Twincam

Have prices risen only in the relation with over costs, materials and so on? Because wages haven't or not by much in comparison. 

I think companies are exploiting the everything is rising in costs to raise prices even further than they could be. 

Bit more info for anyone interested in these. 

Bass dates to 1972. 

The pickups are actually single coil, 4 staple style alinco. Sound pretty good. Won't be swapping them. But you could potentially put in any single coils under the covers, might need to modify the bobbin however.

This model has figured Teak caps over mahogany. The sunburst models had the birch caps, as mentioned before. 

Thank you for the info. Big thanks. 

Doesn't appear to be a refinish, ive had the neck off to fit a shim. Which I don't like doing but the neck had no angle at all and saddles were nearly on the deck. Actually I've had it all apart forgot to take pictures of under the pickups. Pickups cavity same colour as the body. To my surprise there was a shim already. 

Seen that rickenbacker pickups will fit straight in. I'm ight replace both with high gains or a high gain and a toaster. I will rework the electrics too if I do. 

Actually looking at the sides of the body I wonder if it is a refinish??? They did come in those colour though looking online. Hmm 

I found the amped pf20t OK the tone too gravely. Even after tube changes. 

The 50w version is better. Far more useable too volume wise. 

They seem stupid expensive from when the first came out. 

Fantastic bass, on both counts. Fantastic amp

Very cool. 

On 11/04/2023 at 08:52, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I've got a soft spot for the Longhorn. It's endearingly goofy. And it reminds me of being a teenage Manics fan as Nicky Wire played one in the late 90s.

Forgive my lack of knowledge on these. But are those factory pickups? 

I find the placement interesting.

what are the controls for the 3 pu's? Can you have bridge and neck only? What effect does the neck pu have on the tone.

Wasn't thinking about buying a bass. Then found myself buying this 70s Antoria, fujigen made. I've kinda been a silent fan, of dare I say Japcrap instruments of the era and I fancied something different and vintage. And this one is in exceptional condition so I bought it. 

I believe its 73 to 75?

Its pretty much all original. Came with the pu covers. Needed some standard setup work. But for a 50 year old instrument it's excellent, zero setup issues. Neck is straight with no weird ski jumps, fret board and frets perfect. Original electrics work perfectly, might of had a new jack. Hardware is half decent. 

Reserving judgment on tone as only played it through powered speaker no pre amp! 

And used strings. 

Slightly worried that those maxon pickups will be rubbish. 

Not overly heavy, but not light. What wood(s) is the body made from? I know its a chopping block construction.

Made me wonder where did this fit in, on the quality hierarchy back in the day? I assume it was a more budget instrument?

I'm really impressed by its quality and how well the wood in the neck has managed to not do anything weird. I've seen a lot of basses with ski jumps and all sorts at a few years old, nevermind 50 years. 

A few things that spring to mind.

1. Prices going up but quality has stayed the same in the best cases. Much of the time it seems the quality has went down due to penny pinching of materials or faster production. 

2. 1950s to 90s there was a more clear gulf between the better basses and the cheapo budget instruments. And more stages in between. Now a inexpensive cheapo instrument can be extremely well setup and last for years without issue. 

3. Not many peoples pay has kept up with general living costs. And everything has has went up. 

Could be a number of things. 

Maybe the fact when it's warm it works fine, suggesting a connection issue? Or a component out of spec until warm?

Again could be a lot of things. 

It works fine after a while so maybe it will be a more economical repair???

To ask have you checked all your leads? 

I did some soldering on a mark bass amp for someone. I said it looked fine. Turned out to be an intermittent lead issue. 

Common when covers are loose. 

When you lower the pu the pressure from the under side makes the case tight against the actual bobbin. 

Common cure is to put more pickup foam under the pu. That way there more tension. Of the pu uses springs. On the screws then putting foam under the pu is still OK. 

Or if the covers are on OK just loose on the adjustment then as above will also cure it. And likely give the pu better adjustment range. 

So other than one amp.

All the other amps do this and with any cab. 

Has this just started to happen?

Have you checked its not a bass or lead issue! 

Because I have repaired amps for  myself and others to find its a lead. Doh!.... 

In 2 cases was an issue with the instrument itself. Doh! Again lol. 

Also have you tried moving the cabs. Sometimes noises can come from a different place. But you could swear it's coming from the cab. 

Woods in my experience, opinion do matter. And I think the shape, size of the body matter just as much and too a lesser extent the headstock. In tone and in response, resonance. 

The only thing I would suggest doesn't matter for tone on a bass is the control knobs, strap buttons and the tuners. Oh and pick guard. 

Now after jaco himself the biggest affect on his sound was probably his strings. 

I've mentioned a few practice combos previously. 

But the worst I've ever came across is the Vox pathfinder bass.

Two 5 inch speakers, open backed. Phil Jones it is not! 

Fidelity of a 90s alarm clock. 

On 10/02/2022 at 19:26, SteveXFR said:

My first bass was an incredibly ugly Peavey International IV. Bought from BreadBin, some previous owner had brush painted it in cream gloss and splattered in in red, blue and green. I played it for 6 months before getting a replacement. I then stripped it back to bare wood, resprayed it in surf green, replaced all the electrics and gave it to my daughter who absolutely loves it and plays better than me.

What have you done! Isn't that a late Jackson Pollock special? Probably worth millions. 

😄 

Dare I say I quite like its splatter design. 

1 hour ago, Sidlanir said:

I don't agree, the original Steinberger Bass Bridge is a mess to setup the intonation ( I still have my all graphite Steinberger bass lying in shop around)

Ned's design was based on the bass , the bridge was designed by Jeff Babicz ...

Phil was an innovator !

I disagree.

Changed over to flatwounds on my headless bass. With Steinberger bridge.

Intonation taken less than 3 or 4 minutes. Unlocked the saddles easily via 1 screw. 

Move the pieces back and forth. Found can easily do it while strings still under tension. And if they dodnt move easily loosen the strings.

Very stable bridge. Very easy to use and change strings. I heard they were good but I was surprised, as probably the easiest bridge to set up, intonate and tune. And they have proven themselves for nearly 40 years and still work. 

Found I don't like bourns audio taper pots. First loom ive had with them in. Half way or just above is only slightly different to fully on. Where exactly same circuit with cts pots is way better. They don't feel as much like on/off pots. 

Looked it up. Found this.

This is audio pots. 

Oh just thought of another thing. 

If the cam is a softer meter than the grub screw securing it. With every string change or height change. That screw will start to damage the cam???

3 hours ago, Sidlanir said:

New bridge design... solving a bridge problem that doesn't exist! ... ?

I like the title of this thread & I can't stop now🤣 For all those who still want to complain. Go ahead don't stop ...

 

I like innovation. Looks a nice design.

But there's a few things.

The nut on the string tube looks like it could be uncomfortable for those that palm mute near/onto the bridge.

The cam locking screw design, how secure is the locking mechanism after x amount of string changes, as all the force is directed down wanting to turn the cam. Especially for those who use high tension flat wounds. 

The string break angle. I've looked on a few pics and seems some strings are forming a string break angle in mid air after the tube. Like resting on an invisible bridge. Does this have any effect on string performance? 

I think i have the answer.

Trying holding your index finger between your thumb and middle finger and use that as a pick haha 😄 

I'm just being daft btw

Do not get the peavey microbass. They are truly bad, in that they sound like a 90s alarm clock in fidelity or lack of. 

And also avoid the vox pathfinder bass amp. As that is truly awful in the same vain. 

I think a combo amp with a 10 inch speaker would be better than any with an 8 inch as they just reproduce bass better. This is not always true as there some great, but normally much more expensive combos with small speakers. But in a inexpensive combo I feel getting a larger combo with 10, 12 or even 15 is better even at modest volumes.

If your tone is bad because of the amp, at the very get go, then it's not very inspiring. 

Relief is measured at the 7th fret.

When fretting first to last fret.

Overall action height measured at the 17th fret.

Assuming nut is cut correctly. You can check by fretting all strings 3rd fret. There should be a tiny almost paper thin gap. 

Tune to standard tuning. Then fret the first with capo or finger. The press down the last fret with finger or elbow as i do if not using capo. Then with a feeler blade measure at the 7th between string and top of the fret. Personal choice here but anywhere between .004 and .015 is correct. Flatter radius boards should be .010 and under in general.

9.5-7.5 radius need more relief plus .010. Again that's just in general. 

Next set the string height via the bridge. Measuring the non fretted strings at the 17th fret. 

On 14/02/2022 at 13:22, Boodang said:

Well, I've bought the ones on reverb! Thanks for the tip.

Good, let us know how they sound! 

If he was local, I probably would of given him a message and asked if he would like me to see what's what and set it up for him.

Because no way will it sell like that. And really needs to be assessed to see if it can actually be put right. 

I think you should definitely get them. 

Because you want too.

I've swapped pickups in basses now, and for other people too. I think it can make a huge difference. Last pu I swapped out was a USA mm to a aguilar mm. There was a big difference. Even with the standard electrics. After the pre was also swapped. In this case it didn't really suit the stingray vibe, it sounded better in a hifi way, but not as aggressive. 

I would think in this case it will really add to a jaco replica bass. Giving its based on what he wanted in a pu. 

Quick look.at some reviews seem favourable, note some people mentioned they are purposely not potted, so microphnics may be an issue.  

I also see you can buy these pickups from various other places. 

I feel that poor shelding on basses above the more value end of the market is a poor show. 

So basses 600 and up there's no excuse really.

And certainly above the 1k mark as the marketed as professional, "working" instruments.