prowla

Virtual handshake, sir!

I've got an Aguilar Octamizer, but it's still better to have the low string; I've got a a 5-string and a couple of basses with D-tuners. Octaves in unison on a fretless with a hint of overdrive is very synth-like.

I've got Fender flats on a fretless P-bass and they work very, very well. (No squeaks when you move around the neck, neither!)

I took a drive up to Dudley to pick up a bass cab and had a good old chat with the chap I bought it off; I mentioned that whilst I was in the area I might take a wander into town and see what was there, to which he suggested going to Wolverhampton instead, as there was a guitar shop there. So I drove across there, parked in the shopping centre, came out onto the street and searched google for guitar shops; two blocks down the road - nice and easy. On the way, I stopped in a 2nd hand records shop and came out with a bunch of CDs and had a nice chat with the two ladies who run the shop and then carried on down to the guitar shop. Well, it was quite small but well stocked and then I looked up on the wall and there was a very interesting bass there:[list] [*]Status Graphite neck - I've been after one of those for ages and missed one on ebay last year, but swored I'd buy the next one I saw for the P-bass I'm building. [*]Warmoth Jazz-style body - well they're not cheap! [*]Schaller machines and a Hipshot D-tuner - I just put a D-tuner on my P-bass, last week. [*]Active electronics (not sure which brand of circuit) - this one has three stacked pots plus two micro-switches. [*]Not sure of the pickups. [*]Gold hardware. [*]Badass II bridge - I have one of those on the P-bass too. [/list] I nonchalently asked the chap in the shop the price, expecting it to be around the £800 mark and he came back with less than half that. He said he'd just had it in the day before and hadn't been to sure about it and had said to the seller that it would either go straight out or hang about for ages. Well, it just seemed like there was so much in parallel with what I was doing on my P-bass that I had to have it, so (after checking it over and having a quick play) I ended up with a new bass. What a result - I never thought I'd come home with that when i set off out this morning!

I did a search on "gibson screws" and found some UK packs of 12 for a lot less, so I've ordered some...

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1484688075' post='3217593'] Recommend Gibson-size screws if you don't mind waiting for them to cross the pond: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-NEW-STAINLESS-STEEL-to-REPLACE-GIBSON-PICKGUARD-SCREWS-SG-FIREBIRD-MELODY-M-/172455716047"]http://www.ebay.co.u...M-/172455716047[/url] Not exactly the same as the MIJ originals but pretty close & way better than trying to use massive Fender-type ones! [/quote] Thanks - I hate it when the postage is nearly as much as the item!

My Status is alright! (So's my other Status...)

Forum memo to self - if you put "a", "b" and "c" in brackets you get strange looking bullet points!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1484663983' post='3217279'] NO!! Well, now tell me this isn't a true blue USA Fender [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OLD-HOUSE-CLEARANCE-BASS-GUITAR/112270155837"]http://www.ebay.co.u...AR/112270155837[/url] Encore I believe. [/quote] it's not even vaguely right, is it... That seller often has job lots up; he's pretty straight in the description there.

Well, I've got strings on it now; it's vaguely Ricky sounding unplugged. I've not got the electrics in place, so it's body, neck, Hipshot bridge, Schaller machines and Dean Markley SR2000 strings. It turns out that, due to a miscaclulation on my side, I've got a pair of genuine Ricky 4001 '78 pickups, so they'll go on it. I've got some pots & stuff due in the post, still need the switching mono socket (they are needlessly pricey), so will wire something up there. I'll make things up so I can easily swap things around. The previous owner had decided to route it for twin jack sockets, rather than just the one, so I'm getting a Mono/Stereo-Sound jack plate from the bay. I had ordered a cheapie flat one, but then I saw the other one, so I grabbed it. I might get a scratchplate which I can butcher (I have a post-'74 one, but its' neck pickup hole is in the wrong place). Once that's done, it should be complete. I had been intending to get a genuine Ricky body (black) and shift all of the parts over, but I might look at getting a custom one of my own design; the through-neck would have to be to Ricky spec though, so really only the wings and headstock to play with; perhaps taking the original wave design and giving it more attitude. Once that's done, I guess I'll either (a) try and revert the Diamond back to stock/complementary parts, ( pass it on in parts for someone else's project, or (c) start over again! Oh, I also need some pickguard screws - they're smaller than Fenders and not so easy to get hold of.

[quote name='Biglump' timestamp='1484667036' post='3217308'] What haven't I tought of in this cunning plan? [/quote] ...Your bottom-end.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1331122493' post='1567937'] As long as the custom decal doesn't say Fender, fine. [/quote] THAT! There are so many fake/counterfeit "Fender"s around, selling with a "Fender" logo is dishonest, just waiting for some poor mug to buy one thinking they've got the real thing. (I also think Fender have muddied the waters a bit by branding Squiers as "Squier by Fender", so that people can advertise them as Fenders.)

I have to say, I never planned to have an orange bass, but I am growing to like it!

Oh, and is the serial number correct? (It is a '78 one.)

What is the added pickup., BTW?

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1484502583' post='3215928'] This. I always put a 90 degree bend in the string and pop it down into the centre of the tuning post. Also cut your strings to length to allow a couple of wraps around the post [/quote] I bought a set of Status strings for my headed 5-string and they instruct you do to it, so that the strings don't unwind.

I've had two. My first was a Warwick Streamer active (Chinese); it was a really horrible bass for me and I got rid of it; I found it uncomfortable to play. I've got a Status one now (wooden neck) and it is very playable, a great woody tone to it, active with attitude - a keeper! I did consider making a Warwick from parts; a neck (German) went on ebay a while back and not long after a body, but the one I'd had has affected my perception of the brand.

I have to say, that is a brand I would not be inclined to buy.

Going Hipshot, I would have had a D-tuner in there too!

They drink it in the Congo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYj5o4kQsXs

A couple of thoughts... Is the a string guide/post on the headstock to feed the string under? You can make a sharp right-angle in the string, using pliers.

(I can relate to it!)

Some people are just plain backward.

It's got one rod. Yes, I was a bit aghast that the machines were gone, but the Schaller ones are Ricky-authentic and if I get a D-tuner it should be a 1:1 replacement. Turns out the headstock logo is just a computer printout on paper stuck to the back of a clear truss rod cover (the back of it had something else printed on it!), so I'll probably put that right. The bridge was a bit weird, looked like it was bent so that the tail-end raised off the instrument; I'm not sure if it can be rescued. I've put my spare Hipshot on though, which was the aim anyway. I've ordered a twin jack plate, so that should be a few days. On a second play, the neck is more curved than my Ricky's, bit it has a good feel to it. I'll have to search around for a treble pickup; there is a set of three Bartolinis on ebay (neck, treble and string damper!), but I might have to exercise restraint. I have got a spare Ricky neck pickup, but it's the 4-pole one from early 70s (I thought it was a toaster but remembered wrong). I also compared the treble pickup surround to a real Ricky and the Ricky's has more rounded corners, but the screw holes are identical. The body has a couple of dings, but I may just leave them. Hopefully yes, a relatively straightforward project.

Right - I'm now a paid-up member of the 'fakers club! I have a Diamond (nee. Aria) 'faker. It does need a bit of work on it:[list] [*]The treble pickup is pooped - the coil has come away from the base and the wires have snapped. I have a genuine one which I could put in, if I choose to. [*]It's not got a jack socket and the chap I bought it off has made a rather cack-handed attempt to cut out a second hole. I'll tidy that up and acquire a double-jack plate. [*]The wiring harness has no wires, so I'll need to re-wire it. No problem, as I was going to do that anyway along with twin jacks. [*]One of the knobs is missing. Easy enough to get. [*]The original truss rod cover has gone and it's got one with the "R" word on it instead. It's a bit of a shame not having the original and I'm not to struck on putting fakes of the real brand on. [*]The seller replaced the stock machines with Schaller ones, but chucked the originals. I'd have liked to have had the originals, just to keep, anyway. They have wider posts than the genuine ones. [*]No scratchplate & pickup bezel screws and no treble pickup mounting bolts & springs. (Easy enough to get.) [/list] The good stuff:[list] [*]The neck really feels like the genuine one; spookily so, even though it is a bolt-on. [*]It's got its bridge and dampers. [*]The Schallers are quality machines. [*]It's got the correct MIJ neck plate. [/list] So, I've got to acquire some parts to get it going.