brensabre79

Made in USA or assembled in USA? Going back to the 80s and the likes of Charvel and Jackson used to say their guitars were made in USA but they were in fact assembled in USA (basically bolting the neck on to the already completed body and adding a set of strings), the manufacturing facilities were in the far east somewhere. Still, pretty good price either way! I see your point.

I still can't get the guitards to turn their amps on their side though

Probably not. If it says it is a BALANCED line input then a TRS would be appropriate, but if it is not a balanced input a Mono Jack will suffice. The line out on your amp is probably not balanced anyway.

By building them in their thousands from cheap materials in a country with very cheap labour rates or machines. Same for Squier et al. Nobody sells stuff at RRP either, thats just a hiked up price to convince you that you're getting a bargain.

Precisely my experience too.

I started out as a drummer actually, did it for years until a car smash wrecked my hip. So I took up the bass instead, 2 drum kits have been in the loft ever since. Shame really, after 10 years I might be tempted to get them set up and have a go I don't play on our drummers kit in practices any more, I did once and he said "bloody hell I'm the Ringo in this band aren't I?" the guitard said "why? can you sing as well?"

Yes they truly are crap. They took payment for an part that it transpired they hadn't had in stock for 5 years. I made daily calls to find out what was going on and didn't get a decent answer for 3 weeks, then it took me 12 weeks to get my money back when they finally revealed that they didn't stock the part! So then I wrote to Peavey US, they said have you tried Peavey UK? I said yes, she said 'oh' and told me i didn't need the part, and sent me a link to a post on a forum showing me how to fix it in 5 minutes! To the OP, you might have to bite the bullet and fill the current holes and just get some proprietary ones e.g. Wilkinson etc. off eBay. If you go for the 70s Fender style Gotoh ones they are massive so should easily cover the holes you have!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1343839379' post='1756149'] I think my topic has wound a few people up. [/quote] I think you're right, and not without reason. Who said there was anything wrong with 4x10s in the first place? There's nothing wrong with a 4x10 (unless its actually broken), just like there's nothing wrong with a 20 year old BMW that is in full working order. The thing is technology has progressed, the new 3 series is more efficient, lighter and more powerful. And the new generation of 2x12 lightweight cabs from your manufacturer of choice do sound better, are more efficient and easier to cart around than a 4x10. I upgraded from a damned good SWR 4x10 to a Barefaced Super12T. I phoned Alex about the Compact offer too, but I was recommended the Super12. I can hear the difference and I'm more than happy with it thanks.

Its arrived!! NBD First impressions are, I really like the look and the build quality seems pretty top notch (for the money). I have to say the finish on the neck is the only slight disappointment. Its a bit rough in places - almost feels like its not actually finished at all but bare wood! And the frets do seem to hang over a little which, whilst not sharp, is a little uncomfortable (although I'm used to a bound neck - maybe this is a rosewood/unbound thing as I've played other basses that are like this). I had a Squier VM Jazz which was a much nicer neck, but the rest of that bass was not as good as this. I think I'll be getting the sandpaper and lacquer out soon as its the only thing that bothers me out of the box... I find the neck radius a little flat compared to what I'm used to, but moving over to 5 strings for the first time ever that is the least of my worries! I'm sure I'll get used to that soon enough. Pickups are POWERFUL and fruity Sound is great, really focused. Hardware seems solid enough, as does the construction. Its nicely set up out of the box too, I just had to tune it and drop the bridge pickup a couple of mm as it was waaayyyy louder than the P pickup. So its ready to roll. I'm going to take it to a band practice tonight, hopefully I wont be playing everything in the wrong key!! I'll take a pic later.

In that case can I suggest a Laney.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1343611463' post='1752739'] Send it to Peavey USA though... The UK division are bloody hopeless! [/quote] I'll second that!

Except I think its the other way around... maybe you could put some collars in them?

It works pretty well for us. I do the PA and walk out front to hear a song, the guitards do the on stage sound. we usually agree that if we can't hear ourselves its due to the acoustics rather than the levels and get on with the gig.

Yeah thats the same place I got mine. Sorry, they don't fit the J-Retro. http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitarknobs_fender.htm

Got it from Reidy's in the end after speaking to a few places. But I dealt with them on the phone! Its always better to deal with a person!

Wow, lots of questions here!! Pots: Get CTS ones, they are what Fender use and they last and work. 250k are used for single coil pickups and 500k for humbuckers generally. One of the most common mods in a P is to swap the 250k ones for 500k ones as you lose less treble when you turn down the volume. For a straight P you won't need any resistors other than the pots. Capacitors bleed the treble away from the signal basically, and the different values bleed away at different frequencies. I've heard that it really doesn't make much difference what type of capacitor you use in a straightforward passive tone circuit. But some prefer the Ornge Drop, or paper in oil ones as they are very old school technology and people feel they have a warmer sound (although as youre bleeding of the treble any cap will sound warmer) they all do the same job, but the modern ones are very small and reliable, the old ones are very big and prone to leaking/breaking. Cloth shielded wire is again old stuff, from the days before plastic. Either works just as well, plastic is considerably easier to work with and cheaper. Copper shielding is basically surrounding all the electronics with some conductor that is connected to earth. This helps prevent noise and electrical interference (like when your mobile phone starts coming through your amp!) For a P circuit you can pretty much get the bits anywhere. maplin, Farnell, RS etc. but as you're a noob you can get a kit from somewhere like WD music which will start you off with all the right components. then you can experiment with capacitors and pots later on to see if you prefer the subtle differences. The greasebucket circuit basically tries to keep the amount of treble consistent as you turn down the volume (normally it loses a bit as you go down) its really better suited to guitars, but its pretty simple - theres no hard and fast rule in terms of the value but you add a small fixed value resistor. I tried this on one bass (the same one I put an enormous paper in oil cap on) can't say I was blown away with the difference to be honest. Theres lots about this on the Fender forum though. Hope some of that helps! Best of luck, and remember: keep it simple stupid! edited for typos, theres probably more though I lost my specs in a drunken stupor last night!

Do you mean the black fluted ones? I got some for the EMG pre on my 70s Jazz, it took a while to find them but they are a genuine Fender part. I had to order them from the US in the end as I couldn't find them over here, and they were expensive! The only problem is, the shafts on the pots are not the same size as the J-Retro, in the end I left the J-Retro ones alone on my fretless as I couldn't find anything to fit them.

Been there, its soul destroying and you think you'll never find a good band again, but you will if you want to. Nothing wrong with selling gear that is mass produced and readily available, you can always replace it. i went for 5 years without a gig, and only kept my Sabre. When the time came I borrowed an amp for a few weeks to make sure I wanted to get back in, then I got my SWR back from the guy I'd lent it to 6 years before (he wasn't happy). It's not the end of the world, if you want a rest have one, if you want to keep playing get out to some jam nights, or try gumtree. You'll find one sooner or later. I was looking for a year before I found a band I was happy to be in, and had numerous let downs at auditions along the way.

I've heard the TC amps and Heads work best together due to the sensitivity of the cabs and the way the power is put out from their heads - I think their's some limiting involved... But this is a "what cab" thread so I'm gonna have to say get a Barefaced

Just placed my order, at £369 its got to be a bargain! Vintage white with black scratchplate. SO excited i thought I'd share. It's my first 5'er, any tips from someone who has made the transition from 4? I'm fully expecting it to be an expensive thumb rest for a few months!

I got mine from WD music (for an original 75 jazz body) http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/category/Pickguards/Fender_Basses/Jazz_Bass_US_Vintage,b.html You can check the holes on the template match up with yours. And if its wrong you can return for the right one.

Yep, resisted Fender for years, mainly because my dad played them and said I should. Naturally as a teenager I rebelled and did everything but. Warwicks, BC Rich(!), Epiphones, G&L, Music Man, Custom builds, 20 years on and I bought my first Jazz bass and wondered what the hell I'd been thinking all that time, so I bought two or three more all of which i still have. My dad had a smug grin on his face when I took my 70s Jazz round to see him. But I'm not getting rid of my trusty Sabre, even if it is collecting dust these days. Having said that I just pushed the button on a Yamaha BB 5 string!

I think you can split the coils on a MM pickup, you might have to open it up first, and if you're treating it like 3 single coil pickups its exactly the same as a strat wiring, except the middle pickup would be wired out of phase with the other two...