ossyrocks

We have 16 gigs in the diary for the rest of the year including a few festivals and a theatre. We're also releasing an album this year to coincide with our appearance at The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in August These are exciting times for me! Rob Edit: PS: I also turn 60 in a few weeks and my wife and I are off to Tuscany to celebrate.

If the output transformer is the original, then there are no options for changing the settings, they didn't have multi-tap output transformers. Your mains transformer is certainly changed, the one pictured above is a Hammond, and it would have originally been a Schumacher. No big deal, but make sure the price reflects the changes. Just think about this, Fender installed speakers in their amps which correctly matched the output impedance stated on the back panels, and the actual spec of the output transformers. They also gave every amp an EXT SPKR output, which when used, immediately had the amp seeing half of the stated impedance. It worked fine, and they didn't worry. Rob

Well, that's something I would love try sometime, a Bassman 100, through FOUR Fender 2x15 cabs !!

Hi, and welcome. The Bassman 100 is designed to work with a 4 ohm speaker load. I have never ever seen one designed to work with an 8 ohm load, so that pic above is highly unusual. Anyway, generally Bassman 100's (and 50's) would usually like to see a 4 ohm load. The speaker outputs are wired in parallel, but you must connect a speaker to the "SPEAKER" output first, before connecting a second speaker to the "EXT. SPKR" output. So, connecting an 8 ohm speaker to the first output, and a second 8 ohm speaker to the EXT output, would present a total load of 4 ohms to the amp, which is ideal. Fenders can usually withstand a mismatch either way though, so you could easily run a single 8 ohm cab and the amp would be ok. Equally you could run two 4 ohm cabs, which would present a 2 ohm load to the amp, and it would be ok, but it might run a bit hotter. I have a modified Bassman 50 which has a changed output transformer designed to see an 8 ohm load. I run it into a 4 ohm speaker without problems. Rob

Pickguards are hard to relic, I know, I've done a few! What I find is that they don't need scratching up, they just need dulling down. Fine micromesh pads do a good job if you're patient. It's looking good though Andy. Rob

@andytoad re the pickguard white ply being too white. You could try to take the gloss off the edge and round over and age the sharp edges with some fine wire wool. Then I would try to dye the edge with something like a wood dye rubbed in using a cloth. I'll be brutally honest though, I'm not sold on that guard. I know I said I'd probably go for a black guard, but now I'm looking at it, a nice tort would really set if off. Those Boston ones discussed recently might work. Rob

We made a music video! ....and an album actually. This is the video to accompany the first single release from the upcoming album. Do you think us old blokes in our 60's could get on Top Of The Pops? 😁

Lovely, congratulations.

I saw those extra holes. I've never seen that on any original vintage Fender before. It certainly could be the original neck to that body, but it was swapped onto another body at some time previously and then swapped back, or it's a parts bass. I don't think those extra holes would ever have appeared out of the factory. I bought my '73 Jazz (which looks very similar to this one) from Bass Bros, and they are great to deal with. They are reasonable people trying hard, and they will enter into discussion about aspects of the instruments they are selling if you have any queries. Rob

I briefly mulled over selling my Elf this week as I have just bought another small Class D head. But the Elf is just so handy to carry as a spare, takes up very little room in the kit bag, and I wouldn't realise very much cash for it. It just makes more sense to keep it. I also tried the new small class D head through the Elf 2x8 to see what that was like, and it really is a very capable cab. So that's now my new tiny rig, with the Elf head as backup, when I just don't need to schlep the big rig. Rob

I think this is where I got mine pictured above. I have also had a Jazz guard from him. I don't remember it costing that much though! I thought I paid about £20 for them. I can't seem to find him on ebay either now. Edit: No, I got mine from Reverb - see this link: https://reverb.com/uk/shop/guitars-electric-ltd Rob

What do you think of this one? It's a cheap repro off ebay, so they can be found cheaply, but I think I got lucky with the colour. I had it on a MIJ reissue and it looked rather good. The bass for comparison is a '73 with original guard. Rob

I seem to have selective amplifier constipation.....I can't pass GKs. So another one arrived yesterday. I first heard one of these at the North West Bass Bash last year when @GreeneKing brought his along. I think everyone was quietly impressed by it, I certainly was. Anyway, one popped up on Facebook Marketplace, but it was a long way away and the seller was unknown to me. I messaged him and explained that I was reluctant to buy sight unseen on Marketplace, and he offered to list it on Ebay instead to provide more security. So here it is. It's intended as the beginnings of a smaller rig, smaller than my BF 3x10 and vintage racked RBs, but also as a backup on bigger gigs when I'm using the big rig. It will replace my Elf as backup too. I've seen and understood what Bob Gallien says when he explains how things work, and that the EQ and Overdrive circuit are based on the old RB heads. But if anyone here has/had one, I'd be interested to know how you used it, particularly the Overdrive circuit, to get a similar tone and feel to the old RB heads. Cheers, Rob

It seems you're right! That's disappointing! I bought mine from Steve Robinson Guitar Tech in Manchester, it might be worth contacting him to see if he has any. https://manchesterguitartech.co.uk/

I would always use Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish. I first tried it years ago when it was recommended for a '67 335 I had with a very cloudy dull finish and it totally transformed the guitar. I have the same bottles of it I bought all those years ago and I still use it. The cleaner is like a very mild T-Cut for guitars, and the polish just enhances the job the cleaner has done. I wouldn't use anything else now. To add, it's totally safe to use on even very chequed nitro. Rob

Yes, Dan and I are friends, and I agree, he's probably the best there is, but I've already talked to him about it. He doesn't work on this kind of stuff, and he didn't want to give me any recommendations either. Rob

I'd like to find someone who knows what they are doing to service a vintage GK RB series amp. If you can recommend someone, I would be most grateful. Cheers, Rob

An 800RB arrived here today!

Ok, we're cooking on gas again, or should that be induction these days? Thanks @Hellzero for the diagrams. Mine didn't resemble either layout exactly. My tone cap was only on one pot, like the later layout, but I didn't have a dedication ground across the back of both pots. I've rewired as per the 73-95 layout and added a ground between the pots. I also sucked all the old solder off and redid all the connections, trimming leads where required. Whilst this bass has been worked on over the years, the pots, cap and jack socket are the originals ones from '73. I do suspect the issue I was having with it was related to grounding, as it sounded like that, and one pot was every so slightly loose (now tightened). All working well now, and quietly, and the tone isn't any different than it was before, which I'm very glad about, because this bass sounds really good. Cheers, Rob

Thanks for those, I'll check it out today and report back. Rob

Ok, my 73 P Bass started playing up tonight. It’s been ridden hard and put away wet for over 50 years, it’s far from pristine, and the electrics have been worked on too over the years. When I got it, the tone pot didn’t work at all, but that was just a contact problem. I’ve got the guard off and I can’t find a single diagram that matches how this is wired! Can anyone point me to a definitive wiring diagram for a 73 P bass? If I look online, I see so many variations! Cheers, Rob

Congratulations. That neck profile is where it's at for me too. Lovely looking bass. Rob

To me, the colour is wrong. I have a cheap tort guard here that I had on a MIJ P bass, and I think it looks better. I'll post a pic of it against my '73. Rob