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Fretless Revelation


Dankology
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I'd been holding out for a fretless Jazz of some variety but with studio time booked I couldn't resist a £110 Revelation RPJ-77 on Ebay last night:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Revelation-4-String-Fretless-Bass-RPJ-77-Sunburst/264877128842

 

There's an odd comment about a phase issue with the pickups but I'm presuming that will be a straightforward fix.

I know a couple of people here have owned the same model so please tell me what a smart buy I've made and what cool mods I might consider...

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3 minutes ago, Dankology said:

Where does one get one of those from - Google doesn't appear to be my friend on this one...

@KiOgon.  I have summoned him and like the genie of the lamp he will hopefully appear. Let me explain.  Most cheap basses compromise on the electronics. Entwhistle pickups happen to be both cheap and very good, but not quite the same can be said of the wiring. KiOgon will replace your existing loom with the very best quality components in a replacement loom. I have one on my Revelation P bass. 

Edited by lownote12
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5 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

Is this your first encounter with fretless? If so 2 tips trust your ears and remember your fingers have to where the fret would have been, not behind it.

 

I've had an unlined acoustic for a couple of years - really wanted a lined electric but the price on this one was too good to let go.

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Another tip : use open strings to check your intonation. And get it perfectly set up by a true luthier.

Forget the myth of the round wound ruining your fingerboard. I had my first dressing after 20 years of intense playing on a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard... And no it's never been epoxy treated.

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It arrived early!

Just been messing about with it unplugged so far. The strings seem a little on the thin side for my tastes so I'm hoping some heavier ones will solve the nasty rattle that the A string has at the nut when played open.

There's also some slight choking of the A and D stings around the very top of the neck. Not really sure what to do here but will probably treat myself to a nice set up once I've restrung it and got the new loom in place.

Reasonably happy thus far...

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I've now had a listen through an amp. It definitely needs a new jack socket (or possibly a bit of bending to innards of the current one).

But explain this one to me: when both volume pots are wide open, the D and G strings are suddenly very tinny. This only happens during the final couple of degrees of their range and for the rest of the range they have no effect at all when used together. Either seems to work fine when the other is zeroed.

I'm hoping the new wiring will sort out any oddities but just curious to know what might be causing this particular effect.

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35 minutes ago, Nigel Sleaford said:

Please keep us informed!

Sorry - I'd bored even myself with all this... It all got quite odd, as it happens.

The new loom sorted out the odd out-of-phase issue with the top two strings but, as noted above, I was still getting signal from the P pickup when everything was zeroed and so had everything apart and together again several times, checked everything with a multimeter and found that the problem seemed to be an intermittent earth connection. I could recreate this by putting the slightest pressure on the terminal block atttached to the the P pickup pot - but only when the pickup was attached.

In desperation, I tried swapping the wiring around and found the following:

-bridge pickup to bridge pot - all ok

-neck pickup to bridge pot - all ok

-bridge pickup to neck pot - all ok

-neck pickup to neck pot - the problem came back again (ie output when volume set to zero)

I can only think that one of the wires from the neck/P pickup doesn't quite mate with the terminal block - but even that doesn't quite make sense to me. Anyway, it works perfectly with the pickups wired to the "wrong" volume pots and the pickups sound absolutely immense - enough to make me ponder getting a set to replace the Dimarzios in my Aerodyne.

The new strings (105 Warwick Reds) arrived yesterday but haven't been fitted yet - intrigued to see it they sort the various buzzes and rattles out - if not there's a great luthier nearby who I'm sure will whip it into shape.

Going back to the pickup thing - I'm not sure if the guitar has been messed about with in the past: there were three screw holes for the right side of one half of the neck pick up and two for the left side of the other half. Only one of the mounting screws had a spring on it too. I'd hope this is all evidence of tinkering rather than a reflection of how these things come out of the factory.

BUT - on balance I'm very happy with it: it sounds great (my last 3 purchases prior to this have been the Aerodyne, a US Jazz and a Squire VI and this was the only one that instantly wowed me, although this may just be a measure of how hot the pickups are) and I'm finding it surprisingly easy to play. I'll let my bandmates be the final judges on that one though...

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Thanks. The pickups are hot as hell. . I have a jazz bitsa with them, and I have to be very careful playing through my Zoom B1 Four. Everything overloads! Live is, or was, fine,  but switching basses would be a pain. Good luck with the playing. I have a double bass which I’d love to be playing with a band, but up here in northern Scotland there are few bands, especially just now. And zero places to play.....

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