itu

...and the pot has to be a Bourns MN 250k or MN 500k. MN has balance tapers.

How about blue suede shoes? Would that make a difference?

Not so, because aluminium is so light in weight, it works only for metallic (a paint or similar). For medium metal it should be steel. Lead is illegal, so heavy substances are mostly gone.

I heard a slight change in tone. If the pickups weren't the same, and their height was different, they weren't testing the pickguard.

It's horrible to play, as I expected, mostly because of the flat strings. Sound is so short that a comp couldn't make it any longer. Very much what I thought it would be. Band actually liked it. Left me wondering why. @KiOgon did this nice rotary switch which is very usable.

The tone zone by Scott Malandrone An old BP article, Jan/Feb 1995. I found it here: http://www.bandatempo.com/baixos/pres.pdf

I'd be amazed if Sire didn't have any spare parts. If they do not for some awkward reason, Mouser et al. may have something reasonable in their selection. If the pot is very exotic, you may put one together from two units. Wiring the pot to the PCBA is an option, if it doesn't fit exactly to old holes.

I have ran after so many basses during the years. Big things happen after trying them. Steinberger was the biggest disappointment of my bass playing life: very round, chunky neck from a double bass. Never again. Alembics still interest me, but so far I have met sky high prices, super small string spacings, instruments made of lead (I think)... but maybe one day. Of course the bass has to look good, but the feel and later on the sound will tell, whether you will really play it or not.

This depends on the brand. ESP 6-string was really wide, like a table. I do not see an issue using a 4-string body with wider necks. Less wood may equal lighter body, too.

This is one very good point. Most amps are clean until they are driven to their limits. @Bill Fitzmaurice commented also about cabs. If these two are clean at high volume levels, we can call the set non-distorted. N'est-ce pas? There are lots of descriptive words, that are not standardized in any way, and I think sterile means something connected to hospitals, doesn't it? There are words that are freely used in music, and try to represent sound, but most of them are like quotes from wine reviews: "round and fruity". Doesn't mean a thing. THD, response, sensitivity, loudness... I know, too complicated to understand. - My amp sounds a bit sterile, but growly! - Say what?

Very much the same with us trying to play Africa, and the piano solo starts...

I might change one word from the headline: "easy" to "simple". One of my favourite songs is "Everybody wants to rule the world". Just eighths, only eighths, and nothing but the eighths.

Switchcraft may be known for quality, but plugs and jacks not. Neutrik makes good plugs, the solution is still somewhat cheapo, but it is the standard today.

1964 Bob Murrell develops Guitorgan with split frets and it's polyphonic 1966 Vox V251 i.e. Guitar Organ, the unreliable guitar synth after Guitorgan At the end of 1960's Ovation develops piezo pickup to their acoustic instruments (piezo will be important in coming MIDI controllers) 1969 Ron Hoag presents optical (IR) pickup at NAMM 1976 EBow; Ampeg and Hagström create Patch 2000 1977 Roland produces their first g-word synth GR-500 (Greco Roland) and bass synth F (= Fuji) Roland 1981 MIDI is standardized 1984 carbon fibre Bond Electraglide is built with fully digital controls, although the pickups are traditional 1985 Steve Chick (Industrial Radio) uses split fret neck (remember the Guitorgan 1964; Wal, Peavey MidiBase and CyberBass) 1986 SynthAxe 1987 Casio 510 1990's Sustainiac (kind of built-in EBow) 2002 Line6 Variax Lightwave Systems optical pickups Misa Kitara and Tri-Bass What's next?

CW was using Misa's Kitara, TriBass came a bit later.

Steve Chick made the first really functional split-fret bass in the 80's (it wasn't the first in the world, but first functional and mass-produced). Industrial Radio is his company at the moment. This is a different take: https://misadigital.com/products/tri-bass

So true! Every time! Write a set list and the first chord, and you'll nail every song start. Others will be amazed. As said so many times before, if you can even stop where others stop, you've made it!

Most of the bands I've been playing, drummers have been so good, I haven't needed ear protection. Yes, there are hard handed hitters, but most of the drummers have been really good. You can also take several steps away from drums. We have an agreement in our rehearsals, that if it's too loud, whoever can say it out. Loud. Even drummer has said so. Our PA is 1.5 kW / side (JBL PRX 735). It helps keeping the sound good, but we are far from high levels. And we are 8 players and 4 singers.

The friction oil of the shaft is probably different. A tiny drop of WD-40 will make it very loose, beware.

Oh dear. Something very basic come to my mind, but this is just speculating: switches should be checked with live signal. And as the pot has been changed, its soldering may be nearly faultless: if the board is two or four layer, some layer may be without tin. Hope you'll get your buzzer (fuzzer?) back.

How many batteries are you going to use during its lifetime? If more than three, or four, you have to be wealthy. https://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_nt_0910.htm

Any chance some of these would fit? https://www.thomann.de/gb/tuning_machines_for_banjos.html My Guild Ashbory had screws that had to be really tight to keep the tuning. Do not oil, if they are friction based.

Do you tune down an ordinary string set? Loose strings get closer to pickups. Raise the pickups a bit (count the turns, and you can get back) and try again.

@hiram.k.hackenbacker: I think Vigier Passion series II is a good sounding one, and Modulus Genesis 5 is another. @TheGreek: Take a look at the upper horn and the 12th fret. The bridge is put slightly backwards, because the neck pocket is too long. I didn't want to shim the end of the neck. Parts didn't exactly fit in the first place. That's one reason they have been in the dark corner of my garage. This is nearly playable, not cute like a Limelight.