Grangur

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1495114599' post='3301387'] Idly looking at the pic, could it be a left hand bridge? Might possibly be the reason. [/quote] Don't think I've ever seen one with the holes different sizes.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1495319265' post='3303009'] Sorry Mr. Global Moderator but that's opinionated rubbish . Have you played EVERY Mexican Fender? [/quote] Thank you. I'm pleased I'm not alone. As the owner of a MIM that sings quite nicely, I found that post offensive.

[quote name='moonbass' timestamp='1495315105' post='3302979'] I'd start with subdividing the beats: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and... this helps with quaver rests. Try playing a single quaver on each possible subdivision of the bar to learn what it 'feels' like - in the end it will be in muscle memory rather than 'counting'. Then subdivide down to seniquavers and do the same. I think I end up counting as 1 uh and uh 2 uh and uh 3 uh etc... (if that makes sense?!) [/quote] +1 Use a metronome and count the beat. I use 1 e & a, 2 e & a, 3 e & a, 4 e & a, etc

33 year and scarcely a note played on it. But having one or more basses that don't get sold doesn't mean that you don't buy and sell many others at the same time. Many basses have passed through Grangur Towers that I wouldn't really consider I ever really "owned" them. They were always "just passin' through. Sometimes I have bought basses as projects to do up and sell. It's a hobby of mine.

As Kiogon says, if your tone pot is losing function when you tighten it down there's something wrong there. It's also probable that there is only 1 fault.

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1495302307' post='3302871'] He did say fun/wow-factor/interesting though. [/quote] Isn't an in-tune bass far more interesting and colourful than one that's out of tune?

Shame there's no serial number in the letter. Also, can you be sure the letter is authentic? If I was writing a letter of authenticity I doubt I'd forget to identify the bass with a serial number. (If only that were a potentially realistic situation)

The first thing I'd do is check out the tone pot. If you don't have a multi-meter to do this, just buy a new pot and change it anyway. They're not expensive.

The strings don't line up with the magnets in the pup. That would rather indicate the pickguard isn't the same shape as the one originally designed for that bass. The neck also looks like a pretty average to poor defret job. I'd give it a wide berth.

The ones in Sofia were right across the range. I tried one Rockbass, but most I tried were GPS. I didn't want to try the German Masterbuilt as I didn't want to pay that much right now.

Chinese or German doesn't matter. How well set up is the CNC machine? How much attention has been put into the match of the body to the neck? Wrt pots. I'm sure you know what you're doing. I'm wrong in assuming you haven't thought through the effect of the change in impedance on the circuit and it's balance with the other components. I apologise.

Al K. Please can you stop thinking of 500K as an "upgrade". This is simply a different value of pot. Neither is more expensive than the other. Neither is "better" than the other as there is zero difference in quality. Look at it like "upgrading" from a blue pen to a black pen - same thing, different end result. The pot you need in the circuit is one of the correct value to get the sound you want. 500K Ohm pots are usually put in guitars with humbuckers as they enhance the treble frequencies. This might me a desirable feature in a guitar. I've had a few basses with 500K pots put in them. IMHO they sounded crap and I took them out.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1495272140' post='3302580'] I wouldn't give it a second thought, it will make no difference WHATSOEVER to how it plays. [/quote] Excuse me Sir, but this country has had enough of truth and experts, if you don't mind!

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1495271778' post='3302574'] Isn't Martin the Luther at Sims? [/quote] Is he? Martin the Luther's King!

I have to confess to being Al K's mate. The basses in question that hummed were Warwick Corvettes (so Jazz bass style) The control cavity in the 4 stringer actually also has ali lining fitted. At home it does hum when we'e using the microwave, washing machine etc. It would also make sense for it to hum when there are old switch-start fluorescents. Newer HF fluorescents wouldn't have the same effect. Another interference can be lighting dimmer controls.

The hum, I would put down to the general electronic noise in the area - as you have suggested, Al K. The 4 string Corvette you tried actually has the control cavity lined with aluminium screening. But it doesn't seem to have done a lot. With respect to the Chinese Warwicks. IME, when trying them they simply lacked presence in their tone. They simply didn't have "heft". They didn't move me; none of them gave me any feelings of "buy me now!". With respect to the finish, I wouldn't worry about this. there's nothing wrong with the finish that a rub down with very fine (2000 grit) paper and finish with Boiled Linseed oil and beeswax won't sort. When I was rebuilding my 5 string, bubinga Corvette, I removed the neck bolts and lifted the neck. The body stayed on the neck. The neck didn't lift out, i was stuck. It's the tightest holding neck I've come across. This will give it the sound of a neck-through. I suspect the Chinese pockets are more like most other basses and will lift straight out. This is the sort of subtle difference you get in a better bass. The fine tolerances used in building a crafted bass are expensive to re-produce time and time again. If I were you, I'd go for a $$ version - the double coil will help avoid hum. Check it out and be prepared to do some work: 1 - Rub down and refin the body. 2 - Add a veneer to the side(s) of the pocket - to make it tight. Then scrape the surfaces with a blade to get them just right for a tight fit. 3 - Change the pre-amp. Get one with Active & Passive. 4 - Change the pups to some that work passively. After you've done that you'll have a bass that could be more like the German ones; for a good bit less than the cost of the German version. The downside is, after doing all of that it is still a Chinese version with mods - so the re-sale value isn't necessarily up there with the German ones - but you need to weigh up the value of the money you'd lose on buying a new German version. Also, if/when you sell, you could take out all of the electrical stuff and convert it back to stock. You could also try a pre-amp pedal, rather than in on-board version.

Al K wrote to me in a PM and I think most of what he asked is valuable to be here. I hope he won't mind me posting it here: [quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1495233689'] Interesting - do you think the hum is due to it being single coil PUPs? I know you didn't think much of the newer GPS basses when you were Bulgaria but I’m struggling to see what the material difference is between a fully German made and a German-started-Chinese-assembled GPS models, apart from about £3k?! They seem to have pretty much the same components but slightly less fancy finishing? Here’s the same model of the bubinga wood of one of the two I quite liked from the Thomann website. Have a listen to the sound samples and tell me that doesn’t growl and sing?! (Which are your key tests and definitely influencing mine!) [url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_gps_corvette_5a_bubinga.htm?sid=ce5e80db6992409d1acf69daf8ad8b48"]https://www.thomann....acf69daf8ad8b48[/url] Although if electronic hum/ buzz is going to be an issue, this could something in favour of the $$ version. [url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_gps_corvette_db_5_ash_nt.htm?sid=ca392a922e247e3f0fdadc85aae22b5d"]https://www.thomann....fdadc85aae22b5d[/url] I guess I can test this point a bit more by having a play through my Sandberg tomorrow shorn of the noise from rest of the band: it has a J style single coil at the neck and humbucker at the bridge (both Delanos). PS I just spotted that you neck humbuckers on your Streamer and single coils on your Corvette. Hmmm (excuse the sonic pun), but maybe the $$ is going to be the way forward for me. I think you're visit is starting to provide VERY nuanced guidance here! PPS I think I've worked out why you don't have an issue with coil hum in Bishop’s Stortford, the key difference in Central London is that you can’t get away from tube and rail lines in London, particularly at rehearsals in studios housed under railway arches![/quote] When i called round a problem we experienced was, on both Corvettes I have, there was a notable hum in the signal. I don't get this hum at home. Al K lives in central London. I live in Bishops Stortford - in leafy Hertfordshire.

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1495174856' post='3301780'] We had some G4S moron a few months back just days after I've submitted meter readings online. He got quite aggressive in tone with my wife when she wouldn't let him in. Am sure he really was meter reading but I don't think he knew which power company we use and couldn't explain much about why he needed to do it when we do it ourselves. You never know who is about and once they're in your home anything could happen. Lucky my wife stands her ground and she firmly told him to get off our property. [/quote] They use agency readers. She could always use the old one of. "I'm a woman on my own, and you're not coming in without a police officer being present. Would you like me to call them?"

[quote name='dyerseve' timestamp='1495133518' post='3301593'] Are you sure about that? My understanding is they can be read remotely but only by a person coming round to your property. The idea being that the person doesn't need to enter the property. But a bit like blutooth or Wi-Fi you need to within a certain proximity of the device to read the data from the device. I just can't see how else they would work without piggy backing into the homeowners Wi-Fi but that would be a real can of worms. [/quote] Certainly OVO Energy took all my house meter readings, every month, without ever coming to the house. They also re-set the meter readings to "0000" when I changed to another "provider".

Hmm... they look good. When I was in Bulgaria at the beginning of May I went to "Music Direction" in Sofia. They have a great selection of brand new Warwicks. I tried a few Pro basses including a $$. I have to say I wasn't impressed. I'd go for any German 200* bass over those ANY day. But, that's me. you're not me. Why not buy them both. Get them delivered, put them head-2-head and see what you like. If you don't like either, send them both back. It costs you nothing. Feel guilty about buying and sending back? Don't. When the mail-order sellers set about under-cutting and putting the High Street retail shops out of business they took away from us the chance to try stuff in the shop. So now the mail-order shops need to do the "try before you buy". I've bought, and sent back, a good few basses. I don't worry about it. It's all part of the service they need to offer. I look forward to bringing the Streamer back round to yours for a 3-way comparison

I think it unlikely that a factory lined fretless will ever have actually had frets fitted. But it will have gone through the process of having had a saw blade cut the slots. Any saw blade, no matter how sharp, will be pulling at the wood grain as it cuts and small whiskers of wood will be ripped out. This will leave small gaps in the grain. The fix is to do as Mamton Customs says, or have an unlined fingerboard.

I think I might have one of these in my attic somewhere. If I can find a box, would you like it?

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1495090090' post='3301093'] it's also a marketplace where no one seems to want to buy warwicks! Haven't for years. Try eBay, and eBay.de - I got my '85 thumb bass from Germany within your price range a few years back. [/quote] +1 I've had little success in selling any good basses on BC Marketplace. The only basses that seem to sell there are Fender & MM.

Find one and try it out. Who are we to tell you what to play? Question: Is the airing cupboard a good place to keep wooden instruments? IME the wood will dry out and crack when exposed to prolonged excessive warmth. Edit: Answer - No, don't buy another bass until you've found a better place to keep them.