shoulderpet

On 27/06/2022 at 11:44, BigJHW said:

So,

 

Off the back of another post i made you may be aware i've acquired a new Sterling Ray 35 HH.

 

Now to look at i'm 100% in love with this bass - excellent weight, beautiful roasted maple neck, hardware is excellent, electronics all work as they should

 

but.........

 

1st thing i noticed was an insane amount of fret buzz - didn't matter where i fretted the neck or how hard or soft i played... buzzzzzz

Then there's the action - WOW it's high.

the bridge saddles have plenty of room to lower that which is great BUT... with the amount of fret buzz it already has lowering it seems redundant.

 

As the band i'm in down tune half a step, any new bass i acquire i get set up from a luthier i've used for years

 

took it to my luthier buddy in Southampton on Sunday - he took it outta the gig bag

1st he called me an idiot for buying an Indonesian built bass (cause he hasn't seen a good one come out of the factory yet) - i honestly didn't realise the same factory that makes Sterling also make ibanez, PRS, Squire etc.... so i learnt something
then he noted the slight bow forward in the neck

then the fret buzz and the ridiculous action

 

my question or more query is....

 

do i spend what ever is required to get this bass playable OR for a bass that cost £1150 should i have expected it to be playable right outta the box and go back to the reseller (once i have the update from the luthier as to what is actually wrong with it) and either send it back OR see if they can get it resolved.

 

Annoyingly i REALLY like this bass (and the reseller i got it from) so i'm super torn as what to do..

hmmm (sorry for the lack of pictures but this is already with the luthier so i can't take any pics to show the state of things)

thoughts?

I would ask the tech if he can do an appraisal to see how easy he thinks it will be to fix and what he estimates it will cost you, however that being said the fact you could not play any notes anywhere on the neck without buzz seems like a red flag to me unless the bass came with the truss rod fully loosened from the factory, if it did then that would account for the buzz but if the truss rod was engaged and there was still buzz everywhere that would be worrying to to me. 

10 hours ago, BlueMoon said:

Yes.....that is the classic, vintage Fender-style truss rod.

Remember to adjust in only slight turns followed by a period to let the neck settle.

Ok thank you for confirming

2 hours ago, garnfeld said:

I've not replaced the strings yet (Almost two years, I'm so sorry!) so could that be the main issue?

 

I am almost 100% certain that is the issue, assuming they are roundwounds that is a very long time to leave a set of strings on for

Hi

Truss rod adjustment time and the first time I have had to adjust a heel access truss rod, is the below picture correct for which way to turn the truss rod?  Thanks

And still available if anyone wants it before it goes on EvilBay

On 21/06/2022 at 15:21, Lozz196 said:

If I used that song as a marker I`d throw all my basses away as I can`t play it 🤣

Neither me, I gave up trying to learn it, same with the fiddly section of Sir duke, I got an approximation going but the fact the part is mirrored on the horns makes it too obvious that im not playing it correctly

35 minutes ago, Rigpig said:

if its still available I could pick up from you possibly tomorrow (25th) or next week.

Hi, yes still available, either tomorrow or next week is good for me thanks, PM sent

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Absolutely 100% this ^^^

 

There clearly are instances in early Fenders where Leo didn't get it right.  I can understand it from a design perspective; it just keeps everything smooth at the headstock end, but it is a major ball-ache to take the neck off, tweak, put the neck back on, set up, swear a bit, and repeat.

Yep, really in hindsight what he should have done if he wanted it to all look neat is had the bodies fitted with a rout to adjust the truss rod and left the pickguard without a truss rod notch, that way it covers the rout and keeps it looking neat and you just have to lift the pickguard to get access to the truss rod, much less hassle than having to remove the neck, put the neck back on, check the relief and then remove the neck again if you got it wrong the first time

The last band I was gigging with actually took the pi** out of me when they viewed the recording of one of our gigs because I walked across the stage throughout the entire gig, each to there own but I cant see the point in standing still, doesn't seem much fun

17 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

If the truss rod adjustment is of the type with a cross at the end rather than a hexagonal hole for an allen key, once you have the appropriate cutout in the body (and pickguard) it can still be tricky to get a screwdriver in there for adjustment without causing damage, but there is a handy tool available from Stewmac that makes adjustment a doddle:

 

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-truss-rods/truss-rod-crank-for-tele

 

I use one for my JMJ mustang. Mine came via a UK seller on ebay who had a few of these for sale.

Thanks, I have one of these that I got for my classic 50s P bass and was hoping to be able to get to the truss rod with it by removing the pickguard as some people have been able to do but im about a mm shy of being able to get to it

Nope doesn't bother me at all, my pet hate though is when you buy an instrument from someone and it is filthy, has happened a couple of times and nothing quite takes the shine off that new bass feeling like having to clean and disinfect an instrument before you can play it, also makes you wonder if the person selling it has any self respect or pride.

Now £60, this will be the only price drop as it is an absolute bargain at this price

Edit: Now £60, final price drop as this is a bargain at this price

Harley Benton JB-75 for sale as I have a project on the go at the moment so trying to get rid of anything I am not using. 

Bass is in decent condition and sounds really good and is a real looker however the action is a little on the high side as there was some buzz on the G string (on the 1st or 2nd fret I think) so the action has been raised to counter this, if you like a low action then you may want to level the frets.

The pickguard has been spray painted as I wanted a matt black, it came out more like a satin black, not a perfect job but looks decent.

I have fitted a solderless loom with a series/parallel push/pull switch, I had to extend one of the wires slightly which looks a little messy but does not affect functionality and the series/parallel gives some good tonal options, the stock pickups are really good sounding pickups

Collection from Croydon area, £60, I am working on a P bass build at the moment and have the neck sorted and need to sort the body so will consider a trade for a p bass body 

SOLD

4 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

not sure how the SX Pickup rates, or if Ceramic compare to the Alnico Magnets of the Kent Armstrongs etc...

The Kent Armstrong will  be much better, The KA hot P pickup is a good one

Thanks for the replies, sounds like a truss rod access rout is the way to go

Hi all

I have just ordered the first part for my upcoming bass build, the neck.

I hate satin finish necks and particularly if they are untinted pale maple and the only reasonably priced tinted gloss neck I could find has a heel access truss rod.

I know sometimes with this type of neck you can just take off the pickguard to get to the truss rod but my Fender that has the same type of truss rod access I have to remove the whole neck.

With this in mind I am anticipating having to shim the neck to raise it in the pocket so that I can adjust the truss rod without having to unscrew the neck.

I would just like to raise the neck a bit without affecting the neck angle if possible, what is the best way to shim to achieve this?

Thanks

3 hours ago, ubit said:

I find active basses more trouble than they are worth. You don’t use one for ages, leave it unplugged and go back to it and the battery is flat. Over cooked sounds as well. I just prefer a naturally aspirated bass. 

For me it depends how good the preamp is, a bad preamp can ruin a bass, also I don't get the point of 2 band preamps, why would anyone not want a midrange control on the preamp

I don't currently own any active basses

3 hours ago, Welshbassist said:

Dreadful that someone who doesn't know any better has spent close to 300 quid on this.

I did report this listing but I don't know if eBay did anything about it

Was just about to post about this blatant fake, someone beat me to it.

I'm not as well versed as some on Fenders but immediately I noticed that the headstock shape is wrong, the tuners are wrong, the bridge is wrong and that sloppy routing around the bridge pickup.

The bidding is currently at £270 !!! Eek!!!

1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

Based on my admittedly limited experience of alnico vs ceramic I believe this should be the alnico!

The alnico Wilkinson is a great pickup, imo easily as good as the more expensive vintage voiced pickups out there,I use a Duncan SPB-2 nowadays because I like the midrange bark it gives but the Wilkinson is very good also

1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

Thanks! Yes thin is definitely the right word

Yeah I had a lightbulb moment regarding PJ basses, a lot of the more inexpensive ones have J pickups in the 4-5k range which means that as soon as you add in the J pickup your tone really thins out, your tone will get thinner anyway with the j pickup added in due to phase cancellation so if the bridge pickup is underpowered then it will be they noticeably thinner sounding. 

3 minutes ago, Paolo85 said:

Well, in the end I have bought a Squier P with Wilkinson pickup already on here in the classifieds instead of upgrading my PJ. I am extremely happy with it, it plays the part exactly as I wanted and GAS has now subdued.

At this point I will probably keep the ceramic P pickup in the PJ for differentiation (on top of flats vs rounds) and replace only the J bridge pickup which is dreadful.

If it is the Alnico Wilkinson that is a really good pickup that way exceeds what you would expect from such an inexpensive pickup. 

Good call on replacing the J pickup, if it is anything like most stock j pickups on PJ basses then it is probably only wound to 4 or 5k which usually means the tone really thins out when the j pickup is on.

Gig.ink is good

7 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Entwistle forxa nice bit of bite, Warman for some real growl.

Warman is another one I've been curious about, seeing how cheap they are I will have to get some and see how I like them

2 hours ago, 3below said:

I bought one of those from a BC member. The wood is really good and lightweight. The fit of the cavity to pickguard screws required work.  The finish is ok, at some point I may sand it back and improve the body contours, they are a little crude. I also had to widen the neck pocket.

Thanks, the more I look into this the more I am wondering if I should just buy a Fender neck and body rather than piece together components from different manufacturers and praying that they fit

8 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Depends how accurately you can work with wood. The neck ideally wants to be a snug fit in the pocket and you will need to ensure the sides of the pocket sit flush against it with no gaps. How are your woodworking skills?

Thanks, I think I will get someone else to do that part for me then, fortunately one of the best luthiers/repairmen in the country is about a mile from where I live