GreeneKing

I rarely post nowadays. I was inspired to say how much I'm surprised at the bass tone on old Free songs. I'm well old enough to know Free intimately but I have been re-engaging to some of their stuff courtesy of streaming (Tidal through Sonos speakers). I didn't have a bassists head the first time I heard Free. His tone is awesome. Nice playing too, nothing frivolous but driving the songs along well up in the mix. Interesting guy too was Andy. Great songwriter.

It’s interesting. Initially I went for tort and then thought that white on cream might be classy. I think it is. I’ll have the option of both too. Thank you go to Mike for the photos.

Again Mike, thank you for the updates. Looking great

Hopefully not at the same time

I should have kept it..... Where is it now?

Thank you Mike

Another update from Mike. He has been working on the neck. 3 piece maple with ebony 'stringers'. Waiting for the glue to do what it does

I read an academic tome where a professor explained that what we ‘hear’ (our chosen response to sound) is not only affected by our ears and the brains response to them but is also coloured and conditioned by our brain in the first place. So it’s complicated by our biases before we start to listen. This is used to justify expensive HiFi to those discerning enough to tell the difference.

Right. Mega embarrassment time, plus a good dose of relief, no pun intended. First Kenny's Music have been great. Strongly recommended. I got ready to replace the original strap buttons and strings before shipping the bass back to them for assessment. I thought I'd have a go at turning the adjuster clockwise a few turns to see if the trussrod would start to function again. I shone a torch into the adjustment socket and lo and behold:- The focus isn't great but the actual adjustment Allen socket can be seen recessed about 3 or 4mm into a tube. I had been using a larger Allen key that was giving a notchy loose feel in the tubular bit and the impression that the trusrod was broken/detatched. A smaller Allen key in the correct socket is as smooth as silk and adjusts the relief like a dream. So all is good, I am over the moon as I love this bass! What a dummy. Hopefully this may help another basschatter? I've owned many basses, probably over 20 Yamahas and I've never done this dumb stunt before. Age? Peter

I suppose it’s a possibility. From a video of the BBPH development it looked like it had an added ‘tang’ on the neck heel. Also I’d lose the PH headstock. I may ring Kenny’s Music today and see what gives.

I tried raising the saddle initially hoping that a small tweak would do it. It didn’t. The action was very low before as it came with almost no neck relief. Impressively it was very playable like this. I’m afraid a broken truss rod doesn’t have a ‘work around’ for me. It’s seen no force or strain. It’s such a shame as I love the bass and they are no longer available so far as I’m aware. Repair will be expensive and may well leave scars to the finish/ affect the playability. The string gauge was the same, 45-105 but when the relief is so minimal a slight change in setup can cause buzziness.

I'm fairly upset. I love my BBPH. The playability, tone, EQ, weight, build quality and exclusivity are all great and collectively so much more. I fitted some Newtone strings recently and was having some buzz on the G string when fretted on the 1st 3 frets. I guess the reduced tension of the Newtones just took what was already a very low action a little too low. I went to slacken the trussrod, and it just spins away as loose as you like. Meanwhile the neck relief is almost zero. I've just emailed Kennys Music and I await their reply. I'm absolutely gutted 😥 Peter

Could I have been the original owner? I sold mine to Chris (Beedster). At the time it was the only maple board one I knew of. I bought it from Promenade Music and kinda wish I hadn't of let it go. Peter

If the body size is the same then each bass photo is taken with a different 'zoom' ratio anyway, accounting pretty much for the 12th fret misalignment. Actual measurements from the bridge would have been more useful although less 'pictorial' methinks.

That makes sense thank you. P bass aside I tend raise the mids. I was struggling with that preference and my love of P bass tone so now all is well Ears eh!

The conventional P bass tone is, to my ears mid scooped. A good convention P (or P?/J solo'd on the P of course) bass has a unique sound and one that I love. Earthy, woody and sort of hollowed out. It makes me feel good. I'll play the bass and smile. The only P I own at present is my Yamaha BBPH with the reverse P. The difference isn't subtle. More balanced mids and a different beast entirely. Clarity, sustain and bite are omnipresent. It isn't really a P bass at all. Given modern electronics and cut and boost EQs a lot can be achieved but the instruments core tone is still important methinks. I have a P bass 'in the wings ;)' Peter

Yep I missed your post only seeing DannyBuoys where he asks if there's any other than Audere.

From memory John East pre-amps have an 'active' style blend. Quote: Totally independent active and passive signal paths guarantee completely smooth blend when set to active.

In my defence Dunlops are pretty bright for flats but perhaps not quite bright enough.

Enjoy, hopefully. I love mine. Going to switch back to nickel rounds from Dunlop flats though. What was I thinking!

Absolutely. I sold my 2024 to Chris (Beedster) quite some time ago now. The switch was a little bit hit and miss, something I put down to dirty contacts from lack of use. Something that was resolved by flicking it a few times. It turns out it was defective and Promenade Music sorted it FOC. Not up to the high standard of the bass otherwise methinks.

Hmmm, is that THE EBMM peach?

We learn all the time. I hadn't realised that the original Aria SB1000 was so highly rated. Aria have made some great instruments.