Maude

I think I have a tort pickguard that came off my Aria STB precision (another excellent budget bass) in a drawer somewhere. Let me dig it out and try it on my Encore, if it fits then it's yours. A quick polish, oil the fretboard and a tort PG and your Encore will be a lovely looking bass.

Ohm my, the terrible puns have started.

Shhh, you know the rules. 🙊

Coming up as £22 (4s) £20 (5s) with that link. You bought the last set at £12 and are just taunting us. 😄

I have a similar Encore (same headstock logo so probably same era) and I genuinely consider it one of my best basses. Admittedly I have spent a couple of hours fettling it but it was still very good to begin with. Being new to all this you presumably don't know about setting up a bass to your liking (forgive me if you do) but it can make an OK playing bass into a superb playing bass, and it's not difficult if you're reasonably hands on. If you're able to, or live close to someone that could help, I'd set the Encore up to your liking, put the kind of strings on you like and give it a good clean and polish, then spend the saved money on an Nux Mighty Plug and some headphones for practicing. There's a thread on here about the NUX Mighty Plug, and lots about setting up a bass but ask away here and you'll get plenty of help.

Kodachrome - Paul Simon

Ah, I didn't see the £12.95 part. I paid £16.37 which is still cheap, maybe why mine are coming next week. Just odd that three different sellers have the same random price.

I'll listen to this today. I really like her debut album. It was brought onto my radar by my wife when I met her as she was really into it. It has. IMO, phenomenal production and sounds just fantastic, but I've never listened to any of her other albums so I'll look forward to this one.

I wonder what's going on though as there's a few different sellers all selling at the same discounted price. Which presumably why we've all had different delivery dates. Will any of us see these strings?

Just brought two sets delivery Mon-wed next week. I generally stay away from rounds as most are just too slack feeling for my industrial (hamfisted) playing, but I'll give these a go.

@pete.young @Bassybert @ahpook thanks for all the offers, they really are appreciated, but I've just ordered from ebay. I can get a pack of ten of each (the other two are the same rating 10uF 25v) for little more than a stamp would cost. Thanks for everyone's input and hopefully it'll be back up and running soon.

The forum at it's finest, thank you both.

That's very good of you, thank you. I'll hold off but I might replace more (see above) in which case I'll order some as they're cheap enough including postage from ebay.

This sounds like a good idea as parts are so cheap. I've found a pack of 15 220uF 16v 105°c for 99p and £1.69 postage, so the other two (maybe the same rating, I haven't checked) won't add much to the cost.

Are there better quality ones to go for or are they all much the same. Obviously they're cheap so buying the best won't break the bank.

I also posted in the HPF thread and had the same reply/question. I hadn't even thought why up til now but you're both right(ish). The band I use upright bass in, and the FDeck, hasn't gigged for a few years but we're back up and running and have a gig in a couple of weeks. Yesterday was first rehearsal through the PA. I sometimes use a BBE Acoustimax preamp and put the FDeck in the same case, along with the other power supply. After your questions I realised I'd used the BBE's power supply which is 12v. I guess that was enough to fry it although it's a 16v cap? As I said, I don't really understand electrics, but I'm happy to just solder in the new cap as long as I get the right one.

I started a thread in technical/repairs so I'll continue there instead of clogging up this thread. 👍

I'm following this. You know me and tarting up budget basses. 😁 If it is a plywood body then you don't want to take it back to bare wood. It will take forever to fill all the end grain. If the original finsh is shot then try and leave the sanding sealer intact, assuming it has some.

It's a 220uf 16v. Do I need anything specific or will any cap with those specs do the job? What is the temperature relevant to, the range it's happy to function in? Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance advance for any help.

Hi all, I need a little help please. I have an FDeck HPF which went pop at last night's rehearsal. I'd plugged it into the power and a few seconds later I heard a small pop (from the HPF, my amp's volume was down) and then a few wafts of smoke came out of the jack sockets. I've opened it up and was surprised at just how simple it is inside. Now I'm far from an electrician, in fact I consider most electronics witchcraft, but can happily solder in new parts if it's simple, which luckily it is. I was hoping/expecting to see a capacitor with the top popped open but at first glance I couldn't see anything. Then I noticed that one off them looks swollen and lop sided, but not split. Would you assume this is not right and most likely the problem? I've ringed it in red. I don't know how to test a cap.

I have an F Deck HPF which I had made in a very simple format. It went pop at last night's rehearsal and released the magic genie. I've just opened it up to see if I can fix it and it really is an very easy build for a semi competent DIYer. I didn't have frills, just an in and out, a power in and a variable filter knob, I didn't want battery, on/off switch or anything else, just a simple always on filter that I could tune slightly. This is the insides. If anyone wants to build one I can take some clearer close ups.

That is a fantastic looking bass. 😎

The 1100s has an extra toggle for pickup selection so the knob by the volume is a dedicated tone knob for passive, on the 734a there's no pickup toggle so that dedicated tone is a pickup blend. The treble control doubles as the tone when in passive. I prefer the 1100s controls as your sound is set for passive or active, on 734a you use the tone control in passive and then flick to active and your treble has been moved. Not a huge deal but unnecessary.

Hard to Handle - Otis Redding

Not wanting to put anyone off buying another BB but the 734a is like the modern version of an 1100s, both being active PJ bolt ons. But I think the 1100s is the better bass. Weight wise, not having actually weighed them, I'd say my 1100s is heavier than my 734a.