hamfist

If you measure the current BB line-up. THe pickup is a little closer to the neck than for a Fender P. My ears hear the difference.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1397031453' post='2419821'] Does the Fender neck fit straight in? [/quote] 20 fret, 63mm heel width, Fender necks fit straight into the Westone body, although they don't fit in as far (towards the bridge)as on a Fender as the neck slots on Thunders are a little shallower than Fenders. THis allows Westone bodies to be slightly shorter than the equivalent Fender body. So, Westone and Thunder necks are the same scale length and heel width, but Westone fit them into a slightly shorter slot than Fenders do. I hope that makes sense. So .... a brand new Fender spec neck will fit into a Thunder body no probs although a used Fender neck might just show the ends of a couple of the screw holes poking out the end of the heel slot. The neck I used was almost 64mm wide though, so I had to widen the heel slot on the body a tiny bit.

As requested elsewhere, here are the latest bitsas I've been working on. I think they are both my best work yet, and both play fantastically (and complement each other sonically very well too). First up is the trusty Westone Thunder 1a v3 body which has been through many guises in my hands. I almost sold it a short while ago but I'm so glad it didn't sell because it works so well as a .... Jazz bass ! [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/wj-full-body.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/wj-body-b.html][/url] Noah the Siamese getting into everything as usual ! THere's a large rout under that pickguard and I have tried so many pickup configurations with this body I know it very well now. Its a walnut and maple spine with ash wings and always accentuates the low mids heavily and is very resonant, but with not a particularly harsh or sparkly top end. With P and MM pickups I've always struggled to get exactly the tone I've wanted with this body, but with these Tonerider Jazz pickups (excellent, excellent pickups BTW !) it's a perfect match. Not "modern" in tone but full bodied and definitely "jazz" in flavour. I'll use it with a band on sunday for the first time, but I expect it to fit in the mix really well. It's got a Probass STinger preamp in it. I love these preamps. So long as you have alternative mids control in your rig they are very musical IMO. The neck is one of the Dutch ones from ebay (seller cwgp2010). A lovely finish and slightly higher than Mighty Mite standards of build. Has a Graphtech nut. The only negative is that the peg holes don't line up exactly with the nut slots so there is not quite a straight run of the strings through the nut to the tuners. In use I do not find it an issue at all though as the Graphtech nut is nicely slippery and the string still slides very well through it. A warning ..... the nuts come cut VERY high on these from the seller. You WILL need to cut the slots to make a good action. I'd far rather have that than too low slots or a poor nut though. I would definitely consider getting another neck from this seller. The rosewood board is of a very high quality (really smooth and tight grain and an attractive longitudinal striping along the board too) and the general fit and finish is excellent. Next up is a Precision build. It's an Ash body from tmgpickupguitars in Germany (on ebay). The bosy itself was beautiful but the neck slot was cut about a cm too short, so I had to extend it to get Fender proportions and positioning. Quite a cock up by the seller really. Also it did not have a bridge earthing wire hole so I had to buy some long drill bits and do my own, which was a first. Ultimately it was not difficult in the end though. Stained with COlron "antique pine" stain (B&Q) and finished in my usual Colron Danish oil and Briwax. The stain pops the grain out beautifully. I am very happy with the finish. I have routed for the extra P pickup (in the Stingray sweetspot). Cut a brown tort pickguard, fitted another Probass stinger preamp (required the enlargement of the control cavity and addition of a battery compartment on the rear). The bridge is a Matsumoku Westone one, Tuners are Wilkinson and the neck is a Mighty Mite J neck. Neck pickup is an SPB-3 and the bridge pickup is a Wilkinson ceramic magnet P, which I find lighter in the mids and perfect for this, mid-heavy, pickup position. 2 x mini-toggles for pickup switching and power on/off. This bass is my ultimate P bass. I love it. It's not light but I prefer a bass with a bit of inertia to it. When I leap around on stage I find a light bass flies around a bit too much and I have less control. Ok, pics. Strings on both basses are my standard Legacy nickel roundwounds 105-45, which I find excellent, reliable and cheap, cheap cheap ! [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/ash-p-full-body.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/ash-p-body.html][/url]

[quote name='namefail' timestamp='1396983978' post='2419502'] Go on Hamfist, tell of your fishy ways? Oh and I do dig your A1 makeovers. [/quote] Don't want to take this thread over. I'll start a new one

I have a v3, but the neck is sitting neglected in a corner and the body now has different neck, pickups etc on it. In it's current format the bass with the v3 body weighs just under 9.5lbs

It's all very mysterious isn't it.

THese ...... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171246003258?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 work well for me, with a bit of care, and finishing off each slot with a roundwound string of the right size (which will finish off the slot to the perfect shape). The sets of these nozzle cleaners are variable though. I bought two (supposedly) identical ones. One set had good cutting edges, the other set were almost smooth (and pretty useless for nut cutting). But at £1.75 each it's not a huge investment.

Anyone seen, heard or know anything about these ?? http://basspre.com/shop/

I had a 7Pro for a while and was thoroughly underwhelmed by it (even through the Genz 8x10 cab I was running at the time). They don't overdrive, so don't expect grit from it. It's a clean pre-amp. For the money there are far better choices out there, IMO. but going back to the OP ... It seems that wanting a new rig is a rather bizarre response to playing a gig where your tone is amazing. Personally, I'd be desperate to not change a thing. There are no pro touring bassists out there who's front of house sound is "just" their amp. It all gets extra compression, EQ etc etc. I wouldn't worry about what components you are using. Once you've got the "tone in your head" don't change a thing.

THe used bass market is so depressed these days you can get an amazing amount for £300. As already mentioned Yamaha TRB's can occasionally be picked up that sort of price, as can German-made Warwick Covettes. Also a raft of different 80's Jap made stuff which is often of the highest quality. So much depends on your taste in bass tones.

Just bought some pickups from Mike. He has been a complete gentleman. Sent them exactly when he said he would. Great communication. Packed beautifully. Great bloke to deal with.

Definitely try out a Yamaha TRBX504. It sounds right up your street and the pricepoint is right. Great basses !

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1396388977' post='2413136'] If that's an Afterburner [/quote] A Squier Afterburner. COol.

IN the UK the Ampegs are actually cheaper. Although the Fender is a tad lighter. Yours looks great on your Berg cab ! I bet it sounds awesome. I generally like Fender's ideas about overdrive too.

In an attempt to give you a balanced response .... Obviously there are a number of people who own and are happy with the this kit. I have owned the BC cabs (and many, many others). My opinion of them is that they are "OK". You get what you pay for. They are certainly light. But as for their sonic abilities, they do have their limits which are less than most more expensive cabs. ie they do tend to fart out earlier at higher volume than many others and are a bit mid-scooped in character for me. SO a great bit of kit, but built down to a price. If you only use at low-medium volume and don't want tweeter control you'll probably be happy with them. The BH500 is certainly a sturdy bit of kit with plenty of volume. I have tried one out but not owned one (owned an RH450). WIth amps it comes down to taste really. If you like the BH500 sound you will be thrilled with it. It'll be reliable and cheap.

What is it ? Some sort of Squier ?

If you're handy with a soldering iron I can thoroughly recommend the Probass STinger preamp (£45 posted). Despite "only" having a bass and a treble control (although it's treble is more like a treble/upper mids) It's a thoroughly musical pre-amp. It only comes supplied ready for one input though, so you would need to either take a feed out of your current pickup balance pot, or wire in one of your own to get the functionality you would want from both your pickups.

A definite thumbs up for the Westone Thunder series (as already mentioned). Basically, anything with decent wood and a decent neck. Fender standard neck heel dimensions adds a lot of potential for further neck swapping etc. in the future. If you have a Dremel/router then you can do all sorts if the basic body resonance is good. A custom scratchplate can cover any new routings if need be. I'd also look around for cheap P basses with solid (mahogany, ash or alder) bodies. My advice is to avoid basswood and agathis bodies. Not heard one I liked yet, although many will I'm sure disagree with me there. Ply bodies CAN sound very good although I avoid them for snobbish reasons. Here's another couple of modded thunders .... [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/wt-a.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/w1-b.html][/url]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1395650271' post='2404596'] Amazing isn't it, how we all perhaps have imagined that the oldest of the electric basses somehow was deficient because it only had 1 and not 2 pickups, and that it only had a tone control to cut treble rather than controls to boost or cut treble, mids and bass. [/quote] These things can be easily rectified ! [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/bitsa-main.html][/url]