HowieBass

The string slots weren't deep enough on the factory fitted graphite nut on my Westone Spectrum LX fretless neck (which came with both fretted AND fretless interchangeable necks). The strings sat on the nut ok so rather than deepen the slots I took the nut off and filed the bottom of it to reduce the overall height - then glued it back on with a couple of dabs of glue (might have been superglue, can't remember) and have had no problems - the neck has a shallow slot for the nut so it didn't need clamping.

I like Fender steel flats, can't remember the gauge sets I have on two of my basses but I don't have a problem with the tension (never have with any set of strings as it happens) and they're quite bright for flats (but not in a bad way).

I quite like the look as it is, maybe a keeper (seal it with a satin acrylic varnish?) but only if it's got a rosewood fingerboard...

Yep, that'll work.

Wood&Tronics logo is now silver (was gold previously)...

I'm also saddened to hear this, 72 seems quite young. I really enjoyed her music, particularly her hits in the 60s and not ashamed to say I watched Blind Date on a regular basis too.

The OP seems to be hearing this noise only recently which suggests it's connected to a change in the house electrics, not a consequence of their choice of instrument or amp... as others have suggested it's probably worth trying to tackle the problem at source. I'm just wondering what I'll find when I move to my 'new' house in a few weeks time as it seems noisy electrical installations are quite capable of passing all safety regs.

I'm no electrical expert but going back over what you've described I'm wondering if the old earth connection was a better ground than the one you now have with the new distribution board - I presume the new system is electrically safe and hence certificated but ground is no longer at 'zero' volts? The earth stake was a better conductor than whatever is now used for the earth contact point?

Honorary Mancunian?

Nice little demo of ground loop hum and how to kill it (with one of those hum destroyers) http://youtu.be/jSA2F1AwboU

[quote name='Qlank' timestamp='1438423656' post='2834365'] Have you tried moving the amp to another area of the house? Plug the amp into a kitchen socket perhaps, if it still buzzes it's the main wiring, if it goes away it will be a problem with the wiring in the room you had it in before. [/quote] Was about to suggest the same thing, might be an issue with the mains socket that you're plugging the amps into (assuming you always use the same one) with a poorly connected earth wire?

Should the shop start being awkward with you over a full refund, it should be a fairly easy job to clean that gunk off the battery clip before you start worrying about having to get a new connector wired up - careful cleaning with an old toothbrush, matchsticks/toothpicks, cotton buds moistened with something like vinegar ought to sort it out - have a look at this http://cleaning.lovetoknow.com/Clean_Alkaline_Battery_Corrosion

It might be to do with the body wood used, I see they employ soft maple, alder, agathis and basswood depending on the actual model - have a look at the Fender site [url="http://intl.fender.com/en-GB/squier/basses/jazz-bass/"]http://intl.fender.c...sses/jazz-bass/[/url] which I've checked for three different models with solid coloured, sunburst and natural finishes and they were consistent body woods within the range (though there might have been a time when they used say maple for clear finish and basswood for solid colours within the same range).

Humbuckers usually take 500K pots but if you've enough treble and you like the sound then stick with the 250K. How well is the bass shielded? I'm just wondering if the high pitched whine when you boost the treble is evidence of interference that needs screening out.

You're probably on the right track regarding the nitro - it doesn't dry rock hard like a poly finish and probably also why there's no gasket under the plate as these can react with nitro (hence the problem with some guitar stands).

I've never heard of a battery being the cause of electromagnetic interference - though if you're moving the battery about that probably means you're also moving bundles of wires about with the possibility of movement at poorly made connections maybe? Looking at Tonepump wiring diagrams I see that some suggest using 250K volume pots and some (including the BP-4 module that your diagram indicates) say use 500K - are you sure the 250K pots are ok? This assumes you've got passive humbuckers too.

I don't know what the innards of either head is like but you need to be careful of large capacitors as they can store charge for hours (I've read even a day or so) after the amp was last used. As long as the thing is unplugged then you should be fine, obviously be careful with any valves/glass cased fuses in there if you're holding cans of switch cleaner or screwdrivers etc just in case you drop anything.

Never had to do it myself but I believe the edge of a razor can be used as a scraper for hard to shift fretboard grime (taped up on one side and held near to vertical as you scrape sideways from one fret to the next).

You also have the option of 'Untitled' followed by a number which happens with some abstract painters' works (so it then naturally becomes a titled work).

I like the pinstriping that comes from the laminates of the top. Those Nordstrands are reckoned to be really excellent pickups. Happy NBD!

I found an old advert on Talkbass with someone selling a lined fretless Warwick which they thought must have been a custom shop instrument as they too thought that you couldn't get a stock factory bass with a lined board. Looking at the photo of the instrument in question the lines look a lot neater than the instrument being discussed here (post is here http://www.talkbass.com/threads/1998-warwick-thumb-5-bo-wenge-neck-2004-warwick-corvette-5-lined-fretless-ebony-board.1090837/ if you're curious). To the OP it's possible to have side dots filled and new ones installed when having a neck defretted though I guess you've already had a really good look so would have noticed. As I said earlier the wear on the board doesn't look that bad and would probably disappear after being sanded with a radiused block (I bow to the superior knowledge of luthiers here however). I find that linseed oil tends to fill small pores and it improves the appearance of boards.

It looks to me as if it's been defretted and filler put into the gaps. Has it got side dots and are they between the fret positions or at the fret positions? If there are dots between the fret positions then it originally had frets. It's ok to have open pores in the surface of a fretboard/fingerboard and light wear from strings isn't a disaster.

Maybe the mains ring the amp was plugged into sent a big spike through to the amp before the circuit breaker tripped to shut down the supply - I believe breakers trip at different speeds so it might have been a little slow?

Let it evaporate fully after you've spun the pots round a few times before you plug it back in but in any case there won't be much current going through the pots - just avoid touching anything if the cover's still off when you power it back up!

I'd go with internal fuse too, definitely the first place to start with diagnostics.