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I had a guitar that had ever so slight back bow at the first two frets next to the nut. Nothing would help. I had to get rid of it. I have also had a guitar that the first two frets were not honed properly in finishing. A simple proper fret dressing fixed it. Take it back to the shop and have them sort it for you - either adjust, repair or replace.

Yes. Read the Les Paul link to re-wire the bass from dependent to independent controls.

Yes, because the ferrules have a flange to seat into the body, you can drill the hole with the same drill bit completely through the body. Yes, a smaller drill bit is preferred so the shoulder of the ferrule will also seat as well as the flange. No, you don't have to do anything else under the bridge other than making sure the ground wire has good contact for conventional passive pickups. Here's the kicker: since through-body stringing adds to the necessary length of the string, you will need different strings than just generic short scale strings. La Bella makes a great set of Mustang strings.

Does Levy's have a distributor in the UK? They are a standard in the USA. [url="http://www.levysleathers.com"]http://www.levysleathers.com[/url]

They are passive. You have what you have. There is no "boost" as with an active circuit. Now, that said: 1) adjust the pickups as close to the strings as recommended so you get the most signal out of the strings. Output varies as the [i]square[/i] of the distance from the pickup. So if the pickups are 4 mm away from the strings, you will only get 1/4 the output than if they are 2 mm away from the strings. 2) Consider 500 kohm pots to get a higher resonant peak and "presence." It won't be louder, but with more definition, it may slot the mix better. 3) Stainless steel strings and "Alloy 52" strings, like GHS Progressives have more magnetic interaction with the pickups, so they produce a very slightly higher signal. 4) Raise the gain on your amp. You may still have it switched to the "active" mode instead of the "passive" mode. I like to balance the pre and post levels, but raising the preamp setting and adding some compression can help with the perceived overall volume. That's what George Martin and Sir Macca did on "Paperback Writer," and the rest is history.

As for me, personally, I play bass. I support ensembles. I don't solo, except on rare occasion when the band leader introduces each member. I provide a big, wide foundation to support the entire group or ensemble. In the past 38+ years, I have experimented with all sorts of wiring, including series, parallel, single coil, phase reverse, active, passive, onboard eq, all sorts of effects, all sorts of amps. I always come back to straight ahead wiring, series humbucking pickups for noise elimination and bigger tone, with simple V-V-T wiring. The only thing I have added is an EMG EXB so I have a single knob to roll on or off as necessary to switch between straight ahead playing with pop-and-slap for those few songs I need it. Then again, I came to this position after decades. Go ahead and install the switch so you can have the versatility. I do wager, however, that as time goes on, the switch will end up being in conventional humbucker mode.

A good set of P/J pickups wired conventionally V-V-T would do wonders. Get a set that has a split-coil J-bridge pickup so the entire bass remains humbucking, put the tone control where the jack is and have a good luthier drill for a side jack. You can keep the mini-switch to do whatever you like, for example, series/parallel, or remove it and put a small grommet plug in the unused hole. That would be the least expensive way to get the big tone you are after.

The EMG EXB simultaneously boosts bass and treble, while cutting mids @ 1kHz. So it is a variable vintage-to-modern or straight-to-slap contour circuit. I find it to be very useful, and I have one on my gig bass, so I'm not always fiddling with knobs. But it has a specific purpose. It is not a be-all end-all to eq.

Before you irreversibly chop the body, consider something like the new EMG passive Geezer Butler P/J set. It has both a P and a split-coil humbucking J, and it comes with easy-fit connectors. Only one solder joint is needed: the bridge plate grounding wire. Big tone. It has great reviews both here and on TalkBass.

Instead of looking at the bridge, look at the fingerboard. The saddles are notched for even string spacing and to have the proper inboard location from the edge of the fingerboard. I would not touch the bridge saddle notches.

Schatten are good pickups. That said, I have never had good luck with wing pickups. Too prone to being dislodged. I prefer the Fishman Full Circle that is integrated into the bridge height adjuster.

Why not a conventional V-V-T with either a Fender S1 pot or a push-pull pot to get series-parallel? Much simpler.

The Fishman needs a good buffer preamp. I use an fDeck, with its variable low end roll-off. Getting rid of subsonic frequencies that sap power will help your bass sound more "solid."

There should not be wobble. Whenever I have had a loose control, I have done the following: 1) First, make sure something has not let go internally with the pot, or cracked on the scratch plate. 2) Make sure the correct knob for the pot shaft is being used. Pots have differing shafts; the correct knob installed correctly will eliminate knob wobble. 3) Make sure the pot itself is not wobbling, either from a loose mounting nut, or the wrong sized hole in the scratch plate. Occasionally you might need another thin washer to stabilize the pot when you tighten the nut.

The acid in tart cherries, consumed without sugar, is the traditional home remedy, supposedly helping the body to dissolve and eliminate the crystals of uric acid that deposit in the joints, which is what gout is. Stay in dialogue with your physician.

I agree to go to a reputable shop, have her measured, just like for a violin, and get an appropriate bass. Then since there are no frets, the strings are longer, and have more tension, and the posture and technique is different, get her some appropriate lessons so she can learn her positions and hand placements properly in order to not only play better, but avoid injury since playing double bass is more physically demanding than electric.

I would contact Daf for recommendations as to strings.

A serious answer to a serious question: [url="http://www.kazoos.com"]http://www.kazoos.com[/url] - get a metal one The most famous use of a kazoo is by Sir Macca on Ringo's cover of "You're Sixteen" on his 1973 "Ringo" album. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQYGrm-Yf4w[/media] The kazoo solo starts at 1:10. On the album cover, the credit is "mouth organ."

I concur. My jack buggered on my Ibby SRA305, and I had to replace it. It is wired exactly as described above.

The above diagram has the treble cut with the switch down. If the OP wants the treble cut with the switch up, then put the capacitor on the other two lugs. Even better, and a more simple arrangement, is to have the capacitor wired to the lug closest to the potentiometer on the same side as the "in" wire is attached, and the other leg of the capacitor soldered to any convenient grounding point.

Pickguardian.com , and you can tell them exactly where you want the mudbucker cutout and they'll put it there.

All the points above are good points. When I was on a string safari, buying used was the most economical way to go, because 1) if I didn't like them, I could flip them, and 2) I got to see what they [i]really[/i] sounded like, without new string zing. TalkBass.com has an active subforum for strings and accessories.

pickguardian.com

Searching the internet is not easy. I have been doing "key word" searches in a variety of contexts since 1982, before the internet existed, and sometimes even I can't find it, and have to ask for help on the relevant forum. You might try a 40-100 set, as it will be overall slightly less tension. That might also solve the "boomy E". Try rolling your right hand in slightly and fingerpick a little off the side of your finger, more like double bass pizzicato.

Frankly, I have gone the opposite direction. I don't play "vintage" instruments, so if they aren't fitted already, I fit HipShot Ultra Lite tuners for their higher quality and to save about a 1/4 kilo of weight on the headstock. Fitting the HipShots eliminates neck dive, provides smoother, more accurate tuning, and come in different models, styles and finishes to coordinate with just about any bass, vintage or modern.