Mod_Machine

I restored an old (early 70s) cream 28" scale jedson bass shaped like a telecaster guitar I restored after purchasing from a BC member. Biggest mod was allowing the floating bridge to ...ERM...move to allow intonation as they left the factory screwed down! Even used the original bridge pickup. It was a charity gig for a friend in Hitchen and a personal aspiration to restore and play something older than me at a gig was the only reason I did it. The strings were horrendously floppy, the neck too short and narrow (even though I only play short scale) and when I arrived the drummer asked where I got the 'toy guitar' from.......and yet......nobody at the gig noticed anything out of the ordinary! I now rarely gig with anything valued over £250 and record with the same bass....im not being cheap...honest....(ok maybe i am a little bit) i like to think of it as part of the bands charm and whilst nobody seems bothered, and til the label fancy buying me something else I dont see too much reason to invest further. In fact In most clubs the mixing seems pretty low/bass heavy (especially as I like a more compressed new wave sound). I wear ear plugs so can't enjoy my tone, and the venues always seem to think that louder is better ( which is fine in the 02 acad or the cavern when its heaving, but less than necessary in an un-named local 2 bit semi filled upstairs 'room') and that always effects the listeners enjoyment..! Ultimaytely we are bass players, nobody really cares too much about us as stand alone artists or musicians.

Yeah been there but it's predominantly US based. We seem to have a shortage of custom string suppliers and companies selling off the shelf replacement/alternative scratch plates in this Country.

Yep...I'm incorrect and just found a dealer doing the 95 labellas for £35 a set which isn't bad...but still want the 100 low e. As for my statement about the small ball ends I think that can be discounted! I'm not sure where I've picked that up. Just tried an Ernie ball custom gauge 105 which has a relatively normal sized ball end and its fine. It may not allow too much movement through the tremolo system but has I've already locked it and intend not to use it I can't see an issue.....guess I just need to build a set from 100 gauge down to 28 through strings direct...or maybe a standard set of 4 plus two custom individuals!

Hi, I have the squier vi and want a thicker set of strings on it. Seems silly that fender website advertise they come with 26-95 gauge strings on but in reality they are arriving with same as the fender bass vi....24 to 84 gauge. So lots on the internet about the labellas, which is fine but at £55 in UK its too expensive. There is also lots about the length required for the vi meaning guitar strings are not long enough and loads of people saying order custom made sets....but no definitive answer... So where in the UK can I get a heavier gauge e (and possibly a) string to fit squier vi with a small ball end? Ta M_M

Thanks all. I've made contact with the doc and picked up a new batch black vi from the local(ish) music store yesterday even though nowhere else had stock til mid Jan earliest. Not only that the store had a special on purchases over a certain amount so I got a further 10% off the normal price-meaning my wife was £30 better off once she canceled the order through Dawson's. I played one when they were first released and was not impressed....it buzzed all over the place, finish was so so and the floppy E string kept falling off the neck! This one was so much better...better spaced strings over the pickups, barely any buzz fret and strings felt like they had better tension. Set up was still toffee mind but I always reset up and as I wanted to swivel bridge around and replace the scratch plate I was going to end up semi dismantling anyway!

I've played short scale since I started and even though i had (and could comfortably play) an ibanez jetking for a while ( im only 5"7 with midget hands (and t rex arms according to my wife) I'd go with the majority - £300 budget has to be squire mustang or jag. First things first...they both have to be the most beautiful looking shortscales. The eb0 I learnt on was not pleasant...very thumpy/muddy and weight distribution was not ideal. First thing I did when we got signed was change it. This was definately a mixture of the wrong strings and a poor amp but even after rectifying this I still ended up selling to our guitarist for £25! I hated it that much, not sure why but I'd get thumb cramps with the eb0 (I use a thumb pick) even after only short 30 min gigs...never happened with any other bases...weird. Squire are pretty well built these days and fender products always seems to give a more defined tone to my ears....saying that the gretch jet is also lovely looking, just never played it. I do know the guitar version is very cool and smoother to play than most of the fender telecasters ive played. I've asked a friend to leave me his when he dies....but he just keeps living.

Hi, cheers for the response...what was the quality like? and the shipping ? (Costs and time?). Not overly keen ordering from us as lost pieces during tansit before.

Hi, I'm about to get a white squier vintage modified vi (present from the wife) but of course have to wait for delivery...I have the chance of a black one immediately. Either way I want to change the scratch plate to a 3 ply black\white\black. Any one know of anywhere I can get one? I had a custom mustang scratch plate made by bass doc and it was lush-it absolutely finished my project to the higehest standard. does anyone know if he still produces single plates on request? Many thanks Karl

Hi...cheers for the response. I'd already found the Seymour site and a really lush simple diagram for two humbuckers and a three way with tone and volume controls.....taped it all together and quickly got what I wanted..... Soldered it all and spent the last 20 mins adjusting the truss rod. All works so I'm happy and now have a shortscale bass version of the early 70s thinline telecaster....that I built....and works! Looking forward to gigging this year for no reason other than to crank it up!

Hi, I've built a thin line telecaster replica as a short scale bass. Im at the wiring in stage and have to combine the two humbuckers.....thing is I've never built a bass with more than one pickup so need a little step by step help to get it all together.....and in ladybird book of guitar electrics style! The humbuckers are as follows.... Green = live Red and white is pretty soldered together and is split/tab ?????(whatever that means) Black = earth Braid = earth (why two earths?) So both pickups have the same trailing wires....I have a three way selector with a black and white wire and then on to my previous made pots and input jack section that currently has a black and white wire where it was attached to the previous pickup.......please guide me through this! Ta mod

I know its pretty much the same as the guitar one....but it doesnt have the little cut away along the bottom edge for the guitars elongated pickup/bridge plate. Want one in three ply black-white-black? Any one help?

Well it is a behringer tuner...defo not a true bypass...further development...the tuner being a behringer was pretty noisey when powered off the daisy chain and needed a 9v battery to keep quiet....but that hiss has now also gone.....making my whole pedal chain noticably much quieter...all very peculiar and the best happy accident ive had in a while!

Lol....it was more the bizzareness of having the tuner after the chorus...but still at the front of the chain.. As i say im happy its all ok (though now dont want to change the tuner incase i risk returning it to flanging across the notes!) Just wondered if there was a theoretical reason i had overlooked.....id been checking everywhere over the net for a solution and got nothing though i guess it does explain why there is such a marmite love or hate vibe with bass players and this pedal!

Hi, Ive had an issue with my small clone in that it seemed too extreme even on its lowest depth and rate setting and wasnt even across the range....ie if i rolled up to about the 15th fret on d string i would loose it in the mix, hit the 13th fret on the A string though and it would boom all over the mix. I was running the arrangement like this (based on best advise of set ups):- mustang bass-> Marshall compressor->Behringher tuner (so so sorry)->EHX Bass Big Muff->EHX Small Clone->Marshall Delay->ashdown amp Was going to get rid of the small clone, or maybe mod to create a better blend with the dry tone, or get a LS2 blend/loop pedal but hadnt got round to it. In rehearsal with same amp bass etc set up i had 10 mins to play around and as I knew the space and knew where the note volumer/presence was 'going missing' i tried moving it around a bit. After some trial and error ultimately moving every pedal arround i ended up with the following arrangement which has knocked the small clone into a lovely usable pedal on bass. The chorus is really not noticable on lower depth selection til rate is about quarter of the way up, Its then dead subtle building til about half way up where its a little extreme for my liking and by about 3/4 of the way up is in P Hook land! mustang bass->EHX Small Clone->behringer tuner->marshall Compressor->EHX big muff->Marshall Delay->Ashdown amp Thing is its also now dead even across all the range! Im chuffed i have got what i want, BUT its frustrating as to how/why its happened and doesnt sit well with my OCD as i know it shouldnt be arranged like that. lol As soon as i put the tuner in front of the chorus (anywhere in the arrangement) the subtlty is gone and the inconsistent notes reappear, but likewise if i put the tuner at the end of the chain i still suffer the same probs....its like the tuner HAS to be the next on in line after the chorus to make the chorus managable! so now my cheap short term tuner seems to be my life saver?!! Anyone know why this is?

Hi Mark....thats the info im after. So remove the resisters entirely and just run wiring from where one resistor starts to the pot, and then from the pot to where the other resistor ends....is it really that simple and if so why didnt EHX put this facility on there (like on my bass big muff?) If it is that simple ill not be selling the pedal! How do i know which resistor is which? And what difference will it make if i use a larger pot?

Hi, yeah BC already informed me of the loop possibilities with a belnd option (eg Boss LS2) however i only want to blend this one effect and a quick blend dial put in the right place is significantly cheaper than even the £70-80 required for the boss pedal.

Sorry if in the wrong section - please feel free to chastise me if im at fault though its genuinely not intentional! Ive read a few people have added a pot to their EHX small clone chorus pedal allowing to mix in more of the dry tone and thus make it a little more 'workable' with bass. Has anyone done this who can help a novice through the process of adding the pot - e.g where it goes! Lots of info on the net seems to either get far to detailed or contradict itself...though im guessing becasue its only a small part of the greater list of mods associated with adding vibrato etc.... ....i just want to pring out a little more of the dry tone! Many thanks M_M

Cool...thats what i want ...a blend control! what else other then the boss is there?

Hi...not sure how that would help me? i dont quite understand the whole effects loop thing...i just run one pedal to the next. Are you sying an effects loop within my chain encompassing the chorus will allow me to reduce the chorus sound behind the standard bass tone? If it is an effects loop within my chain that will help surely i can do that with the hartke bass attack i already have?

Hi, there are lots of rave reviews of this pedal beimg used with bass but i juat cant seem to get on with it. May be ok if you want a slightly more extreme hooky sound but i dont and iys now frustrating the hell out of me...so before i sell it on can anyone advise if im doing something wrong? I really just want a wee bit of chorus almost sitting behind my bass tone. With the small clone in my chain im already setting it do less than 9 aclock with the depth switch in the lower setting. any more than this becomes extreme. However even at this low setting it seems to flange quite a bit and i end up with a really uneven tone with some notes more prominant than others and no amount of compression seems to help...some amps also accentuate the problem. Im running fender mustang into marshall compressor, ehx big muff, ehx small clone, marshall delay and then a hartke bass attack/di pedal. My tone is perfect til i put the small clone on, then loose my new wave tone as it seems to want to be all 'on' rather thangently ' shading' my tone in the background but leaving the existing bass sound as my prominant tone.

Cheers all. It a fender mustang pickup so that pot sounds the job. Absolutely fine with soldering....what i meant was that someone on here does a little unit already soldered to gether with good quality transistors and pots and wiring....all you do is order the while replacement set and just solder in the pickup. Havent got anything to check how hot the pick up is, but its not an original fender pot im currently running, just a cheap squire replacement so not aurprised its going.... Worth changing the tone pot and anything else while im in there? im popping over to maplin later.