neepheid

BC already been on the case: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188454-fender-puzzle-telecaster/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/188454-fender-puzzle-telecaster/[/url]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1350656787' post='1841888']
By way of a follow up, the Classic 450 is now dead. Defunct. Shuffled off this mortal coil.

Used it this morning, went to switch it on after lunch, loud crack and flash from mains inlet, second pop and flash from the mesh by the carry handle. Result: trip switch went, one dead amp. Hope it hasn't caused any damaged to my BF Compact (output was muted anyway).

GuitarGuitar are picking it up on Monday. Now undecided whether to go for replacement (I do like it) or push for refund and look at some of the usual suspects (MB, OTB, PF500...).

But for now, just
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If you like it then see how you go with the replacement. Things do go wrong sometimes and it isn't necessarily the amp's fault. One little piece of the puzzle (which TC probably didn't even make) has gone pop and taken the whole shebang down with it.

[quote name='libertino' timestamp='1350634244' post='1841399']
Thanks for all the recommendations so far. I'm being swayed towards the 'cube' amps, the size of these certainly takes precedence over 'smallish' amps (but thank you for those suggestions too).[list]
[*]Roland Cube - Is 120W the most powerful? Is that enough?
[*]RedSub BT5110 500W - This would be perfect if it's not too good to be true.
[*]AER Amp One 200W - I think I'd be spoiling myself spending that much.
[/list]
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Remember that the RedSub is "only" 250W in the combo because of the 8 ohm speaker, if you want the 500W you have to plug in an 8 ohm extension cab or take the head out and use it with a 4 ohm cab (or pair of 8 ohm cabs).

TV Jones?

[url="http://tvjones.com/"]http://tvjones.com/[/url]

I operate a strict rotation policy. Instruments are to be played. Out of 32 gigs so far in my limited career, I have used no bass more than 5 times

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1350554248' post='1840359']
I don't think you're right.
The old one was a 500w head (so @ 300 - 350w or so at 8Ω). The stats are VERY misleading on the new one as it says it's a 300w combo at 4Ω, yet it has an extension socket that says 8Ω?

Just had a quick look on Ibby's web & the manual says that the combo is 150w @ 8Ω.
[/quote]

Isn't the end of the first paragraph rather misleading then? [url="http://www.ibanez.com/Electronics/model-P3110"]http://www.ibanez.co...ics/model-P3110[/url] - states "Plus, the fire-red amp head can be easily detached without any tools" - also it says it is a "300W combo".

Thomann claim that the combo is 4ohms and the speaker out is 4ohms also. Surely that's dangerous misadvice if wrong? [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_p3110.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...banez_p3110.htm[/url]

So the question is: who's telling porkie pies?

You really can't go wrong with a BB, especially at this price!

[quote name='giblett123' timestamp='1350538999' post='1840155']
Love the look of the new promethean, less power than the last??
[/quote]

Less watts yes, but 50W more in the combo than last time (old one was 250W because of 8 ohm speaker in the combo, 500W with 4 ohm cab).

[quote name='Angel' timestamp='1350331228' post='1837499']
I just don't get why people trot out that tired old phrase. MODERN FINISHES DO NOT "RELIC"!!!!!!!! Doh
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Modernity/era of manufacture has nothing to do with it. It's the type of coating. If you want a nitrocellulose finish which will look ratty in 20 years time, fine. That can be had on a bass made today if you like. Maybe not on the bass you want. That's another matter entirely.

I did the cab lightening thing already. I'm 36 and to be honest I found lugging my old Ashdown cab (nearly 80lbs) down then up two floors of stairs (one of which is external and concrete) was beginning to put me off and made going to gigs a bit of a drag (to say nothing of the going home - by the end it would be left in the car overnight after a gig - the logic being if they can lift it, they're welcome to it ). Moved up to a 50lbs Zoot. Now skipping up and down stairs with it. I am now worried that in another 10 years time I'll be looking at the Zoot and thinking "you're getting heavy". I guess that's where the 2x1x12 setup comes in.

It also begs the question how long I can wear 12lbs+ basses on my shoulders. Not looking at any victorious, all maple basses in particular

I don't bemoan the lightweight gear - I welcome it. My primary existence as IT guy relishes the thought (and the challenge) of lightening the behemoth and still retaining great sounding bass.

All the same, good to have a plan to keep on trucking. As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to play until my hands seize up completely through arthritis or my brain turns so spongy I can't remember the notes (or where I put the bass in the first place, or what a bass is)

I'm outside his house too. Thanks, Google Streetview!

In all seriousness though, I hope you get this resolved, I'd estimate that three quarters of the price you paid is scammer tax.

First thing to is work out what is generating the noise - bass, lead between bass and amp, amp, lead between amp and cab or cab. Can you plug the head into another cab? Can you get different leads? Find out which part of the puzzle is causing you grief and then we'll take it from there.

I can't see myself ever wanting anything bigger than a 4x10, particularly as I've got a nice light cab already (Zoot - pre Purple Chili). I take a rear ported 1x10 combo on its own to band rehearsals and it makes itself heard right enough

It's maybe not the same as an 8x10, but I think these nuances are lost on most folk so as far as I'm concerned it would be a personal indulgence that I can't be bothered with the aggravation of storing and transporting.

[quote name='muttley' timestamp='1350377168' post='1837885']
I'm thinking of getting one for my Ibanez SR400FL (I'd like and East BTB01 but I don't think I can fit it in). Would a kind BC soul care to post a pic of the installation?
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Here's an SE-2 almost fully installed, only the pickup wires to go to the blend pot (the one at the bottom with the small circuit board).

I have used the SE-2, the SE-2A and the SE-3 in the past. Had no problems with the SE-2 and SE-3 but had two SE-2As fail on me (the concentric pot both times - horrible pops and thumps when you wiggle/turn the pot). Sound wise they do a good job - especially for the price of them. Pretty easy install, it's all soldering to circuit boards, no need to muck about with pots as they come ready with leads and use connectors to attach to the main board.

[quote name='4StringFortress' timestamp='1350313778' post='1837147']
Ahh ok man no worries well if I come across any I will remember to let you know =) What era is yours anyway?
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If I've read everything correctly (serial number and years of availability of this particular model) then mine is a 1985 BB450.

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1350307460' post='1837036']
You are the savior of a nice bass there Matt, well done...
[/quote]

Thank you, and thanks for the bridge pickup too

[quote name='4StringFortress' timestamp='1350309176' post='1837076']
Thanks for the advice I will look into it =) I actually might have a set of BB tuners up for sale soon as I might be changing mine off my BB414, all depends on how much I can live with the neck dive lol. If they become available I will give you a shout =).

£50!? Thats the bargain of the year you were very lucky indeed.
[/quote]

Cheers for the offer but if I remember correctly (I had a BB614) those tuners have the wrong buttons (fairly normal elephant ears) - the ones for my era of bass have more chunky, slightly heart shaped ones like this:

[quote name='4StringFortress' timestamp='1350303418' post='1836956']
Fair play you have done a great job on it Are you going to do anything with the body like re spray it or something? or will you let it age with grace? I've always like the idea of a little project for me to work on but always been put off by the fact im not great with electronics and stuff like that lol. What would you say is the best way to get into that sort of thing?

Just out of interest how much did the whole thing cost at the end?
[/quote]

Och no, I'm just going to leave it as is, it's not awful looking and it also means that I wouldn't be apoplectic with rage if someone knocked it over or whatever (like I would be if say my Gibson RD Artist took a tumble!). The only thing that's bugging me now is the non standard tuners, they're licenced Schallers like you might find on a Fender product and while they do the job fine the buttons aren't "right" and I'd like to make it right if I can find some replacements

If you're just starting out with projects/rebuilds, in my opinion you can't beat getting hold of a Squier/Fender P or J. So much choice of replacement parts and all mostly interchangeable. It was pure luck that I managed to get all Yamaha BB bits for this one, replacing them with off the shelf stuff would probably have required some woodworking/ingenuity, some of which would have been irreversible (changing size/shape of pickup routs etc.)

All in all this cost me around £50. This was due to some very generous BCers being on board with what I was trying to do and basically giving me the stuff for not much more than postage costs or even taking that on the chin in return for a wee contribution to ped's Greggs fund

Classic first world problem

[quote name='4StringFortress' timestamp='1350283942' post='1836660']
Oh wow very nice, love the red What have you done to resurrect it?
[/quote]

It came to me in stages - first the body and neck (the previous owner was going to use them as the basis for a piece of furniture but thankfully never got around to it, I say thankfully because I really like BBs). The neck had a suspected maxed out truss rod and had no nut. The owner of the bass before that got wind of my acquisition and as luck would have it had kept most of the guts and was kind enough to make them available to me. Someone had bought the bridge pickup and a few other bits (jack/plate, switch) from him. Amazingly, all the stars aligned because mere weeks later, the owner of said bridge pickup had not got round to fitting it to his BB300 and had put both the BB300 and the bridge pickup bits up for sale. One quick enquiry later and I had all the pieces

I had a mate make a new nut for me (Rich/Ou7shined on here - he's way better at that kind of stuff than me). The truss rod was indeed maxed - I tightened it as far as I dared and once strings were on there was still a generous amount of relief. I slipped a couple of washers on the rod and tightened it up again. Now the relief is better and I didn't have to tighten the hell out of it so I think I'm good for now. The selector switch was bust and so needed replacing. So a bit of soldering later (and re-soldering because I wired the pickups out of phase, what are the chances? Oh yeah, 50% chance ), a quick and dirty setup and here we are. And it's pretty damn good sounding and feeling too. It's not great looking (body is pretty beat up around the edges, as is the headstock), but for a beater bass it's exceptional. I'd have no problem gigging it.

Will have to keep an eye on that neck though.

Have my recently resurrected BB450:

It's all kinds of wrong, as has been outlined in some detail already. What amazes me is someone is even bothering to attempt to copy such a distinctive bass.

Advice deleted, because I offer no guarantee of success and I will make no contribution to repairs necessitated by following my advice.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1350158281' post='1835367']
Or do you just keep going until one Saturday afternoon you look at your amp, feel your back and think I really don't want to put that in my car ever again!
[/quote]

That time is called neodymium time