basexperience

I’ve had an update from Robin at @Manton Customs - neck is back together, everything is great, all that remains is the cosmetic job to ensure the new binding looks in keeping with the slightly aged binding on the rest of the bass (this thing has binding on all the edges!). So that’ll take maybe another 2-3 weeks. really looking forward to getting it back. Being able to play it like the Rikkers will be amazing.

Don’t be put off - critical to me finding out I had a problem was discovering I couldn’t adjust things to my liking. I’d say it sounds like very small adjustments, then give it time to settle, and critically remember the anticlockwise reverse action on the rod. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I wonder if the old rod design could even get the neck as flat as I wanted it. I’d had the bass around 2 years at that point, and it had never been quite as ludicrously flat as I keep other basses… I can say that getting the bass fixed has been a great adventure in itself!

Great gig with Jagged Little Alanis, at the Essex Arms in Brentwood - nice venue, a real stage! Used the Rikkers and the current mega-pedalboard, which I'm going to cannibalise a little for a more targeted one for this band 😄

I'd always rather have a rod which needs a little more turning to achieve the desired result (within reason) as this allows for finer adjustment - if you're a picky bugger like me who loves the neck totally flat with pretty much no relief at all, it makes all the difference. I'd also imagine a rod with a rather rapid adjustment might get "stiff" faster, as presumably you require more force per unit of relief (the forces here remain the same, it's kind of like gears on a car - I'd like first gear on my truss rod, not 3rd)

If you look at the picture, you can see the original rod is threaded so it tightens anticlockwise (the head was attached to the top of the rod as you see it in the picture, I think). It looks pretty straight to me in that pic. I can see why it *was* sensitive, the threading at both ends presumably means you get a lot of travel for a small amount of adjustment at the head. What I can say for sure, is that I knew all along it was a reverse action rod, and I never got the neck flat. @Manton Customs - did the old rod channel show signs of compression where the rod was mounted internally? I'm curious, too.

Actually, you've reminded me that the tale of acquiring the filter had a false start - I bought the guitar version by mistake and had to enable the extended LOW eq while I was using it. You're right - there's no need for the 8K! Although I may now check it out with the expression pedal plugged in to see what happens when I sweep things a bit... great pedal, though..

And I can really recommend the shipping company Lenspeed Logistics, too. I've learned a lot in the whole process here.

I've actually only just realised something completely fundamental about the old truss rod: it's literally not pulling against itself, as it were, unlike the new one. So the new one is bending under the force of the part which screws, against the attached rod which accompanies the threaded rod. The ends of the rod are fixed and do not move, or dig into the wood in the plane of the fretboard (so it's not squeezing the neck, as it were, it's bending it). The old rod depends on the wood to be strong enough to take the squeeze from what look like two hunks of steel, and not compress, which is EXACTLY what I keep reading happens with these necks. You run out of rod adjustment, and then... snick, off comes the adjuster head. Honestly... 😑

It's a good board, but those synths are all on the same loop... which can make things a little awkward 😄 I also discovered the Future Impact has very fragile knobs - I'll have to take it off and get one of those recases to make it smaller, and then pull it into the board a bit. The FCB1010 I drive it with has the UNO chip mod, which means a single patch can change so much stuff. Right now the C4 is making a good Moog bass patch for me, the chorus is in use on some tracks. I should really make another board without the freeze and the ditto, just for live band work. I really can recommend those Harley Benton ISO10AC Pro PSUs. Excellent piece of equipment. That filter pedal took some sourcing, too. Tricky to find. The extended EQ option you can enable on it through the hidden menu is amazing.

Here's the current board - MIDI enabled, I switch patches on the FI and C4 from a FCB1010, which also gives me a couple of expression pedals. The SYB-5 usually has an expression pedal plugged into it too, and the Soundbox filter can have one too, if needed, to alter the filter sweep. The freeze and ditto are for my own amusement... One thing I have noticed, the FI has really fragile pots on it, so I'm going to have to repair it again and get it miniaturised so I can protect it more. I might even build a cage for the controls to protect them further. PSU is one of the Harley Benton ISO-10AC Pro ones, which I can't recommend enough - great PSU at an amazing price, built like a tank and silent. The HB switcher on here is pretty good, too, and does include midi, although I'm not using it. The cheap Kliq tuner turned out to be really good! Latest addition is the M-VAVE ANNBLACKBOX, which is *way* better than I expected. Really solidly built, the mobile app and PC editor are actually really good, and it can model amps and cabs. The on-device UI is actually quite good! Mono only, this isn't an HX stomp by any means, but the sound quality is good enough to provide occasional spooky reverbs and even some decent overdrive. Board was originally built for a synth / dance project (hence all the synth goodness) but it's proving very flexible. The weight, though... ha

I'm not sure this Elwood is a full custom - the spec does include a couple of changes, I think, but they're electronics: the preamp is a glockenklang (which is amazing) and I believe the pickups are Haussel, but looking at the old listing I posted the link to above (which wasn't for my bass) I think everything else is stock. It doesn't have the clear pick guard though, I've noticed that.

As to this explaining the reverse nature of the rods, I'd defer to @Manton Customs - I also wondered about their relative length, and TBH I'd rather have a rod which did the job properly, and I can't help thinking that if the rod is too short, and not made of strong enough material, both of these will contribute to it eventually failing. I'm not impressed with Maruszczyk's construction here at all, personally. Luckily thanks to the carbon rods going in, the new (and better) rod will have a little less stress on it, so I should have all the adjustment I need from now on. @Woodinblack - I pray your bass continues that way - out of interest, what year was yours made? This one was made in 2014, I'm hoping their newer ones use better neck construction.

@Manton Customs has sent me a couple of pics of the old Maruszczyk truss rod vs the one he’s fitting. to say the least, the old one is… “basic”. I’d call it pitiful for a bass that looks as beautiful, or costs this much new! can’t wait to get my hands on the bass again, and have it flat as a pancake for relief as I like 😁 I mean, it’s rusty, for heaven’s sake - the bass has never been kept in any environment which would encourage rust. Says a lot for the quality of the steel?

Another Update - the fretboard binding is back on, routing for the rod and carbon rods will happen soon. Irony / synchronicity: Robin and I have both have colds / flu at the same time 🤣

F&F has *no* buyer protection. It's essentially the same as bank transfer - probably worse, as at least with modern fraud protection there might be some chance of reversing the bank transfer. PayPal? Forget it. Nightmarish. Don't use F&F on Paypal, ever, unless it's genuinely a member of your family, or a close friend you know is definitely on the other end.