Paolo85

Interesting. I personally could not live with that at that price level. Or even quite below

I don't know the bass so I cannot give any practical feedback. On the question of whether you are mad or is it gas, it sounds to me that you are in a situation where you can sell your bass and get one you like more maybe even at no cost if you sell your Fender well.

So I guess it is pretty straightforward, not crazy at all. Just maybe doublecheck your first impressions on the Tokai are correct (try again, read about it). I assume you have given the Fender its best chance through a professional-level setup and by carefully choosing strings that suit you.

Is that how GAS starts? I don't know but it looks like you just have one bass, maybe a backup. If that's the case I would not worry much yet

Just bought a strap from Dean. Quick and smooth transaction, quick delivery very good communication! 👍

1 hour ago, StickyDBRmf said:

Millimeters?

Is this really an issue?

It depends on the definition of "issue" I guess

Certainly millimeters make necks feel different, at least to me. As a person affected by GAS, this can become an issue

7 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Would: "....absolutely love it... except for the nut width is just 40mm" be another of those silly rationalisms of yours?

 

Cause  the way you phrase it to me sure looks like that would be to do how you think 40mm nut width sounds rather than how it actually feels and plays in your hands?

 

I have two P basses: a 42mm and a 40mm. I enjoy playing on the 42mm neck more. While that's not the only difference between the two necks, based on experience with other necks of various shapes and forms I am pretty sure it is down to width. As I am stating what I like and not what is best/more suitable etc.., I doubt it is a rationalism, but who knows 

Selling strings, all long scale. All cut for Precision style bass, not through body

D'Addario Tapewound <-- not available anymore

DR Sunbeam 45-105 £18 posted
These and the others below are al a series of attempts to find the right strings for a new PJ bass. All played very little. The Sunbeams in particular I only played them for some 3 days. In between, I brought the bass at a shop's tech who certainly removed them and put them back on. They still were as new.

DR Hi-Beam 45-100 £15 posted
Played for about a week, but took them on and off some three times as I was doing works on the bass. All done very carefully and they are all ok. The E is cut slightly short, it went round the tuner just once

D'Addario ProSteels 45-100 £17 posted
Played for about two weeks in total, moved from one bass to another in between. Like al the rounds above, they did not work out for my basses.

7 hours ago, MungoBass said:

Stupid thought time - apologies in advance!

 

The thread has been responding to tone but what about the effect of gauge on action action?  I always find I can set the action lower when using flats as opposed to rounds.....is that generally because of the extra tension, meaning less vibration?

 

Then, would it follow that using an identical brands 105s compared to 90s, you can set the action lower due to the extra heft and possibly increased tension, meaning less vibration?  I appreciate there would need to be nut/neck/saddle tweaks to get the best possible results but do wonder if anyone has noticed the ability to go to a lower action with heavier strings?

 

As I said in the opening.....stupid thought time!

I have definitely noticed that the higher the tension the lower the action I can get.

Would that be the case ona bass with absolutely 100% perfect fretwork, nut etc... ? I don't know.

I am also under the unpression that a chunkier string helps reduce buzz regardless of tension, but because this is all based on comparing different types of strings and not different gauges of the same, I am not sure 100% yet.

28 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Glued or seized ?

There was some resin-looking stuff here and there on the screws when they came out so I believe glued

I started on a P. I was playing the guitar at the time, I thought I'd like to noodle a bit on a bass and bought a cheap one, which happened to be a P, I do not remember the brand. There was something magnetic about that bass. I was playing it all the time. Few months later I was playing bass full time.

Unfortunately, sometimes I am silly, especially when I think I am being rational. I soon sold the P and "upgraded" to an Ibanez Ergodyne. It would fit better in my metal band aesthetically, everyone knew Ibanez were good for metal, thin neck would allow me to play faster and other bs...

...the reality was that the Ibanez did not come out in the mix as well (or at least, I was not able to make it come out) and the thin neck was less pleasant. But I could not admit to myself I had screwed up.

Eventually I decided to move on from the Ibanez but always trying to be "rational": bought a (very good tbh) Cort GB74 and a Cort B4fl because "everyone knows Cort is better vslue for money". After a multi-year break for tendinitis, I started again but always trying to be "rational": bought some Js and another Ibanez because thinner necks "would be good for tendinitis".

Fortunately, after selling the Ibanez to a shop I had an attack of GAS and I tried a Squier Affinity PJ. I immediately felt at home, as I did with my first bass many years ago. I bought it immediately.

Shortly afterwards I also bought an old Squier P, from when Made in China were made with alder and rosewood and necks were lacquered. I absolutely love it except for one thing: the neck is not standard P, nut width is just 40mm!

I remember when I started I bought the cheapest bass in the shop, and, true story, I did not know there was such thing as a setup. I figured that out literaly a few years later

On 31/07/2022 at 01:07, Baloney Balderdash said:

I had a thought, could it be that since Harley Benton have no issues with the no name pickups in even their lowest dirt cheap models sounding absolutely amazing that big brands with a budget line on purpose make lackluster pickups to put in these lower end models to make their expensive high end line of instruments seem better than they really are, so to speak to create an illusion of a difference that in reality is far from as huge, and certainly nowhere near what the price difference would otherwise suggest?

 

Could this theory actually have any reality to it, or am I just making up conspiracy theories here?

 

I mean the big companies would certainly have a motive to do so, and this theory does seem to match my, admittedly fairly limited and nowhere really statistically valid, first as well as second hand experience with such instruments in question. 

 

 

I would not be surprised. At the same time, when I had an Ibanez GSR205 and a HB HBZ2005 I thought the pickups were fairy equivalent (or better, the pickup+preamp ensamble). I find the Roswell in my HB JB better but these, for as cheap as they are, are not no-name pickups.

I guess soapbars may be a slightly more complex issue (maybe that's the reason why one could buy plenty od good classic J and P aftermarket pickups for £20-30 while it's not the same for soapbars) but that's just a guess.

At the same time, the fact that, in my opinion, the sound of a Squier Affinity PJ could in my experience be widely improved by buying £20 pickups is weird..

25 minutes ago, Prosebass said:

 

I am currently considering a HBZ-2004 Deluxe Series 4 string. Does anyone have experience of it? 

 

 

 

I had the HBZ 2005 the 5 string. Great value for money but not as good as my HB JB75fl in my opinion. Pickups where muddy compared to the Roswell you get in the J.B. I do not think they have a standard shape so an upgrade would likely be difficult. Still, very interesting bass and in many ways not comparable to the JB. Not the snappy Jaco sort of bass, not at all. It makes you want to play slowly.

These two videos in my opinion give a good idea of what the bass is good for

Quite heavy though, although not as much as the JB75. Neck is not thin but less chunky than the JB75's if I remember correctly. Edges were sharp.

Mine was also neck heavy, but that was 5 string. As for the neck-thru, I had mixed feelings about it. The high mass bridge is hugh and my bass was at the limit of needing a neck shim - which I could not have done.

Also it had this very weird thing that the pickups height was not adjustable. Easily solved, I bought some foam and put it underneath. But the pickup screws were glued, it was hard work getting them out the first time, and I was afraid the screws would get ruined before I could do it

8 hours ago, chris7273 said:

Time for a visit to a good luthier 🙂

Don’t blame the brand : you bought second hand and you don’t know what the bass has endured beforehand…

 

Well, the first of the two Squiers was new, but obviously I might have been unlucky

From the picture I would say the last one is my favourite, the other two are very shiny and overwhelm the bass. Unless this is very good photo editing in that case it may be the different light/focus in the two original pictures

Personally I had to return my PJ for a truss rod problem. So pickguard problem solved. I bought a sunburst one used and with sunburst I am happy with the black stock pickguard.

I also have a sunburst P with a mirror scratchplate that I will definitely replace one day but no rush as I am kind of getting used to it

Thanks. I just would like a bass where I could decide to spend a lot of money on say on some super low-tension TI roundwounds without having to worry about not being able to achieve a good setup. Personally I like some relief

...I guess Squier Affinity are not the right basses for a perfect truss-rod...

15 minutes ago, Muppet said:

What's the maximum relief you can measure at the 8th fret when you fret a string at the first and last frets?

 

It is 0.35mm. I wanted to add more as I am getting a slight buzz on 5th fret. As I can't, I have cheched the frets and it looks loke there is clear bump on the 6th fret so I'll file that. Regardless, as I said I'd like a bass that can take even lower tension strings

Soon after returnung a Squier Affinity PJ because the truss rod was maxed out but still had a good bow, I bought another one second hand. Everything looked fine but now I have put low tension strings on and I realise I am having the opposite problem.

I have put low tension DR HiBeam 45-100 on and it seems I cannot get more relief than 0.35. The nut becomes extremely loose - no resistance at all. I have given it a few full turns with no effect on relief. I have tried waiting one day, but it did not help.

I obviously could get higher tension strings or adjust the saddles but I like to have fully functioning basses. 

Is there any "permanent" solution that would be suitable for a non-expert like me with limited tools?

Thanks

If muscles are hurting, stop playing

Speed and techniques are not synonyms

And this:

On 27/06/2022 at 20:44, TKenrick said:

Train your ears. That trumps everything else.

 

Right, I decided to just go ahead without glue. I reused the foam from the stock pickups and everything stays together just fine. And the Wilkinsons are great😁

13 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

This might sound like a silly question, but is it not the case that you need a little bit of relief in the neck, rather than a completely straight neck, or else you run the risk of fret buzz closer to the headstock?

This is technically correct. It seems some people can do without. Setup is subjective ultimately. But obviously, if you want a buzz free bass and a straight neck, as a compromise you would have to raise the saddles more then you would with some relief - in most basses, certainly in my basses, way more. This can result in an action that overall is not very low, as well as in intonation problems

I really can't tell who my favourite bass player of all time is. Most of the people that I might consider for the position have already been mentioned so I thought I'd mention someone who would otherwise be very unlikely to come up here: Markus Grosskopf

This German guy, bass player of "happy metal" band Helloween, even in his genre does not have the standing of a Steve Harris or a Steve Di Giorgio.

As a band, Helloween were never at the top of my list and I rarely listen to them these days. They have nothing to do with what I try to play now. But, for the genre, I think Grosskopf's bass lines were always absolutely spot on. Some 20 years ago, when I was pretty much only into metal, I would have chosen him as my favourite. Especially for his playing in the widely ignored album Pink Bubbles Go Ape.

Thanks. Yes that's the Alnico one, bought via Amazon from VansonGuitars (first time I use them) as I get free delivery. I am sure I can get foam easily, just I am a bit puzzled by the packaging as well as the cover. For what I know they could have sent me used pickups

You out the superglue between the top of the bobbins and the bottom of the cover, right?

Thanks. I may return the Wilkinson to be honest. It was sent wrapped in a piece of paper basically. And they provided springs instead of foam which are clearly not suitabe. I don't know.. I don't have a great feeling about it. I'd rather return when I still can do it with no hassle...

Tonerider was from another seller and at least was in a box 

Right, so that's probably a stupid questiin. I am about to replace some pickups for the first time in my life. I have received today a Wilkinson P and a Tonerider J.

In one of the Wilkinson pickups as well as in the J, the pickup cover does not stay on.

That was not the case the couple of times when I got some pickups out in the past. Besides, the Wilkinson comes with screws and springs for the screws so I am not sure what would keep everything together. The Tonerider came with foam (although the description said it would come with springs)

Is that normal?

Thanks