG] PM me if anyone is interested or has any questions?

Any chance of some Marathon pics? A fretless Shergold was my ultimate "dream" bass at one time...a very very long time ago!

I'll get the camera out in the morning....

I couldn't stop the Schaller rattling when I tried it in my ply bass. I have got a custom made Kent Armstrong magnetic I'd be happy to sell. Was originally fitted to my Clifton EUB, but I took it off years ago because it sounded like a huge Pbass (as all mags tend to, I guess?). Its designed to fit a "standard" 3/4 bass fingerboard, and mounts with a single screw, two other screws that fit into holes as anchors and a rubber gasket that doubles as a template. Connection is a single phono socket. I'll take some pics if anyone is interested....

No worries - its a nice bass to have around!

I've got a red one for sale...and I'm just off the A420 into Bristol....

To be honest, I'd buy a Realist/David Gage pickup anyway. Its pretty simple to fit (sits under the bass side bridge foot) and gives a bassy sound with no eq. Any active DI will work as a preamp/impedance matcher. Try the SM57 first/as well, but my guess is the Realist is a no-fussing option, and just gives you a bit of reinforcement without any hassle. Most DB piezo pickups work best into a higher input impedance (1 meg ohm upwards) which is higher than most amps allow for. Some do, (EA Acoustic Image) but most (GK MB combos for one) don't. You can use an expensive preamp to correct this, but I just use an active DI (with mute switch) or my sansamp pedal with everything switched off. The Realist pickup is one of the better ones, as it doesn't make so much difference to the sound if you don't have a suitable high impedance input. It actually sounds ok straight into a GK combo, which technically it shouldn't! Sounds fuller with a preamp/buffer in between though. I've done a few "acoustic" small gigs, with just a pickup into the pa. Its amazing how loud these environments often are, so I nearly always use my Clifton EUB anyway. They still look at me when there is feedback best of luck

I've only had the luxury of using mic and pickup for recording, not live. There are two things - feedback front front of house, but only the engineer can deal with this so best not worry, just let them get on with it. The other thing is phase - you could have a combination that is out of phase and may cause some odd frequency canceling effects. This can be hard to work out, and some acoustic preamps give you a phase reversal option as a potential feedback buster, so its not always a bad thing.

F*&% Yeeaahh!! I believe that is an appropriate form of endorsement for such matters....

Not sure if they are still made, but I often borrow a Joe Meek mic amp/compressor for recording. Nice little box

I've used (older) SWR for years and still rate it - apart from the heavy cabs and the heat/noisy fans - but they were normal issues for gear of the time. Similar with Eden, although I had more overheating problems with Eden stuff. When I took things for service the build quality of both SWR and Eden was mentioned as very good, and they went for routine service, not breakdown repair. Thunderfunk...well, it hummed like a bee (a big,big,bee) and two service engineers thought the build quality was distinctly average, if not a bit lacking in design quality. A lot of the perceived value of used bass gear is driven by market fashion - like most other things. the big thing in favour of the older stuff is it is serviceable by people, because it was put together by people. Current designs are generally not fixable once the manufacturer has stopped that model/version and hasn't got stocks of circuit cards. I really like my current EA500 amp, but I know it has a more limited working life than my old SWR220.

The Brandoni ones were good, but not sure if they still sell them? The bodies and necks were good (Japanese?) quality, but the pickups and hardware were variable. Give them a call and they'd probably cherry pick better parts into a kit for you?

Forgot to say...Eden Travelers are good too, but more expensive used. They've got fans but they don't come on very often (mine didn't work at all, until just before it overheated and shut down...but only with a 4 ohm load...was a little darling into 8 ohms!)

Look out for a used SWR220 head, and get one of Alex's 1x12 Barefaced cabs. You'll hear/read everyone saying the "SWR tone" is Hi-Fi or Marcus Miller, but I find them pretty "flat" and easy to work with. The output is low by todays standards (220w into 4ohm/160 into 8 ohm) but modern cabs are often more efficient, so it will work pretty well. Mine sounds great and pretty loud with a Bag End 1x15. They often go for around £200-250, so not expensive (there's one on the Gallery site currently?) Happy hunting

I'll never be able to keep track.....

I smell a deal coming on.....hehehehe