3below

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1423241216' post='2682726'] Camembert Electrique was a seminal album. I bought it in 1974 for 59p (the price of a single at that time - Virgin were promoting various albums this way to give more exposure to artists). It introduced me to psychedelic rock and blew my little teenage mind. [/quote] Bought at the same time. A massive driver for me getting a band together at the same time. Music that is as fresh to me today as it was then. He (they) changed my life.

Looks like an amplifier to me, some pretty substantial transformers in it. Very well built, very tidy. The price was right a good buy, buy of the year in fact. Need to get a multimeter and start probing - what HT (B+) voltages is it set up for. With that info we can work out what valves it will work with. Nice project.

No confusion on my part.... Choice at up to £750 will be overwhelming, like buying a toothbrush in the supermarket.

At the higher end - although they seem to be marmite, German Warwick Corvettes seem to be the bargain of the moment. £350 recently for an ash bodied beauty on this very forum.

Funky Dunky - where are you based? You might get lucky with someone offering to have a look at your bass for you. I can not stress how impressed I was with the Warwick videos on you-tube. I have played bass for 45+ years and always done own set-ups. I now do better setups after seeing these videos. Did my SG bass when I had it from fellow BCer. I was happy enough. Watched the Warwick videos (so I could sort my W basses out) then applied method to Gibson. Result - much better setup.

Twincam's explanation is excellent. One other issue that can be present is incorrect nut height - usually in cheaper basses. Warwick suggest that there should be 0.3mm clearance (business card thickness - card not plastic) between the string and first fret. If this is drastically out then the rest of a setup will be affected. Plenty of info on internet about nut height.

What bass are you planning to fit it on? I would start with BBOT Fender type bridge and make some hardwood (Ebony probably) saddles in the DDP style. It should be possible to tap threads into the ebony - see how they last. Interesting that the saddles do not appear to have a clear defined break point like 'regular' bridge saddles do. This will depend on what angle they are set up at though.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1426095478' post='2714356'] When I first heard 'Blurred Lines' I immediately thought it was a Marvin steal from 'Got To Give..',astoundingly so, IMHO. [/quote] Agree, when I heard it in car I initially thought it was a cover - was remembering the original from memory (a long time ago).

Bought VT Deluxe from Jim. Excellent communication and the kit arrived next day. Deal with confidence. Thanks Jim.

For the retro sound, Marshall 4x15 ? The bass players answer to the 4x12.

Paul packed the pre-amp to survive nuclear detonation and couriers. Excellent communication and rapid arrival. Many thanks Paul. Deal with confidence.

Very elegant with the large 'lollipop' heads and curved edges on baseplate.

Am surprised the obvious answer of remove the neck and check the neck & pocket dates has not been suggested yet. [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1425745421' post='2710304'] Good point Lozz. I favour a medium/high action for the same reason... note choice becomes more important and if a string has room to vibrate, it sounds better. IMHO. [/quote] Totally agree on this one. On some basses you can hear the tone / note bloom / string response 'disappear' as you lower the action even when there is no string buzz etc.

Am surprised you are getting this with EMGs, my one EMG kitted bass will buzz but only when you put bass on top of amplifier and even then not much. They seem pretty good at rejecting noise.

When it is buzzing try the following. Turning 90 degrees, Turning strip lights off, hands on strings / hands off, moving further back from amp, moving round amp to different positions - change orientation by 90 degrees for any position. It sounds like em field from transformer being picked up by pickups. There are solutions.. as above humbuckers, shielding cavities, active pickups e.g. emg. One of my humbucker basses will hum when right next to amp but once a few feet away all is fine. With Telecaster guitar I can sit and play on valve combo. Sat one way iot hums, loudly. Rotate through 90 degrees and the issue goes away. If it really bugs you you could get an amp with torroidal transformer, these tend to be much lower in radiated field.

Youtube is your friend. Warwick have an excellent series of bass setup videos. A set of vernier calipers or feeler gauges are useful. String height is an individual preference, Warwick suggest 2mm at 12th fret (if my memory serves me). Way to low for my playing style.

Headstock design using straight pull on the strings and larger machines does not leave a vast amount of scope for 'new' design. Function dictates form to a large degree and someone else will have produced something similar to your 'new' design. I quite like the look of it.

I had the luxury of owning Marshall VBA and Peavey Tour 700 with Barefaced Big One , then Dubster. I moved the VBA on, for me the Peavey just sounded better, had graphic etc and way lighter. As 0175westwood29 says - try some amps out.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1425421030' post='2707272'] Nice! and good luck. Since I retired from traditional 9-5 work band life has been a dream. Side topic; A lot of guys over here work only because they need the health insurance. I would think that is not an issue you guys have to deal with? Blue [/quote] 100% with you on this one, my new world is rather different (read better). I have control over the work I take and decline. We (UK) are lucky we still have a Health Service that is free. It may not be perfect but alternatives (too expensive to treat / insure) seem far worse. Blue, I like your take on life as shown in your posts. Pity we are both bass players and about 3750 miles apart. Regular rehearsal might prove challenging.

All this talk of A432 is just lowering the pitch of this institution. We should aim higher.