Telebass

I'll not ever put heavier strings on than the TIs, so we'll see how long it lasts!

I must admit, if you read that with a distinctly lateral switch on in your brain, all the talk of rods and butt cylinders is a bit disturbing...

Around a year ago, i posted about the problems with my 2003 MIM P-bass neck. Basically, something somewhere was compressing, meaning I could never get the rod to set properly. I contacted Fender about this, and they were entirely willing to inspect it, and replace the neck. However, I've done a couple of hundred gigs with this bass, and the neck is simply lovely, so I let this go in the hope of discovering a workaround of some sort. This gave me an excuse to spend some dosh on a set of TI Jazz Flats, as they are very low tension. Absolutley brilliant strings, and slowed the problem to a crawl. However, it did not stop the problem, so the other day, I stripped the neck off and gave it a good looking at. The truss rod butt was hidden under an inspection label, so off that came, and the problem was instantly revealed. I'd already added a washer to the adjusting end of the rod, as it's commonly that end where the wood compresses. But no, the butt cylinder was quite well into the neck wood, maybe 1.5mm (this with the tension off - probably worse under load). What to do? There's a gap at the end of the skunk stripe. My thinking was if I could fill that with something hard, then it would prevent the continuous movement of the butt cylinder. The 'something' turned out to be a 13-amp plug pin. Take one such pin, remove the shrouding plastic, then snap off the socket end of the pin. Gently tap into place, having first tapped the slack truss rod down against the butt end of the neck. Reset everything, reassemble bass, put some rod tension on, and restring. After appropriate tweaking, great action which seems entirely stable after 48 hours. Potential downsides: the end of the skunk stripe is taking some of the truss rod pressure. No biggie if it's glued in well, and walnut is a pretty hard wood. So let's see what a few gigs does to it!

What model and where was it made?

I have a replica YOB like Gary Mac - my 51RI will do nicely as a 1953 YOB bass!

All this is good stuff. The only thing I find better is to sight the neck from the head end.

Even as a dyed-in-the-wool Fender man, I think they look great! But after having to repair a 70s 4001, and seeing my mate struggle to keep his 4003 usable neck-wise, I've come to the conclusion that they are not (and never were) terribly solid bits of wood, and that they are not remotely worth the money for the build quality. But I'll say it again, they look fantastic!

As a qualified electronics tech, I get a lot of tech queries. Quite natural, you might say. But telecoms and radar are not [i]quite[/i] the same as audio and PA...

Reading this thread made me fire off emails to Martin Sims and Doug Wilkes. I'm thinking of getting a slab Precision body made, a la '66 uncontoured split-coil slabs, and mating it to a MIM P neck.

Posted this on the FDP bass page a few days back. meant to put it here too, so will remedy that now! Had an hour to kill in my favourite local guitar store, Manson's, in Exeter, Devon. Took along the faithful '96 51RI, and did a straight comparison between it and the Squier Classic Vibe 50s in Butterscotch, and the new 60th Anniversary Prcision Bass. I used (for the first time ever!) a classic SVT rig. Squier: wow, that's a LOT of bass for the money. Pickup darker sounding than either of the others, despite having flats on the 51. Played really well and sounded great. Looked good, too, although I'd not in any way shape or form call that finish Butterscotch. Trans blonde, I would call it. Anniversary: Very nice bass. I haven't a bad word to say about this, except...the Squier is so good, it would be hard to justify buying it! Also a trans-blondy sort of finish. Lovely feel to the neck. Again, great sound. Neither of these felt or sounded better than the 51, so I'm not remotely tempted to replace it! The quality of the Squier was frankly astounding. Afterward, I had a quick clutch at an AV 57RI and a maple-board Standard Precision, MIM. The 57 had a large neck (ignoring the 'C' nut width, I like that), but the MIM? Absolute heaven, just like the rosewood one I already have. Thin from front to back, nice edges, just perfect. If I'd had the money, I'd have walked with that one without even plugging it in. Damn, but it was nice! So many P-basses, so little cash...

"We can't pay you much/anything" "That's OK, we won't play anything, then"

Absolute max 2 pints of the weakest lager on offer, thereafter lime/sodas. Alternatively, just the lime and soda. For 6 months of the last year, while existing on morphine-grade painkillers, alcohol was not even remotely an option. The first pint after that time was purest nectar! So much so, that although I could still justify a goodly proportion of said painkillers, I prefer the option of an occasional pint. This means a weekend's gigging is followed by three days of creaking agony, but hey... Buttressed by the 50/50 hope that someone's going to fix my back in the near future...

Howdy! And don't retire! Like Dolly Parton, I intend to drop out on stage with a bass around my neck...

Welcome from another oldie, into my 8th 'renaissance' year!

[quote name='Conan' post='1246598' date='May 27 2011, 08:04 AM']Sounds like you have a dilemma then. This is why a lot of musicians in original bands also play in cover bands. One finances the other as it were. If you refuse to milk the cash cow then where else are you going to get the money to cover your losses in the original band? Surely if they are good enough and you play at carefully selected venues you can expect to be paid? Other than that, you are stuck in a cycle that has no end and no way out. Don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger![/quote] What he said!

Nice, must check one out soon!

Nowt like a bit of chrome! Just put the covers back on the black P - looks the business!

Sometime over the end of 70s/ early 80s, when the Yamaha team (John McClaren/William Schultz/Dan Smith) were bought in by CBS. Insofar as it's possible to pinpoint, 1982 seems to be the year they finally disappeared for good on standard basses.

The 51RI has a full set of covers. The Pickup cover on these is only slightly wider than the strings, and is easy to use as a thumb rest. The standard Precision has the covers on sometimes. Not at the moment, The pickup cover is much wider to cover the split-coil, so is much less comfortable as a thumb rest. Similarly, the Jazz pickup cover is quite wide. Either pickup cover is good as a plam rest, of course. Damn, but they look good when they're on, especially on an all-black P!

Howdy!

Howdy!

I'd hate it, but reckon I would get by. But I always take my own basses everywhere, and always two, so, hopefully, this position should almost never have to rear its head. *crosses all fingers and walks away praying*

Haven't played here for a while - looking forward to it! Come and RAWK!

Howdy!

Howdy! Yep, Markbass does it for me too.