Paolo85

1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

Daddario Chromes are available in 50-105 set. I have tried both them (in a 45-60-80-105 set) and La Bellas (in a 49-109 set) and found that the Chromes had much more consistency of character from string to string.

 

Here's a demo comparing the 52-110 DTF with the 50-105 Chromes. The bass is an SB-2, not the most obvious choice for demoing flats, but you can hear the differences nonetheless (start at 2'18")

 

 

(Shame he doesn't use the G string, though!)

Thanks, these were off my radar because of their reputation of being bright. They still sound like flats it seems...

I was enjoying my La Bella LTF 42-100, despite finding that the G was being extremely low to break in, but then I decided to resume my attempts to study walking bass and in that context the G sounded too thin and tinny. I left it a couple of night soaked in eucerine cream as suggested by somebody in another forum, but while this helped, I came to the conclusion that it was just to thin.
So I jumped to the other extreme and bought in the classfields here some La Bella Jamerson 52-110 for a good price.
I get a good G with  those but
-I could do with less tension for the rest of the set. There was nothing wrong with the sound of the LTF although I marginally prefer the Jamerson
-Surprisingly, even at this size, I find that the sound of the G, to my ear, is a bit alien to the rest of the set...

..i found that to be the case in all strings I have owned. So I thought I need a 50+-105 set. However it seems to me the only available are Fender, Ernie Ball cobalt, and GHS. However:
-EB sound like rounds so not what I need
-Fender I understand they may be less thumpy than labellas, am I wrong?
-GHS it looks to me ball-end to tapered silk is 38 inches which may bee too much for a precision. I heard they could snap. Has anyone tried?
-Is there any other option?
-would there be a downside to buying Labella 45-105 but keeping the 52 G from the current set?

Thanks

Quite intrigued by the 44mm nut width!

Happy to help with that😁

This is a bit of an impulse sale. Available, temporarily, is my HB JB-75 fl.
I am about to move house and I do not play it enough. If somebody happens to buy it, for pickup in Charlton, SE london only, before around 19 October - that is, before my house move - I am happy to let it go, for what I think is a very good price. Else I'll withdraw it and rethink.

Apart from the aesthetic, the bass is identical to the HB Jaco clone, except that the fingerboard is laurel instead of pau ferro. As most people here know, these are amazing basses for the money. Soundwise, I think they are as good if not better than other basses that cost much more. In terms of sound and fingerboard, I find it a better option than the Cort B4fl and Sire V7fl I had - at least for those like me that play in passive mode anyway.

Strings are Dunlop flats, which new cost almost as much as I am asking for the bass these days. I'd be better off selling them separate but I am aiming fot a quick sale here. I find these strings are a perfect fit for a fretless jazz. They are as zingy as it gets for flatwounds.

The reasons I do not play it enough are that it is super heavy - those basses are notoriously heavy
- and as it turns out I do not like a lined fretless.
Also you must be aware that it is a neck diver. There is also some minimal fretwear (I mostly played it with the stock roundwound, until they became dull). But it is minimal and with zero impact on sound and playability.

Is there any soundclip anywhere on the internet of those strings?

I really do not need them but I am extremely curious given the price

There are two answers. One is yes, everybody needs at least to give a good try to a P bass, they are a thing of beauty.

The other more boring answer is that P basses can be very different so I am not so sure you "need" it strictly speaking. I have two Squier P basses and I have tried four different pickups on them (stock PJ, Wilkinson alnico, Wilkinson ceramic, Tonerider). The basses sounded extremely different. So which one would you need?

Even bigger changes came from different string sets. So I wonder if as @Cosmo Valdemar has said, you can just consider your bass as a "precision variant". I have only tried your bass in a shop. I was not impressed tbh but my bet is that either I just do not fancy the pickups, or I could not get the sound out of the shop's amp. Aesthetically I love it and think it would fit anywhere a P fits - although I much prefer the 42mm nut width of the Ps.

In terms of sound, maybe as many have said you could start by putting flatwounds on. Maybe a good £25-£35 Tonerider/Wilkinson alnico pickup (I believe your pickups are ceramic) would help you get where you want to get.

All that being said, I have bought myself a P bass three times. I certainly did not "need" to.  I often feel like buying another one...

Unfortunately for me it is really not the right time to buy a new bass whatever the price or condition. But if it can be interesting feedback, I'd find it much more tempting if you could invest in a key to check the truss rod. Depending if that works or not, the magnitude of the project changes quite a lot (eg for me if the truss rod did not work I would not know what to do with the bass, if it did work, I would have jumped at it in better times)

Ciao! I am not an expert but my guess would be that whatever this bass is, the neck is not the original neck.

In terms of being worth it, the only thing you can do is trying it. For what fretless basses cost, 200 euros is cheap. If it sounds and plays well, it is worth it. If it does not, it does not make any sense as you could buy a good new Harley Benton fretless for some 150 euros. I would definitely not buy a bitsa without trying unless all components are clearly identified. That's because if they are not, you would have no clue about resale price.

...speaking of gut feelings, I would guess it is worth way more than 200, but that's literally gut feelings.

I am sure you have tried them but I'll mention them just in case: Dunlop flats and TI flats are somewhat rounds-sounding, and none of the tension and stiffness of the other flats

17 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

It's a cheap cosmetic process.

 

Nobody apart from real high end boutique are doing actual torrefied. Lightly toasted necks are described as "roasted" , the punters take this latest buzz word and fill in their own blanks.

 

Can't say I'm too surprised, marketing depts knew there wasn't much mileage left in "T*ne W**d" 😃 

I know nothing about all this but effectively it is interesting that, at leadt that's my impression, roasted maple remains a niche, with the majority of basses on sale non-roasted. If it was a clear advantage, and doable at Sire, not to mention Fazley prices, one woukd assume it would become the industry standard above say £600 or something like that.

But I guess it is all more complicated than that (eg many would not want their jazz bass neck brown)

After going through some 9 different basses since January and as many string sets, it would appear this is the n.1.

A very "banal" Squier Affinity PJ. It has pieces of paper in the bridge as the springs rattle. I will find a more elegant solution but I am not that bothered.

The black knobs with inlays are from another bass. I put them there because they are heavier than the stock ones and the bass is slightly neck heavy. The truss rod has somewhat limited range (although sufficient at the end of the day), and has a permanent stain on the back of the neck.

The fact that the neck was in poor state gave me confidence to do some work on it. I filed a couple of high frets, I filed the nut slots. Most likely I have done a poor job by a pro's standards, but it all worked.

I can get just enough relief and the neck plays very nicely.

I have put tonerider pickups on (with KIOgon loom) and they are amazing. Strings are Labella LTF which after breaking in sound just beautifully.

The next step is installing Hipshot licensed ultralight tuners (I have bought them already) to improve balance. They should be more than sufficient. I am also considering adding finish. I like glossy necks, they just need sone care, and hopefully this will improve neck stability. It's not like I have to fiddle with the truss rod regularly because the neck moves, but sometimes I find that after a day it goes sharp instead of flat.

I guess all this does not sound like the dream bass, but that's all I was looking for: a bass that sounds great, plays comfortably, and is not heavy.

It took me a while to get here.

Looks very interesting. It is not the right time, else I might have tried to order one. Putting good pickups, tuners and bridge if needed is not expensive on a P bass so I do not mind if they are bad stock - at least for that price.

Then there is the risk of sloppy fretwork, the bass weighin a ton (I see it's ash) or some other weird thing. But I guess spotting that and returning is easy..

Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape

Literally people were saying it's their worst.

I agree Seventh Son is a great album and while it was criticised at the time I believe a lot of people would agree nowadays.

It's not really that provocative but Sorcerer is probably my favourite of Miles Davis' second great quintet. For what I have read most people would prefer the others at least among the acoustic ones.

I cannot think another one but I must say I think St Anger was alright for a band past their prime. I properly liked the songs St Anger and Frantic. I found the album as a whole boring but then I also find boring almost all the thrash metal albums that came out after the 80's or early 90's max (with few exceptions). Most provocative of all: I like the production of St Anger

1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

Killers is my favourite of Maiden's classic era, and some days So Far So Good So What reaches me in ways none of the other early Megadeth albums do, and I think they typical come bottom of their respective piles? 

 

..well, they are at the bottom of the pile of what is considered the golden era for both bands. I remember when I was 14 going to a record shop run by a trusted old metalhead asking for the best Iron Maiden album (life pre internet was incredible, right?) and he gave me Killers.

So Far So Good So What for me was up there with Peace Sells, RIP and Killing is my business - I could not choose a favourite

Depending on what it is meant by "older", there are some old crafted in China (not sure the name Affinity was used then but that was thebequivalent in tje range) that had alder body, rosewood fretboard, lacquered neck and neck witdth in between a precision and a jazz. Today's Affinity are PJs, made I believe with poplar and laurel. Yours is a normal P, so it certainly is not supernew, but no clue how old it could be (you can search the serial though).

I have both a contemporary PJ and an old crafted in China from 2008. The old one is better build, better materials. Not sure about the pickups because they were not stock when I bought it.

Still, I use the new PJ more as it is lighter and has a proper Precision neck width. I have just switched from Wilkinson pickups to Toneriders and I am very happy with the sound

I have just bought some hipshot tuners. Very good transaction. Brian was quick, responsive and arranged delivery times to fit my holiday schedule.

Very nice buying from him

I see, many thanks!

Thanks. To be honest I am not much worried about the stain or the rugged feeling. I am worried though that if the finish is compromosed, the neck may be susceptible to damage from humidity. In fact, I wonder if that's what the stain was in the first place..

Should I be worrying about that?

Coming back from a 2 week holiday I noticed a dark patch on the back of the neck of a Squier Affinity I had bought recently (see first photo)

I tried to clean it with Dunlop guitar polish, and while it is not as dark anymore, the patch is still visible (see second photo, but itbis more visible tham the photo would suggest, depending on the light).

It feels a bit rugged and I am pretty sure the satin finish has come off there.

I really am no expert so I wonder how do I go about fixing it. Possibly a simple, low cost fix.

Is this something to address urgently? Or the neck will be alright for a bit without finish?

Thanks

7 hours ago, Maude said:

A Tonerider pickup is £25 and turns any of these into a vintage sounding traditional Precision. 

I have not tried the Tonerider P (I have a Tonerider J bridge thought) but I agree that changing pickups on a cheap P is a no brainer. I personally would focus more on buying a bass with a good neck, weigh and balance than worry about stock pickups. If soldering is an issue a solderless loom from @KiOgon can solve the problem, and also likely improve on the stock tone control.

I have a Squier Affinity PJ. I did not really like the pickups, which I have replaced with some cheap but great sounding Wilkinsons. The neck is really comfortable and the poplar body is really lightweight - although to the point that the bass is a bit neck heavy.

I must say I have had two and both had problems in terms of limited truss rod range, which is not good esecially if you plan to tune down. I assume however that these are QC failures, I have been unlucky and that's not the norm.

Overall, I believe it is a good bass for the money and a good modification platform.

As for comparing with other basses, I can only tell you that I tried a Yamaha BB234, which would have cost ~£100 more, and I did not like how it sounded really. Any time I try a bass in a shop however I wonder if it is an amp thing..

7 hours ago, Velarian said:

That doesn’t sound right. 

Ha! No it does not. That divided by 10 is reasonable

It could make sense. New strings tend to buzz more. Would you say you are now in a situation where you get a buzz unless you have a very high action?

I just thought that sometimes when I remove strings and fiddle a bit, it can happen that some saddle screws move. From one reason or another, you may have found yourself with a very different setup after changing strings compared to what you had before. So that could have been a bad reference point to start adjusting.

What I would do personally would be to forget about the previous strings and start fresh as if the bass was new. I would do a reasonable setup (eg 0.3mm 0.35mm relief, 2,5mm string height at the 12th fret on E side, a little less on G side), then adjust further if needed to remove any unacceptable buzz. Once that is done, I would see if the resulting action is acceptable for me.

Reading between the lines you may have done that already. Just thought it would be worth mentioning it.

Btw you should be able to identify any obvious fret bump yourself by using a rocker (or any straight object really, I use an affordable string height gauge such as this  https://amzn.eu/d/asRKJIE ) - you just put it across 3 frets and see if it rocks. You can start with strings on and some relief (if you see a bump in that case it is a really big one), although a proper job requires a straight neck.

If there is no bump, I doubt a luthier could help with a quick fix (although they may still be able to help I guess either with a full fret dressing or by spotting something that you did not)

I'd wait for replies from experts, I am not one, but I think I heard that changing strings, especially if they are not replaced one by one, tuning immediately, may result in some movements in the neck which may require truss-rod adjustments.

You say relief feels and looks fine. Did you try fiddle with that anyway?