Painless

[quote name='rbatts2000' post='69996' date='Oct 5 2007, 09:22 AM']Many thanks for the responses. I have ordered the parts needed but when they'll be delivered is another story (thanks Royal Mail! ). I'm pretty resigned to the fact that I'll have to do some minor drilling to create some new holes. Does anyone have any hints/tips/horror stories they wouldn't mind sharing with me? Thanks again.[/quote] I fitted a new pickguard to my 2002 MIM fretless jazz a short while ago, I did have to put another screw in between the neck pickup and the neck itself, I had a spare screw from another fender bass and it was a simple job of making a small pilot hole with a drill and gently screwing it in, the screws are small so I guess you *could* get away without drilling, although I'd always be scared of splitting the wood that way. If you don't want to add the centre screw, you could always find something decorative to cover the hole with? I also had to cut / sand the cutout where the pickguard fits around the neck, but how much (if at all) will naturally depend on how well shaped your replacement is. Russ.

[quote name='16Again' post='29756' date='Jul 10 2007, 08:59 AM']Aye, as in the band! Glad you enjoyed the gig Neepheid! My mind has been made up, defo going to get one. cheers.[/quote] I'd say that would be a good choice from my experience, I added one to my made-in-mexico fretless jazz and loved the difference. Clearer tone and better sustain. My only advice would be to heed the aforementioned sticky threads advice and make sure you groove those saddles right (if yours doesn't come pre-grooved). I ended up using a dremmel for mine and it was a sod to do, but worth it. Russ.

How about Mark Bedford (Bedders) from Madness? Russ.

My personal favourites: Wherever I lay my hat - Paul Young (The tone is as awesome as the 'lead bass' style) Shake for me - SRV & Double Trouble Land of hope and glory - Madness Rio - Duran Duran (definately seconded!) Nightcat - Dave Hole I'm sure I can think of more, but this is all that comes to mind whilst I'm pretending to work. Russ.

[quote name='Brandonh' post='18808' date='Jun 16 2007, 09:39 AM']Ever listen to Stevie Rauy Vaughans bassist? Hes pretty good. I thougt all he did was the normal blues bass pattern but he throws in lots of intresting stuff in his lines.[/quote] I adore SRV's tunes, they are usually grooving out of my mp3 player at work, home and in my truck on a daily basis! I agree with you about the bass playing of Mr Shannon, although bare in mind that Jack Newhouse also played bass for SRV for a time too. I'm not sure which tracks are which. The bass line in 'Shake for me' always interested me, in essense it is a quite simple repetetive pattern but a lot more than a bassist could get away with in that track, even compared to some jazzed up root notes. Makes the urge and feel of the whole track. If you like blues, check out Dave Hole (the aussie) he plays some awesome electric slide guitar and his bass player adds some interesting chops behind it, even some slap on tracks like Night Cat, although that track leans a little closer towards rock. Watermelon Slim and The Workers also makes for some interesting listening, the album of the same name is a good start. Russ.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='18675' date='Jun 15 2007, 10:28 PM']Painful..[/quote] I do hope you're not referring to my bass playing, good sir!!! .... but then my cat would probably agree with you! [quote name='The Burpster' post='18675' date='Jun 15 2007, 10:28 PM']I have contacts in stores in either Ohio or Kentucky if they are any use to you? If so PM me![/quote] I'm still not up on my US geography, but Ohio is the closest of those two states, still a thousand or so miles away though Thank you for the offer though, it's appreciated! Russ.

[quote name='OldGit' post='18330' date='Jun 15 2007, 10:26 AM']Yeah but he's in the states where a small club bass rig is 1000 watts ...... (sorry talk like that got me chucked off US forums [/quote] LoL!!! I actually live on Marylands Eastern Shore, which is farmer and redneck country... anything over 150 watts and you risk blowing their straw hats off!

$399 for the Ampeg simulator? Did I read that right? OUCH!!! I use a Line6 Guitarport at home with the bass expansion pack, it has an Ampeg model amongst others with a huge choice of cabs and effects. I can either plug headphones into the back of the guitarport or route it through an external amp. The guitarport's software also allows the mixing in of CD / MP3 etc music with looping and slowdown. Russ.

Firstly I want to say thanks to everyone for their input, you've all given me plenty to ponder over. If I do purchase, it will probably be online from musiciansfriend as they seem to offer the best discount I've seen so far, unless anyone else knows better? I think I would rather go for a new unit than a used one. +1 to the point of getting out and trying some combo's in the shops, I just need to find one around here that actually knows that bass exists and devotes more than one dusty corner to it. The stores I've been to around here so far just only seem to concentrate on guitar equipment and not bass. There ought to be a word for that.... basscistism? Russ.

Thanks guys! I'm at work right now so can't get to that link (blocked!) but I'll be sure to check it out when I get home. I'll definately add the Hartke's to my list, that's a glowing recommendation. Looks like I may have to wait a little while anyway until my cash flow improves though Going back to the Rumble 100's, these are offered in two configurations... a 2x10 with a horn and a 1x12 with a horn but with the same basic 'head' unit. Do you guys think that the different speaker options will make enough of a difference with a 100watt combo to be worthy of consideration? It strikes me that a 1x12 will naturally be more portable, but a 2x10 will offer a clearer / crisper sound? Russ.

[quote name='BOD2' post='16136' date='Jun 12 2007, 06:53 AM']If the problem is confined to the nut end of the neck then that suggests that the nut slots might be too high. Shimming the neck has more effect on the bridge end of the guitar and is usually done to allow full adjustment of the bridge saddles. You have two options. If the nut is not glued in then you could remove it and carefully sand down the underside of the nut so that the whole nut (nothing to do with Cadbury's ) sits lower in the slot. If the nut cannot easily be removed then you'll need to deepen the slots in the nut to allow the strings to sit deeper. You'll need very thin files narrow enough to fit in the nut slots. Either way, go carefully. If you remove too much material then the action will be too low and you'd then have to replace the nut and start all over again.[/quote] Mmmmm... Cadbury's!!! Wish I could get that here The nut is a brand new graphtec that I installed a month or two ago, it's definately the string height at the nut that is the problem like you stated, it isn't glued in so will be no problem removing it again. At first, I went the shimming route as I'd also installed a BadassII (doing both mods at the same time was probably a mistake) and wanted to see how much, if any, I could improve things this way. The original nut provided a great light action in the first few frets, but had other problems (the strings regularly popped out of it whilst playing plus the A string buzzed horribly) hence I replaced it with the graphtec. The original nut was so low that the strings were literally coming out of the nut and sitting within a millimetre of the fingerboard. On the headstock side of the old nut, the strings had actually worn grooves in the end of the fingerboard. I've already removed the new nut once and lowered it some, which helped a little, but the first few frets are still way too taught for fingering (omg, that doesn't sound good, does it?) than I would like. I'm beginning to wonder if the original nut height is what I need to get back down to with the new nut, it will give the kind of action I want, I just don't like what it was doing to the fingerboard. This is the first fretless I've ever owned or worked on, so I'm sure there are different requirements in terms of string height. I understand that the absence of frets is naturally going to require a couple of millimetres lower string height for the same action as a fretted version, I'm just unsure as to if it should be to the extremes that this fretless J had when I aquired it. Bit of a dilemma really Russ.

I'm currently doing a fair amount of research into getting a half decent combo amp. I'm looking for something that will be good for home practice and sufficient for jamming with others / gigging in small venues etc. I'm thinking that a combo of around 100-150 watts would be more than ideal. My current bass is a MIM Fender Jazz Fretless. I currently have my eye on the Fender Rumble 100/210 combo, does anyone have any experience of this amp? I had also thought about the Line6 Lowdown 150 too, but am thinking the Fender might be a better buy, especially with Line6 being fairly new to the bass amp market? I also can't help but think that with the different models the Lowdown offers, I'll basically just end up liking one and sticking with it anyway. Moneywise, I'd like to get change from about $500. I like to experiment with playing a varying amount of styles, but mainly stick to blues with a hint of rock thrown into it. I'm sure these kind of threads can get tiring, but I don't get a lot of time to get out and shop around plus with there being a lack of shops around here that stock any decent range of bass gear. Am I missing any choices? Thanks in advance. Russ.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='15880' date='Jun 11 2007, 03:34 PM']OK... is this just my PC or does the text on screen appear as some strange [Blackpool rock]ney rhyming slang every time someone includes the word be[Myleen Klass]?[/quote] Nope, it's not just you, I re-edited my last post in the repair forum twice before I worked it out. Seems to be triggered by fish names. Btw, looks like that gear guy who's the original topic of this thread has found one hell of a solution for his apple tarts. Perhaps a bottle of beano would of been cheaper? Russ.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='14940' date='Jun 10 2007, 03:50 AM']I don't know if it applied to MIM Fenders but certainly the later model Squiers had plywood bodies. If you hold the be[Myleen Kl[Myleen Klass]] body up to the light and look at the reflections off the painted surface in the waist chamfer, you will be able to see faint sets of alternating parallel indentations. Don't even waste your time refinishing that kind of body, get another from somewhere like Brandolini or off Ebay.[/quote] [quote name='Muppet' post='14996' date='Jun 10 2007, 06:36 AM']I would hope not for MIMs. I had an earlier Squier body (from Nash I think) that I stripped down and it was a lovely piece (well two well matched pieces) of wood underneath, that I oiled and waxed and it was lovely.[/quote] I think I'm definately going to forget about this project for quite some time, I've already done a fair amount of work on this fretless jazz and still need to get it right in the action department before I go any further with cosmetics. I'm happy with the sound, but am still having issues with the action in the first couple of frets, it's way too much work fretting the first couple of positions compared to the rest of the fingerboard. Either the new graphtec nut needs to be sanded down even more or some more aggressive shimming is needed. Thanks for everyones input, it's greatly appreciated. Russ.

Apologies for jumping into your thread, but on a related note, how do you all feel about leaving tuners inline between your guitar and amp? I have a tuner I'm very happy with, but started to notice that it was cutting out some of the frequencies when I left it inline permanently, even when switched off? I would guess that a good quality pedal tuner would perform a proper bypass whenever it's footswitch was used, so this would solve/answer my question? Russ.