KingBollock

Another vote for the Katsu router here. I also have a couple of plunge routers, a Wolf and a Power Devil, one of the fitted in a router table. They’re both fine, but I often feel I have better control with the smaller router. I also have a router attachment for a Dremel, though I haven’t actually got any bits for it yet, so I can’t say how good it might be. I doubt it would be right for cutting as deep as a pick-up needs. Personally, because I’m a cheapskate, I would make a template out of MDF or plywood (most likely MDF. Using superglue to harden the edges), using saws, a drill, rasps, files and sanding, to get it as accurate as possible. Then use that to make a template out of perspex.

I really should figure out a search schedule of the likely seller sites. It looks like I missed out on a Westone Raider I, fairly recently, and it sold for just £225! Bummer! I even missed out on one from BassChat a few years ago, during my hiatus. One day… one day!

I am going to ask advice on two unrelated things. I have been meaning to ask about the first one for years but I don’t like starting threads if I don’t have to, and I can foresee problems with the question. But I thought it’d give it a go any way. I have a Peavey T-Max 500 rack amp. A few years ago it started playing up, it would start clipping, sounding almost like gurgling, or like it wasn’t getting enough signal, sometimes going quiet. Often I could fix this by turning everything up and whacking the strings. After we moved here about a year ago, it worked fine for a few weeks, but then the problem came back and no amount of whacking helped, including whacking the amp itself. Then, a few days ago, I decided to have another look. I disconnected everything from it and was going to try running from the preamp out, to another amp. But the bloomin’ problem had gone again (like when your appointment for your GP finally rolls around…), though it returned the next day and has stayed. When it’s playing up it makes no difference which channel (tube or SS) it’s in. Running a different preamp into the power amp section works fine (but I miss the amps own preamp). I have tried everything I can think of without opening it up. It’s definitely the preamp section, both channels. I have tried it with several different basses, both passive and active. I have also tried it with a patch cable in the effects loop, and the preamp out to the power amp in. I’m thinking it’s probably going to be dodgy capacitors because the problem has become worse over the years. But does anyone have any other ideas? I am going to have a look inside at some point, but would like to have a clue what and where I should be looking at. I am confident that I can open it up safely. I can’t afford to have a professional look at it. I know how to check for dry joints. I know it’s a long shot but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. ====== The other thing is the centre detente in my bass’s pick-up blend pot. It is very difficult to feel. I did change the knob to one with numbers so that I could see its position, but they looked wrong. I don’t know how the detente works. Is it possible to modify it to make it more obvious? I have successfully opened and repaired pots in the past, but not one with a detente. Thank you for looking.

I’ve got a Cort headless Flying V guitar. Though mine is bright yellow at the moment. One day, many years ago, I saw it’s bass twin in a guitar shop. It took me a couple of days to decide (to convince my wife…) but I went back to get it and it had sold! Would have been cool to have both. Oh well!

I didn’t get my Warlock until around 2011. I didn’t think I’d ever find one in my price range, but then one popped up on EBay with a rubbish photo and vague description. It was an absolute gamble, that worked out in the end. It cost me £265 including a Warwick coffin case (classy!) and postage. I probably wouldn’t have it if I hadn’t sold my Raider. I never even thought about owning more than one bass when I had that. I was given a Satellite P bass when I was 16, for free, and while I liked it I still sold it on because I just didn’t see the point in keeping it, even though it played and sounded quite nice. Wasn’t pointy, though.

All I mean is that you sometimes don’t get the answers you want, because people may not have understood the way you phrased your question. I mean no offence.

I think the Warlock is the best looking shaped guitar in all of the world. They only made the model that I have between 1999 and 2009 (I think, I should recheck), but I was asked in 1989 what my ultimate guitar would be and I described the Warlock that I have, almost exactly. Granted I was only 14, but 34 years later I still adore it.

I don’t think he’s jumping down anyone’s throat. It seems to me that he is a bit frustrated with not being able to express himself.

One day I am going to get around to putting a proper pedalboard together. In antici………pation of that day, I have built a little switch box. It is basically two loops - A and B - and the switch changes which loop goes first. Because there doesn’t seem to be a definitive order for pedals, I thought such a switch would come in handy for experimenting for myself. It’s just a box, half a dozen sockets, a couple of LEDs, some wire and a footswitch. Very simple to knock up if you can solder.

Leather, Australian style cowboy hat. My main hat is now a red, leather Stetson Newsboy.

Dagnimmit! You’re supposed to say no! I’m this > < close to asking if you’d sell it..!

Is it the silver/grey one?

Yeah, rub it in why don’t ya! Y’lucky bugger!

That’s the only thing that would bother me about buying a replacement Raider (which I will do, given the chance), I really, really miss the smell of the hard case that I had for mine.

If I was ever to come into a lot of money, there are some signature basses that I would like to collect. There’s the Steve Harris blue one, but that’s not pointy. However, I would like the Blackie Lawless BC Rich Widow and a Jo Bench Ironbird.

My headless Flying V is also a very vivid yellow. It was originally a translucent red, so I know that it has a good looking wood under the paint. So I am going to strip it and stain it walnut (hopefully this year, though it has been an ongoing, rolling project since 1995…).

My Raider was my Christmas present for 1987, too. Nothing wrong with naff 80s Hair Metal! With any luck, I have an upcoming project that involves that very genre. A drummer has found me that wants to bring back Hair Metal. I don’t know why that, when he saw a photo of me, he thought Nikki Sixx… I look more like Nikki Sixx ate Vince Neill! Mind you, I’ve bought a Thunderbird now, so I suppose I am committed (or should be…).

If you see one in silver/grey, I’ll fight you for it!

Thanks! It does look cool, but I think I’d struggle to justify even a cheap bass right now. I rather like the idea of building a kit. Maybe one day.

Love that! When you say cheap… How much and where from?

Do you mean Red/Gold or the Raider II with a red body and black headstock? The bass player I replaced in the first proper band ever I joined, had the red/gold version.

My very first bass was a Westone Raider I. One of my biggest regrets is having to sell it and, should I ever find one, I will buy another. My current number one bass is a BC Rich Warlock. I also now own a Thunderbird, but that’s fairly rounded. And a headless Flying V (not a bass, though I did once narrowly miss out on getting its bass twin). Seeing the other posts in this thread reminds me of a guitar (not a bass, sadly) that we had in the guitar shop I worked in when I was a kid. It was a BC Rich Ironbird in black with pink crackle. It was glorious! *Neither of these photos are of my own basses.

Do you know what? I think that, due to this thread, I might well be. My number one is my BC Rich Warlock. I have/had all these plans for it. New tuners, including a drop tuner, new pickups (DiMarzio DP127 because they look cool) and a better, more versatile preamp. But now I really think about it, I don’t really think I’d be making any actual improvements that would make much difference. If I had one niggle, it would be that the centre detente on the pick-up blend knob is difficult to feel. Oh, having just said all that… I still think I am going to replace the control cover plate. I want to make one with a built in battery compartment, so that I don’t have to take all the screws out just to change the battery. So, I suppose, the answer is actually no. Oh well!

I have recently bought my first bass with a front mounted jack socket. I have only ever owned seven basses, though, this being the seventh. I’ve never had a problem, but then I have never known any different. I always remove the plug before putting the bass down anyway, a habit I developed to save on preamp batteries.

I’ve got my entire Hair Metal playlist on shuffle. I’m singing along very, very loudly, and very, very badly. I messaged my wife to tell her not to walk in without warning me. I told her I was watching porn.