Maude

I can't work it out, the Standard and the 75M had dot fret markers but also had Yamaha and the three tuning fork logo on the headstock. 

The body doesn't seem to match any layout I've seen. The neck attachment looks right for a 75M but then the control cavity is wrong, plus the control knobs and jack look wrong to any PJ that I've seen. 

Could it be possibly be an early prototype? Maybe a homemade one but it looks very good quality, too good for homemade. 

It like it though. 

@The Attic Man I dug out the tort pickguard but unfortunately it doesn't fit the Encore very well at. Wider neck pocket and the curved tail where the knobs sit is totally wrong.

It's actually from an SX bass not an Aria, (the Aria was white) but that's the problem with a lot of these budget P basses, the pickguards are different shapes. 

I put a generic ebay black PG on my Aria and it fits so if I can work out which one came off the Aria I can lay that over the Encore and see if it fits, if it does the you'll be fine ordering an ebay one. 

Mine are arriving tomorrow. 

It looks like me not having the £12 option bizarrely worked in my favour. 

2 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

 

@Maude - is it just a case of working up through grades to re-shine the pre-existing poly?  What grades should I use?

 

Yes, just go up through the grades, although there is probably a very real risk of rubbing through. It all depends on how thick the original clear is and how much you've taken off with 120.

Theres no real method of which grades you should use. The more grades you can use, the less work you need to do with each grade. Ideally you want to remove all the scratches made by the previous, coarser grade, so if you jump too far between grades then you'll just have to work harder. Maybe move to 240 now, then 320, 500, 800, 1000. As you get to the higher grades you won't have to rub much at all. 

You will probably be able to polish it from 1000 but if you have it I'd go to 1500 and 2000 just to make life easier. 

Maybe when you see the black begin to thin move to the next grade to give yourself a better chance of not breaking through. 

It looks like it's had a neck pickup at some point in it's life. 

Lipstick, Powder & Paint - Shakey 

A studio we used to use was covered in various rock related graffiti, my favourite piece was a drawing of Shakey with the writing, "Shakin' Stevens is pure denim toughness". 👌

3 hours ago, Tony macker said:

been toying with getting a hofner ignition violin bass but notice some basses say (hofner ignition bass) and others say {HI-BB or HI-BB-SB ) anyone know what this means confusing me .. thnx in advance .. tony

Hofner Ignition - Beatle Bass - SunBurst?

Maybe? 

On 01/11/2023 at 11:26, The Blade said:

Been playing for many years. Currently using a Takamine TB10 and a Fender ‘58 copy Elite series P bass.

Hi @The Blade, welcome to the forum.

If you ever feel like moving the Takamine on give me a message. 👍

1 hour ago, The Attic Man said:

Thank you so much 👍  and very much appreciated.  Yeah that is my thoughts. The money I save buying the encore I can pay for a set up and hunt around for a pick up I'd love to change the pick guard to would love a tortoise shell effect one 😆 I know it doesn't help the sound but I love tortoise shell 

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

Smart man. All the best people love tortoiseshell. Be careful that an encore pickguard may be slightly different shape than a fender compatible one. There are people who make them to order. The topic comes up on here quite often 

 

edit : @The Attic Man here you go 

 

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. 

1 hour ago, ahpook said:

 

Great stuff ! Do keep us updated on the repair.

 

And welcome to Capacitor Club

 

 

22 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

What’s the charge for membership?

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. 

11 minutes ago, Bassybert said:

Hang fire on ordering one, I might have one in my box I can send you. Will go and check in a bit. 

4 minutes ago, ahpook said:

 

Ha, beat me to it !

 

 

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

8 minutes ago, Bassybert said:

Hang fire on ordering one, I might have one in my box I can send you. Will go and check in a bit. 

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. 

26 minutes ago, nekomatic said:

You’ll be able to find the cap elsewhere, including on eBay - I just linked to CPC because they have a good range and good data. 
 

I’d probably replace all three of the electrolytics to be on the safe side, then if it still didn’t work move on to unsolder and test the transistors. 

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. 

1 hour ago, Wilson_51_ said:

 

I would wonder why it went in the first place.. did you run it at 18v? 

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. 

2 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Smoked a capacitor. I wonder how that happened? No chance you poked it with 18V by accident?

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.