Grangur

I owned an ESP Ltd fretless. Wonderful neck. Sometimes I regret selling. I'd defo give that a whirl

Being really pessimistic here; you took the new bass, under warranty to a 3rd party "tech" for a set up. That guy then tells you the TR has a problem and you take it to the shop. If the manufacturer claims you have broken or damaged the TR mechanism yourself, what insurance cover does your tech have? What bass is this that by a simple adjustment of the TR it's possible for an experienced tech to unwittingly break the mechanism? I think I'd be simply asking for a refund under the terms of the "Sale of Goods Act". That bass is not fit for purpose, unless there's something else happening here we don't know about.

Maybe it would help us a bit here if you could tell us what you're thinking of putting in there to replace it? Looking at my Corvette I've come to the conclusion that the black is 0v or "earth". Other than that I'll be interested to hear what others can add. Just out of interest, why are you changing the EQ? What are you looking to achieve?

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1430851975' post='2765273'] ....Maybe you could just bodge it by jamming a over-size screw-driver into the hole and giving it a turn [/quote] Just tried that. I recon it's welded. I recon it's time for a new neck. This is a possible: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261874554714?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Hi there, I've just picked up a Spector Performer bass off Gumtree. Not this one, but one just like it. The body is solid wood and the finish is good. The problem the bass has is the truss rod has been over tightened. The Guitard-teacher guy I bought it from has striped the TR adjuster so it's just round and no flanges there for a key. The neck is bending back against the strings so there is "negative relief" as you might say. I've removed the neck from the body and tried ramming a key in the hole and, bending the neck back to a straight line, I've tried getting some movement there, but not a hope. The thing is $u@@erd. Before I go and get a new neck, is there anything else that anyone here can suggest? Also, the neck is secured using 5 screws. The flat section of the neck that fits on the bottom of the pocket is 130mm long on this neck. Does anyone here have a neck they can measure and tell me if this is "normal", or is it longer than others. What I have found is the neck is 60mm wide at the heel. This is rather unfortunate as a Fender one is 63mm. Mind you, at least the body pocket can be routed wider to take a Fender neck; better than too wide, I guess. Any thoughts?

[quote name='barkin' timestamp='1430749605' post='2764232'] Never used them myself, so not a personal recommendation, but - I use rehearsal rooms in Stevenage from time to time, and the guy who runs the place has all his repairs etc done by http://www.theampworkshop.co.uk/ [/quote] Many thanks. Message sent to him.

Can anyone recommend a tech to work on a MarkBass LM2 ? I've got problems with the volume/gain going up and down erratically. Not big-style, but it's a pain. My guess is there's a leaky capacitor. So I recon it's nowt too serious, but it takes a man with proper equipment to know for sure. I'm in East Herts. So someone in Herts/ North London would be good.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1430726227' post='2763935'] Yep then I can avoid it like a weedy, too-many-strings kind of plague [/quote] Exactly. It will halve the number of pages I have to go through. Each to their own.

Looking at the back I could see wood-grain-like lines, through the paint. Yet where the body was scratched and graunched up there was no sign of wood grain whiskers, it was all mush; like scuffed up MDF.

Hello, I know this is question is normally the preserve of Fender Vs Pretender, but I was in the search of a project and went to look at this last night: http://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/yamaha-bass-bb-n411-vintage-bass-guitar/1114042338 Yes, I knew it's scuffed and abused, but I was expecting to strip the body, expose the Alder wood and oil it and, hey-presto!, nice bass. But, what got put into my hands was amazingly light-weight and the body was clearly some sort of MDF body painted with mud-brown paint and an insult to the name "Yamaha" IMHO. What does the committee here think? Is it the real deal? Needless to say, it's still up for sale as far as I know.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1430644015' post='2763224'] I know what you mean Paul, and find I`m pretty much the same. Bizarrely I find that the more perfect a bass, the less I bond with it, it`s almost as if the flaws are what make me gel with it. My trusty 78 Precision for example, heavy, dented, genuine road-worn, you have to know how hard to hit the strings on each fret/string as this can be different, and I love it, far more than other newer Precisions I`ve had which have been pristine and virtually played themselves. I remember reading Eric Clapton saying similar about his fave Strat, "Blackie" - not that I`d put myself in the same talent-league as Mr Clapton of course, but it does seem that some of us have the need to bond with an instrument. [/quote] +1 i have 3 basses. 2 are in pristine condition. They play perfectly. Well, they would if a good bassist was playing them. But somehow it's like eating off the best china; somehow you don't relax and gel with it. The one that I relax with is one I bought more cheaply, more battered and even written on in Chinese! The crazy thing is my head tells me to buy them in good condition, or in a condition that I can work on and make near perfect, but I relax with them when it doesn't matter if you ding it. I also don't think having a choice of bass helps. If you have a load, how do you single 1 out as "the bass"? Yet curiosity drives the GAS.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1430594300' post='2763011'] I'm fine with it. It's not mandatory to buy a guitar you know.... [/quote] Phew!!

Hi all, I've just been looking through the "Other Musical Items" section and it's awash with 6-string things with cheese-wire strings! How do others view this?

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1430388612' post='2760874'] Thanks grangur, but I'm definitely aiming for the coil tap ability of the TW for now. [/quote] Don't blame you. It's a good feature to have.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1430510595' post='2762261'] I think came off the worst with a Deko (although the "hit" rate seems to be fairly high overall). My bass uke came with a back bow in the neck and the truss rod seems to be doing nothing at all. I get massive amounts of buzzing when I play as the strings are hitting the frets. It was a risk to buy one so fair play really. I have some options though. First off, maybe the truss rod has been inserted the wrong way and I need to turn it right to loosen it. Worth a try anyway although I'm not sure if it's possible to fit one the wrong way. I could also try putting on some higher tension strings to try and pull the neck forward - any ideas on what would be higher tension than the thunderguts that came with it? Another option would be to defret it to see if that helps. Otherwise, I could dismantle it and sell the component (other than the neck and body most likely) as spares and recoup some of the money. Or is there a way to force the neck forward? I fear it would break with too much force though. I still mess round with it as it's kinda fun still but I couldn't record it or play it live at all which is a shame. I may buy an Ashbury Bass Uke as I played on in Hobgoblin and it was great (this one, [url="http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/products/GR35060/ashbury-bass-ukulele/"]http://www.hobgoblin...y-bass-ukulele/[/url] not the Fender-made one). [/quote] I did send a deko back once. They do accept returns. So if the neck is totally useless I'd return it if I were you. Naturally you can't return it with a reason of the useless TR. You need to find some other reason.

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1430392809' post='2760918'] Strange how you overlooked my comment earlier about the look of an instrument being important then... Fit and finish, neck shape, quality of hardware and so on is all vital to an instrument. The woods used are just for show. That is my honest belief and having worked for a range of instrument manufacturers, despite it not being the company accepted viewpoint nor the view of the community at large I have never found any evidence that anything other than pups and pots changes the tone. Like I said before, I would happily pay a lot for a heavily flamed Warwick Streamer, but make no mistake, I pay that money firstly for the build quality, secondly for the looks. If I just wanted the tone I would buy the MEC J set, the 3 band active EQ and put them into a Squier. [/quote] If you're referring to me, when you said it I overlooked the motivational issue. I'm human. (As we all are, of course)

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1430386865' post='2760836'] When you buy an expensive bass you are mostly paying for playability and an exceptional standard of fit and finish. IME what this does is it inspires you to play better. It certainly works for a very ordinary bassist like me. When I got my fist really good bass (an Overwater Original) my playing and consequently the sounds that I was making improved massively since for the first time the only obstacle to being able to do what I wanted musically was my lack of ability and not any restrictions the the instrument I played was putting on me. [/quote] That I can buy into. I too found that.

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1430385845' post='2760827'] No, not at all. An acoustic instrument is designed from the ground up to amplify itself, in an electric instrument the wood is just a pretty holder for the pickups. [/quote] So a Squier can give identical output to a Fodera or Alembic etc. All you need is the same strings, pickup and the same setup? Wow. I was in a chat with Anthony Wellington the other day. He was saying how he pays 10,000$ for a bass. Isn't he a mug? We're due to chat again in May. It'll be interesting to hear his views on this.

I've got an EMG-MMCS for sale if you're interested at £55 posted. Unused in the orignal box, complete.