brensabre79

OK thanks guys. I think I'm going to try the VR route and just have one tap. I realise what I've done wrong in my last diagram now.

Thanks mate So... [attachment=98006:wiring-4.jpg] won't this just short the pickups out anyway? if they are connected like this? Or am I missing something..?

Aha! Thanks icastle I think you might have cracked it! I'll get some of those little preset thingys and have a play

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1327336577' post='1509539'] To get the resistor values I'd be inclined to set the existing pot to get the sound you wanted, disconnect one of the wires to said pot and use a DVM to measure the resistance between the wiper and the track connection (you need to disconnect the pot from the rest of the circuit or else you'll get a false reading). Alternatively, if you replaced those resistors with some miniature 250KΩ vertical presets then, with a bit of inginuity, you should be able to mount them to the rear of the switch. That'd give you the facility to get 'exactly' the sound you want instead of an approximation. Something that just occured to me is that you might get an almighty clunk as you change settings - not tried it so I'm not 100% certain. [/quote] Thanks icastle, So if I use a 5 position switch and 2 tiny variable resistors (presets?) I can fine tune the resistance... Like this? [attachment=97997:wiring-3.jpg]

Thanks Ian, yes it seems an eternal struggle to getting the right balance of range of sounds and simple controls. Heres my best guess so far, anyone care to chip in and tell me why this won't work? Not sure the resistor values are right, I'm basing this on the idea that the volume pots are currently 250k as the pickups are single coil... [attachment=97996:wiring-v2.jpg] This is based on a 6position, 2 pole switch I found at Stewmac - its the same they use for the Fender Varitone wiring.

Thanks Ian, yes have tried screwing it down - neck pickup is almost at scratchplate level, where the bridge is much higher. Measured the impedance etc. They were originally a matched set of Wizard '74s - custom wound after a long conversation with Alan. When I changed to 70s spacing the problem became more so, I spoke to Alan again and he wound me a new bridge pickup that was fatter than the neck one to compensate. It has worked a bit but still not 100%. So I thought that by dialling in a bit of the neck I would get the boom back

Thanks guys, the reason the switch I currently have (like the Dingwall you describe Bottle, but in a different order) isn't quite right is that I am having trouble with a drop in bass frequencies when I use the bridge pickup alone. I have tried replacing the bridge pickup and checked wiring etc. The bridge pickup sounds great, just no bass! Andy at Wizard has re-wound the pickup to make it fatter and it was suggested I roll in a bit of the neck pickup in to add bass. trouble is, with a switch i can't do this. I guess what I'm looking for is a blend pot that has a centre detent as well as detents at 1/4 and 3/4 the way around. The series mod is OK but to be honest the volume jumps so much I rarely use it these days (it was handy for a solo etc. before I had a boost pedal). Thanks BassBunny, I'm not on finnbass but I will google it

I'm not sure if this has been done but interested to try... I can't get on with blend controls, or vol/vol controls. Too much faffing around. In a gig i really like to be able to just dial a switch, knowing exactly what sound will come out and start playing (no noodling between songs whist adjusting the blend / volume control to get the right tone...) Currently I have a 4 position rotary switch where the second volume knob should be: pos 1. Series :: 2. neck :: 3. both :: 4. bridge ...but I'd like to be able to have a little bit of bridge with the neck and vice-versa So what I'd ideally like is a 5 position rotary switch as follows: 1. Neck only :: 2. Neck + 50% Bridge :: 3. 100%neck + 100% bridge :: 4. 100% bridge + 50% neck :: 5. Bridge only Or better still, a 6 position that will do all of the above plus both in series. I'm guessing that resistors could be used to half the volume of the pickups when switch to the right location. Essentially a preset where the volume of one pickup is at half or 3/4 (I'd have to play with resistor values to get the right balance I suppose). Anyone got a wiring diagram...? or even a clue if this is possible? Thanks Bren

I don't think routing out a bit of wood for the pickup will change the tone of the body too much. Of course the tone will change because of the pickup! Not sure about the chrome inside the scratchplate for me. But go for it. do whatever you like - it's your bass!!

These are just to cover the hole where the trussrod goes in. It shouldn't be under any tension or anything itself. It should just be a matter of glueing it back. But you'll need to be careful you don't get glue on the rod and you'll need to refinish a bit after. My 70s J neck actually has a piece of the skunk stripe missing at the heel end and you can see the rod behind it. works fine though. Its probably more of an issue at the head end. It's likely that ths just come loose I don't think the truss rod would have pushed it out.

I agree. Funnily enough, My Goliath ii says 'Designed by EDEN' on it just below the input socket.

Actually Sunburst and Natural are the best finishes to get because you can see he piece of wood you're getting... My dad had a white 70s Fender US Strat that he wanted stripped back a few years ago as he preferred a natural finish. The tech phoned him up and said you'd better come down. We went and looked at the stripped body it was made up of five pieces of wood, grains going in all directions and at one point there was a huge knot in the wood which had been cut out and replaced with what looked like a piece of broom handle! It was a great guitar, he picked it out of 16 in the shop when he bought it, but it was a solid colour finish for a reason!! Even if you get a sunburst/natural and refinish it later you'll know that you're getting a decent piece of timber

Jimmy Saville may be responsible for twin decks being used to play two records back to back at some point in time. As for inventing the Segue (which is an Italian word by the way, like most classical music terms - that should give you a clue...) perhaps you should not trust everything you read on Google or Wikipedia...

Plus, because they are made to standard, you can always swap for a different coloured Squier body after a while if the sunburst really bothers you theres usually one going on here for £not much. For now I'd stick with it and you can always get a different coloured scratchplate or something to give it a personal touch

Your dad was right to do what he did mate. you cannot go wrong with the Squier Jazz. It's basically the same as a Fender Jazz which has been on almost as many records as the Fender Precision. Nothing else has been on anything like as many hit records. You can get THAT sound out of almost any bass! My friend teaches at a highly regarded music college. Every year people come in with BC Rich's, Warwicks, Fleabass's whatever, and every year they leave with a Fender Jazz bass (or a copy). Even the Laguna is just a copy of the Fender design with some embelishments. Don't believe me? have a look around here at people's signatures, see what they play in terms of music style, then look at the instrument they use to do it... The Jazz ain't just for Jazz. Now, how you play your Squier and how you setup your amp and your effects... Thats how you will get THAT sound my friend.

Looks like you got your shuttle just in time! The Trace sounds like it needs a service/cremation, try them again after Namm they'll probably ask you to send it to them though and charge you for anything that isn't a manufacturing defect. But at least then when you sell it you can say it has just been serviced by Trace Elliot.

I'll second what JTUK says. I've had my SWR for years and years and used everything from a 50W Sound City valve head to a 350w Hartke (originally this gave me 200w into 8 ohms until I upgraded the drivers to make it a 4 ohm cab) I have never run out of headroom, even playing large venues. Its worth noting that mine is a Goliath ii (before Fender came along) and I can't speak for the more modern ones Goliath iii etc. I have heard that they are not so good after the accountants paid a visit to the design studio, so maybe the more modern ones are less efficient...

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1326915699' post='1503783'] Generally you aim for the grain to follow the same direction, whereas in plywood you alternate. [/quote] Thats why I said basically

Not sure if I know what you mean by cutaways. Basically the pieces of different wood are glued together - like plywood - albeit expensive plywood. once all the pieces have been glued together into a block the shape is cut out, then the contours are shaped. I made a bass a few years ago using this method out of two pieces of Iroko with a thin piece of maple in the middle. I used a jigsaw for the basic body shape then I used a dragknife to shape the body contours by hand. The end result was a shape that resembled a giant warwick thumb bass with a darkish wood body with a light stripe of maple on the edges. it was a lovely bass but it got stolen

Cheers Chris. I don't believe it is true bypass (as in the signal bypasses the unit) - it still goes through the circuit and probably the 24bit A/D/A converter. But with none of the effects turned on the tone does not seem to be affected from the original.

I started using Fast Fret recently, it does seem to help when I remember, but probably no more than wiping them in snake oil. I think the act of wiping the sweat off before putting it in the case for 24 hours does the most to preserve the strings. But in terms of roughness, something that disperses sweat would be required on the coarser grades of steel because a cloth won't get into the microscopic nooks and crannies...

Good answer JTUK Interested to try the Newtones, I've been exclusively DR for a few years but like you I've had the odd set that didn't last more than a gig - which at the price is disappointing. I'm happy to pay more for something that sounds and feels good as well as lasting a long time, but lately I'm not sure the DRs are doing that for me. There have been supply problems for a while in the UK though and it may be the sets I've had have been old stock.

[quote name='soldersqueeze' timestamp='1326883948' post='1503112'] Great review, thanks! Any opinion on how it works as a DI into a PA in a live gig situation would be amazing [/quote] I won't be using it this way as I'll be DI'ing from my amp to get some of its valvy loveliness in there, but I will test the balanced out for noise, level etc. tonight and let you know how it works... [quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1326883948' post='1503112'] Hmm..so do I sell my Boss OC-3 and chorus in favour of one of these.....? [/quote] That my friend is entirely up to you. If you're happy with what you have I wouldn't say the Boss pedal emulators on here are any better than the original, but you do get a tuner thrown in and of course miles more sounds at your disposal! If you're used to separate pedals and you want multi-fx this is a good way to go, but you can only use 3 at once...

Actually here, they were cheaper! http://www.guitarbasspro.com/ritter-swordsteel-strings-4string-set-p-2010.html?zenid=kqee85r1m65e5pj1a6mbundqo4 i know it seems stupid ordering something made in Germany from the US but couldn't find them anywhere in Europe! I've been in touch with Jens Ritter about getting them direct but I've heard they are more expensive this way!! With the dollar exchange rate at the moment its a lot cheaper to buy a lot of things from the US... not very green though

http://www.bassandbeyond.net/ritterstrings.html