TRBboy

I'm only recently realising that the majority of mainstream brands rarely (if ever) bother with damping. It seems to be mainly only the high end/boutique brands. As @Bill Fitzmaurice rightly says, it's nuts because it's so cheap and easy to do!

Both of the bargain 15's I've acquired (Ashdown ABM Mini 15 and Trace Elliot compact 15... Kinda) were made in the UK and were regarded as decent quality cabs of their time. Neither have any damping. TBH after modifying the Trace from combo to cab, I was really surprised how poor the construction is! Each join in the box is a very stingy smear of glue (if any) and 4-5 staples. I'd always regarded them as being really well built and bombproof. 🤷

That's very, very cool, love it! Congrats 😍👌🔥

23 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

I'll give the Allen key thing a go shortly. Tightening it will change the neck relief though, won't it?

 

Suspending it I can hear a rattle if I knock the back of the neck but I'm not sure if it's from within or not. I've tried tightening and loosening the string and that makes the rattle go away.

It won't change the relief if you just pull it up so that it's not 'loose'. As I said though, I'm fairly confident that's not the cause in this case, but worth ruling things out I guess

26 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

How would one establish if the truss rod was the culprit rather than the nut?

Usually just put the alien key in and see if it feels loose or tight. If it feels a bit loose, tighten until you feel it pull up.

Can also suspend the bass in one hand (like a wall hanger), and tap the back of the neck with the heel of your other hand. If you can hear the rattle from within, it's probably loose.

I don't think it's that in this instance though as it's only one string affected, unless it just happens to be that reasonably frequency that's making it vibrate.

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

 

I did the paper thing about 10 years back and it stayed in the slot completely forgotten about for years (the joys of playing flats that requires changing every decade) 

Same, I'd put Roto Trubass on my USA Jazz and worn the slots bigger. Played for years with bits of card in the slots after 🤣

This was over 25 years ago though, would probably just change the nut now

6 minutes ago, asingardenof said:

Initial efforts didn't stop the buzzing. Suspect a new nut is in my future.

Have you checked the tuner ferrule/nut for the A string tuner? Pressing down behind the nut would also alleviate that. 

I've had loads of nut battles on the bass build I finished last month, and it's still not 100% right, so I feel your pain!

Looooool -this compact 2x15 stack sounds monstrous! Got it pretty much as low as I can and the walls are shaking 🤣🤣🤣💥🔥🤌❤️

Maybe it doesn't help you, but you're the only person who can say whether it's too heavy for you or not. 🤷

Personally, that would be way too heavy for me, I'd really struggle on a gig. I'm strong, I can support the weight no problem, but those little niggly aches and fatigue coming in ruins the experience for me, and ultimately means I don't play my best and wish for the end of the gig to come. I've sold basses much lighter than yours for this reason. 

Definitely sounds like it's rattling in the nut slot from what you've said. Try adding a small shim of paper or card in the slot and see if it goes (or improves). This will prove whether it is the nut or not. Apparently cooper shielding tape in the slot works well to help fix this, if you don't want to replace the nut. Haven't tried it myself though.

I genuinely didn't realise there were MIK Fenders from the 90's, thought it was just Squiers. Does look a nice bass though that jazz.

Still have my first bass, Squier MIK Precision, a '93 I think. Are they worth anything yet? 😅

4 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

How many quid worth of sanding belts died? Something I will never take on is stripping ratfur. 

I used one belt that was already well used. I managed to pull pretty much all the carpet off with brute force, and then sorted a couple of patchy bits with a sharp decorators scraper. The sanding was too remove the old adhesive, which was rock hard but sanded off fine.

Hardest bit of sanding was putting the radius on the sides where the amp had been, as those edges were square. I don't have a router so had to free-hand guesstimate a similar radius to the other sides. But it came out okay.

7 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Cracking idea.  And execution.  Off to sift through local ads for messed up cabs now…

Do it! There's some bargains and fun projects to be had!

21 minutes ago, cocco said:

I have Sandberg black label pickups in my TT4. I'd echo @TRBboys experience on a pickup change. I've found the black labels a completely different kettle of fish. Less clinical and more organic.

I commissioned a custom VM5 build which I received just over 5 years ago, and was very keen to try the Black Labels! 

Ironically, I absolutely hated them! 🤣 Sold the bass pretty much immediately after waiting a year for it (seems very rash on retrospect 😅😬🤦).

I felt like they were REALLY aggressive but seemed to lack any actual 'tone'. It's really what led me towards ordering my TT5 passive, with their Alnico V pickups instead. Much more organic and toneful for my ears.

But this is why we have choice, because everyone likes something different! It also highlights why you need to TRY things yourself to form an opinion. No amount of people telling you what they like will replace that 😅

Well, this was a fun project!😁

I fancied a cheap 1x15" to go with my Markbass LMII and Ashdown ABM Mini 15 practice rig, so kept my eyes peeled. I came across what was once a Trace Elliot combo in a very sorry state, but it was only £20, and I do LOVE a project! 

I trimmed off the section where the amp used to be, flipped it on its side, plugged the old handle routs and speakon hole (installed by the previous owner), and sanded it all up.

Painted with Tuff Cab, new corners and handles, painted the grille with satin black Hammerite, and created a new location for the speakon connector. Et Voila! Really pleased with how it's come out, probably cost me about £70 all in. 👌

Just waiting on replacement port rings now, which @SamIAm is kindly 3D printing for me. One original was missing and the other was cracked.

1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said:

Lovely looking bass.

Leave it as it is, just tinker with Pups and controls. 

A very lucky find, congratulations , enjoy. 

Yeah, on further reflection this morning, I think I might give it a good polish up and leave it as is. Might put gold hardware on it at some point, I've always liked black and gold 👌

31 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

I am pretty sure that toggle switch was not a strictly speaking a tone toggle but rather a three position coil toggle allowing for switching between having either only a single coil of the humbucker pickup working, or the two coils either in parallel or in series, so how do you have the pickup wired now?

 

If I had been you I probably would have let that coil toggle switch be and instead having replaced the volume pot for a tone pot.

 

No, unusually it was a tone toggle. One way direct to the jack, one went to a resistor, and the other went to a 0.1uV capacitor. This meant basically you had one 'okay' sound, one very bright and one very dark.

Unfortunately the pickup only has two conductor wiring, otherwise I would've installed a series/split/parallel DPDT mini toggle. 🤷

9 minutes ago, Elfrasho said:

 

Yes. My original plan was to change the guard too, but it buffed up nicely. I like black on black but i could go anything really since its a blank canvas. You thinkin a 3 ply black?

 

It plays lovely so id assume its a photo angle thang!

I reckon 3 ply black would look killer! ❤️👌🔥💥

Been doing a bit more tinkering, got rid of the 'tone toggle' switch and installed a regular tone control with orange drop. Much better for my tastes! Easier to dial in a sweet spot and not have all or nothing. Just used since knobs I had spare from my 5 string build recently.

YES that is a massive washer underneath! 🤣 Turns out the toggle hole was pretty big, so found a washer in the shed the right size. 😏🤌

In terms of refinish, current favourites are:

a) leave it as it is

b) the Manilla light green pictured above

c)... Let my 11y/o arty son go at it with his Posco markers!

🤷

I think it looks great mate! Personally, I'd be tempted to make a new pickguard for it though.

I've always fancied a YOB Blazer or Yamaha BB (1981). ❤️👌

Is your neck alignment a touch off or is it just the photo angle?

Congrats anyway, it looks superb!

43 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

If you're happy with the pedals, would it be worth looking at a board that is a different configuration? That looks pretty square and maybe not helping the layout. 

Yeah I did think about that, but then boards are quite expensive, and I guess it's not too small as such, just awkward as you rightly say.

Maybe my next DIY project.... 😏

That's stunning, congrats! ❤️👌🔥

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Yup, that's fair! 

 

Worth just checking the manual to give yourself an idea of what the Zoom wah is going to bring to the party. 

 

I had the X version briefly but didn't feel the wah pedal did that much extra and I quite like having a separate wah for use with other pedals - the Zoom wah will only be available for the Zoom multi, but maybe that's all you want to use it for?

 

And tbf I'm not sure that the standard B1-4 pedal can be used with a separate wah anyway.

Yeah very true, I like using the wah with other effects too.

Think I'm going to have another re-jig with what I've got this weekend and see where I end up. I could take the power bar off there to make some space, although it irritates me having it separate.

Thanks for all the help 🙏

55 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

B1x Four (I've a B1xOn..)

 

Build a Patch (or 2.. or 3!) Per Song

Label them, and put em in set order...

ToneLib Or Zoom Software

 

Could do the lot... and strait to desk but via 1/4" Jack not XLR...

 

 

That's a good shout, but I do also have a tendency to click effects on as the mood takes me. I could easily put my few most common ones on consecutive patches though. Our set list tends to vary regularly (often during a set 😅), so I don't think I could be arsed with that.

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

 

 

 Bear in mind that the B1-4X is not going to save you any space on your pedal board though compared to a B3 😉

No, but it means I could get rid of the wah, so I'll save that space 😊👌

@Al Krow ah I see you can, there is a 'stomp mode'. The only downside is that you have to cycle through the effects in the patch to turn different ones on and off....

Looking at the B1X-four also now, as I could use the wah on that...  👌