squire5

I use the TC Polytune clip-on and find it faultless.

Bergerac for instance?Lovely gooey fretless work.

I'll see how things are when I change the cap.I've noticed that the pots are tiny and dont look up to much.Likewise the wiring.Apart from that the bass plays fine,has a comfortable neck and actually looks great.Thanx.

Just ordered a cupla Sprague O/Ds.See how that goes.The way I see it,there cant really be anything else at fault.Or can there...........?

OK lads I've had a look.Firstly the pots are tiny wee flimsy things and the wiring seems a bit untidy,but,far as I can see,everything is where it should be and the cap doesnt seem to be shorting anywhere.I was thinking about doing a rewire with some more substantial components.I know its a cheap bass but I like it.Thanx for the input.

Thanx guys.I'll check those things out,soon as......

I have the Harley Benton 5 string MM lookalike bass.I've noticed that the tone control is acting like a volume control.When opened fully it will increase the output considerably and when turned down with both volume controls up full will reduce output to nearly nothing.Cant be right surely?The bass is passive.Any pointers guys?

Stu Cook - 'Have you ever seen rain?' by Creedence.

I vaguely remember seeing Steve Howe of Yes use one of these years ago.The song was 'And You and I' and it was a 12-string acoustic he had on it.

Good to hear that choon again.I remember looking at Ron Mael back in the day and just .....wondering.Quite a complex song but they did a very passable version there.

Consider it ignored.😄

Ach awa' an dinna talk pish,the baith o'yiz.😆I'll try a full size shim and see how that goes.I'll use thin card.Should be OK.

While I'm grateful for the input guys,I'm just wondering if I could have some opinions re shimmimg the neck.A friend has recommended a full neck pocket shim to raise the neck uniformly along the full length of the pocket,which is actually 10cm front to back due to the 6 bolts.Spyder has suggested a 'normal' shim at the body end of the neck pocket,so I'm not too sure which one to follow.In truth,thats the one I would have gone for,but the full length shim sounds safer.Input welcome.

I accept that but my problem is why has it changed from what it was? It went from a very comfortable action to very uncomfortable.I've managed to tweak the truss rod a bit,and lower the strings to their max just to get the original action back as best I could but I'm needing to shim the neck now in order to get a bit of adjustment back to the bridge,should I need to in the future.I cant think what could've caused this.I know its a HB but Its still a very good bass.

LOL I always sang "Flies are in your beach suit baby,they're looking at me"

Checked all that itu and right enough,the bridge screws needed a very small tighten.Although I'd have thought a wonky bridge would put the bass out of tune,but it wasnt.I'd like to shim the neck but not quite sure where to locate the shim,as the neck pocket is bigger than normal.Cheers!

Bass is a 5 string MM clone by Harley Benton.Maple neck/fingerboard,21 frets.I had this bass playing lovely,albeit with the bridge nearly bottomed out.I've had it about 6 months and love it dearly,but 2 days ago I lifted it from its 'Ultimate' stand and knew instantly something was amiss.I can tell instinctively when something is wrong,just by the 'vibes'.The action had raised to an unacceptable level,by itself.On checking for backbow I did the 1st fret/15th fret thing and at the 8th fret,clearance was just a bawhair short on credit card thickness.Truss rod seems to be OK.I gave a quick tweak which helped,but not much.I had to bottom out the bridge to get a 'sorta' acceptable action but its not what it was. Now...The neck has a 6 bolt fixing resulting a larger than usual (longer) neck pocket.If i were to shim it,where should I locate the shim?In the usual place? Halfway along the pocket? I dont particularly want to shim it but for the purposes of (a) getting the action back to what it was and (b) future adjustments should they be required,I'll need to. Has any body any ideas how or why the the strange action thing happened in the first place?.Sorry for the diatribe guys.

That,to me, is the epitome of perfection in a bass.

'City lights lay out before us And your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder' Tracy Chapmans 'Fast Car'.I always thought she was singing " and your arms and legs wrapped round my shoulders".I wondered,what were they actually trying to do at that point?

Tell her "Certainly.But its gonna sound weird with 2 bass players playing at the same time.Oh,you want me to stand down? Nu-uh!"

When you think about it though,'machine head' is a weird substitute for tuner.You'd think maybe that the Machine Head was the large flat part at the top of the neck,where the 'Tuning machines' are situated.😃

Well,I have left it just the 'smidge' above the fingerboard as has been suggested mainly because,as Andy has described,I was afraid to take it any further without risking damaging the fingerboard.I know its only a cheap bass,but I only have needle files and was dubious that they were capable of doing a neat job.But I'm not getting any buzzing or suchlike,so thats nice.The 'mwah' factor is still there,so I guess I'll just leave it like that.Maybe someday,when I can afford the ridiculous prices of real 'nut files',I'll have another look.

Ok chaps,thanx for that.My reason for asking is that I managed to procure a J&D fretless J bass for not a lot of cash and wanted to experiment a bit.I noticed that the nut was cut more like for a fretted bass and I thought 'Hello,that doesnt look right'.The J&D is not bad by the way but comes in the sunburst/white scratchplate livery,with an unlined neck and looks ok.I'll get the files out 😄

What is the optimum height of the slots above the fingerboard on a normal fretless neck,can anyone tell me? I've just watched a video where a guy was converting a fretted to fretless and he seemed to file the nut slots right down to the finger board.Is this ok? Is it going to affect the sound either way? Im thinking it might affect the 'Mwah' effect.is it crucial on a fretless,or just a matter of taste? Thanx.

Thats because we're not sure where the bathroom is.......😄