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Sounds fairly conclusive. I love this bass so I'm not going to risk f***ing it up for the sake of aesthetics. I'll just have to save my pennies and wait for a 70's original...

@rogerstodge - do you mean don't drill holes, as in screw the tuners in more delicately; or do you mean don't put the vintage tuners in at all? If we assume I'm not interested in selling it (and it has been given a fairly amateurish "road worn" look by a previous owner with a bit of sandpaper so is hardly mint...) then is there much to lose here? Would the main parts of the tuners (the bits that need to go through the headstock) be the right size to fit?

I've got a Fender American Std Precision with the closed-back tuners (it's about 15 years old) and I want to swap them for the vintage style ones with the longer stems and the bigger backplates. It's purely an aesthetic thing, rather than for any functional reason. My question is - will the vintage style tuners fit into the holes left by the more modern ones? They're genuine Fender parts (according to the website) so they should be okay quality, right? Is there anything else I should be thinking of`? Is this a daft thing to do? What do you reckon?

Thanks, grunge666. I am delighted you're sleeping better now... Yeah, the little amp was beautiful. I was tempted to ask how much it would be for a 50w version of a Super Bass, perhaps designed with the same footprint as a Barefaced Super 12. Wouldn't that be an amazing combo?

Update: So I took it to my amp tech and he replaced one of the valves (more down to personal preference than anything else - he replaced the Electro Harmonix one that the previous owner had put in with a Mullard which means it takes more gain to make it break up, so it's a smoother, creamier sound), but he couldn't find any fault with the tone pots. I think it was a bit of a EQ issue. I'm used to using a Fender Bassman and the bass and treble on that are different "flat" to the Orange. Now with the treble at about 1, mids at 12, and bass at 10 I can get quite a bright tone (P-bass with dead flats on it). I guess I wasn't patient enough with the EQ before! On a side note - when I brought it in my tech was putting the finishing touches to this:[attachment=117103:Valveamp.JPG][attachment=117104:Valveamp2.JPG] It's an 18 watt amp he made for the fella from the Vaccines (the 4th or 5th amp he's made for him, apparently) based on an old Marshall (Bluesbreaker?). He passed me a guitar and let me play through it. Sounded extremely nice. Lovely AC/DC sort of distortion. Nothing to do with my amp problem, but I thought I would share the loveliness.

I have at least 4 weeks to wait for mine (Super 12 like yours) - I cannot wait!

Have taken it to be looked at. Hopefully something simple to fix.

*envy* Did you go for the one with the tweeter or without? Are you getting plenty of top end?

Will give that a try. I think something has happened since I last used this though (6 months ago?) as I used to have a much brighter tone than I do now, and I don't remember it being so "woolly".

Recently I've been mostly using my Fender Bassman 100 valve head with my Matamp 2x12, although I have recently ordered a Barefaced Super 12, so I thought I would take my Terror Bass to rehearsal to get used to that before the Barefaced arrives (I haven't used it a great deal as I just love the tone I get from the Fender) so I can have a truly lightweight rig. Anyway, I know the tone controls don't do very much, but last night I was struggling to get anything approaching top end from it, even with the treble on full. I unplugged the Boss tuner pedal and went straight into the head and that improved things a bit, but it was still a very muddy sound. Gain at about 3 (9 o'clock), volume the same. Anyone experienced the same thing? Going to take both heads down at some point this week to A/B them so I can rule out the tone pot on the bass (Fender US P with flats on). With the Bassman I usually have treble at about 6, and tone rolled off a little on the bass, and that gives me a nice tone. Last night the Orange sounded like it was being played from next door! Through a sponge! Help!

I'll let you know what the difference is like.

Just bit the bullet and ordered a S12 silverface. Haven't gone for a tweeter as I turn the top end down a fair bit both on bass and amp, so Alex advised that it didn't sound like I'd need one. Now the agonising wait...

Hi Will - thanks for the offer! I might take you up on that. What was it about the TI's that you didn't like?

I've just put a set of flats on my P-bass and I have to say I'm a convert. Love the way they feel and sound. The flats I got for the P-bass were cheap Fender ones, and I want to try flats on my 4001, but I was thinking about Thomastik Jazz flats as everyone seems to rave about them. Couple of questions - would they be that much better than my £18 Fender flats or is it just a case of personal preference? Also, if I do decide to get them, do I need to get the extra long ones or will the standard ones do?