Aidan63

what size allen key does it take, if its a 1.5mm then its probably M3 like most metric saddle screws

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Is it just me, or has anyone else found that Mustang pickups are prone to stripping the adjustment threading in their bases ? My Classic Vibe 60s Mustang bass came with really tight scratchplate to pickup cover clearance (which also caused some ghosting) and the threads in the original pickups stripped out because the cover wasn't free to move when being adjusted for height, so I ended up making some steel plates to fit under the pickups and drilled and tapped them to M3 (which is the screw originally fitted) and clearanced the guard a little so they could move a bit more freely. But I ended up changing the pickups for Nordstrands - but the holes in the Nordstrands were smaller than M3 and little spare material around the outside to allow for using M3s, so I ended up having to buy some smaller diameter US imperial screws with 28tpi, like many guitar humbuckers use, and they have been okay, but after changing strings today I found the string balance a little out so went to adjust the height and pop, stripped the thread in the EA pickup at the A end, so now I'm going to have to pull the scratch plate and probably de-solder the pickups and fanny on again making some plates to achieve adjustability. I know the Mustang was a cheaper instrument originally but for frells sake why haven't the pickup manufacturers moved to use proper metal threaded inserts in the pickup bass instead of relying on a small hole in the base which is made out of fibreboard and reliant on the adjustment screw cutting a thread and then not wearing the fine threads or the base plate splitting when working under tension from the springs. Leo did not get this right, imho, and afaic the modern pickup makers are equally culpable for not improving the basic design, just copying it, for cheapness and originalities sake. I wonder if this is part of the reason so many Mustangs from Fender now have Precision pickups in them, not because they sound better but because they are less likely to suffer adjustment failure issues. ? grrrrr, colour me pissed 😈 I'm tempted to just modify the instrument to take the Fideltron pickup I have in my spares box, but that is a big job and I could end up buggering it up completely

I actually liked groundwounds a lot when I tried them on mine, different attack to the flats, so much so, I cut them down and tried them on my Lionel fretless, now also sold, but I still have the strings if anyone wants to try them on a non through body strung shortie (ie not a Mustang) with 4 in a row headstock, though I guess you could also fit them on a 3+1 or 2+2 headed shortie.

Absolutely it can be repaired Maybe take the string tension off slightly to help ease the crack and keep it clean so there's no contaminants to interfere with the glue up All things being equal it should be stronger than ever after repair Plenty of Gibson guitars with repaired headstocks following complete breaks out there so skills are well established

is that oak/walnut/maple neck ?

if you wanted non standard string spacing Jazz pickups it wouldn't be that expensive to have them made, and you could use closed covers to mask the fact - or in this case use them to prevent ocd triggering

have you not read over the last 8+ years why Scott wears a glove ? I wonder if a playing style with lots of hammer ons and pull offs, bends, vibrato and fretting hand tapping might exacerbate it or if there is a genetic component that makes some more susceptible ? Even diet may have a role, Scott has stated being on atkins style diet seemed to reduce his symptoms so he could shed, record and gig more

went private earlier today, I hadn't finished watching it 😲 ☹️

Brian sold me an electric sabre saw from the sell anything listings; Evri were their usual slow (it was a bhol weekend) and awkward at his end accepting it but all good left in my safe space, but witjhout letting me know it was out for delivery or had been delivered so it was the next day before I found it. Top man, thank you

Initial Response Acceleration (I.R.A.) treatment basically they vibrate it to give it better 'vibe', like some do with acoustics, put a speaker on it and play the instrument different frequencies to simulate the effect of hours of play as with tone wood its a thing or hookum depending on your point of view

How different are the pickups in the BB434 and the BBP34 ? Other than the pickups and country of manufacture and the IRA treatment they are pretty similar aren't they ?

5kg would be the packed weight with gig bag, ie what is on their system for shipping weight, which probably explains the reply