guybrush threepwood

*drool*

Hehehe, in the end I just sucked it up and got dimarzios. They actually sound great!

Best paint job ever.

No problem, just PM me your address and I'll drop them in the post.

It does sound like it may be the valves, but I'd recommend getting in touch with the seller to see if its ever behaved like this before, as it may well have taken a knock in transit (which they could claim for). However, I swapped out the valves in my 550 when I got it, so I can send you the original valves if you wanted to test them?

Cheers man, it wasn't a great job, but it made the bass playable!

I'd completely forgotten about this thread! I did finish it, and it came out ok - not fantastic, but it played nicely and sounded quite nice! (Although I'm definitely not a connoisseur on the subject). I've since moved house and unfortunately don't have room for it, so it was passed on to another player. [attachment=115037:IMG_20120504_124610.jpg]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1344080763' post='1759477'] Every bass I`ve owned with a PJ configuration hummed when the J pickup was on, aside from my Aerodyne, in which I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack J pickup, which was hum-cancelling. [/quote] Aye, I don't mind a little single coil hum, it's just awful when it's happening when the single coil isn't on!

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1344078962' post='1759452'] One half of the P being out of phase with the J indicates that the J wiring/polarity isn't correctly matched with the P (rather than the P wiring being at fault). Assuming the P is correctly wired with both coils being RWRP, then the J needs to be the same winding and polarity as one of the P coils to work. If it's not then there will always be a phasing issue with one of the P coils, regardless of whether you reverse the P wiring. The attached diagram may help. It should work as shown. But if the J was instead wired N-CCW then there would be a phasing issue. First check that the P is correctly wired with reverse winding and reverse polarity. Then try changing the wiring on the J (rather than the P). If you've already done that then sorry for wasting your time and please ignore this! [attachment=114897:P-J wiring.jpg] [/quote] I've tried a different wiring scheme today, and although I've eliminated the awful hum, I'm still having the same phasing issue, so I'll try reversing the polarity of the J tomorrow. Cheers to everyone for all the help!

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1344008064' post='1758674'] How about forgetting where they're made and just trying every Jazz and Precision bass you can lay your hands on? Fender's are so variable you can often find a cheap "lesser" model sounds and plays much better than an expensive one. [/quote] The best advice in this post so far IMO.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1344012258' post='1758770'] The other thought, [b]if you are absolutely sure that your wiring is correct[/b], is whether you have inadvertently reversed the two blocks of the staggered P pickup. I think they are reverse wound/reverse poled to each other so would sound OK whichever way you put them on their own, but the closer one to the Jazz P/up MIGHT (unlikely at the distances involved) interact and reinforce the hum rather than buck it (that is, the closer G D block might be same polarity and winding as the Jazz, with the humbucking E A block further away from it). If so, unscrewing both staggered blocks and rotating the whole assembly 180 degrees might make a difference. [/quote] This sounds interesting, I shall give it a try tomorrow, but I have found another wiring diagram (which attaches to different tabs on the pots), so I shall give that a try first. [quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1344028081' post='1759047'] Is you J pickup a single coil? If so, that in and of itself can cause phasing issues. Are they different aftermarket pickups? If so, the coil and magnet orientation can be different, using different coloured leads, etc. My P-J has a Rickenbacker humbucker in the position where the D-G precision segment usually is, and a DiMarzio UltraJazz in the bridge position. I had to try every orientation of wiring on the J to find the proper orientation so that the pickup was wired both electrically and magnetically in phase with the Rick. [/quote] They are different pickups, the precision is a Wizard Thumper, and the jazz is made by Tonerider. I did try changing the electrical polarity of the whole precision pickup, but it just meant that the phasing issue was shifted to the other 2 strings. [quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1344028081' post='1759047'] Does everything come to one ground/earthing point so there is no "loop" to induce hum? Yes, in the late '80's when Fender started using the black shielding paint in their cavities, one wire came off one of the pot casings to a lug screwed into the cavity to make a ground/earthing contact. [/quote] I'm going to put in a ground wire to the cavity, but I've never understood the idea of star-grounding within a guitar. In an amp, yes, but in a guitar there's only one physical earth contact, so in my head, there's no possibility of ground loops. [quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1344028081' post='1759047'] It also sounds like the E-A segment leads are swapped the wrong way. [/quote] Yes, but I've read that swapping these will counter the hum-cancelling effect of the pickup; as I said above, it isn't an issue on other pickups/basses, why this one? [quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1344028081' post='1759047'] The best way to wire a P-J is to use the jazz bass V-V-T configuration, wire the P-pickup segments conventionally, find a J pickup that is also humbucking, and make sure it is in wired in both electrical and magnetic phase as the P pickup. [/quote] That is, essentially, what I'm trying to do, albeit with a switch and master volume pot. However, I've had humbucking J pups before and I really don't like them - I'm just a massive single coil fan!

I'm pretty certain that it's wired correctly, but I shall have another check when I get home later! I know that I've seen wiring diagrams in the past where the hot is connected to the opposite lug on the pot, would that make a difference? I shall have a gander on Google images too! Cheers for your help.

Last night I was putting the final touches to my recently converted P/J, but ran across a couple of issues. The first, I think I have in hand; while the bass was in pieces I painted the cavities with shielding paint, and now I have ridiculous hum. I didn't do two coats, but one thick coat, and my meter reads zero on all of it. I've read about screwing a wire into the painted area, so I'll give that a try later, as well as reflowing all my solder joints. Anyway, onto the second problem... I've wired the pickups in a telecaster configuration (volume, tone and 3-way switch), and each pickup sounds great on it's own, but together I'm getting a strange phasing issue; the D/G half of the P pickup sounds great, but the E/A sounds weak, thin, and out-of-phase. I read up on this last night, and the solution seems to be cutting the joining wire between the 2 halves of the P, and swapping the lead which connects to the other half and the lead to ground. However, this apparently leads to hum, as the pickup is now wired like a single coil. So how come everyone else can have a P/J that only hums when the J pickup is added into the mix? Is there anyway around this solution, other than a push/pull pot?

All this hate just makes me want it more.

Wow, what a long feedback thread! You don't need to hear me say that Nick is a great bloke, but here goes... Bought a wizard pickup from him and it was a very pleasant transaction; excellent price, quick delivery, all good!

Bought an Ashdown cab from Clive and couldn't be happier! Really nice bloke, great price, and he takes superb care of his gear!

Love it.

[quote name='eddiehoffmann' timestamp='1342518670' post='1736340'] Have you tried tweaking with the the mid, bass and bright switches? They definitely add a lot in terms of different sounds. How do use these switches in your combo? I always keep mine up as I love the vintage sound that the Spyder produces like that, but I found that if you flick the switches down the amp sounds more modern. Curious to hear from other user how they use that feature... [/quote] I always keep them up - love the vintagey tone it gives!

[quote name='eddiehoffmann' timestamp='1341239290' post='1715557'] And you valve amp fans out there should give the 550 Spyder a try. In my experience with hybrid amps, which consists of Ampeg SVTIII, Ashdown ABM 500 and Orange TB500, this is the closest you can get in terms of sound and feel to an all valve head. I also used a VT Bass with a properly good power amp for a long time and I prefer the Spyder to it. Great piece of kit. [/quote] I've been thinking this too - absolutely love my spyder combo. Been through no end of amps in the last few years, but this is really something special. The EQ makes it a one-trick pony, but it sounds and feels fantastic.