Obrienp

Pure Tone are great and that’s what I meant. For some reason I keep calling them True Tone. I only opened a packet the other day, doh!

Well, a Tone Rider SP1 (classic) , or the SP2 (Duke) P pickup set, depending on what I am after tonally. After that CTS, or Alpha full sized 250 K pots (if they will fit in the cavity), a decent 0.047uf capacitor (TBH Mylar is fine but orange drop if you must) and Pure Tone jack socket. If the cavity is too tight for full sized, Alpha mini-pots are a good alternative. I wire it up with cloth covered wire, simply because it is easier to work with. Sticky backed copper tape to shield the cavities and the back of the pickguard. Remember to have a bit of overlap from cavity to the top so that you get continuity with the shielding on the back of the pickguard. Job done😀.

Well, I feel I am just chucking this out into the ether but I finally got round to doing the modifications to the Acinonyx that I described in my last post. It turned out to be quite challenging for me and Tony (the luthier) but it is finally done. Yeh! The challenge for Tony was getting hold of blanks large enough to accommodate the Acinonyx scratchplate in one piece. It took a couple of passes on the CNC machine because a bit slipped and caused a gouge in one plate. Prior to that there had been a scaling issue with the CAD/CAM software that caused a perfect but scaled down version of the scratchplate to be cut: about 90% of the full sized plate. 4 blanks later we finally got the finished plate but in a slightly thinner material, although still 3ply. It took me quite a long time to get round to wiring it up and at that point I discovered that the control cavity wasn’t quite deep enough to accommodate the depth of the Oak-Grigsby 4 position Tele switch, or the varitone. Eek! The original cavity is 30mm deep and the body is 40mm thick. I needed about 3mm more depth but I also had to allow for a layer of copper tape shielding, plus insulating tape on top of that to prevent the possibility of anything shorting out in contact with the shielding. I very carefully created a 5mm trench along the centre of the control cavity with a very sharp chisel. One slip and I could have gone through the back. Fortunately I didn’t and there is no give in the back: phew! I slo had to scallop some of the bracing in the body route to accommodate the edge of the volume pot. Again a sharp chisel and a steady hand required. Once that was done I was able to squeeze everything into the control cavity and screw the plate down flush with the top. The first time round squeezing all the wiring in caused a wire to come away and only the front pickup to work but after re-soldering, I was more careful second time round. Anyway the final article is below. I think the perl plate looks much better than the original. The chicken head knob is for the varitone switch that has 6 positions ranging from 0.010 to 0.1 uf. I am toying with the idea of putting the OEM chicken head knob back on the volume control. I am also considering making up a circular plate to go round the varitone with position markings on it. I would use one of the prototype plates for the material. The Tele switch has 4 positions: 1 bridge pickup, 2 both pickups in parallel, 3 neck pickup, 4 both pickups in series (“all-in”). I am pleased with finished article: it is much easier to get the “all-in” setting than messing with the original buttons. The varitone has more tone variations than the original buttons and they are easier to select. There are no buttons in the way of my picking arm. If anybody is interested in getting a custom plate, now the outline has been digitised, Tony can do one to your specs. https://tonyedwardsguitars.co.uk.

Great that you are happy with the sound and tonal options. The first thing I did with Squiers in the past was replace all the electronics: pickups, pots, capacitor, jack socket and shield the cavities with copper tape. Good that they have improved in that area. Of course, I would still do it but that is because I like tinkering and for £35 Tone Rider SP1, or2 blows everything else out of the water. 😀

If that video is anything to go by, they are definitely trying to move away from their Radio 2 image! Seriously though, apart from a JMJ, using a pick and Fender Bassman gear, it is hard to tell from that what is going on in his signal chain. The camera rarely lands on the bass player, let alone their pedal board. Guessing is fun but why don’t you message them on instagram, or TikTok to ask? P.S. For people as old as me: remember when you used to be able to write to Melody Maker to ask stuff like this and they would get onto the artist/band’s management?

Are they still in business? They seem to come and go, moving production around. Wasn’t it meant to be coming back to the UK? Perhaps that is why there is a 12 week delivery time. I imagine that is going to be quite heavy given the neck through design but always good to have another medium scale on the block. This one is serious money though, so I would definitely want to try it before buying.

I am so tempted to buy another Chinese neck of fleaBay but at the moment I can’t play due to bursitis in my left elbow, so I am putting it off to see if I recover. I turn 70 shortly so recovery is not a given: arthritis seems to be getting its claws into me. If/when I am ready to jump, it’s going to be a fretless jazz. Bizarrely these seem to sell for about £20 more than the fretted ones, so it would be somewhere around £110. Prior to the bursitis, I had been enjoying playing my Sire U5 fretless shortie and was wondering whether I could manage a full scale fretless but didn’t want to lash out on a new bass (like a Sire P7). I have a couple of bitsas I have put together, so one would provide the body. I have to say that putting these basses together is very addictive and with the quality of these “cheap” necks, it can be done for less than the price of a Squier Affinity but with much better hardware. Is this an addiction?

Personally, if I could only keep one, I would keep the U5. I had the Jaguar SS a few years back and I don’t recall it being as well made and I also recall the Jag being a real neck diver but I might be confusing it with the 32” humbucker version I also owned for a while. I love the rolled edges on the U5 neck, the flamed maple top (unless you have the green one), the lack of hum and the serrated saddles. I guess in the Jag’s favour: it is easier to upgrade things like the bridge and machine heads (standard Fender pattern) and it has more conventional contouring (belly and arm cuts). However, the U5 is the first “cheap” bass that I have not felt the need to upgrade. The bridge pickup could be stronger but I remember the Jag’s being even more pathetic and the P not being that great either. Each to their own though. It will be interesting to hear where you land. BTW what’s wrong with having two shorties?

I’ve been very happy with mine and I haven’t found the forearm thing too bad. There is a bit of a contour at the back edge but not enough. I have found stick on foam edging works on other basses with edge binding. The sort of stuff made to make furniture edges safe for toddlers. It would mess up the look of the Sire but might be worth a try, if you find the binding too uncomfortable.

Surprised by that. Can’t say I have experienced lack of bottom end on a Jazz, compared to say a Precision. Maybe I have been lucky with mine (current one being a Maruszczyk Elwood 4a 32”) but perhaps your yardstick is a humbucker equipped bass?

Bandwidth (not my idea) played at Whitehall Farm in Burnham Thorpe (Nelson’s birthplace) yesterday evening. The place has a camp site, caravan site and glamping, so quite a few punters around. This was a return match after playing there earlier in the year for a classic car day. We knew what to expect, in that the band area is in the front of a converted barn and covered in dust. The audience are largely across the courtyard, where the bar and cafe are situated but about 20 clustered around us on hay bales. I knew things weren’t going to be great amongst us when the lead guitarist had a go at the rhythm guitarist during the set up. He can be pretty grumpy and doesn’t seem to have any filter. Things weren’t helped by the fact it was cold and getting colder (about 12 C when we finished) and we had to play from 6-9. Miraculously we managed to set up in less than an hour (it normally takes longer) but struggled to get the sound balance right. Just to add to the fun, bursitis in my left elbow, which has been coming and going for about a month, had decided to play up and I had a bit of a lump on my left elbow. During the gig this swelled to about the size of an egg. We had been asked to play a dance set, so it was relentlessly fast. Towards the end of set two my left forearm started to cramp up and this spread down to my hand, so much so that I had to play by sliding my index finger up and down the strings as they were all locked rigid. I am sure this was related to the bursitis. Lead guitarist had been giving me and the drummer dirty looks and telling us to speed up already but this triggered a real invective, not said directly to anybody’s face but it was obvious who it was directed at. I recovered a bit during the beer break but it was then back to another relentlessly fast final set. We ended with Gotta Get Out of This Place, which was one of the slower numbers but I was struggling to keep Chas Chandler’s bass riff going, which was made obvious by glances and gee-up gestures. At least the other band members showed concern for me. I came away wondering whether this degree of hassle is worth it for £60! However, the owners are lovely and made sure we got a free drink and our choice of food from the cafe. I probably should have baled at the end of set two but the punters were enjoying it and the show must go on. We did get plenty of positive feedback from the audience, so we can’t have been that slow! Gear wise: Guild Starfire 1 and custom made P/J shorty (long gig axe), Blackstar U700, 2 x LFSys Monzas, Peterson Strobostomp HD. Black suede desert boots (now beige from the dust).

We are waiting to hear what @funkle reckons about his, when it arrives. My personal experience of two Monzas, is that they are completely FRFR and it looks like the Goodwood has been designed with the same parameters, just less power handling. The Monzas reproduce exactly what you put into them with amazing projection and sensitivity. An added bonus is that you can hear yourself, even when close to the cab.

Which reminds me, I was going to do a NBD report on the Hartwood Satellite bass. I will get round to it soon, complete with photos but immediate impressions are favourable. The neck is really good for a budget bass: pretty well what Bass the World’s Gregor said. Good fret finishing, nice roast maple neck, heel wheel truss rod adjustment, even the laurel fret board is OK, although a little dry, which was easily fixed with a some lemon oil. I took it to my local luthier for a new bass inspection and he recut the nut, which was too high and did a few tweaks to truss rod and saddles. It plays great now. It balances OK on a strap, although mine are all grippy, so other mileage might be different. Certainly nothing like as bad as say a Squier Jaguar H. The pickup is a bit odd: less output on the bottom string but strong on the two middle strings (low mids centric like Gregor said). Slightly disappointing, so I have ordered a Tone Rider Duke. More to follow, when I have time to do the NBD report.

Nice but quite steep for what is not much more than an extra 2” on a G2220 neck and a modified body shape. Good to have another reasonably priced medium scale around though.

Ahhhh! I decided to take one for the team and just ordered a Hartwood Satellite from G4M. Couldn’t resist the GAS. I’ve gone for the blue (like the one Bass the World tested). They had a nearly new one for £30 off and I wondered if that was the bass that Bass the World tested. I was tempted, because Gregor said the frets were perfect but I decided to take a risk on this being a Hartwood feature (just jinxed myself) and to get the full 3 year warranty, so ordered a new one. I will let you know what I think of it in due course. I suspect I will end up changing some parts: I can’t resist tinkering with cheap basses. The bridge might not be a straightforward upgrade because it looks like it has only got a mounting screw at each corner, rather than the ubiquitous Fender 5 screw mounting. The pickup might just be swapped for a Tone Rider; possibly a Duke.