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Thanks guys. Sheffield is a bit far, but if nowhere else stocks them I could make a day trip there - they have both the Squier and the Fender. I forgot about Fuzz, I haven't been there since they moved to West Bridgford, I'll find out if they have them in (it's not listed on their website). The proper website for them is http://fuzzguitars.co.uk btw, the link up there is somewhere in Korea (I think).

Thanks Len_Derby, i'll check them out.

Anyone knows of a shop that stocks a Squier Bass VI, or Fender VI near Nottingham? I went to the Music Inn and the Guitar and Drum Centre but neither had one. I'd really like to try one.

Silly question maybe, but is gold hardware actually gold plated?

I have no preconception. I works on my Hohner B-Bass which has a dark wood body and neck - a bit like in dannybuoy's picture above. Although it doesn't have gold knobs - that's pushing it a bit

I have got the urge to watch the Cure In Orange video. Yeah, the actual video tape...

Oh. I am a 17 Seconds kind of guy (?). I'd love to play A Forest in a gig.

Yay, The Cure. My favourite band when I grew up. Still do stupid things to go and see them when I can. I am very much like Maude up there. I never really thought about it at the time, but all the music I was listening to in my formative years had very prominent bass lines. The bass was in my blood, but I didn't know it then.

So, I did as you guys suggested, and the hum goes away when I connect the ground wire from the bridge to the ground on the jack (as per the Ibanez diagram). yay! And there seems to be the remnants of a wire soldered to the switch PCB, where the other 2 grounds from the pickup are connected (black+shield). So I'll solder the mysterious back wire to that. All sorted, thanks a lot ahpook and AngelLaHash

Thanks guys. I can't have a go tonight but I'll try those tomorrow.

Thanks ahpook, yes it is a really nice bass, and it makes good sound as it is . The serial number suggests it was made in 94, but I was looking at the diagram for 95, I assume that is what I have. I have found a picture of someone else's control cavity, and the wire seems to connect somewhere on the PCB for the switch selector in the top right corner, but the layout of that bit on my bass is different. That's the picture I found: http://s413.photobucket.com/user/rude_mechanical/media/Ibanez%20ATK300/PB170097.jpg.html

Hi, I have just picked up an Ibanez ATK300 made in Japan in 1994. It is cosmeticaly superb but a couple of issues sound wise: crackling at the jack and a hum when the switch is in the middle position. I had a look at the wiring, and sure enough there are a couple of disconnected wires: the ground cable from the bridge is not connected to the jack, and there is a mysterious cable (thin, black) coming out of the pickup cavity which is not connected to anything. I have checked the wiring diagram at Ibanez (http://www.ibanez.com/support/wiringdiagrams) and they do not show such a wire! Only a big fat cable with red, green, white, black + shield wires. I have this + the extra mysterious black wire. Does anyone know where the extra black cable coming out of the pickup cavity should be connected?

What's the obsession with year of birth basses? There's no way you could have played one back then :-) What about collecting "year of first bass" bass I.e.what bass should you have bought when you got your rubbish first bass?

Here is a picture of the bridge and mute/damper assembly. It is quite a simple affair, really. The string mute is a piece of metal covered in foam that attaches to the sides of the bridge and can be flicked up or down thanks to a spring attached to the front of the bridge. I don't think I can attach pictures, so here is a link to the assembly: [url="http://diaryofabassguitar.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=193"]http://diaryofabassguitar.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=193[/url] The saddles are quite interesting, they each have 3 grooves, which suggests you could change the string spacing if you wanted. I am not too sure why you'd do that, the only thing I can think of is you could use the higher or lower grooves if you moved the bridge down or up (so the bridge is, say, lower but the strings still line up with the nut and tailpiece), or if you angled it sideways.

Screw that. All these years I spent practicing NOT getting my thumb over the fretboard... [quote name='Green Alsatian' timestamp='1387652115' post='2314289'] Wonder how one would 'refret' it, should the frets wear down. Etc. [/quote] It looks like you just need to give the neck half a turn... Now, seriously, one of those with a telescopic neck as a travel bass?

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1387464377' post='2312270'] congrats on the bargain fretless! [/quote] What bargain? That's actually a very expensive gig bag I say...

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1387224690' post='2309635'] This one went for £170 on the bay. Complete with damper. [/quote] That's mine now! I'll post some pictures in the near future if there's interest. I love the colour, nice acoustic sound and awesome thump with the damper/mute on. There is also a bit of background info on the Commodore basses in that BC thread: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/9999-commodore-semi-japcrap-info/

Ahh. Just seen you are in NZ Doesn't help much then.

No, I don't know, but if you do find out, let us know If I had the money I'd go for these from The Creamery to replace the pickups on my Dean Stylist: http://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/classic-custom-double-track-humbucker-pickup-set.html - because they are custom jobbies you could ask to have them made to give the sound you are after. They are cheaper than the TV Jones in the UK too.