HowieBass

Forgot to ask but were your Rotosound rounds steel or nickel? If you haven't tried nickel rounds then I think you might be pleasantly surprised; I wouldn't go back to steel after playing nickels; they feel good for fingerstyle and I've found they aren't as 'scratchy' as steel but they still have that characteristic roundwound sound.

In addition to possible changes in neck relief I think you'd also be looking at checking/adjusting the intonation as well (even when replacing like for like I always check the relief and the intonation, so going from rounds to flats would more than likely demand you do the same).

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1463339468' post='3050640'] Caps replaced, heater wires sorted, bias redone and components replaced, new valves. Amp is much better, less noise than some modern ss heads I've had. However the slight overdriven sound is still there much less than before, but it's there from low volume and doesn't change till much higher volumes, so I'm not sure if there's an issue or if it's just the amps natural tone. It's not horrible just a nice little bit of drive going on. I have heard this amps are old school sounding and not clean amps. You can hear the amp in this months noodle comp [/quote] I'm wondering what valve you have in the preamp stage - I've read that there's a lot of variation across the different makes even when they're supposed to have the same gain factor (eg. 12AX7 or ECC83 valves) - maybe this could be the source of the slight overdriven sound you're hearing? Some useful info here http://www.worldtubecompany.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=TF-2 and also a guide to the gain factors of various valve types here http://www.thetubestore.com/Resources/Guitar-Amp-Info/Gain-Factor

That's stunning! Much, MUCH better

From what you've said it sounds like you've done pretty much everything you can, replacing the usual components that can suffer through ageing. I'm aware that some valve amps will be prone to hum because of their design (with an AC supply to the heater circuit as I mentioned). Hopefully some valve amp/WEM experts can assist here...

I think I read somewhere that the frequency of the hum identifies it as coming from either rectified or non-rectified sources (100Hz or 50Hz) which can help you track down the problem. My old WEM Westminster 15 suffers with a hum problem; I suspect some of it comes from the AC supply on the pre-amp valve heater circuit (so without modification it'll never be that quiet) and possibly also some from the wiring arrangement. EDIT: You might get some help from this WEM Owners Club website http://wem-owners.com/

Thought it was OK on first hearing - then listened to it again, and again, and again and now I can't get it out of my head! I've heard the new album through once and 'Burn The Witch' is my current favourite... some of the other tracks seem more like fillers (particularly when compared to classics from their earlier years).

Oh wow! Looks fantastic

Have you tried installing ASIO4ALL? It's recommended by many people/companies and is supposed to help with latency/soundcard issues. Here's the place to get it http://www.asio4all.com/ There are loads of video clips with information on how to use ASIO4ALL on YouTube.

I'm no expert but I'm not convinced you can add a capacitor to an active preamp circuit and modify the tone shaping in the way that you hope. Someone else on here is sure to know better than me regarding a modification but I just wonder why you can't cut enough treble using the circuit as it is?

This is going to look amazing!

I think there ought to be TV shows about this sort of instrument restoration work - 'Bass SOS' anyone?

You could try and find some nail varnish that is a good match and drop fill the damaged area. The trouble here is finding a good match - in which case a colour analyser app like this might help https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jenspetervester.coloranalyzer&hl=en_GB

I love following builds like this; your work is top notch... you have an incredible talent!

The Grim Reaper is definitely taking the piss this year; can't believe how many talented souls have left us recently.

Have you tried flats on the Thunder yet? You'll get a lot more of the fundamental and fewer bright overtones; I reckon I've heard most fretless playing with flats rather than roundwound strings. The trouble is we can't hear the idealised fretless sound you've got in your head so it's difficult to know what direction you ought to take.

I've got a Westone Spectrum LX bass that uses a similar tone shaping system; from what I hear with mine I believe that the active control boosts a set amount (of dB) which is sweepable (by frequency). The interaction with the passive (treble cut) control can be a little confusing but you really can do a lot with it as Grangur says. My go to setting is typically no treble cut on the passive and boost the bass maybe at about the halfway point between the centre-detent and fully anticlockwise. Bear in mind that a lot of what you hear with a fretless comes from the setup and any vibrato you apply when stopping (fingering) the string. You'll likely need to check that the nut slots are deep enough, have the fingerboard with perhaps a little less relief that a fretted bass and get the action so that you get 'mwahh' but no 'sizzle' (which is what I call it when the strings are too low). You might have some fretless sound in your head that you're familiar with on record - bear in mind that you might have heard some effects used; perhaps slight chorus and slight reverb. HTH

I've never heard of tuners having been unscrewed and rotated in the manner you describe - I assume you've got them in the right orientation now and they're securely held in position via screws into the back of the headstock. There should be no play with the hex nuts on the face of the headstock so tighten these up using a sensible amount of force - beyond finger tight but you clearly don't want to start compressing wood under the washers. The usual route to create a fretless from a fretted neck is to pull the frets out and then fill the slots with a strip of veneer or a strong filler - YouTube is your friend here... http://youtu.be/115gvPzHMqw

This moved me when I first heard and it still does when I listen again; I identify some of my female friends with the song's character and also, to some extent, myself... http://youtu.be/_PDlGUdDF8Y

AFAIK if the nut slots are at the right depth/strings at the right height then there shouldn't be any problems with intonation at the frets closest the nut. However, from what I've read and from my own experience, new basses often need the nut slots deepening (which is why intonation is often poor at the first few frets).

The neck should exhibit a very slightly concave bow with regard to the strings so that the string to fret/fingerboard distance is greatest towards the middle of the neck - this is because that's where the string movement is greatest. Buzzing that is found mostly near the nut indicates too little relief, buzzing mostly at the other end of the neck indicates too much relief. Since it's a new instrument and you might well make matters worse it's a good idea to take it back to the shop so they can sort out what I assume is just a minor setup issue.

The G should be lower than the other strings; the string height gradually changes across the width of the fretboard and you should notice that the E has the largest gap between the string and the frets. Having said that and as others have pointed out, buzzing along the whole neck suggests the saddle needs raising very slightly - buzzing which is worst at the end of the neck beyond the 12th fret suggests to me that the neck relief might have increased a little too.

Swapping the hot and ground is how I read the advice given and since you've only just installed the jazz pickup I also think it makes sense to do it with this one (don't change anything with the existing P).

Have you run out of adjustment with the pickup height screws? I'd be tempted to bring the bass side down further if you've got little option with the string to pickup spacing on the treble side (typically a gap of about an 1/8" is recommended when the string is held down at the last fret) just to see how much influence the string to pickup distances have on the volume balance.

I bet Scott Devine would have a lot of good advice on this kind of thing. Here's a technique born of a lack of dexterity issues: http://www.scottsbasslessons.com/riff-of-the-week/muting-technique-bass.html