Doctor J

If you're using pine and MDF, removing so much wood from around the neck pocket might not be the best idea. I would expect that to flex quite a bit, as is.

2 hours ago, SICbass said:

Is it possible that the guy from the shop wired one or other pots to the wrong part of the central board (i.e. the blue thingy attached to a board)? Or would that then cease to function altogether?

You can move the pots to where you want them without having to change any wiring. The neck of the pots are the same size, if I recall correctly. Just undo the nuts on the front, the pots will drop into the cavity, and move each control where you would like them to be and thread the nut back on.  Perhaps label them before you do that, though 😉

The factory standard, courtesy of Breadbin, is

Upper front - volume, no indent, green

Lower front - pan, indented, blue

Upper rear - bass, indented, red

Lower rear - treble, indented, yellow

but, personally, I like to keep the EQ on the bottom, volume and blend on top. I'd do it like this

Upper front - volume

Upper rear - pan

Lower front - bass

Lower rear - treble

But it's up to you to decide. Put them where it makes sense to you.

Three should have a centre detent - the pickup blend and the bass & treble cut & boosts. Set them all to the centre.

The one without the detent is the volume. Turn it all the way up and plug the bass into the amp.

Take a screwdriver (or anything metal) and gently tap on the split pickup. Now, rotate the other three pots one at a time. When you cut one of them, the sound of you tapping the pickup will disappear from the amp completely. That's your pickup blend.

Of the remaining two pots, you should be able to figure out which is which by boosting or cutting. The treble will get very bright when you boost, very dull when you cut, but do it when the other EQ pot is centred.

It claims to be a "greatest" list, not best. Greatness does not necessarily correllate with technical abililty, nor do they even specify it's about drumming greatness, just drummers of unspecified greatness, so they have given themselves carte blanche to add anyone at all. You could argue Meg White displayed greatness through the level of popularity the White Stripes achieved with such limited ability on the drum stool. Rick Allen, carving out a career as a one-armed drummer, is pretty great, in my opinion, but I wouldn't want him in a death metal band... yet.

Click bait list click click click.

4 hours ago, 12stringbassist said:

Fender P and Jazz copies by companies like Lakland and Sandberg et al.
Why don't they have the imagination to do their own body shape designs?

As opposed to FMIC who didn't design anything either but, instead, bought the name and copyrights from the company who bought the name and copyrights from the guy who actually did design something?

Beside the hi-hat, when not at the bar.

Very cool. I like that a lot.

It's a shame there is a glut of lyrically banal and empty gibberish in most mainstream music. I was getting into Metal and hardcore punk at that point in the 80's and, having been exposed to the wealth of socially conscious material there, perhaps the impact of Prince's song was a little lost on me. Looking back at what else was in the charts at the time, though, yeah I can see how it would make a profound impression in that musical landscape.

There's a lot of love for Serek basses at the moment and they seem to keep it basic and quirky.

There's a lot of variety there. What kind of bass are you actually looking for, what are the things you like and dislike?

I haven't played Moon (yet) but have owned (and still own) quite a few other niche Japanese brands and, in my experience, they're generally a substantial improvement on your average big F (USA, MIJ, old and new ones which I no longer own) in every aspect. Forget the name on the headstock, trust your hands and your ears.

A used bass is a lot like a beautiful woman...

What was dead should have stayed dead.

At the very bottom, this?

A bridge with Kubicki style wheels around which you spool fresh string. Instead of removing strings to change them, you just spool more out of the bridge and clamp the fresh section behind the nut, then snip off the excess of old string.

I've only ever owned a Sarzo but it was a very nice piece of kit, just couldn't abide the lack of a forearm contour. I always wanted to try a T-40 but missed out on them during the time they were less than 400 quid, so it's a dream which will go unfulfilled, now.

To bring this train-wreck somewhat back on topic

Jaco Pastaurius

Pizza Butler

Veal Murray

Gravy504

Farls Berthoud

Adam Filet-on

This is one of the new ones with the single truss rod? Make sure the relief is correct before you do anything. Hold the string down at the first and last fret, you should have no more than the width of a business card between the bottom of the string and the top of frets 8 & 9. Then, check that the relief is the same on both sides, that the neck is not starting to warp to one side. If you bought it recently, you'll be covered by warranty so check this now, don't leave it.

For me, the action at the nut should be about the same over fret 1 - with the string open -as it is over fret 2 when you hold down the string at fret 1. The action the first fret on the G string looks good but looks terrible on the E string. Having to file the nut is not unusual, I can think of only a couple of instruments over the years where I haven't had to do this. It's an easy-enough job but it's very easy to take off too much. If you're unsure, bring it to a pro.

So, 1 check the relief is correct which will show you 2, that the neck is straight before 3, get that nut filed.

If this thread was a bassist, the keyboardist's left hand would be getting a promotion.

I believe our ability to make basses has improved quite substantially in my time and the 70's were a low ebb for manufacturing so no thanks 😉

I don't see a photo, but red is usually connected to the battery in active basses which would explain the bass being totally dead. Follow the wiring from the battery terminal, make sure that is connected to the PCB. From there, you should be able to follow the tracks in the PCB. Also, try emailing Yamaha to see if they have a schematic.

Yeah, anything goes. Thanks for listening.

"Greatness" is not a diarrhoea splatter of notes and no greatness was illustrated in the video so, yes, if a root note showed their musical ability better then it would have been more appropriate.