NancyJohnson

I've been running so many scenarios round in my head you dont know. Maybe it's our power supply, maybe the wireless router, the rug in the room where my amp is, my phone, the time it happens etc. The problem is intermittent and none of my other guitars are affected. Irrespective, I'm monitoring things for the next day or two then will report back. It's flummoxing and very irritating.

I may have had it a month, but I haven't had it for a month. First off, the bass is beautiful, no question. Plays, balances and primarily sounds lovely (most of the time), but on the downside it has an intermittent crackling/interference issue with the bridge pickup. Sadly the bass has been going backward and forward between my tech and Mark/Bass Direct and I got it back yesterday. Happy to report it was fine; I gave it a 30 minute workout with no issues, put it on the stand, picked it up a few hours later and the crackle had returned. It was a bit amiss the this morning, but clear tonight. I've tried the bass through two rigs and different combinations thereof and will monitor things over the weekend (and take a second bass to a studio session in Landaan on Sunday). If it screws up, it goes back again. I would point out that Mark at Bass Direct has been handling the issue with gusto, so credit to him.

I don't want to come over all ho-hum as I profess to not being a fan of these repositories, but if we can just keep it at photos rather than pages of gushing quotes about the basses, then OK. [b]2015 JAXT4 Lull #2607:[/b]

Yummy.

Nooooo, you sausage! The Precision one. Tony owns that one?

Who owns that black bass? Confused.

I got a 1978 Aria Primary Bass in a three guitar and amplifier job lot on Gumtree a few years ago. Spent about £30 getting it sorted out. It's essentially a Matsukomo factory Precision bass. Plays nicely and to my ears sounds nice; to me that's all that matters!

I know the song, never played bass along with it or anything, but I do have a little snippet of something that might help. First, a disclaimer. I should point out that I'm a big fan of those first four albums and the following is not intended to be in detriment of those. Some time back I downloaded some multitrack files of songs from Sheer Heart Attack. One thing that became quite apparent (and I'm currently listening to the Killer Queen bass right now to make sure my memory isn't clouded), is that the bass is quite out of tune and or intonated very poorly. Tonally it's very woolly almost fretless in quality (I think JD used to put foam under the strings as well). It's quite excrutiating in parts and sounds like someone who hasn't been playing that long. With this in mind, perhaps the notes you think he's playing, aren't what he's playing. I'm listening to Now I'm Here now...equally as messy and littered with bum notes.

This is an interesting and well timed thread. I borrowed a Mark Bass 2x10 off a mate last night just to see what the fuss was all about. I had a quick noodle last night and it does sound incredibly phat compared to my Hartke Hydrive 410. More side by side nonsense will continue today.

Thing of beauty. Having spent several thousand on a Lull in the last few days, I would fear for my testicles is that arrived.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1434831444' post='2803213'] Very nice, congrats! What wood is it made from? [/quote] Haven't got a clue...I really don't know my woods. I sometimes wonder whether it actually makes that much difference to be honest...it doesn't really matter what I play, they always end up sounding fairly similar! I'm assuming it's just a painted up version of the natural finish one (whatever that is): Anyone?

'I remember what it was like the first time I went to a gig.' Beyond that just tell the drunken pass around to stop shouting.

New bass arrived 19/6/15. It's a satin black Mike Lull JaxT4 (the stock Jeff Ament/Pearl Jam model). The satin finish is almost finishing/fine-grit wet and dry paper to touch, not unpleasant at all. All the chrome is nice (for a change). Dunlop Straploks as standard. Neck is nice...profile comparison is between a Jazz and Precision, but more Jazz. No idea of the radius. (*edit #1 here: the reverse headstock is going to take some getting used to. After 30+ years of playing, the instinction of going for the top of the headstock to tune will never go away.) Comes in a nice orange hard case, Lull certification and a bag of picks. It balances nicely on the strap (don't ask) and sounds very nice direct or through a battery of Sansamps. Edits: Despite the general all round loveliness, there's an ongoing issue with the bridge pickup; Lull sent out a replacement (which hasn't solved the problem!), so at present the bass is up with Mark at Bass Direct to resolve. I'm a pretty patient person and despite having ownership for nearly a month now, I've not actually used the bass in anger. I should have it back shortly and hopefully fixed. Anyhow, to the photos. Get your tissues out. That's it! P The bass itself: The back...the tummy cut is generous and really comfortable: Headstock view. I'm so used to the Gibson Thunderbird's slab body, the chamfer on the right forearm bout is very nice to play around, almost sharkfin-esque (no more bruises!): Give the body is supposed to be 20% larger than a Gibson, a side by side was necessary: And another (even though the photo doesn't look like it, I lined up the two basses at the nut):

Pics will be up on the porn page shortly. P

Well, it's arrived at home (via Bass Direct) and I'm sitting in my office until 5.00pm. Groan. I'll put some pictures up today or tomorrow and include some side by side shots against one of my Gibson Thunderbirds for 20% bigger size comparison purposes. P

Just out of curiosity are the pots the same ones that were on my NR that I sent you? You know all about my woes there. Maybe they were just cock.

Well, as it's a bolt-on if the neck is toast you should be able to get a new neck from them. Keep us posted.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1434291006' post='2798325'] I paid good money for this on the basis that it was a 1973. I think I've been conned. [/quote] [quote name='obbm' timestamp='1434294511' post='2798364'] Thanks guys. I can relax and just enjoy its great tone with a new set of Rotosounds. [/quote] Dave, I read through this and I'm happy that there's a decent outcome and you weren't sold a dud. That said (look, I want to be the voice of reason here), from first post ('conned') to final ('relax and enjoy it's great tone') took barely 25 hours. Did it not have great tone yesterday or does the knowing it's of the determined vintage as sold make you like it more so?

I've seen a guy iron the neck to get the fretboard off. Not for the fainthearted. Is it a through-neck or bolt on?

If the neck was set up for 'thicker' strings and you're now set with a lighter gauge, then yes, it's possible the truss rod might need adjusting. How straight is the neck generally (front bow, back bow, level), with the strings tuned up? How is the fret buzz near the neck and higher up the neck towards the bridge? It's feasible that with the truss rod too tight, you might have some back bow on the neck which will cause the neck to arch away from the midway point; so somewhere around your 8th fret. The graphic below is pretty succinct. If you're doing this yourself, detune, turn the truss rod a quarter turn anti-clockwise and tune up :: lefty loosey, righty tighty :: repeat if necessary.

There's (at the time of posting) eight short videos posted by Crimson Guitars on how to make a decentish guitar from an £80 kit one. While I find Ben's delivery a tad on the condescending side, they're a really good watch. The first eight are pretty much woodworking-based. Here's the first one...you'll find the rest of the videos easily enough. P [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJzvQFWwO9w[/media]

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1433942640' post='2795305'] And you only have to punch the information into them once :-) [/quote] Yay!