GreeneKing

I'm up for it and can offer a lift to South Cumbrian folk. Peter

Yep I've got one that absolutely mint - same colour. Growls like a good un, great jazz tone from the bridge pup Peter

Great vid, very watchable

I only have significant experience of one luthier, Alan Cringeon of ACG. Alan's designs are distinctive and that gives his basses a brand identity. I, like many others find his range of shapes covers a wide spectrum of tastes and the Harlot wins it for me every time. If you go to Alan and want something that's distinctly someone elses design then I suspect he may point you elsewhere, and why not he has to spend many hours crafting the instrument that'll carry his name and reputation. He's not a jobbing builder but a guy creating his own concept. There's been, imo some crap written about 'furniture basses' and 'coffee tables' but if a bass is made from wood why not celebrate the innate beauty of it? Alan will be the 1st to say 'a bass is a tool, go out and use it'. Which brings me to the next aspect of his basses. He takes care to research, source and experiment with his own ideas when it comes to pickups and electronics. He is constantly trying out new types of pickup and refining his pre-amp. He doesn't buy in stock gear and plonk it on. I have owned far too many basses (probably over 40 ) and my ACG Harlot surpasses them all in every respect. I'm not just bigging this up because I think Alan's a fine guy (he is) but because in terms of playability, neck profile, tone, weight, balance and ascetics it's simply awsome. It'll be at Harrogate if anyone wants a go, slappers keep away Peter

That'd be good Alan, I'll be home after 6. Peter

I thought you might say that Alan I'm in. Peter

I'd say so Alan, if it was midday I'd flash up my rig but my neighbours are firmly ensconced so perhaps I'd better not Played it cranked on the headphones and it sounds wonderful! Whassat? Deaf you say? Pardon? It was also a real pleasure fiddlin'. Peter

So was my confidence rewarded? Yes all ticketyboo! There's a bit of a string buzz on the E as the neck relief is coming back but the results are just what the doctor ordered imo. Versatility and oodles of it! Sounds great and the final ingredient: And why is there never a beer in the house when you fancy one That's all folks. Peter

Oops, don't look Alan- too late! Need to ease the holes a tiny amount to fit the filters: Here's it all in with access to the trim pots: Battery tucks neatly away: Here's the neat bit, confidently button it up: Pop on those beautiful knobs:

Simply snip the supplies to the pups leaving as much wire as possible: Here's the Tonepump gone: Tails put on the pup wires: It's not pretty but it'll hopefully work, the supplies to the pups and pre connected to battery +ve: Here we go, pre all connected and Vol/blend in place:

Having now fitted four ACG02's I'm supposedly the World's expert - we'll see Now first of all, removing the Tone Pump from the Specor - plenty of room in ere! A minor hitch, the supplied jack socket isn't deep enough for the spector body. This wasn't a problem on either the Warmoth, the Jazz or the Modulus. The Spector pickups are active and the wires come in this form, I'm going to have to provide a jack socket switched 9v supply to them (yes they are 9v not 18v) and make some tails for the ACG02 sockets: The jack sockets went from this: to this: Can anyone spot the deliberate mistake?

Alan dropped off his Spector Euro LX5 yesterday and now these two are related - half sisters actually. This box arrived from Moffat courtesy of my loverly post lady Jo: and the back of the Spector was looking like this: Inside the box? an ACG02 with 4 knob, Vol/blend/low pass filter/high pass filter. So there you go Alan! I'll go through the installation step by step in a min. Peter

They're certainly stunning looking. If I had the money spare and if I didn't already have an inordinate number of basses I'd go for the blue one myself.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-STB-GT4-4-String-Active-Bass-Guitar-Flamed-Blue_W0QQitemZ300290018748QQihZ020QQcategoryZ4713QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-STB-GT4-4-Strin...oQQcmdZViewItem[/url] They've got a red one and a GT5 up for grabs too. Didn't you just pay £220 for one Kev? Peter

Tru oil dries to a harder finish more rapidly, eBay is your friend. Pedro

If you've created a greater area of contact where the string goes over the saddle Al then you may be damping the string. Even a small change can do this. String wise I can't suggest a solution unless you drop a gauge. I find Ernie Ball's underrated but string choice is very personal.

Take it easy fine fella and get mended.

Cheers Pete much appreciated. Peter