Lfalex v1.1

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1375054176' post='2156285'] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Buying a signature instrument is a great way of sounding like you, but at extra cost.[/font][/size] [/quote] Not always. I purchased an anniversary signature instrument (new) for not an awful lot of money. Less than a MIM Fender. It's a Yamaha. A Japanese made Yamaha. One of 300. It has Di Marzio pick-ups and a real (not licensed) Hipshot de-tuner. It's as well made and finished as my Vigier. A lot of people that tried it at bass bashes seemed to rate it.. I bought it because it was a good bass at a silly price. I still don't own any music player by the signature artist in question. But I do sound like a [i]larger[/i] version of me when I play it...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1375047156' post='2156206'] Well there you go. If you have a certain technique and are prone to sticky, clammy hands you'll have a problem. If you don't, then you won't. [/quote] I have super-clammy hands. However, neck finish, width, profile and scale length seem to have little effect on me. Does this mean my fretting hand technique might actually be OK? [Worries]

Fender Jazz Yamaha Attitude Warwick Fortress Masterman 5 Warwick Streamer LX 6 NS CR5 upright electric

I have a B2a fiver. The fives have a slightly weak B, primarily due to the light weight of the instrument. The pre-amps are only alright, necessarily small and simple. On the upside, they're light, portable, well made, and the hardware is pretty good.

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1374994803' post='2155483'] Play it over and over again. That is the only way to remember something. Muscle memory is how you learn instruments after all [/quote] Yes. Practice until it becomes second nature. Like anything else you do you regularly. Habituation is king.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1374996937' post='2155494'] Can someone please explain the physics behind this? I'd have thought that putting hundreds of thousands of tinny scratches in the finish would increase the friction not decrease it. I can't help but think that glossy = sticky is either down to the wrong type of gloss finish or entirely psychological. Most of the basses I use have gloss finished necks and I've never noticed them being any different to the few I have with a more matt finish. The stickiest necks I ever encountered were on Warwicks that felt and looked like they had no finish on them at all. [/quote] I guess(and it really is a guess) that the rougher surface of a scotchbrited neck reduces the contract area - resulting in less friction whilst also channelling the moisture away- like drainage grooves on car tyres. Warwick necks ought to be unfinished, but some people wax/polish them. I find they can become sticky, but quickly rubbing any offending neck with a towel/ t shirt or lint-free drummer and they should be OK.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1374817641' post='2153515'] Completely depends on what type and make of string you are using and what sorts of sounds you want them to make. [/quote] This. And I think it's fair to say that many of us have more than one instrument, so the possibility exists that the different basses could use different types/ ages of string to achieve the desired effect. No compromises required.

Latency is negligible, since the DAC isn't trying to perform any DSP jiggery-pokery with the ones and zeroes. It just converts them to an analogue waveform. Quick as any performance-use digital technology you'd encounter- like digital fx units or even a Variax, and they don't seem to cause issues.

QED used to do a cheap one (known as the Digit?) Back in the day... Have a look on eBay.. Or an Audio Alchemy DDE v1.0 I've got a 20 year old one still doing the business. They don't really break- no moving parts...

Do bear in mind that many luthiers use templates,for necks and even for their non-standard body shapes. Takes out a lot of the guesswork, especially with fretting fingerboards, positioning bridges etc. I reckon I could probably make a body or wings, but a neck/fretboard? No way José! Again, I bet the pros have a template for guiding a router when cutting a channel for a truss rod...

[quote name='vsmith1' timestamp='1374743184' post='2152574'] But good on you for being so flexible, adaptable and clearly resilient. [/quote] Absolutely. I've found those attributes to be relatively common amongst bassists, but sometimes lacking in other band members...

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1374660709' post='2151363'] Sounds like you need to fix it up as cheap as possible and move it on.... [/quote] Hence a thread about DIY phenolic fretboard repairs on a popular UK bass-related website.. I get the impression that I'll lose about £6/700 on it, though.

Time and lack of phone credit. Edit- And the fact that I have a distinct sinking feeling that I'll be told that there's nothing to be done for it that won't cost ££££. It cost enough in the first place, but once I got over the honeymoon period it's really failed to impress me. It's too light, feels and sounds like a toy. I struggle to take it seriously any more, TBH. Compounded by the fretboard problem That, and the fact I forget I own the bleeding thing as it's permanently in a cupboard. Total waste of time, effort and money. Only the Status restoration thread reminded me..

But was yours six years old (or whatever mine is)? Not that it's seen much mileage...

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1374589128' post='2150555'] This. I've never heard of or seen this happen to a phenolic fingerboard & I used them for years on my Zons. Sounds like it could well be a manufacturing fault. Don't do anything to it until you speak to Status about it. [/quote] Nor I. My 1996 Vigier has a phenolic fingerboard, and that's still perfect, as is the phenolic board on my Yamaha. It's beginning to sour my "relationship" (for want of a better term) with the bass. I'm struggling to be bothered with it at all, and I won't have the time to get it to Status until probably the second or third week in September at best.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1374578989' post='2150331'] do the strings actually touch the fretboard? I don't think they do on my basses, even the SEI, which has small frets.... Do you have long fingernails on your left hand? My guitarist does and it really eats up his boards, rose and maple. I don't like him borrowing my guitars! [/quote] I think my strings hit the fretboard of all my basses when played... No other instrument had ever done this in the last 18 years. My fingernails aren't causing it. That's for sure. The board isn't going grey/dull. It has a parchment-coloured stain from about the 9th fret to the 24th. I reckon superglue to fill the pit/s, a quick rub down with either fine wire wool or 1000 grit. A quick rub down with white spirit and dry to remove any grease/dust/contaminants and mask frets/board edges. Then paint with [i]very[/i] thin coats of black epoxy. I'm inclined to practice first. I've an old fretless neck laying around that'll be ideal...

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1372864323' post='2130884'] Don't you know? [/quote] Isn't that the guy from Depeche Mode?

Signed vinyl copy of "Leprosy" by Death (RIP Chuck) A frankly bizarre Russian Import Black Sabbath LP, which is half "Black Sabbath" and half "Paranoid" on the heftiest piece of vinyl known to man (180g?) Sounds amazing, too.

They're >30 miles away from me, so I pop over. Can't comment on the online/postal service, but they're good to deal with in person, too. "Here's the warehouse bit... Have a rummage around and see what you might like..." (It's actually really well laid out)

I cheated. Kef 3005.1 satellites/sub, a very nifty Pioneer amp, Sony Blu-ray and Samsung telly. In the lounge. Works OK. The audio components cost less than £900. Virtually no cable visible. In the back room lurks the proper stereo... Warts and all! Edit - and in both rooms, the speakers went in first, then the ancillaries, then the other furniture. So it all "works" correctly, and people sit where they ought to!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1374427725' post='2148610'] Agreed that the Bongo EQ is perfect. [/quote] Certainly is.

The bass is all carbon/graphite. The neck/body/hardware are all fine. It's just the phenolic fretboard that's rotting. It's fretted, and I'd attribute the pitting to delamination of the fretboard due to wear from the strings. Thanks for the suggestions so far. That Milliput looks like it might do the trick. Some sort of black epoxy that I can paint on in thin layers would be ideal. The harder and the shinier, the better!

I was hoping for a DIY fix. I have a feeling that I'll just get clobbered for the cost of a new fretboard. Which will no doubt be astronomical... And be just as prone to failure as the previous one. I have two other phenolic boarded instruments, a Vigier and a Yamaha, and neither have had this problem.

My Status Streamline's fretboard has become damaged by sweat ingress (God knows how!) It has stained the board in a way that can't be polished out. A small pit has started to wear into the board, too. It is no longer shiny and black, It's just dull and stained. The frets are fine, but does anyone have any ideas for repairing/restoring the fretboard? Thanks in advance, Alex.

Nice work. Did you have to do anything to the fretboards to repair/clean them up? My Streamline has a seriously manky fretboard already. My sweat seems to have penetrated some of the resin, and it doesn't look nice. It almost needs a thin coat of black Epoxy resin to make it black/glossy/shiny again...