mcnach

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1347620270' post='1803089'] By the way Jose, I was thinking last night, did you ever get that pickup fixed? I think I had half a dream of you and loads and loads of wire everywhere. Why I was dreaming that I don't know! [/quote] I'm not sure if I want to know more details about that dream... so, moving swiftly on... Nordstrand said they'd send me a replacement... then said they were out of NJ4SE pickups, but they'd have a new batch by the end of this week and then they'd send it to me. So I haven't got it yet. I asked them whether they'd like me to mail teh dead one to them, and they replied "yes please", so I did. I will ask them later, and see whether they tell me where the break was (only one of the two coils were dead, as I tested them with a multimeter).

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1347607671' post='1802914'] But.... quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur [/quote] nice one During my first year at university in this country, I had some coursework for the Ecology class that involved writing short essays a couple of pages long, as the answer to a number of points. These were done over a period of several weeks, so usually I'd do one at a time. I submitted the whole thing when asked, and when it came back, section 8 had a note from my teacher written at the top in red: "wrong language, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you are right anyway!" I had written that section in Spanish... and he still gave me full marks for it.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1347573799' post='1802753'] WHAT! You didn't read my post about it a few weeks back? Sacrilege if I ever sawrit. [/quote] I apologise profusely, oh master Bert I hated Latin in high school... and it was the subject in which I got the highest mark ever. IN one exam, marked between 0-5, I was awarded a 5.15 because the teacher liked my translation so much. I actually think she knew I hated Latin and she just wanted to annoy me. My usual top mark class would be Maths, or Physics or Chemistry... but she ensured that my best, for the record, was Latin. And I don't remember any of it. But I can still make sense of a lot of it, as I speak Spanish and Italian. I had a gig at midnight tonight... and I managed to use the latin expression. They did not get it... which brings it back... oh no, I'm trapped in a loop!!!

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1347569404' post='1802669'] If i ever come to sell it you have first refusal but that might be a while away i could be tempted to do another one though at some point, maybe a p/bass for a matching pair [/quote] I'm patient. I found Sam, who bought my first bass, at a gig back in 2010, two years after I had sold it to him. I told him then that I wanted the bass back. Three weekends ago I took possession of that bass again. Oh, and Sam is still alive, nothing untoward happened here On another note... a matching P would be just the thing... just make sure you keep posting pictures

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347562254' post='1802536'] You've got it the wrong way around. I don't play through an amp/cab. I play directly into the computer I have. The problem with the E string isn't just it's disproportionate volume. It's that the entire string just feels disproportionate: heavier, harder to play, higher than the action allows. I can't explain why this is other than the symptoms of a cheap bass. [/quote]

I just noticed the signature of tauzero... Discovering that made up for everything else. I'm so going to use that at some point!!! (I hope that's ok... or maybe you'll quote that signature to me at this very point )

Having my pickups on that bass is just a cunning subterfuge to get my hands on it... eventually. You are aware of that, aren't you? edit: seriously, if you ever get bored and decide to sell that to make another or something... just send me a PM

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1347562634' post='1802542'] Glad you love it again Mcnach - they work really well on 2 band as well, I suspect possibly not least because of the mid range boost they give. I have them on my Bongo................it is not allowed out at public performances as I'm not insured for blowing walls out of venues!!! It is VERY powerful!!! [/quote] ha ha you're not joking about the extra output. I had to turn down the input gain in my head last night. One reason I took to my SUB without modification was that the pickup, wired in series, had more midrange, The 2-band EQ worked just fine with it, like you say, and never felt it needed anything. My Stingray (in my avatar) was a 2EQ. But I felt it needed something on the midrange, and installed a John East 3-band preamp. Now, this is really a 2-band plus a mid-sweep module. With the mid-sweep in the centre detent, it does nothing and it's essentially a 2EQ. Having the mid-sweep control made me go from "I like it" to "I want to have your babies" about this bass. Last night with the Cobalts, I didn't use the mid-sweep like I normally do. I still used it but at a much higher frequency, essentially like a lower treble control. The amount of mids was very good. The "right" type of mids (in the place I was). I'll be leaving the house in a little while, with the Stingray. First gig for it in many months, and first ever with the Cobalts. This is at a bar I have played many times before... Let's see how it goes

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347550966' post='1802359'] i have done exactly what i was instructed to do on this thread and you accuse me of being stubborn? You are either trying to take the piss or you can't read. [/quote] fine you win, you're even more stubborn than me yes, your bass is crap. Obviously.

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347546245' post='1802263'] I think you are missing my point. I called it a straw man argument because what other bass guitars, regardless of their price, can do has no bearing on what mine does. It is entirely possible that manufacturer X can make great £60 basses just as Spector can make the instrument I have - not even the entuire line - less great. [/quote] My point was that while it is entirely possible that you are in possession of one bass Spector made that lacks in many respects... that seems to be a not very convincing explanation. Why? because the sort of "problems" you describe can be attributed to other reasons than "build quality". The thing is that these days it's hard to find an instrument that is truly terrible. When you said in one of your first posts that you adjusted teh action to x level and, ah well, not as low as you'd like but it's what you can expect from a cheap bass (or something loosely along those lines)... that comment made me join in and write. Because I routinely take cheap basses and make them play nice. I don't accept the limitation you imply. As long as the neck is straight, etc... an electric bass, especially a bolt-on one, is a ridiculously simple object (although tricky to set up just right, in some ways). It's the kind of object that you don't need ultra high precision manufacturing to make right. But if it makes you feel better, I'll just say you are right and that your bass is crap and that's all you can do about it. I have nothing to gain either way.

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347543543' post='1802202'] Is it any wonder why? Someone posts a straw man statement and then someone else goes '+1', as if they were doing arithmetic. A bunch of suggestions were made, all of which I followed, and then was accused of not following them by people who couldn't possibly have known either way that didn't read what I had written.If a set of top quality new strings (are you going to tell me these are duff strings too?) haven't made any difference to the considerable volume difference in the E string then the only rational assumption is that it's the pickup. Why? because it's more likely than not that the manufacturer chose a lower quality pickup for a lower price bass. Do all Spector basses come with this exact brand of pickup? Why not, if they are good enough then surely that would make sense, wouldn't it? Save on costs at least. [/quote] you have made up you mind that you know what the issue is, just because it makes sense and you can't think of anything else. It is possible that you are right. However, a lot of other people with extensive experience think that there may be other issues rather than the pickup itself. You have tried to follow instructions, but clearly you are inexperienced and as well-meaning as most of us are, it's very difficult to be comprehensive and explain everything in such a way that you will get it absolutely right, without prior experience. One thing is to know how to do it, another to be able to explain it. As for your "straw man" argument. I will insist: a cheap instrument will show its cheapness in many ways... but as there's nothing terribly hi-tech in these instruments, even the cheapest one is *functional*. I've owned -and gigged some of them for fun- some very very cheap instruments. Instruments of lower quality than yours. And you know what? They sounded perfectly fine. NOthing amazing, but fine. However you seem to have made your mind up that because your bass is not terribly expensive, every problem you find with it is something to be accepted and par for the course. And that's where you are wrong. Sadly you will not let anyone *show* you just how wrong you are and give you the chance to improve your bass. Yet you still argue. It's a shame, because I am positive you could have a beautifully playing bass in your hands if only you spent some energy doing something about it. Someone local could give you a hand, for free, but you will not accept that either. You do realise that none of has have anything to gain by arguing with you, don't you? If people keep chiming in is because... I don't know... I'll speak for myself in this case as I can't presume to know what's on everybody else's minds. I keep checking this thread because I *love* bass, and I derive some kind of strange pleasure from contributing to somebody else's enjoyment of their bass. When someone has problems with their bass, and I think I may be able to help, I try. I know that I learnt a lot in fora like this one over the years, and I'm happy to soend soem time trying to help others when I can. I am sure many others feel the same way. But you are becoming irritatingly frustrating in your stubbornness (I say this with a smile, please don't be offended). I wish I knew what's wrong with your bass. I would have to have it in front of me at this stage. But when it moves like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc... A bass is a simple instrument, yet there are a bunch of things that all have to work together to make it function nicely. It's extremely hard to troubleshoot and set up a bass by proxy, especially when teh person who will do the actual manual work has no experience. get help in person, and stop blaming the price of the bass for a bunch of things that most probably have nothing to do with the cost of teh bass.

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347542781' post='1802188'] You do realise that's a straw man argument. what is it that's not set up correctly then? [/quote] how about the fact that it buzzes, for starters? the kind of issues you seem to have are issues I don't have with £60 basses... if set up. There is only so much people can do from a couple of pictures and at a distance, unfortunately. The inexpensiveness of your bass -which is not that inexpensive, anyway- has nothing to do with your issues. You should see teh first MM Stingray I ever tried when I was looking for one to buy ...

[quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1347531141' post='1801985'] Cobblers, there people out there playing pro gigs on basses that cost a fraction of yours. Get your bass set up properly. [/quote] +1 for talking sense, like this man above...

[quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1347460742' post='1801141'] You should make the new pickguard black-red-black, so it's an inverse of the body. [/quote] I'd love that, if available. I've seen red/black/red, but not black/red/black

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1347457210' post='1801061'] Offer thanks to the deity of your choice? [/quote]

I keep coming back to it. Ok, that doesn't surprise me. My Stingray and my SUB are probably the two basses I would save first from a fire. Lately the Stingray have languished and has not seen much action. Partly because when I bought the SUB, the Stingray needed a re-string, and I loved the SUB's punch courtesy of a humbucker in series (rather than parallel as on the Stingray), and partly because then I restrung the Stingray using nylon tapewounds. They are ok. You get some cool sounds. But nah, in the end, it's like you're castrating the Stingray. So I've been using the SUB, with progressively deader strings (I like them!) after probably 7 months of gigs, and various others, usually Jazz or of a Jazz flavour. Not long ago I finally restrung the Stingray, with Ernie Ball Cobalts, as I was curious about them. My first impression was a bit mixed. Punchy. Oh yes. I noticed a higher output and more midrange. But I had mixed feelings. They felt a bit tougher/rougher than my usual D'Addario EXL170. I liked the basic sound, but they were too "clangy". Well, they were, playing at home at neighbour-friendly volume. Today I took it to rehearsal. The strings have been on for probably a month, maybe 6 weeks, but used little. I took my TC RH450 head, into an Ampeg 8x10 of some description that I normally use there. HUGE!!!!!!! Big bottom, great definition... fantastic slap tone, not too trebly, the G string was fat, liquid... I am in love again with my Stingray. There are other basses, but for me, this is the one that does it. Two gigs this week... I think the Stingray will feature in both!

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1347456029' post='1801040'] you do like naked wood bodies don't you! [/quote] you could say that!!!

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1347449927' post='1800893'] Really?? A [/quote] go away go away go away go away!!!! (hmmm, I like the straight Stingray type alone better, but... this is quite nice, actually. I think I should start making my own pickguards! Or stop reading BC )

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1347449547' post='1800885'] Haha for a minute i thought you were going to say cream coloured wilkinson pickups ;-) i have actually been wondering about those you have for sale, ive never had any wilkinson pups are they any good for the money? [/quote] I think they are alright. Punchy, but not as "jazzy" as I'd have wanted them to be. I replaced them in my Vintage brand Jazz with the USA set from my Fender (now with Nordstrands) and it then sounded unmistakeably "Jazz bass". Before it was a good sound, but I was no getting that particular nasal tone I like from the bridge pickup, although it sounded good, especially with both pickups in series. If you want a "classic" Jazz bass sound, the Wilkinsons are not the best match. If you don't care so much and just want a decent punchy sound, then they are fine. Good value. But I may be biased

I am so very jealous of that body. But then I saw it all assembled, and... I'm jealous of the whole thing. Love it. Cream-covered DiMarzio Model J pickups... hmmm