Chris1127

Had a bit of a hankering for another westone bass for a while - had a thunder 1 guitar a few years ago and really regret selling it. Managed to pick up a reasonably cheap thunder 1a bass locally a couple of weeks back - a bit tatty cosmetically and with one broken switch but good for the money I reckon. Really nice to play too, if a little neck-heavy - tips on the headstock if you let it go. Was originally in a satin light oak finish when I got it, but it was looking a bit tired so decided to refinish it. So far I've taken it back to bare wood and filled the grain with a light mahogany grain filler to really highlight the endgrain. Next step is a couple of coats of sanding sealer then i'm going for a trans-colour finish on the upper and lower ash parts and leaving the centre natural. Not decided what colour yet - torn between a dark green, a teal blue or maybe orange or red. more pics to follow as it progresses

No pics at the mo - will probably post some once I have done the scratchplate. Been looking at your Sub project - looking good!! Really like that shade of blue - are you planning on keeping the black headstock and hardware? Think if I do strip and stain the body would probably go for chrome hardware and a natural headstock - quite a bit of work to do though.

I bought an OLP MM2 4-string musicman a little while ago with the intention of giving my Ibanez ATK a bit of a rest from gigging and practicing, wit the intention of a few mods just to make it a bit more useable. Its the black one with the horrible silver pearloid scratchplate (that was the first thing to go!!) - bought it secondhand but hardly used so for the money was happy enough with it. From the off the neck feels really nice - slimmer and faster feeling than the Ibanez. there was way too much relief in it when I got it though, and the action was sky high so have tweeked the truss rod a bit and lowered the action - pleased to say that even slung pretty low theres no buzzing so thumbs up from that perspective - is now really nice to play. What a weight difference from the ATK too!!! Electrics left a lot to be desired though - it's passive so was never going to sound as good as the ibby, but as stock it as flat-sounding - lacking any decent bottom end and "wooly" sounding in the mids and highs; and with a pretty low output. The tone pot was also a bit on-off, and given the lack of definition in the sound anyway didnt do much. First swap was a Wilkinson replacement humbucker wired up as per the original pickup - 6.5k ish on each coil (=13k series) as opposed to the weedy 2.7k each coil (5.4 series) in the original pickup. This was a slight improvement over stock, but still a bit "flat" sounding and with very little variation using either volume or the tone pot. Decided that I would rather have the option of a parallel/series humbucker option so have just spent not sure how many finger-burning hours wiring in a rotary switch to give me a few more options - what a difference!!! I replaced one of the volume pots with a 3-way 4-pole rotary switch from Maplin (part number FF76H) and translated a schematic from a single humbucker esquire guitar that was using a 3 way strat type switch to the same ends. I didn't get any wiring guide with the Wilkinson pickup, so took a bit of head scratching and swapping of wires to work out the polarity on both coils and what to do with the shield wire, but managed to finish it about an hour ago. What a difference though - it has transformed it! In the parallel humbucker position it has a tight, punchy sound with a lot of bottom end, and good amount of definition in the treble end - not very mid-dy but would probably compare it to my ATK in the Bridge position. In the single coil (bridge side) position it sounds smilar to the parallel humbucker but with perhaps a little less output and a bit of a "thinner" tone. Serial humbucker position though is where it is all happenig - it has now turned it into an animal (well, for a passive bass anyway!!). The output is percievably louder than the other two positons, and its a really full, fat sound with a real midrange growl - am really chuffed with it. Perhaps lacks a little of the definition of the other two positions but the overall sound more than makes up for it imo. The other good thing now is that it responds so much better to tweaks on the volume and tone pots - they are still the original pots but now have a much more defined effect - much less on-off and more gradual. I had been thinking of getting the body routed and going "active", but after this think I may well just leave it as it is. Pickup only cost me a tenner, and the switch about 2-3 quid so for the money am stoked with it sound wise as well as playability wise too now. Still got to make a new scratchplate up for it - got a sheet of material just need to cut it and shape it up. Other mods planned are to replace the string tree (whose screw mounting has threaded already!!) with a wider flatter type with more than one mounting screw, and thinking that the bridge is also a bit cheap and thin looking so a conversion including drilling for through-body stringing and a new bridge are on the cards. Only thing I have to do now is try to find a black gnurled knob for the selector switch pole - the shaft is about 2mm bigger in diameter than the original volume pot unfortunately so can't reuse the one from the redundant volume pot.

cheers for the replies, progress been a bit slow but assembled lots of bits so far, got a SWR 2x10 needing a replacement driver from alex5string on here, and picked up a bright box with 3 vintage Motorola 15ohm flared horns and a crossover from the local tip/recycling centre for a fiver yesterday - not sure its necessary but for the money it was worth a punt Got a replacement cone today for the SWR, so just need to hook it all up and see how I get on. Money wise I need to stick with the s600m for the mean time but its always proved reliable in the past so hopefully it will see me through - however will be putting a bit of cash aside aiming for a QSC at some point in the next 6 months

well, gave it a try last night through my new trace/peavey stack - wierd after only ever playing one bass for so long. Really nice to play - neck feels a lot slimmer than the ibanez and noticed how much lighter it was after four hours of practicing!! Sound wise it doesn't compete with the ibanez at the moment - a bit of an unfair comparison as the ibanez is active I know, and is a much heavier bass as well; but the OLP has potential I think. Sounds a bit "muddy" in comparison - lacks either the low end punch or the high end clarity of the ibanez but does have a really lovely warm midrange sound in comparison - worked well through the valve preamp setting on the trace - it just lacks clarity and "oomph" for want of a better word. I think to be happy in the long run though I'm gonna need to get the router out and look at an active setup Can't fault it otherwise thogh, held its tune perfectly, no nasty noises, very pleased with it. Ordered a sheet of black scratchplate material yesterday too so hopefully will be losing the hideous pearlescent thing soon the IB sounds nice - i was thinking of a stained green oiled finish if I do strip this bass. Any pics on here?

cheers - seem to be a few at reasonable prices on ebay at the moment. Are earlier ones just as good?

first impressions are positive - looks arent exactly what I was after but price made it unmissable really I wanted it for a second bass to take to parties and outdoor gigs really, to try to preserve my ibanez a bit. Not mad on the black headstock/hardware, and a wierd pearlescent scratchplate but they may yet be replaced (the scratchplate definitely!!) - thinking of stripping the body and headstock back to bare wood and staining and waxing the body, and going for chrome hardware. Have to see how it sounds plugged in before I start thinking about the pickup... so much for a cheap second bass Feels nice to play so far, its sooo light after my ibanez, neck is nice and slim and feels pretty well balanced - action is pretty well set for me too and no buzzing. too late to plug it in now but will give it a try cranked up tomorrow.

Heres my ATK Had it for quite a few years now and was the third owner when I got it so I am guessing its early 90's - only my second bass after a crappy musicman copy, but no intention of parting with it. Weighs a tonne, but nicely balanced and beautiful tone to it - I string it through the body and usually string it with 110s but on 105s at the moment. They can also be strung just through the tailpiece. Was almost a bit gutted when I saw they had relaunched the range as I'm sure people will start seeing more of them now

ok, have managed to add a Peavey 115bw cab to add to the equation since yesterday, going to see how I get on with the Carlsbro amp at practice on Friday. Know its a minor grizzle really but the line in's and speaker out's are all on the front of the Carlsbro, but the signal outs are all on the back of the Trace - would like to hide away all the wiring at the back of a 4u rack eventually so the Carlsbro is only a stop gap - would welcome any suggestions as far as power amp options go. Just for reference the preamp has full range stereo jack outs, or stereo high outs and mono low outs through the onboard adjustable crossover.

looks like theres a good contingent down here in the South West then crossed the bridge to Cornwall today - to pick up an OLP Musicman bit of a trek to St Austell but the price was right so worth the journey.

I'm now the proud new owner of a GP12smx preamp - not my first trace as I had (and stupidly sold) a v-type 600H head about 4 years ago, however my first soon-to-be rack setup. My intention is to match it up with Peavey 115bw and 210bw cabs (which I have still to locate!!) - just wondering what suggestions people had power amp-wise really? Plan is to just use the 115 for practicing and hook up the 210 for gigs, but no idea whether i should run them biamped of two (or one stereo) amp or just linked using the internal passive crossovers off a mono amp, or what to do really. I've got a really old Carlsbro S600M 300 a side power amp, real heavy beast with a massive torroidal transformer thats bridgeable to (i think) 800w - isnt rackmount at present but can soon sort that with some rack ears. I was gonna give that a go to start but just thought I would ask for any advice or tips really. Cheers!!

hey everyone, from Paignton, on the South coast

Hey everyone, been lurking for a while picking up bits of info from the forums so thought it was about time I said Hi really. Am 31, from Devon and been playing bass on and off for about 7 years. Played guitar for a while before that and still enjoy a strum. Currently playing in a blues-rock band doing a bunch of originals and some covers, but previous bands have been playing/singing in a shouty hardcore band (on temporary hiatus) and before that the same in a kind of fun punk covers band so a bit of a mix really!! Current setup is an early Ibanez ATK 300 4 stringer in natural wood, and bar a brief stint before that on an unbranded musicman copy it is the only bass I have owned. Just love the whole thing - fat tone, heavy but balanced bass and unique looks. Currently going through a Hughes and Kettner Bassbase 250 2x10 combo - which I've just agreed to sell - also have a TNT115 Peavey and G120 Laney but currently in the process of trading the lot up for components for a stack - so far managed to bag a Trace Elliot rackmount GP12smx pre-amp and just starting to look for the rest. Intention is something in the way of 600w power amp running a Black Widow 1x15 and a BW 2x10. Previous rigs include a Trace Elliot V-type 600h through a rewired BFC cab - the head I have regretted selling from the minute I parted with it. The cab was a monster though and I don't miss luggin that about!!! Look forward to chatting with you all!!