Rayman

My first thought was that these were Knock off, they’re that bad….. but the source is a very reputable store, admittedly via eBay, but not from some random shop. That said, and as has been pointed out, maybe I’m being harsh, because they’re just budget parts at the end of the day, I was probably expecting too much.

Oh blimey ok…. Don’t go down that road then! It seems to me that the whole section of wire needs replacing, but it should be possible by a skilled tech/electrician. Trouble is you might need Roland to supply the replacement parts. Did they give you details of any Roland recognised repair folks?

Yes, you’re probably right, I was probably expecting too much. Tbh I’ve never been much of a modded/upgrader…. and this Squier and the Thunderbird were meant to be fun projects. The TB turned out perfect at every stage, totally delighted…. the Squier though has put up a fight…. every part of the build has been a headache. I wanted black tuners, and had heard good things about Wilkinsons as decent parts, but I was disappointed on this occasion.

Sunday I’m with the horse

Fridays I’m with my girlfriend

I hear you…… maybe it’s the same reason I let Mrs Rayman whip me with a horse crop on a Saturday night….. I don’t know

No idea if such a repair would affect the sound quality of the signal afterwards......

It should be possible to cut, tidy up, re-attach and shrink wrap the wires, but it's hard to see the wiring configuration. As you say, taking the phones apart and replacing the whole wire could be complicated. Roland probably don't want to be bothered with it, but I'm sure a decent tech could figure it out.

Seems like hit and miss then? I took delivery of some silicone lube today, gave the tuners a good seeing to.... but they're still horrible to use. My old Sunn Mustangs still have the original open gear tuners, which feel luxurious in comparison. I realize that Wilkinson are budget parts, of course, but as one can see above, a lot of people rate them, and would look to them as decent for upgrading cheap tuners. In my case at least, I disagree, they are cheap, so not worth the effort.

It’s certainly a stretch to the nut, unless you strap it quite low…. I’m usually just below waist height, which brings the neck up a bit….. but there’s always the dive, which I’ve never been able to solve…. Just part of the experience I guess. Tonally, I love the sound so much.

I felt like I was supposed to be upgrading the stock Squier tuners, but I felt the opposite. Even lubed, the Wilks felt cheap and clunky.

Hmmm interesting. It’s frustrating to me because I’m fine with most tech stuff, but electronics are my Achilles heel, and pickups are a mystery to me. The problem was that the covers are really chunky and wouldn’t fit in the routs, so I popped the covers off top put them into the original Fender ones (into which they fit perfectly), but in so doing the jazz pup magnets dislodged. I haven’t a clue how they go back together. For the sake of 25 quid for a new one, I might just do that…. OR, go for something else.

Maybe I was just unlucky. I realise they’re only a couple of steps above budget, but I expect them to feel pretty good, compared to the Squier ones, but maybe just not last that well? I dunno…. personally I’m disappointed with them.

I did lube them yes, and no the ferrules are good. They just feel cheap. But yes you’re right, you get what you pay for

Following on from a thread about knockoff strings…. I now turn my attention to these atrocious “Wilkinson” tuners. Bought as part of my Squier Frank Bello Jazz (which has been a nightmare throughout the work), I thought Wilkinsons would be a good addition….. I was wrong. These tuners are horrendously bad. Clunky, grindy and just plain pants. If these are genuine Wilkinsons, then they’re very poor indeed…. however….. could they be knockoffs? They came from a reputable source on EBay, so I suspect they’re genuine. If so…. they’re the last Wilkinson parts I ever buy. Junk.

Also from those pictures, it looks like the magnets don’t touch in the middle If I can be bothered I’ll get a little compass to work out N & S polarity…. Not sure I care anymore 🤦🏻‍♂️

I don’t have the patience to keep messing around with it. I think I’ll pull it out and replace it with something else.

That’s the irritating part, the magnets are really clean on all sides, hard to tell which way they go back in. Once back together and all hooked up again, the bridge (jazz) pickup is out of phase (sounds very weak). So it needs to come out again

So should they attract each other or repel each other in the middle?

There’s 4 magnets on the bottom of the J pickup as per usual, but should they touch in the middle? Or should there be a gap between them?

Thanks mate…. Yeah I just figured out exactly that. Not much evidence of the glue unfortunately, so there’s guesswork involved 🤔

I bought a used set of the Alan Entwhistle pickups for a project. Unfortunately in the process one of the magnets popped off the bottom of the J pickup. Does it matter which way round it goes back on? Or is it “just a magnet” that you whack back in there and crack on?

Bit of an update…. I didn’t expect a fun project like this to end up being my number one bass, I really didn’t. After many hours playing and a couple of rehearsals, the band love it, I love it…. it’s superb. I assume the pickups (pictured above) are Chinese standard fayre… but honestly they sound immense paired up with the new JHT loom. It’s like you’ve got a Kawai piano strapped around your neck (same weight too), it’s really clear, sustains for days, big clean highs and deep lows…… it’s all the TB you could ask for honestly. I tried a Gibson last week… I prefer this. Yes, the only original parts are the wooden bits and the pickups, but man, these pickups are awesome, whatever they are….. AND in my opinion, proves the point, when upgrading electronics, change your EQ first…. chances are the original pickups are fine with decent pots driving them. Hats of to the Newtone strings too… they play their part in the sound, lovely. So there it is, done, and I haven’t touched any of the other basses since.