dub

A respray would probably decrease the value if you consider the popularity of "vintaged" instruments. I think you would be better spending money on a good set up and a new set of strings whatever you do with the bass.

Try turning the amp down to a low setting, put the bass on and stand away from the amp, if there is still feedback, then there is a chance that the coils are loose within the pickups, making them microphonic. If that is what's happening, the coils could be fixed back in place with great care. Hold the strings and give the controls a good few turns back and fore. If there is a lot of crunching then it might be an idea to spray the pots and any switches inside with switch cleaner and also give the jack input contacts a good clean. It does sounds like the neck needs to be set up properly with some truss rod adjustment. The best thing you could do is take it to a local repairer and get them to fix it and set it up properly, it would be well worth what it would cost.

Does anyone know where to get hold of some pickup mounting screws used on a musicman and the brass things they screw into that are recessed into the body? The wood screws are easy to get hold of but I cant find the other type.

I got a reply OK from Nordstrand. I installed the Nordstrand MM5.4 using the 3 way switching diagram from the Seymour Duncan website. The wire colours are the same so that was no problem. I'm very happy with the sound of this pickup. Compared to the seymour duncan or the MM it has a tiny bit less top end. I used to use the series setting for most things with the Seymour Duncan pickup I had before, but the parallel setting is excellent on this pickup, plenty of bass and top end but not too vicious. It is less noisy in singe coil mode (not a problem if you've got a 3 coil MM). If you are replacing a MM pickup with one of these make sure you keep the old bolts and springs, as Nordstrand only provide screws and no springs. The springs were originally attached to the pole pieces which is not possible on this pickup due to a plate on the underside. I used 3 springs, kept in place by placing the bolts through them. This does mean the pickup will not adjust to a very low height but that's OK with me, you can always use foam instead of springs. All round a very good pickup.

Hi There I've ordered a nordstrand MM5.4 for installation in an ernie ball musicman stingray 5 (1990 no passive coil). I'm hoping that they'll send a diagram for wiring the selector switch series/single/parallel with this pickup. Just wondering if anyone has a diagram for this set up. I emailed nordstrand but no reply as yet. cheers dub

I wouldn't give up on your amp and clxs just yet. I had a similar problem which came and went unpredictably. I blamed the bass, got a new preamp and then it happened again, so I blamed my Markbass SA450. As it turned out, it was a lead. I was just fooled because it didn't crackle like a lead problem. They were good quality leads and were nearly new. I should have known better, but I was totally convinced it was the amp, until I bought new leads. It hasn't happened since! It would be well worth trying different leads. If it still happens with the new leads, try using one cab on it's own, if that works perfectly then I guess it could be the impedance. You could always get an eden amp, they can handle down to 2ohms.

That's a great idea. Have you considered using phantom power with an xlr out?

[quote name='BassManKev' post='368482' date='Jan 2 2009, 02:05 PM']i was thinkin of john easting my stingray, but id lose the pickup switch functionality iv been told, would there be any way round that??[/quote] I use the pickup switch in mine with no problems. The best thing to do is get the details of your bass and check with john, 3 coil pickups may be different.

Yeh, I'm not going to stir it on the EBMM forum, I can imagine the response. For some reason people can be very defensive about their own gear. I would never imply that what I like is right for everyone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, is always good advice. I did like the tone of the original preamp from the bass, but I like the John East more, it has such great clarity. The other danger is that the possibilities for messing with your bass are endless. I just spotted the nordstrand mm5.2 pickup and I like the idea of having the choice of a hum free single coil tone, but I usually use the humbucking mode on the pickup, so I should really just leave it alone, if it aint broke... Has anyone tried that Nordstrand?

I recently bought a John East BTB-MMSR 4 Knob preamp to replace the original Musicman preamp in my 1990 Ernie ball stingray 5. Although I liked the tone of the original, I found it a bit noisy and was interested in getting a sound closer to a 70s Musicman. I had already swapped the pickup for a seymour duncan alcino a couple of years ago which was a step closer to what I was looking for. It has a fantastic sound and much quieter S/N ratio that the original. The mid sweep is ideal for cutting a bit of low mid when switched to humbucking or boosting 100Hz for a massive dub sound. It is very close to a 70s MM sound with a bit of extra boost on the bass. It's the best sounding preamp I've come across so far.

Does anyone have a design for a passive mid cut control for bass? I've seen the rothstein guitars one which looks OK but I would like to keep my standard hi cut tone control separate.

When you connect the pre out (no bass plugged in) have a listen on headphones and see if there is a hum when you connect it. If there is hum, a DI can be useful, as it will have an ground lift switch, which should get rid of the ground loop that causes the hum.

You can use a box that will take the speaker out an has speaker simulation put like the jdx [url="http://www.radialeng.com/re-jdx.htm"]http://www.radialeng.com/re-jdx.htm[/url] Protools 8 will be coming out soon with the amp simulation 11 free which should have some pretty impressive simulation so I would wait and check that out as 8 will certainly be worth the upgrade. You can always apply it to anything you record in the meantime.

Well I guess the safest thing to say is that all materials sound a bit different.

I would go and try out some fretless basses first. It's the only way you'll find out what you like. Usually maple has a brighter tone than ebony or rosewood. If you want a bright sound you should try some with a graphite neck too and see if you like that.

It should be an easy job for someone who knows what they are doing, just find a local luthier who knows about wiring. It's certainly worth doing as the passive sound will be noticeably different and if your bass cavities are well shielded it could also have less noise. It's good to have the choice.

I've never tried to deliberately age something but I've noticed sweat ages any metal pretty quickly.

Is it hard to distinguish notes when you get as low as F# and below? Before I got a 5 string I used to tune my E string to D or C for some tunes. The unexpected result was that the other strings didn't sound as good when the low string was detuned. The lack of tension in the neck really changed the sound of the whole bass. I reckon the more strings the better for tone if you are going that low. Whales might be the only ones that really appreciate it though.

It could well be the valve going microphonic, which happens when they are old, hopefully changing the valve could sort out the feedback. JJ Tesla vales are one of the best quality replacements. [quote name='bassmachine2112' post='283063' date='Sep 13 2008, 09:24 AM']hi,i have a marshall mb450.it has a valve in the pre amp.the problem i,m havin is when you stop playing the rig goes into bass feedback which is like low mids howling.the only way to stop this is to damp the strings.the overall sound is very low mid to the point of booming.i have used different basses and it remains the same.i have used these basses on other amps and there is no problems so i think i can rule out the basses.could this be the pre amp valve/tube on the way out?[/quote]

I'm really happy with the sound of the pickup and no pre-amp so if it's a horse it's very much alive. With the top end turned down it is possible to get similar tone as the pickup on it's own, though it's still not exactly the same. I tried out a bartolini preamp in the bass once and although it was quieter I wouldn't say it was exactly flat either. All pre-amps have got a bit of a character. [quote name='Cernael' post='282640' date='Sep 12 2008, 02:00 PM']So there is a setting that is flat, it just doesn't coincide with the centre click position? I'm guessing that might be remedied by clever usage of resistors around the control pot...unles it's physically integrated with the preamp, so you can't get at the wires directly. Then again, if you're happy as is, I should probably leave the horsecorpse unkicked.[/quote]

The treble control is a boost and cut control. All the controls have a centre dent. Here is a more accurate description; With all the controls centered, there is a huge top end boost from the pre-amp. The top end is a big part of the musicman sound, so clearly Leo Fender designed the early pre-amps to sound trebly and MM manufacturers have kept that in the pre-amp design ever since. I was just surprised that it was such a massive top end boost with the controls centered. [quote name='Cernael' post='281039' date='Sep 10 2008, 12:41 PM']Um...IMO, when you set it flat, by definition, there's no boost. It's not, perchance, that you set it in roughly the middle position? Suppose the knob really works in an "all-boost" manner; how much boost is there when you set it to 0? Hope you don't feel insulted by this humble suggestion... [/quote]

It sounds like you are having some trouble with ground loops if the microbass is noisy. You could use an extension cable with the ground lifted to plug in your power supply, but make sure the amp is still earthed. Write "earth disconnected" on the extension so it doesn't get used for anything else that could be dangerous. Do the new pickups sound better? [quote name='Weird War' post='267047' date='Aug 21 2008, 01:42 PM']Hi BOD2 Thanks for your thoughts. I've now shielded the pickup and control cavities with copper foil: but have yet to alter any wiring (such as grounding everything at one place). As you can see, in each cavity there is the Fender copper grounding plate which is now sitting on my foil shielding. I normally use my EBS Microbass with headphones to test things, but for some reason, it's not working with perfectly good 9V batteries. When powered with a Diago, the Microbass is noisier than when battery-powered, so I can't really tell if shielding has helped just now. I will test with my practice combo at reasonable volume tonight too. Cheers Doug[/quote]

The best thing is to replace them with the same drivers as the cab volume will be right for them.