HowieBass

Good stuff!

Lovely looking bass! Happy NBD

Any idea if they're the same brand? If not then it's more than likely the new set have a different tension. Check the neck relief and adjust the truss rod if necessary. Some fret buzz is welcomed by many players, especially when you dig in; it's when it's excessive or you have note choking that it needs sorting out.

I've never had to deal with this kind of problem but off the top of my head you might put on a set of heavier strings to see if the extra tension gives you the necessary relief. How long have you now had strings on it? If it's been left unstrung for that amount of time it might take a few days to settle down.

I must be that oddity that has never had problems adjusting the two BBOT design bridges on my Squiers - I've been able to get them perfectly intonated and the action set exactly how I want it. The bridge on the Jazz has channels for the saddle screws to follow but I've never had problems with the saddles on the bridge on the Precision which omits the channels. The only thing I'd maybe change is to have threaded saddles so I could have a choice in string spacing. YMMV.

I've got some Rotosound nickel rounds on my Curbow 5 and they're quite compliant (RS665LDN set 45, 65, 85, 105, 130).

The minute I heard the vocal I knew I'd hate it so I also skipped to the end and then started wondering if it was sampled bass rather than an actual played solo. Meanwhile I'm enjoying relistening to some Comsat Angels

Back of the net!

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1414754369' post='2592894'] Well, as I say, I am not a physicist so I'd be happy to be corrected by whoever actually knows the maths of this, however .... I can see how what you say would apply to the sustain of an acoustic instrument but I don't understand how it would apply to an electromagnetic pickup that looks for moving metal not vibrating wood. The player puts a certain amount of energy into the string by plucking it. From that point on there is no further energy added. The more of that energy that stays in the string the longer the string will vibrate, which is sustain. The more of that energy which drains away either to a sponge under the strings or to the bridge and then the body, the less energy there will be in the strings and so less sustain. Therefore, for greater sustain on an electric instrument you would need a non-spongy bridge that did not drain away the energy from the string. Now, possibly, these higher mass bridges, being more rigid and less spongy, do resist absorption of energy from the string ... so more sustain not by absorbing the energy of the string and passing it to the body wood but by not absorbing the energy of the plucked string in the first place. [/quote] I'm in agreement here (and I do have a science background though not in acoustics). I'd suggest RIGIDITY rather than mass is what's at play with any perceptible change in tone when it comes to swapping bridges about. I doubt the change in mass of the whole system (tuners, neck, body, electronics, bridge) where you go from BBOT to a chunky bridge is sufficient to do much about the sustain. To my way of thinking, as with EssentialTension, you don't want to couple the vibrations of the strings with the instrument if you care about sustain; however, I can see that the loss of certain vibrational modes/frequencies from the string to the bass can colour the sound by a process of subtraction rather than by addition. If adding mass added to the sustain or tone of a bass we'd all be clamouring for the heaviest instruments possible but loads of the for sale adverts on here have people asking about weight and rejecting instruments that weigh over 10lbs. The place where adding mass does seem to have an appreciable effect is on the headstock where you're trying to eliminate dead spots by changing the resonant frequency of the neck, and again people seem to go from standard tuners to lightweight rather than the other way around. I suspect you could make more of a change to the tone of a bass by experimenting with different construction necks rather than by swapping about bridges.

Ahh was just catching up on the second episode of the Foo Fighters recording diary (on BBC) when they were in Washington DC and the importance of Dischord Records, Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Fugazi are covered.

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1414691883' post='2592362'] The OP's question - "Does changing the bridge make much difference?" Jazz bass = bass with a bridge. Marcus Miller + Geddy Lee models = basses with non standard bridges (that make them better). [/quote] Aye I knew that I was just trying to be funny. Which obviously didn't work. Coat got.

To my mind, when you slap/pop and the string hits the fingerboard/frets beyond where you're fretting then maybe if the action is too low it'll hit more frets higher up the neck than when the action is a little higher. I would guess that saps energy from the string which you wouldn't experience when playing finger style because the string isn't bouncing against the higher frets?

That sounds like that to me as well in that the signal's going to ground. Could you wrap some gaffa tape around the jack socket to prevent metal (jack socket) to metal (copper tape) contact?

I'd look at your other basses to see how they differ in the action, in case they suggest something you might change on the Warwick. I know the usual advice is have the action as low as possible for slapping but if the G and D seem muted when you slap/pop them then that to me suggests note choking, meaning the saddles are a touch too low. There's no harm in raising the saddles a little to see if the sound improves (try turning the height adjustment screw a quarter of a turn, then test and repeat as necessary, keeping track of the number of turns made so you can bring it back to where it was if there's no improvement... at which point do the same the other way to lower the saddle just in case that works instead). HTH

I think you need something like a DPDT latching footswitch that you can put into a metal box wired to two mono jack sockets to replace the two existing footswitch units (assuming the Peavey switches are simple on/off affairs).

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1414621502' post='2591612'] True...but it seems that Geddy Lee and Marcus Miller disagree with Pino. [/quote] What, they have signature P basses too?!

Well the Fender Custom Shop Pino signature P bass has a vintage BBOT with threaded saddles which suggests he gets by just fine without a chunky bridge. YMMV obviously.

There was a thread on here a few months ago about a MM Jazz up for sale and the buyer was unsure if the instrument was a genuine MIJ Fender. Somebody mentioned the difference in the belly cut contour on the instrument for sale compared to one they knew to be genuine. Interestingly you have two MIJ basses where the belly cuts look different from each other (how far they extend across the upper horn) though I'm sure they're both the genuine article.

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1414606470' post='2591285'] I do have to add that the neck is perfectly playable as is; it's pretty much straight (I always have my necks straight with low action). The lack of further adjustment would only be a potential problem if there were issues in the future or I wanted to change to heavier strings (unlikely). Still, I like to be prepared for these things. Ho hum, no nearer a decision! [/quote] Ahhh, so we're really talking GAS here aren't we?

Yes get one; a Squier VM or CV will get you the P bass experience for not a lot of money.

What's the action like for the G and D strings? You might have some note choking involved that's dampening them if you've got the action really low on that side. I've read that some pickups have such a strong field that too little a distance between pickup and string can also dampen string vibration.

You might only need one or two spacer washers on the truss rod to allow you to get a little more adjustment on the neck, meaning you can keep the current neck. If you don't want to mess with it yourself then a luthier would probably tell you very quickly if it's possible to do it this way. Here's a link to a story where a guy needed to do this to a Strat neck with the added complication of a wooden plug in front of the actual trust rod adjustment nut http://chrisporro.com/?p=936

Amps do differ in how the volume control affects output; some deliver most of it fairly early on with little increase towards the top end of the range; others are very 'linear' and keep increasing as you dial up to 10; and some seem to deliver most of the usable output in the top half of the range. Also, how are you setting the input gain? You should have that as high as you can go with the peaking indicator coming on intermittently when you dig in.

Sounds like you've gone to a lighter gauge than the bass was previously strung with so you've not got enough relief (which is why there's fret buzz and note choking near the nut). You need to slacken off the truss rod, maybe an 1/8 of a turn or so. Leave it for 24 hours to let the neck settle and see if it's any better.

You might be able to screen your own power supplies (put them inside Faraday cages???) but there's always the possibility that other devices inside a venue will have exactly the same problem with unsuppressed noise. IMHO the first place to start sorting this out is probably get your basses well screened (assuming they haven't been done already) with conductive paint or better, copper foil lining all the cavities and the scratchplates to see how much this reduces the problem. After that if you still have a noise issue I think you're looking at getting noiseless pickups for the Jazz.