mart3442

I had a pair of the lower spec'ed 405's, best 2x15's I ever owned, the 406's must be amazing!

I did put something up about this months ago but I got sidtracked. Anyhow, its come together real quick over the last week and a half. 1977 neck (had been badly defretted and relacquered over the headstock to make it darker...). Couldn't do much with the headstock, but the boards now been cleaned, refretted and relacquered. The body was a very poorly refinished "1976" P body that I took a chance on from the states, purely because I had a vibe about it. Don't ask, I can't explain! After stripping several coats of paint, including would you believe, white emulsion!!!! I got down to what was definitely looked and felt like the remains of Fenders own Clearcoat. Then, after carefully stripping the neck pocket, I did find the hoped for stamps and even a bit of pencil writing. After careful comparison of the routing with my 1978 P bass fretless, I've come to the conclusion that this is a genuine '70's Fender body. What year? I just can't tell unfortunately. Weight is not too heavy, I'd say a medium. My mate Tom, very kindly rubbed the body down properly and refinished it in 2 pack "BMW" black, before finishing it in clear gloss lacquer. I wanted to try and replicate Fenders mid to late '70's "Thick skin" finish and I think its worked pretty good. I threw in a Seymour Duncan Antiquity2 "Pride" pickup that I've had knocking around for years, a couple of old pots and a jack from my long gone '78 fretted P, which surprised me by still working! The scratchplate was sourced from a fellow basschatter, its nice enough but its a temporary stop gap as are the control knobs. The bridge is stolen from my 1971 Jazz, and will stay on until I find a suitable replacement. Heres some pics from the last couple of days, I have more from earlier in the process if anyones interested... Cheers, Mart.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1405866648' post='2505949'] When on standby only the heater voltage is active, the B+ voltage is not, so even if being played through no damage is possible. I haven't seen Mesa schematics but being basically upgraded Fenders I very much doubt that they don't use switched output jacks. [/quote] I'll tell that to my friend with the fried amp......

My mates mesa boogie 400+ was left on standby for 15 mins with no speaker connected. The amp is now f****d.....

Great night all round wasn't it. Elements of Return to forever, Sly and the family stone and Led Zeppelin! I was down the front on Regi's side. Took a small sip of video but wasn't prepared to watch the entire gig through a viewfinder

I'm currently working with pauls band until such time as a fulltime player can be found. A great bunch of lads, the right attitude and above all all, excellent songs. There must someone out there who's up for (and good enough) for this gig. Mart.

£13000 for a '63? Ridiculous, regardless of the "custom colour" and current owner.

Sold a Bass neck to Pete, easy transaction and top bloke. Cheers, Mart.

Bought a great Bassbridge from Matt. First rate comms and sent immediately on receipt of payment. Cool guy to trade with. Mart.

With a heavy heart, I sold my one of a kind Everson Fretless to Lou. Great guy to deal with, have fun with her! Mart.

Any string to string volume issues with the strings becoming more out of line with the pole pieces?

Input on the old 2PRO is clipping very easily. Anyone know which of the preamp valves govern the input pot? Guess its time to change it. 8 preamp valves to choose from. Found the schematic (see enclosed pdf) but I can't understand it! Lol. Cheers, Mart. [attachment=162516:51903H3_Preamp.pdf]

Amp sorted. Cheers, Mart.

Finally tracked down and bought a mint condition GT10B from Martin. Can't fault the transaction or the bloke. Coffee, Biscuits and a couple of hours chatting all things Bass and the worst gigs we ever played! Gets my vote.