7string

I'm in Springburn about 3 miles from the city centre. Mind you with the M8 you can get around this place so easily. I don't miss my hometown of London or the M25 one little bit!

Got a real case of Deja-vu here It's not an ideal situation, but as Al said it can be sorted. Just takes a bit of time to find the problem then measure and sort out a suitable material for the shim I've seen instruments with so much excess paint in the neck cavity that it stopped the neck moving to one side. Usually you can just loosen the neck bolts and push the neck sideways to where you want it. In your case, that hasn't worked so it needs further investigation. The only way to know what's really going on is to take the neck off and have a root around.

It's a great idea. Love that the bass on the site has a lacewood top. I do like a bit of lacewood.

As I do some setup work for electric guitars and basses, it's always nice to get recommended. One guy had sold this bass on and told the new owner that it needed a setup and that he should bring the bass to me. I finished the work earlier in the week and the owner picked it up today. I asked him if I could put the pics up here and he gave the OK. I know that there's few owners on here, so I thought I'd post the finished pics of this 26 year old bass. To get this result, every part of the bass needed help. to put it frankly, it was filthy. Every part of this bass needed cleaning. Serious cleaning. Everything that could be removed was removed. If I tried to clean around things I wouldn't have done the best job I could, and you still would have seen a film of dirt around things so I had to lift everything out of the way and clean it properly. The bridge was the worst, so after removing it, I took it to bits and cleaned the parts individually. Even the height adjustment screws were individually cleaned! These were stuck in one saddle and even after being soaked in WD40 they still wouldn't budge. I used a Dremel tool to cut a slot in the top of the screw and then used a screwdriver to back the screws out. After a good clean, the screws went back in. They need a screwdriver to adjust rather a 1.5mm allen key, but that's not a problem. I really should have taken the same pics of the whole thing before and after but hopefully this gives an idea of the transformation So the setup became part setup, part restoration. I've had guitars in like this before, in one case a Tele which was in the attic for 10 years, but nothing in as poor condition as this. The controls on the bass worked, apart from a loose pot which the owner asked me to turn around of possible. The wiring was tight so I could only move it slightly, but changing the angle in relation to the other switch would help to recognise which was which mid-gig. The fingerboard also took some work to get clean. I took a pic part way through: The knobs needed work as well.... This took a long time to do and there was no way I could take any shortcuts. If I'd left one bit it would've looked bad in comparison to the rest of the bass. It's rewarding work though and the owner was really pleased to say the least. I charged this job at the normal setup rate.

Now that's a good story 4.30am! Is that when the little hand is between the 4 and the 5 and the big hand points at the 6? I haven't seen that for many years. I think you're right. Only bass players would meet to swap at that time of day. That's a really lovely bass as is the other Sei further up the page. Martin stopped putting numbers sometime after number 69. Shame as the little brass plate is kinda cool.

Yup, quite right I should have realised that as I sent my Ovation away for a warranty repair and addressed that to Fender GB. They're doing the distribution for those and Taylor, so must distribute their own stuff in the UK.

Unusual that you have a neck which is too straight. Usually it's case of not straight enough. If it's buzzing in the first 4 frets is the action at the nut to low. Fender spec is 0.020" (+/- 0.002") at the 1st fret. Personally, I wouldn't hang anything on the neck. If the truss rod's loose then it's the strength of the neck itself that's keeping it straight. That's either a super strong neck or the truss rod is broken and is holding the neck in this too-straight position. You could try carefully clamping the neck into an upbow, snugging up the truss rod nut and seeing if the neck holds that position. It's the reverse of clamping a neck that won't go straight. If it works then you can loosen the rod to get the relief down to the level you want. Doesn;t come without its risks though. You could try also try switching to a set of heavy flatwounds (50 75 90 110) and see if that works. The real problem is that without the truss rod working, you have an unadjustable and to some degree uncontrollable neck. If the truss rods gone then sorting it could be a whole can of worms. Heat could be one solution, or maybe re-fretting with a thinner tang of fretwire resulting in less fret compression. No guarantee anything would work though. IMHO, if nothing seems to help I would save the vintage neck and replace it with a new after-market one.

Apparently, Sound Control went under owing Fender a load of cash. Not sure if it was Arbiter, but someone took the decision to sell the stock to try to recoup some of the losses. When the stock was running out the shops had served their purpose and were closed.

I'm in Balornock, about 10 minutes from Port Glasgow. It's a small world More than welcome to pop in for a cuppa if you're in the area. [quote name='Ou7shined' post='822734' date='Apr 29 2010, 09:46 AM']It wasn't the same without you. No one played The Chain once. Quite a few guys were looking forward to seeing your 1 stringer again.[/quote] The Chain just has to be played. It would have been great to play that with the drummer and guitarist. I'll bring my bike helmet next time as well for added effect.

Just had a look at the review of your bass on [url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Dean+Guitars/Edge+Pro5+5-String/10/1"]Harmony Central[/url] It's a great site. If you ever wonder what other players think of your bass have a look around there. There's only 1 review, but they point out the problem with the bridge and say that they're considered changing it for a Badass one. The individual "Monolithic" bridges look like copies of [url="http://www.abm-mueller.com/index2ccbb.html?bassbridges.html"]ABMs bridges[/url]. I don't know for sure, but they could be a good like-for-like replacement. I have ABMs on one of my basses and never had a problem with them.

Haven't heard of any. That's no saying there aren't any though Getting the fret hot works well [quote name='Bassassin' post='822619' date='Apr 29 2010, 01:31 AM']Fret pliers are one of the few affordable luthier tools! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guitar-Fret-Tool-Puller-Nipper-Plier-Pincer-Forcep-NEW-/150438169000"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guitar-Fret-Tool-Pul...W-/150438169000[/url] I've also read it's a good idea to tape the board either side of each fret - the idea being that any splinters or chips will stick to the tape & be easy to glue back in place. Jon.[/quote] You might still get the odd chip out. After de-fretting the next step is to sand the board. You can collect sawdust from the different grits of sanding, pile it up around the chip and drop water-thin superglue on it for a good fix. Any big chips go straight back where they came from right away. [quote name='Golchen' post='822796' date='Apr 29 2010, 10:33 AM']Also it can help to put a touch of back bow on the neck with the truss rod.[/quote] This is a contentious issue! Some believe that you should de-fret under simulated string tension, recreating that by measuring and then propping up the peghead or using a neck jig. Some think that this doesn't matter and do the job with a straight neck and other people think to back bow the neck so it opens the slots slightly. [quote name='essexbasscat' post='822835' date='Apr 29 2010, 10:57 AM']may also pay to do some research on the type of fret wire used in construction. I was told by a luthier of some repute that some strats had tangs that were spread out. Pulling them out upwards results in the production of huge trenches in the fretboard, rather than tidy slots. Apparently the way to remove those frets is by pulling from the side rather than from above. Haven't heard this from anywhere else mind you. But it does make me think twice and check the edge of the board before reaching for the pliers.[/quote] You're absolutely right. Up until 1982, [b]Fender slid their frets in sideways[/b] like a drawer as apposed to hammering or pressing them in. This was the same on all their electric instruments. The operator would have frets that had been sharpened on one end and a new slotted board. There was a foot pedal which operated a mechanism which pulled the fret away from the operator and sideways into the slot. They could fret a whole board in about 1 minute. Fender were the only people to do this. If you try to pull those frets up and out of the neck out it makes an almighty mess of the board as they weren't put in that way. Using a punch, or something similarly small, and driving the fret out sideways (cold with no heat), leaves a clean slot as that the way they were put in.

Looks like a superb time was had by all Really sorry I couldn't make it this time. It would have been good to see all you guys again and see another 9 string. My wife was looking forward to it as well. I'll keep taking the pills.

I posted this over on the Bass Guitars bit of Basschat, but thought it was worth repeating here. If you're going to take frets out, heat them with a soldering iron before trying to pries them out. This softens any glue that's in there and can help reduce chips. Rub a soldering iron over the length of the fret for about 15 seconds or so (30w iron). If you've got a more powerful iron then it makes things a little quicker. There are specialist fret pullers, but if you can find something like this at your local £ shop they'll do the job. These have been ground down to put barbs in fretwire, but it gives you an idea of what to look for. Start priesing the fret at one end and when you've got that first little bit work your way across. Be patient, if the fret doesn't want to come out heat it some more. [color="#FF0000"][size=4]Do this work in a well ventilated area and wear appropriate safety gear. Sometimes frets are held in by glues which gives off nasty fumes when heated.[/size][/color]

Definitely worth de-fretting your other bass. Fretless is good fun to play and it has a distinctive sound. I used to play fretless exclusively as the rock band I was fronting loved the sound. By the way, if you're going to take frets out heat them with a soldering iron before trying to pries them out. This softens any glue that's in there and can help reduce chips. Rub a soldering iron over the length of the fret for about 15 seconds or so (30w iron). If you've got a more powerful iron then it makes things a little quicker. There are specialist fret pullers, but if you can find something like this at your local £ shop they'll do the job. These have been ground down to put barbs in fretwire, but it gives you an idea of what to look for. Start priesing the fret at one end and when you've got that first little bit work your way across. [color="#FF0000"][size=4]Do this work in a well ventilated area and wear appropriate safety gear. Sometimes frets are held in by glues which gives off nasty fumes when heated.[/size][/color]

Looks like you've got another great catch

It's common for truss rods to have a nut which can be undone and taken out of the bass. Sounds like the neck is pretty stiff and doesn't need the rod to hold it's position. Tighten up the truss rod nut so it's [i][b]just snug [/b][/i]and that'll be fine. Some truss rod nuts have a lot of thread on them so it seems that you're turning them for ages before they start tightening up.

As I wasn't able to go to the Bassbash yesterday, I couldn't clean pots for Eude as we'd discussed. To make up for this in part, I thought I'd write a PM. Then I had a better idea which was to create this thread and throw some photos up as it could be useful for a few people. Apologies if this is simplified too much for some of you, but I wanted to make it as inclusive as possible. How a pot actually works can be found here on [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer"]Wikipedia[/url] So here we have your standard potentiometer (pot for short). The top part sticks out the top of your instrument and the control knob is fitted on there. The control knobs will either be a press fit or have a grub screw which keeps it securely in place. Here's the same pot upside-down which is how you'll see it when you remove your scratchplate or control cavity cover. Here you can see the 3 terminals, but the bit we're interested in the gap behind these. That's where the wiper lies and it's that you want to clean if the pot crackles when you're using it or it feels a bit heavy and not a smooth as it once was. You need some contact cleaner for this job. Servisol or DeoxIT are 2 brands and a can will last ages. Don't use WD40 as apparently it leaves a residue behind. I bought the Servisol from Maplin for £4.29 (Maplin do their own brand but I haven't used it yet) and even though I've cleaned quite a few pots there's still plenty left. The cans come with a straw to help you aim the cleaner where you want it. Grab a cloth or some paper towel and position it around the pot. The excess spray is going to come out and even thought it won't do any harm to anything it makes cleanup a lot easier. As per the pic below you want to aim the straw at that opening in the pot we sae earlier. Give it a quick squirt and straightaway, rotate the control knob fully back and forth quickly a few times. This movement makes surethat the cleaner gets all over the wiper. I usually give pots 2 blasts, rotating the control after each, maybe 3 if it's a really grotty pot. Straightaway, you'll feel the pot rotating better than it did before and this gets rid of the sluggish feeling and some crackles and buzzes (these might continue but you'll know it's not the pot that's to blame). Even if you think only one pot needs cleaning, do the others while you're there as they'll need cleaning at some point. So there you go, how to clean a pot

[quote name='cgordonfreeman' post='813310' date='Apr 21 2010, 03:25 AM']Pretty sure anyone who has one is trying to sell them for one reason or another. I'd love an SB5000 but can't justify one. Yet...[/quote] A fretless AC50 would be on my shopping list. Even with the £/$ rate as it is, Carvins are good value for money.

I played fretless exclusively for a couple of years. The guys in the band loved the sound of it, so I didn't have choice but to play it on every song (a I was the lead singer as well). There's no harm in fitting it just in case you need it. If your used to drop D anyway then you shouldn't have too much of a problem. You might find that it's easy to bend the string causing some intonation issues, but that's just a bit of practice.

That would be handy! [quote name='silddx' post='813894' date='Apr 21 2010, 04:09 PM']And I bet that is possible on one in a thousand Fender basses. I would suggest double that is about the limit on most fender basses.[/quote] Fenders are OK. Sometimes the work takes longer than expected though!! You can come across all kinds of problems from the right allen key not fitting the truss rod nut properly to necks which don't want to do what you want them do on the first try. Patience wins the day everytime

Fender spec is string height of 4/64 of an inch (1.6mm) from the top of the 17th fret to the bottom of the string. If you can get hold of a ruler graduated in 64's of an inch it'll always come in handy. This [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6-INCH-150MM-STAINLESS-STEEL-RULER-METRIC-IMPERIAL_W0QQitemZ380212373495QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Measuring_Tools_Levels?hash=item58866c67f7#ht_500wt_956"]Ebay ruler[/url] should do the trick.

Is this the point when you change from Dood to McGyver.....

Love the cow bass Cool line-up you have there. July will be here before you know it.

I would have bought that Sei bass if I could afford it Here's my Carvin LB75 w/Kahler trem