HowieBass

You could get a multi effects unit with a built in chromatic tuner, like the Zoom B1on (cheap, about £38) or say a Zoom B3 (dearer at about £107).

Regarding Resinator material - I've got two ebonol fingerboard basses and can't see why some people are so against it; it's hard wearing but in any case strings don't come into contact with it on a fretted instrument. If it imparts any tone to a bass (assuming fingerboards have that effect) then I'd guess it's more like hard maple or ebony than say rosewood.

Now that's a nice looking bass

A compressor works by reducing the dynamic range of the signal coming from your bass; it limits the highs and boosts the lows (that's volume not frequency); there are usually a number of parameters (control knobs) common to bass compressors; expect to see things like Threshold, Attack, Release. This is probably THE best resource on the subject [url="http://www.ovnilab.com/"]http://www.ovnilab.com/[/url]

Small 'blemishes' in wood (grain markings and other figurings) are very useful as they're like fingerprints - a really handy way to identify an instrument. Enjoy and Happy New Bass Day!

You'll find full instructions on the Status website about fitting necks. According to the info I've just read there's only 7mm or roughly 1/4" thickness of hard graphite for conventional neck fixing screws to bear into, after that you're into the soft inner foam core filling. That thickness might be enough but you could check with them directly? http://www.status-graphite.com/status/pricelist/Neck-fitting.pdf

I pretty much use the Fender guidelines - I've found it suits all of my basses and for me there's little advantage in taking the action much lower than recommended.

I can think of two reasons why frets are the width and height usually found on basses; firstly you can get away with dressing them a few times and not run out of metal and secondly I suppose you can get away with being less accurate in finger placement in order to get the string cleanly in contact with the fret - if they were low you'd likely have more of a struggle if you stretch to get a note and then need to have your finger right up against the fret, otherwise the string could be in contact with the fingerboard itself.

Is it any good for meta... oh hang on...

Glad to hear it's settled - I was thinking of suggesting you leave it a day to see how the neck was... but no need now Edit: One thing you probably will notice is the B string not bending/breaking across the nut as easily as the other strings. The same might well be true over the bridge saddle on your bass - it'll be a consequence of the sheer thickness of the string (I've got the same thing with my Curbow 5). You can create a bit of a witness point by gently pressing the string down as it breaks over those points but the B string nut slot might well need a little attention to get the string sitting properly. BTW I always push strings down at the saddles when I have a new set to make sure the tuning/intonation is spot on.

Truss rod adjuster should be slotted rather than a hex nut too shouldn't it?

There's a chance the pickup with three wires has a coil tap option where you can achieve both a single coil and humbucker arrangement in one pickup body. First thing I'd do is measure the pickup DC resistance with a multimeter - you'll have an idea then how the three wire unit is connected up. Without knowing much about those pickups you probably will be looking for maybe a 10 to 20 K ohm resistance and I guess the pots might therefore be something like 500 K? Hopefully other Basschatters with better knowledge on the parts used on basses of this era will be able to tell you more.

Just had a quick look but since I know little about what should be there for that era I'm guessing wrong serial, wrong machine heads and wrong truss rod nut? Plus the case looks totally new (so probably is).

It was pretty much all the rave reviews of the 5 string Squier Deluxe Jazz Active that tempted me to buy the 4 string version (several threads over at Talkbass plus a few YouTube videos too) and I'm really pleased with it... might be worth checking a couple out.

A Stingray type bass is going to sound agressive I suppose, particularly with roundwounds on it - if you're considering getting a Precision then that might sit better in the mix (which is what it's renowned for). One thing to try out if you've not already done so is using palm muting when you play with a pick - opens up yet another sound option. And then there are flatwounds on a P bass...

A 24 fret fingerboard is going to need 23 separate touchscreens - that's an awful lot of ribbon cabling to run somewhere down inside the neck. But before you even manage that there's the fact that your fingers and the strings aren't really making contact with the fingerboard; when you fret a string it doesn't come into contact with the fingerboard; that's assuming that the frets haven't been levelled and dressed several times in previous years so there's no point in having any touch sensitivity there. There's another solution to your touchscreen thing anyway, at least for determining/recording which fret/note someone's playing - the Industrial Radio MIDI bass system, where each fret becomes a 4 section electrical contact (assuming it's a 4 string bass) so the bass becomes a MIDI controller where you can effectively play/record anything you like. The guy from Little Dragon sometimes uses one. The optical pickups already exist with the LightWave infrared systems used on basses like the Saber bass. I don't know how well these compare to piezos or conventional pickups, however we do know that magnetic pickups can and do add character to the sound, depending on how they're constructed, with single coils, humbuckers, coil taps, pickup location along the speaking string length, in/out of phase pairs; which AFAIK you can't achieve with either optical or piezo pickups (which are always in the bridge area). As you've already pointed out a system like the Variax bass offers instrument emulation... it didn't conquer the world and is no longer made. Who knows why... GAS? I did wonder about electronics modularity being utilised more and flexible pickup location being employed with a modern instrument but we've also seen those tried in the past and they didn't catch on (eg Shergold Modulator system and the Gibson Grabber). Looks like conventional basses are going to be around for quite a while longer.

You also need to check that the neck is straight and that the truss rod adjustment still works (moves); there's no point in getting the instrument all screwed back together with new parts for the bridge to find that you can't adjust the neck to set the right amount of relief. This obviously assumes that the pickups work as do the control pots.

Regarding nut slot heights and setting the action, I (possibly incorrectly) imagine the combination of measuring the action and setting the saddle as if the string is like a seesaw where one end is the nut, the other is the bridge saddle and the fulcrum is where you're measuring the string height. If the nut is too high you'll be setting the saddles too low to achieve the desired height at (in your case) the 12th fret which means you'll get fret buzz. Lowering the strings at the nut by deepening the slots means you will have the saddles higher to achieve that same height at the 12th fret which gets rid of the fret buzz. At least that's how I imagine it works... Edit: If you're not sure about making significant adjustments then take it back to where you bought it and ask them. I'm happy about messing about with truss rods but I know some people aren't and they'd prefer the shop to do it. It is a new instrument after all...

When you mention the first few frets you mean when you fret a note near the nut? Nut height won't affect a fretted string when it comes to fret buzz though the depth of the nut slots might well be too shallow (which is what often happens with new instruments). I'd say it's more likely the neck needs just a touch more relief, maybe slacken off an eighth of a turn. As regards the nut slot heights, if they're not deep enough it will affect how you set the action and can cause tuning problems particularly with fretted notes near the nut. You can check the nut slot heights by holding a string down at the third fret and there ought to be a tiny gap between the string and the first fret, just enough for you to feel the string being depressed as you press it down.

I too think that they've diversified the model range too much - the brand has lost focus and identity.

KiOgon put one together for Zenitram recently so ask either/both of them about the kit.

I think I'm about as excited as you and Bryan are in seeing this bass reborn

I've got the VM P that used to belong to 'theyellowcar' and it is indeed a cracking bass which incidentally now wears Fender flatwounds - a really decent sounding combination IMHO

Ahhhh, thank you for that!

Bit of a noob to Alembics question here, but what's the function of the black oblong located between the two pickups? I've seen this on some of Stanley Clarke's basses as well.