Mokl

1 hour ago, Velarian said:

+ 1

+2

Very jealous. Love Mike Watt and love the look of the Mk2 Wattplower.💚

Wal balance pots are wired like that too.

3 hours ago, ped said:

Whatever works for you, really - I dislike the pure note on it's own going 'buh' and like a little bit of fret clank and/or rattle behind the note to help it growl, in varying amounts of course.

What he said!

I'm in the "as low as it will go' team as well,  although I've experimented with raising the action slighlty on a couple of basses, and find that on some instruments I actually like it.  Having said that,  they're still set low. 

Almost more important to me is the neck relief -  I run almost none and find for my tastes and playing style this almost always gives me the string response (for want of a better description) I'm looking for. 

If it sounds great, why bother?  It'll sound different,  but whether you'd like it more - as good as Nordstrands are - is difficult to know! Looks a lovely bass to me. 

Either way, enjoy

Just had another look, and whilst it's a bit bling for me,  maybe the Liberace comparison isn't very fair. World would be boring if we all had the same tastes, after all. 

Not a fan of the look,  I have to say. The knobs and gold hardware combined with the admittedly-well-executed finish are a little too Liberace for me! 

https://images.app.goo.gl/YcH8U21EvYsHAksq9

Thank you! 😊

Thanks all, this is great. Any router recommendations? 

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere,  but I was hoping for some advice from some of you more seasoned builders as to what would be a good start-up tool/equipment set up. I'm not thinking about finishing at this stage, just the woodworking stuff you'd recommend to give me a half decent shot at making an OK job at it (skills and stupidity notwithstanding 😆).

I do have some cash saved up which I was planning on spending on a course,  but now thinking why don't I just dive in and plunder the extensive online resources and generous basschat hive mind!?

One thing in my favour is I worked as a guitar tech for best part of a decade,  so although somewhat rusty,  I do have a degree of confidence around setup and fretwork. 

Thanks in advance! 

Name aside, I think these look great for the money. 

It has lollipop tuners tho

Sensational! What a colour. You must be very pleased indeed!

 Sorry,  just realised I'd not answered your Q. I haven't done it,  but I'd definitely consider it,  although when I've been in that position before I've generally sold/replaced to get what I'm looking for.  

I guess if you're sure the mods aren't available elsewhere,  and that you couldn't access exactly what you want by selling what you have (what is it?!), then I'd just go for it. Justbe confident the mods will give you what you want...

If you have something like a Wal or vintage Fender, it might not make any economic sense,  but it's you that has to play it!

4 hours ago, owen said:

It was a brand new neck and the frets became very rough and scratchy.

Is it possible the frets hadn't been polished properly? That reminds me of my guitar tech days when I used to dress frets often, and remembering how critical the final polish is in alleviating that scratchy feeling. Stainless steel frets were considerably harder work and as I encountered them less often would find I'd sometimes underestimated and have to repeat the polishing stage after restringing and testing. 

43 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Interesting.

If I was applying enough oil to change the dimensions of my fingerboard, then I would be concerned what was going on.

I wonder if whatever's going on with mine might be best managed by one of those case humidifiers as sometimes used for acoustics,  but it lives on a stand,  and the occasional small application of oil seems to resolve it. I apply maybe twice annually.  It was coincidence that I realised this was a "thing" as I had decided to give the instrument a little tlc and realised after cleaning the board with lemon oil that the very slight feeling of the frets being raised at the edges had gone!

It feels implausible to me too 😂

I use lemon oil sparingly on rosewood and ebony boards, never on maple. One of my basses has a pale moon ebony board that, if I don't give it a light oil now and then, seems to contract to the point you can feel the edges of the frets - almost like fret sprout. A little lemon oil (or whatever we're calling it, the stuff packaged as such for use on guitar fingerboards), fixes it.

As an aside, the point about silicone - you really shouldn't be applying this to the lacquer finish on your guitars! But honestly, how many of us get minor dings etc touched up by luthiers? Also, unless the bass is brand new to you, straight out of the case, how can you be sure it's never seen silicone polish? I'd be willing to bet that there's many a music shop gets the Saturday staff to give the guitars a once over with a can of silicone based furniture polish! My experience is that a switched-on refinisher (all the ones I've ever dealt with) will always assume the finish has had exposure to silicone at some point and proceed with any refinish work accordingly. 

Ooh, I love that! 

I love that colour,  and bass looks great to me. 

2 hours ago, Sibob said:

That's one dusty/dry looking fretboard!

Si

I thought the same, odd oversight. 

Very underrated vocalist imo

I have a fretless Jazz that John built me back around 2007. It's a great instrument with a few minor niggles that I don't suppose appear on the later ones.  At the time it was such a bargain for what it was I decided I could live with them. I'll never sell it and would have another if the opportunity arose - the white blonde jazz here is basically exactly what I'd like - beautiful! 

I respect John's s decision to conduct business in a way that suits him,  however I must admit at times I felt a bit uncomfortable dealing with him. Perhaps that's why he's chosen the path he has re. order taking.  Wonderful instruments though. 

There was a fretless for sale on his site the other day if anyone's interested. Not a strict replica though,  but bet it's a great bass. 

Nothing wrong with a 14 bar slap solo after the middle eight in Mr Brightside.