Kiwi

Well this is what happens when you start dissing NZ wildlife. [url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8281382.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8281382.stm[/url] Who's the daddy now then?

The serial will be on the back of the headstock in white text. It looks like a fairly old body shape, almost like a Sonic Hammer but with jazz pickups. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an 87.

bloody hell, you did well there Sir. Good score!

you can either sand the neck square or perhaps look at buying a replacement off Fleabay?

Some people think gold is a bit bling but I quite like it personally.

It depends on whether you generally play basses with new-ish strings or not. If you don't need that extra information because you've gone for a thumpier kind of tone then its understandable that the tweeters won't be delivering much.

[quote name='JimBobTTD' post='616221' date='Oct 4 2009, 08:41 AM']Did you get EMG 40TWs? I can't see how the DCs can be tapped/split, what with them being in enclosed units. If they can, how did you do it?[/quote] [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='604913' date='Sep 21 2009, 08:07 PM']Hi there, I've just installed a custom set of Wizard GEM's and a U-retro in my Spector NS5...[/quote] ? They sound much better to my ears than EMGs. Its made the bass sound a lot less aggressive and much sweeter in the highs. I was playing about with the series/parallel settings just now and suspect I will probably rewire the toggle switches to select single coil (S)/parallel/single coil (N) as I'm not really finding the differences between series and parallel to be all that helpful.

I finally finished the customisations today after the three way double pole switches arrived from the US. I followed this wiring guide along with Andy's guide to the wiring in his pickups. [url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources.wiring_faqs.mini_switch_wiring___usage/"]http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/...wiring___usage/[/url] The bridge pickup switch is wired humbucker/single coil (N)/parallel, the neck pickup switch is wired humbucker/single coil (S)/parallel. This way when both pickups are in single coil mode, the two 'outside' coils in the humbuckers are selected for a jazz bass type approximation (sounds more like a Tobias or Yamaha BBNEII bass than a Jazz though). I thought the East preamp with its buffered inputs would mean there was no variation in output level between series and parallel mode as a result of the impedance change but this isn't the case. There's still a variation. Nevertheless the sounds are all very useable even when varieties of single coil/parallel mode are selected. The sweepable mids are really helpful. This bass has a particularly prominent mid peak in its response and the sweepable mids help nail that peak and make it even more prominent for that lovely, warm, chewy kind of growl.

Andrew Mckinney is a member of Basschat and in JTQ's band. If you need any tips on playing the lines, I'm sure he'd be very approachable.

It was sort of like Fourplay minus 1. They're deliberately reaching out to a large international audience (read: being commercial) like Fourplay so the music is unlikely to be demanding to listen to. Have to agree on Simon Philips overplaying though. He should know better.

800 quid for a bass doesn't get you beyond the threshold for mass produced instruments to be honest. And I've seen worse issues on far more expensive hand made AND mass produced instruments but I wouldn't say you were being picky. If manufacturers claim their instruments are better than the rest then it's not unreasonable for you to expect that and hold them to account it it proves otherwise. I would be thinking to myself about whether the faults are likely to affect the resale value of the instrument or not and then taking a view about whether I could live with them.

[url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/parts___hardware.switch_tips___trem_arm_tips/"]http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/..._trem_arm_tips/[/url] Any help?

Reducing the volume of the onstage mix can sometimes work wonders. I was in a band with a very very loud drummer once, completely inappropriate for the style of music we were playing. When we managed to get him to play more softly the whole band tightened up because we could all hear each other so much better. But it was futile trying to get him to play like that for more than a song in the end so I left the band. Having said that, in my last band we sometimes played very very reflective venues and turned down to almost bedroom levels of volume with the result that the mix may have been reverbing less but fell apart completely because there wasn't enough volume for some instruments to project across the stage. Our onstage volume was normally dictated by the drums and the vocals coming out of the wedges (which usually I and the guitarist got full in the face because the stages were too small for the singers to hear on-axis). So...dunno really. I guess it depends on the venue. Usually I'd do the same as Rayman and see where it left things. Having sweepable mids helps though, eh?

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='609581' date='Sep 26 2009, 08:41 PM'][quote name='Crazykiwi' post='609567' date='Sep 26 2009, 08:28 PM']Did Andy make you a set of GEM's, Al?[/quote] He did Steve - nice pups, I'm very pleased [/quote] Awesome. Did he wind them for extra bass like mine? I'm seriously contemplating getting them put in my Shuker 6 and they'll definitely go in the other Spector NS5CR which is heading my way.

Did Andy make you a set of GEM's, Al?

like this?

After market custom body perhaps in the style of an Aerodyne? I don't know that Fender would waste a whole chunk of claro walnut or whatever that is on a single instrument body. There's also too much non-Fender kit on it, like the pups and the neck plate looks tiny on the heel.

Update: drilled the hole for the earthing wire today and you guys were right, it was pretty easy to do. So now I've heat shrinked all the connections, earthed the instrument and its shielded, there's much less buzz although the treble still puts out a lot when maxed (but I don't think I'm going to need a lot of treble given its an all maple instrument.) Nevertheless, its as close as I've come to the sounding like a velvet brick. Great job! It's my favourite sounding bass.

Sunburst Band Girls Aloud backing band

Hadrien is a member of this forum I believe and, by all accounts from those I know who have actually met him in real life, a very nice chap. I don't understand what he's done to deserve a slagging off.

I'd like to see anyone else persuade Ken Smith his basses needed a ramp.

Chris used to run a successful bass shop in Copenhagen before he started building basses so I'm not so sure his business skills are up for question. I do know the problems Chris has been facing but out of respect to his privacy I'm not at liberty to divulge them publically. He also shut down the original workshop because the previous landlord raised the rents by a significant amount. Then he moved to the location I visited which was closer to the airport anyway. Are you suggesting this location has shut down also?