Ander87

Hi all, Thought I'd share a good story. I recently bought a P bass without a pickup as I had a couple of spares. I installed the first pickup (BKP '58 P) and noticed noise unless I'd touch the strings. I went in again after being unable to sleep (it be like that sometimes I guess!) to change for another pickup (Herrick split '58 P) in case it was a pickup issue... And funked up the electronics further; since my soldering was poor, I somehow made the volume pot work from closed to fully opened in half the run of the knob - further than that there'd be no sound whatsoever. Some would optimistically say I upgraded the knob to a kill switch almost, but let's face it, it was a mess. I got a quote for my technician for adjusting repair swapping pickup and electronics and with the help of this forum diagnosed that if the noise disappears when touching the strings, it may be a shielding issue, especially considering this bass had none whatsoever. Ordered copper shielding tape just to entertain the idea of doing it myself for £5 - it arrived this afternoon and with the whole evening ahead I decided to try myself. I AM IN NO WAY AN EXPERT BUT THOUGHT I'D SHARE WHAT WORKED FOR ME! I removed all parts of the bass including the bridge to review the grounding/earth connection (a first as well): Stripped the whole thing down: Started easy with the reverse of the pick guard - the point is making a Faraday cage, so it needs to be a copper tape covered enclosure: My first tip: use the tape on top to rub on the edges of the pick guard so that you know where to cut, take half a millimetre or abouts in so that the tape won't show over the pick guard from underneath once installed. Second tip - don't underestimate an actual pen/knife cutter! I did it all with scissors and whilst it worked okay, it would've been easier for the holes specially. I was thinking of doing half the thing but the top is easier which is what I left for the end so since I was on it I shielded the whole thing. Moving on to the cavities. Again, I started with the most difficult part, the controls cavities. My take was to cover the walls first, this time allowing a millimetre or two extra so that it would fold over the face of the bass (careful to not offer too much lip folding over as that may show over the pick guard! 1mm or 2max is safe tough. Once you have the walls covered, doing the base of the cavity is easier than I thought. Then once you have the gross covered you'll have to invest more tape in covering the irregular (non square parts) of the cavities. One annoying thing about copper tape is that it curls up the moment you remove the reveal the adhesive part - advise online would say to remove the non-coppery bit instead of the copper but in all honesty I couldn't as the paper is thicker than the copper tape. What I did would be holding both edges of the strip as I remove the paper cover so it wouldn't curl up. Another tip - I was initially neurotic about holes (screw holes, cable holes in the body etc); I was thinking covering them would mess up my chances to reveal those holes in or that I'd have to push them with the cables when installing again - silly, I know. Just get a paper clip or a pair of tweezers and feel through the wood to pierce them. This is much easier than making cutouts and trying to avoid the holes etc, and also ensures 'the cage' is covered all around. I then moved onto the pickup cavity: Job done! I'm aware I could've documented strips here and there but I wasn't initially planning for this post even, sorry! From then, solder back, screw it all in and throw a quick prayer to Jaco that it works. I spent some extra time cleaning the soldering as the ground soldering was a bit messy on the pots thanks to my previous attempts. Sucking out the extra lead with a tool was really useful and cleared things up. Another note, I should've bought/had a multimeter at hands reach to check for continuity of the layers of copper foil. It all worked but in hindsight I would've preferred that over praying it works, even if it's Jaco we're talking to. As mentioned, I closed all in, plugged in et voila! all working as it should and the noise is nonexistent in clean, and a slight bit present on distortion (but this is distortion at 2 o'clock on a Darkglass microbes anyway with the compressor up, understandable). Also the cleaning of soldering did pay off as the volume pot is back to normal operation! This has been a good learning that sometimes we're too scared to touch things up - the quote I would've gotten in most luthiers would have been £100+: £20 pickup install, £20 review electronics, £40 shielding, £45 general adjustment... £125 altogether! It has been a good 2/3 hours with The Walking Dead in the background and £5 for copper tape - probably not my fastest job but believe me, the beer after tasted glorious. I have been the kind of person that has constantly taken guitars and basses to luthiers/technicians at the earliest chance for adjustments and anything else - bass after bass I've realised that those guys that said 'learn to do it yourself' were right all along! Personally I find that small tweaks on each bass that came through my hand has offered me more insight into how to take care of my gear. To think I was terrorised at the thought of touching a truss rod! I have since done adjustment works for friends and acquaintances and been praised for the results, so I hope this post helps encourage people to take up on it, the satisfaction and the savings are worth it! Best, Ander.

haha that was my inspiration indeed! I opened for a jazz neck though! that p bass is the sexiest I’ve seen in ages!

Absolutely stunning @Dunk I’ve something like this in the works myself!

Gorgeous! What are the differences between them?

Thanks Steve, it seems like this may be a wise course of action!

Hey guys...! Quick one on this old topic, I think! I've got a Sterling Ray34 (the roasted maple kind, nyatoh body) that will be soon boarding a John East 4 knob/3 band preamp running at 18v. My other bass is a Limelight PJ running on Aguilars, passive - I play mostly punk rock (some Neo Soul too) and whilst the PJ is the passive grunt, more vintage tone, I want the Stingray to be super punchy, cut thru the mix and do what rays do best whilst still fitting the Punk Rock gig. I'm torn between these two sets of options: 1) More conservative, alnico magnets: Aguilar AG 4M vs Nordstrand MM 4.2 - no need for all the switching options etc 2) More modern, ceramic magnets: Aguilar DCB 4M vs Nordstrand Big Blademan I'm more inclined to think that the Nordy Big Blademan makes sense to be 'different' from the Limelight on Aggie PJ's, but will it be too big a departure? Would either of the option 1 be too conservative? How do these pickups work with a bit of gain? If they growl, can they also clean up? Interested in making sure that the treble and treble strings cut through, and to respect the punch of the Ray34. Thoughts? Best, Ander.

Well here I am with my new squeeze! I recently joined The Barking Poets (check us out!) and needed a bass fitting for the punk rock vibe we play. Got this one a week before the gig thanks to @Marc S and just couldn't be happier (top chap to deal with BTW). I got a lot of compliments on the day, it so looks the part! Now I want another one with maple board, I've seen a purple one in the past I'd love to own!! The relic is super genuine and makes me not worry about the occasional ding or stage affairs. Best, Ander. IMG_7030.heic