funkle

Ok, so I’ve ordered Gotoh Res-O-Lite GB350s and a DiMarzio Ultra Jazz 5er bridge pickup. So I’m in another £160 on a £200 bass (though easily reversible mods if I choose to sell). I’m aware of what I’m doing...but I’m perfectly happy. It’s still overall cheaper than a Sire P7 (which would need new tuners and bridge humbucker to sort hum out IMO) or a Talman TMB505 (same issues). And I’d like to sort the neck dive and the bridge pickup hum. So I’ll report back once I’ve made the mods.

Yes, I feel that...lol... I missed that one too. What a beauty.

Elegantly unhelpful.....but I totally agree 😂 Perhaps people know of useful Japanese sources for these?

Anyone know how to get a hold of the FPM-80 basses? I've always been fascinated by the dual P configuration and have gone so far as to plan a build around it. But the FPM-80 would be just the ticket without the pain and hassle of a self build....

Bought a solderless P bass loom from John, the Bourns pots feel like quality pots and the wiring looks, feels, and sounds great. Another happy customer here! Thanks John. I will be ordering from you again for other projects.

The lowest tension Chromes end up being same tension as their 45-105 round wound XL set. Makes it easy to transition between basses, for me...tension is the same.

I love Chromes. They are pretty bright for a flat, and D’Addario has me sold generally on their strings, especially as they supply detailed information on tension. After a while, they stop being grabby, and they just feel and sound great. Thumpy and warm, but with brightness at the attack. Probably much brighter than most other flats I have experimented with. I had a few goes around with the Thomastik flats, but every time I sold them or moved them on. I just could not get used to them. Great quality string though.

I would recommend an Ibanez Talman. I have given an honest review of the TMB105 - here: The TMB105 is firmly in the Fender tone and looks universe. That’s why I bought it. It’s £200. It sounds fab, but does need work in my opinion - not a case of buy it and forget it. That said, it’s so cheap you can do what you like to it without much fear or cost. Including new tuners to assist with seated neck dive and chambering, if you wanted....But it will take effort and money.

Ok, so I filed down the nut slots, polished the frets, and oiled the fretboard. Didn't take too long. Then I cracked open the bass to have a look at the electronics, and had some pleasant surprises. First of all, the bass is shielded - in parts. The back of the pickguard has conductive foil tape. The main cavity for the pre, output jack plate, and P pickup are all painted with conductive paint. My handy multimeter tells me this paint actually works as well. This was a pleasant surprise on a £200 instrument. The battery compartment isn't shielded, but had conductive tape on the cover. Pleasantly, there are ferrules for the screws for the battery cover to screw into, which means the cover shouldn't fall off with the wear from repeated access. However, perhaps not surprisingly, the Jazz bass pickup cavity wasn't shielded at all, and pretty messy. The pickup springs are embedded in the foam (looks like Stew Mac pickup mounting foam with springs in it - very nice), and the bottom of the pickup is potted in wax (I think - a clear thick stuff anyway), which means the pickup pole bottoms are isolated and won't conduct through contact with the metal springs in the foam. That means it is easy to shield the cavity without worrying about accidentally grounding out the pickup. So... I cleaned it up and painted it with conductive paint....however it was old and didn't work. Boo Then...used copper foil tape with conductive adhesive backing...screwed in a cable into the foil and then screwed the other end into a common ground in the main cavity. Since that had a screw fixing in it as well, it meant it was a solderless job; just loosened the screw there and screwed it in. Honestly, I'm not sure shielding the Jazz bass pickup cavity made much odds. I probably wouldn't bother with it again. It probably just needs a humbucking pickup at the bridge to become hum free. A single coil will always hum to some degree, I guess. So there you go. Some surprisingly quality finds on such a cheap instrument. Shielding and a really nice pickup mounting system. Ibanez are doing things very well for not much money. I'm super impressed.

Sold some strings to Adam - painless and quick transaction. Would be delighted to deal with him again!