rmorris

Just Google it...

+1 and add CPC - same company as Farnell but prices sometimes cheaper and free delivery over £5 if willing to wait 3/5 days. Albeit Product info' / datasheets etc sometimes a bit minimal . Check their Bargains / Clearances too. Bitsbox handy . Switch Electronics (from memory) For larger orders Digikey ( and maybe Mouser) can be better - good UK delivery times. I was checking some Neutrik connectors prices out at work the other week and the difference was BIG.

The OP said every half second not every half minute But yes - I'll guess it's a watch or clock somewhere in the vicinity. I've posted this before but I had a similar thing on a strat type guitar (fwiw an Ibanez). Took me a while before I noticed tick was sync'd with the second hand of my watch ! In different circumstances have aso heard similar caused by a DVD player on standy in a different room on a different floor of a largeish house. It's easy too forget about rooms above and below but floors are generally not good shields :-) Worth noting esp if you have old style dimmer controlled lighting in the room below.

What width of strip do you need and what type and grade of abrasive (I'm taking 'sandpaper' as a catch all) ?

Technically they should both work well. Copper would be a bit better than Aluminium but it's unlikely you'll actually experience a difference. If you have Aluminium tape I'd say go with that - but as has already been said - the adhesive needs to be conductive. On Copper tape it often is as it's intended use is probably shielding but for Aluminium it might not be if the intended use is non-electrical (although I'd guess ducting systems get connnected to 'Earth' for electrical safety standards )

Yes but Aluminium isn't as easy to solder. You'll probably need to use 'special' aluminium solder and possibly more heat to be succesful. eg Aluminium Solder CPC Also note that aluminium develops a non conducting oxide layer on it so you should key that off to provide a good base for the solder seam. With either copper or Aluminium you need a good deal of heat as the metal tape will act as a heatsink - like soldering to a potentiometer case.

I'm certain any contributions by Sandberg (or any other luthier / maufacturer) to the forums here would be appreciated as are Manton's.

Interesting. Maybe I'll re-evaluate :-) Thanks.

I say no need to apologise. You're properly entitled to an opinion and your generosity of expertise is appreciated here :-)

Yes there would appear to be the possibility of sideways movement. But there's a lot of string tension holding it in place at that point and since the string is plucked / hit relatively far away from the nut / zero fret then there's little actual sideways force there (unlike a bridge without grooves for the grubscrews). Theory aside I've never heard of it being a problem in use ?

No. 3/32 inch to 5 dp is 2.38125 1 inch = 25.4mm (to one dp) think you have the 3 and 8 switched in your answer, 2.8313 mm is approx 3.57/32

I have one of those 'Wesley' basses in transparent blue. But I reckon the break angle at the bridge is too much. Would like to replace the bridge but wondering how acrylic takes screws ? Is there any 'give' in it such that woodscrews with a pilot hole would be okay or do I need to tap threads or use threaded inserts or...

I worked in a factory where acrylic (perspex) was cut for fabrication. IIRC cutting speed was quite high. Fine tooth blades and constant fluid cooling. But this was an industrial cutting machine doing sheets at a time. For one off manual cuts other considerations may apply...

+1 All that's being done really is putting a buffer / preamp inside the bass and not on the end of a cable. The pickup remains a 'standard Hi-Z' pickup. There are some lower Z pickups which benefit from a preamp and pots designed for them (lower Z typically means lower output but lower noise) eg 'proper' EMGs. But the Thunders have standard type pickups.

Peter Hook... http://equipboard.com/pros/peter-hook/shergold-marathon-6-string-bass

OK. I felt compelled to translate the imperial measurement to metric 2.4mm

The reason the hum/buzz reduces when you touch strings/metalwork is that you are grounding yourself via the bass/cable to the amplifier(etc) ground. When you are near the bass but not grounded you become a source of electrical noise - generally mains frequencies and multiples thereof. So the pole piece effect implies that some of the 'bass' side pole pieces are grounded whilst the 'treble' side pole pieces are not. Test with a meter...

For not so easy battery requirements I can recommend http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/

JB Weld ? (It's American but likely available in UK as we have it at work)

It's not a problem. I've never known of it causing a problem. As long as the bass is hanging vertically then the forces will be (essentially) symmetrical. The tension on the bass is dominated by the string tension. If the weight of the bass were to be an issue then there would be something seriously amiss with the design of the instrument.

Yeah - I didn't t check the Big Muff type circuits. I was looking at Fuzz Face type circuits again the other day so was fresh in my mind. Th Big Muff types have a 'proper' transistor buffer before the cliiping stage so should be okay with actives as you say. The clipping stage is driven by the buffer stage. Meaning that the result should be more consistent with different pickups / basses. Th input impedance is still quite low esp for a passive bass ( circa 140K) so in this case some form of True Bypass switching would be a good idea.

Just to note that the impedance issue relates to Si Transistors Fuzzes too, though the sound will differ (a bit :-)

The basic issue here isn't that the signal level may be too high - though that is a possible issue it's usually relatively easily dealt with . The specific issue with active basses and some effects is related to output impedance of the bass. Some pedals - basically "Fuzz Face" type circuits (Zvex Wooly etc...) rely for their characteristics on the signal plugged into it having a high impedance. Basically the output impedance of the bass is in series with the ...err...base of a BJT transistor and that influences the circuit operation. And an 'ordinary' passive pickup(s) have quite a high output impedance so that's okay. An 'active' pickup/preamp system has a much lower output impedance and the resulting sound from a "Fuzz" type circuit is generally thought to be undesireable. It also follows from that that a "Fuzz" needs to be first thing in any chain so that it sees the pickup impedance. To get around the problem you can try putting resistance (and optionally inductance) in series with the signal. I think Zvex do this with a seperate pot on one of their Fuzz pedals ( I won't name it from memory in case I get it wrong but it'll be on the website I guess).

Internal or external threads ?

Sounds like a fret issue to me if it's only one fretted position showing the problem and on all strings. Disclaimer: I tend to favour minimal relief and minimum fret buzz.