pobrien_ie

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1334351328' post='1615178'] Get yourself a couple of cheapo pots, find a few scraps of wire and a couple of cheap capacitors (value unimportant). Lay the whole lot out on a scrap of plywood and have a couple of practice runs before starting on the important (and more expensive) stuff. There's a pretty comprehensive thread about soldering [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/110170-dull-solder-joint-why"]here[/url] - it rambles on a bit but there's some good tips amongst it for getting good joints onto the back of pots (the bit that always causes problems until you know the way to do it). It's a bit of a distance from Athlone, but I'm going to be in Portstewart for a couple of days next month if the soldering part of the project is causing you problems. [/quote] Definitely going to explore the DIY option....but for the next project! Thanks for the advice, much appreciated

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1334343154' post='1615006'] KiOgon helped with my P Bass wiring too. I have a 57ri and John very kindly sorted me out with a fully wired set up. In the end tho' I much preferred the sound with the original 1uf cap rather than the .47 but it was an easy job to change them over. I was very surprised by how much the .47 altered the tone of my Bass and I thought the 1uf sounded a lot more old school which I prefer. Horses for courses and all that. [/quote] Yeah I'm looking forward to the finished product...still waiting on parts to arrive

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1334325646' post='1614601'] on the soldering front a P bass wiring loon is the equivalent to flatpack furniture! Shocked at the shop saying it's a big job! it's two pots, one jack, one cap and the wires between them! [/quote] Embarrassingly enough that definitely seems to be the general consensus alright I'll get there yet, but on this occasion I'll take the help. I'll definitely follow-up on the suggestion of getting something cheap to learn the ropes on!

[quote name='Higgie' timestamp='1334326702' post='1614632'] My first Stingray was Trans Orange and it was gorgeous. I am therefore voting for Orange. [/quote] +1 on the trans orange!

KiOgon has kindly agreed to help me with this part of the project. You're dead right though, I'd love to know a bit more about the inner workings of my basses. While I do try to increase my knowledge as much as I can, I haven't been blessed with good DIY skills. Having said that, give me some flat pack furniture and I'm a legend Also, in the 2 weeks I've been on BC I've learned loads from some very helpful members. As I said when I joined..I wanted to be enlightened... and I feel I have been a bit already. Thanks all for the help with this, I know the best direction for me now.

Yeah I'll get the foam mute as well to replicate that sound. Will be using the Fender "62 original" pickups which should also help. My problem is, due to my lack of DIY skills, that once a cap goes in it's staying in, good, bad or indifferent!!

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1334312754' post='1614212'] I recently rewired a Classic 50's P bass and played around with caps, here are my findings: - .1uF : it rolls off lots of treble, think dub, pretty cool! - .047uF : the "standard" P-bass tone; - .022uF : rollf of just a little treble, keeps your bass with some nice mids; The choice its a matter of personal taste, i ended up going with the .1uF cap because i added a Deluxe Humbucker on the bridge position and loved the mix of that with the P rolled of (i wired the bass with the '62 Jazz diagram, with stacked vol/tone for each pickup). In the end of the day you'll have tho get some caps (orange drops are great) and try them to find the one that suits you best. [/quote] Thanks Ghost_Bass, very informative. With this bass I'm really looking for the Motown sound, i.e. the Jamerson sound. My guess is the .1uf is the one for this, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1334309136' post='1614097'] Wouldn't you think that local guitar shops would be offering a better level of service? what with the internet competion and so on. I do like the idea of supporting the local high street establishments but have to draw the line when they are staffed/owned by total knobs who dish out that kind of advice. Very short sighted to lie to your potential customers. Or did he think you might be a danger to yourself wielding a soldering iron [/quote] I know. When I saw the wiring diagrams on the net I felt like an idiot for even ringing him But really DIY isn't my thing, so I though it best to ask the "professionals". The shop in question contract all their electrical work to an "engineer", but the owner obviously didn't deem this guy fit to do the job for some reason. A guitartist friend had used him to get jobs done on his beloved Les Pauls before and said they do a reasonable job. The funny thing is I was due to leave my amp (TE Twin Valve Combo) into them for a service shortly. If they can't do the basics I'd be very hesitant to send in something like this that they've never seen before. Unfortunately in Ireland there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of options for this kind of work. I could well be wrong on this, but I've been a couple of weeks trying to find a luthier and someone to service an amp, and all roads point to the local guitar shop I've only two guitar shops in my area and neither seems to know their arse from their elbow!

Thanks, I appreciate the help! When I start moving on this I'll set up a thread in the bass builds section, so I don't completey feck the bass up

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1334304719' post='1613987'] I wouldn't want to deal with your 'local guitar shop' if he thinks that's a complicated job God help us! The .022uF cap is probably meant for a guitar circuit but you can use it & listen - if you don't like the tone change it for the .1uF or a .047. What pots have you got? They're more important Cheerz, John [/quote] Thanks John. Yeah I was very surprised that he thought it a big job, considering he said he could wire the pickups for me no problem! The pots are CTS 250k. Am I on the right track with these? ...it's amazing how little I know about electronics Paddy

Hi all, Just a quick one for any techies out there! I'm currently working my own 62 precision project. When I say project, I mean I'm buying all the parts and just assembling a reissue of sorts really. This probably isn't the most cost effective way to do things, but I want something that's my own and that's a keeper! Anyway the first question is in relation to the tone capacitor. I've purchased a set of "vintage style" Fender pots that have a .022uf cap. I've been trawling through the net and it seem that 62 p basses used a .1uf capacitor. Would anybody out there be able to confirm which I should use? I'm useless with this side of things, and although I'm sure I wouldn't hear the difference, I'm being anal about this "project". I plan to get it wired as per the AVRI 62 schematic on the Fender site. Now that I mention wiring....as I said above I'm useless at all things technical, so I rang my local guitar shop. The guy said it's a very complicated job and would have to be done by a specialist and that it would be pretty costly. To me, the wiring for the P bass looks fairly basic. It looks like access to a soldering iron and half an idea about what to do with it would get the job done. Am I underestimating this? Any help / suggestions welcome! Thanks, Paddy

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1334253374' post='1613354'] Hey Paddy, Welcome to BC. Have been on Anglesey a _lot_ and been looking at your house from there, so I'm an expert on Ireland (obl. Sarah Palin ref.). best, bert [/quote] I like it!! You just can't beat her for stupidity. Thanks for the welcome too!

Hi Calum and thanks for the welcome. Ah Tipperary, my ancestral home! Great place. Bring a camera! I live about an hour and half away right in the middle, but who know's, I might get to check ye out. Paddy

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1334151188' post='1611640'] [/quote] Thanks for the welcome discreet!

Hi, how are things? Yeah wasn't quite sure how much we'd have infiltrated the site, but imagined (as with everything) there'd be a few of us knockin' about! I'd hazard a guess that the O'Brien genes are pretty poor from a bass playing perspective, at least from this O'Brien clan!

Hi Alan. Thanks for the welcome! Not too far from Galway myself...it's a lovely part of the world.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1333719134' post='1605695'] I had a great holiday in Ireland. Started at Belfast from ferry port up the coast to Port Stewart then down to Donegal and onto Sligo to Galway then Limerick and onto Killarney for the Harley Davidson bike rally where Whitesnake, Roy Wood and Bonnie Tyler played over long weekend at Gleeagles Hotel. Weather was a bit wet on the first journey to Port Stewart but from there it just got warmer and sunnier. Last 4 days at Killarney were glorious. Couldn't have asked for more. People were friendly and helpful everywhere we went. Ireland doesn't sell itself well enough by any means. Dave [/quote] That sounds like a pretty epic trip. The bikers always tend to like Ireland. You're dead right, we could do a lot more on the self-promotion front! The one thing we do lack though is good live music, be that original or cover bands. the whole doom and gloom of the recession has knocked that on the head a bit for now!

Thanks for the welcome Dave! I've a place in my heart for Scotland too...got married there and studied there part-time for a year! Lovely place, but I thought Ireland was wet and cold!!!

Hi from Ireland! New to bass chat, but have been playing bass on and off for about 14 years. Recently took the decision to get out of the cover band scene (classic rock mainly), and now just enjoying playing again (soul mainly)! Currently using a recently acquired 1989 Fender AVRI 57 P Bass through a Trace Twin Valve Combo. Also in the process of buying a 1989 Jap 62 P Bass. I've no real affinity to 1989, just a happy coincidence! Have owned lots of basses over the years, but am only a recent convert to P basses after stumbling on an early 80's Ibanez Roadstar (which I've since traded). Musical tastes range from rock to soul, and I'm actually really into the whole Motown and Stax stuff at the moment...Jamerson, Dunn, Babbitt, Felder etc. Looking forward to being enlightened!!

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1333557558' post='1603558'] The muting foam on a P bass was glued under the bridge cover, so above the strings. The muting system on the J bass was below the strings, as it was on Gibsons and Rickenbackers. All those basses had factory flatwounds in the days when they had mutes. I don't think it makes any difference. Or, at least, what makes more difference is what material you use for the mute and how close to the bridge it is. [/quote] Ok that blow's the above/below the strings out of the water. I might have imagined that one up myself!

[indent=1]Hi all, this is my first post. Did I read somewhere before that a mute should be placed below round wound strings and above flats? Would appreciate your thoughts on this. I recently acquired a 57 AV P bass with flats and a bridge cover and am interested to know where the foam mute should be placed in this configuration. Great to see a thread on Babbit, who I feel sometimes is very underated. Just love his lines on signed, sealed, delivered and midnight train to georgia.[/indent]