henry norton

Get yerself an EB-0!!! But in reality, I suppose if you have the facilities to make a bass body you could chamber it out. Chamber out either side and leave a big chunk in the middle so's not to alter the tone & timbre too much. Panic over, lighter bass, virtually no money, more or less same sound and a 'trendy' chambered body. I can see the value rising already....... BTW don't feel bad about modding a (now) valuable bass. I added a Jazz pickup to my JV Precision in 1990 when it was just a good, cheap instrument, not a collectors item. Good on yer!

[quote name='solo4652' post='656518' date='Nov 16 2009, 11:41 PM']I asked a local guitar tech. for a quote for de-fretting my G&L (maple f/board). The reply was: "Hi Steve, I'm not sure it's a good idea to have a fretless with a lacquered (or even unlacquered) maple board. I think it would soon be marked by the strings." Oh. That's plan D scuppered, then. So, it's either buy a Mighty Mite fretless neck for the G&L and hope it can be made to fit, or give up and simply buy a fretless bass. Or just play my fretless 'Ray to death. Steve[/quote] So long as the finish is thick and durable enough you shouldn't have too many problems. Maple Fenders were polyester coated and from what I've been told just had a few extra coats over the board area. All fretless boards suffer wear in long term and you just need to keep an eye on it and a small budget for refinishes.

Hmmm, you're probably right. It probably wouldn't be much more hassle to make a new neck - maybe a one piece fretless maple version but with the round edged '57 profile. Now that could be a neck to die for - watch this space....

[quote name='solo4652' post='656210' date='Nov 16 2009, 07:35 PM']All clear now! Just a thought - Since I'd really like to end up with an unlined fingerboard, would it be any easier/quicker to replace the existing fretted maple 'board with a new unlined 'board? Anybody know of the likely costs of that? Steve[/quote] I've just posted a question about doing the very same thing. If it's a bound board it's easier, if it's a rosewood/ebony on maple then it's not too bad and if it's a one piece maple neck then it's a precision machining job and will probably account for every penny of the 300 Beedster was quoted. Bear in mind you can get a very good neck ready made for a couple of hundred quid. It's in no way quicker or easier though.

My custom made fretless neck's had it - one too many mosh pits and careless drops - and I'm wondering whether I should defret the original maple neck, maybe even machine off a quarter inch and replace with a nice plain ebony fretless board. Thing is it's a JV precision, valuable in some peoples eyes but I figure I've already devalued it enough by adding a Jazz pickup in the early nineties. What does Basschat think???

[quote name='Buzz' post='655973' date='Nov 16 2009, 03:12 PM']What are you buying it for? If it's just to play and not for investment you might as well buy a new '09 MIA P-Bass, as it'll probably be better than most '70's P-basses and you'll be saving money on over inflated prices.[/quote] +1 on that. The value will be in the age, condition and originality and the best way to preserve these (and therefore the value), would be to lock it away and not use it

[quote name='Beedster' post='655794' date='Nov 16 2009, 12:01 PM']Hi Folks I tend to play my maple board Precision for pleasure, either unplugged or at quite low volume, and I love what to my ears is the lovely natural and uprightly tone. However, I've recently started gigging it and find that when I push the volume the tone becomes quite thumpy and bass heavy, which is of course a great tone but doesn't seem to be a true expression of the natural tone of the instrument. OK, I can EQ it back to something like what I believe is it's natural tone, but I think the original '77 Fender PUP is simply not picking up all the tones/harmonics that are available, or is biasing them back to lows/low mids and thumpiness. I'm playing TI flats which obviously aren't the most harmonic rich strings but they do emulate the swell and slap of an upright bass well, so I want to stick with them. So, I'm looking to put in a new PUP, or at least try one to see how close I can get to the unplugged tone. I was originally tempted to go for an SPB-3 which has quite a prominent top end but IIRC also has a very high output which might not be exaclty the thing. I guess I'm loking for something that has a similar level of output as the original but provides far more tonal range? Should I be looking at a piezo bridge, and if so, anyone know if one that I can drop into an old Fender without too much hassle/modification/cost? All advice/experience/opinion gratefully received Chris[/quote] I know just what you mean. This is probably not much use to you but I found my unfinished ebony board gives a much clearer, punchier sound than my (epoxied) maple board did, acoustically and amplified. I ended up adding a Jazz to the bridge and feed a bit into the mix with my DiMarzio (again, in my opinion, a clearer, punchier sound compared to the original Fender). Used with rounds (again, not much use to you), and played near the neck end it can sound very double bassy if I hit the notes just right. Having said that you are trying to get a 'HiFi, pure string' sound out of a pickup that's designed to be anything but, so maybe a seperate piezo system could be the way to go. I personally never got on too well with the Jazz fretless - it never had the warmth and richness of a precision but if you've got one it's got to be worth a try.

[quote name='Sibob' post='655127' date='Nov 15 2009, 01:50 PM']The Aria TAB-66 looks quite nice, budget hollowbody lol. Anyone tried?. Apparently it's laminated with archtop back & sides......is it gonna be badly constructed?. Like I said, I'm on a budget, so old Japcrap would be fine, and cheap but nice/upgradable basses are good. If there's nothing that is worth going for cheaply, I think the Lakland is really top of the budget (although I wish I could justify the Takamine by having a band to play it in haha) Si[/quote] Most 'true' archtop electrics are laminated - EB-2, Rivoli, Starfire etc. and none the worse for it. In fact there are plenty of jazz guitarists who prefer laminated archtops over solid carved spruce/maple because of its' crisper sound and lack of feedback. I'm sure the same's true for any bass with magnetic pickups, maybe more so. Also bear in mind allot of hollow guitars are actually semi hollow, including all the above, the TAB and most 'normal' electric basses with acoustic chambers routed in. The Lakland's properly hollow but has a mega thick maple top and back so none of them will sound like a vintage Benedetto. Don't let laminate tops put you off - 4 grand vintage ES335s are just as laminated as the Aria is. The TAB is pretty nicely made and sounds OK (you can always change the electrics) and normally go quite cheap. The only reason I don't own one is they're 34" scale. If that's OK with you then I'd check one out.

If you've got the cash for a B10 then you could probably stretch to an original EB-2 or even a 60's Guild Starfire (the one with Hagstrom pickup(s)). Alternatively, an Epiphone Coronet can be had for big money if it's an original US one, or quite reasonable money if it's one of the very nicely made 90's reissues. I tried an EKO a couple of weeks ago (it looked a bit like a wider, more rounded violin bass) and it actually played very nicely. It was made from original 60s parts so might have squealy pickups and short lived tuners but it felt solid enough. A good price too. I've been so frustrated looking for just the right hollow bass (short scale, set neck, decent hardware and suchlike), I've now decided to make some myself. Good luck!

[quote name='7string' post='654476' date='Nov 14 2009, 03:05 PM']You can use saliva on really bad areas. Saliva tends to cut through any dirt. If you really don't want to do that try de-ionised water. Garages used to sell it for topping up car batteries and it's the stuff you can put in irons.[/quote] I knew a woman who restored violins and spit was one of the most important substances she used when it came to the finish. Yuk! TBH, I don't see much point in spending twice the money on half the amount of 'special guitar polish' when it's probably just car polish in another tin. Mind you, I'm not sure I'd use either if I was cleaning up a pre CBS Jazz

+1 on all the above and I would add the best advice I can give is do your homework and learn as much as you can about your chosen subject - really anoraky stuff is usually the only way to find whether it's a hashed up dog or a matured beauty. Also if you know what you're talking about when you're trying stuff out the vendors are less likely to take the piss. Like "That's a special custom shop polyester finish on that '62 Precision" or "quite allot of Precisions left the factory with a DiMarzio J in the bridge position in the early 70s actually". Know what I mean???

[quote name='umph' post='653522' date='Nov 13 2009, 01:14 PM']if you can hear the difference between power supplys without cranking an amp you must have golden ears! The main difference would be that SMPS are more noisey and transformers are heavy[/quote] Yeah, hence why I said "some players", meaning 'not me'. I'd be surprised if many players could pass the pepsi challenge between valves and solid state at undistorted levels, let alone the architecture of their power supply. Or maybe I'm just jealous of all those MarkBass owners without osteopath appointments and spare EL34's in their gig bags....

[quote name='Delberthot' post='653855' date='Nov 13 2009, 06:40 PM']Looking back, I probably could've worded this thread a little better but I have a hidden agenda. The Japanese Fender is mine and I'm trying to talk myself out of selling it so I was gauging what other people thought of it compared to the US models as i would probably be buying a US model if my one sells but am I making a mistake? This is the dangerous season for me between the end of the wedding gigs and the start of the Christmas party nights when I have a lot of spare time not playing. The price I have it in at reflects my indecision as to whether I should be selling it or not. I did get caught out before when I put my Fender '51 reissue on Ebay at a high price as I didn;t really want to sell it but someone came right in and bought it. The rolled fingerboard edges really appeal to me on the new US models as it was the thing I really liked about my JV Squier but whatever I get I'm tempted to put a Fralin or ollar pickup in there anyway. Does anyone have any pills to sedate me until the end of the month so that i don;t do anything rash?[/quote] I've owned a JV squier P for 20 years (My god, is it that long?), yet I tried a mex standard precision at the Bass Gallery a couple of weeks ago and if I closed my eyes I'd be hard pushed to tell the difference, nicely profiled board edges and everything. There's definitely a kudos, a bit of magic to the American made instruments so it's really about change for change's sake if you havet to do it. I could never justify the cost of buying a new American Standard but if I had spare money like that then I'd be on it in a second.

500 quid for an 80's Jap Precision in comparison to 600 for a US version, Hmmmm. The used black one is a bit suspect because of what might have happened to the neck to take that big chunk out of the headstock. 200 more for a new one although I'll bet if you went to a music shop and tried a few, found one you like and waved cash under their noses you could probably get it for less, meaning you could get a new one for not allot more than a used one. If I had the cash I'd go new and grind them down on the price.

[quote name='cocco' post='648843' date='Nov 8 2009, 04:26 PM']My first thought was the Di Marzio split P (the one in the Yamaha Attitude), but I reckon this is gonna suffer from the same problems as the Delano. Then my attention turned to the Duncan SPB-3 the 'old faithful' of the p-bass replacement pickup world. but to be honest Im not entirely sold on this idea after playing a Mike Dirnt P-bass. So now I am in a world of possible custom efforts from Wizard or possibly shed again but I dont know what I want. Is it possible/a good idea to split a Jazz pickup like a P-bass one and just get that in? Am I asking too much to want my P to have the attack/definition that my jazz has? What can i do? Cocco[/quote] I use a DiMarzio and the output's pretty high in comparison to the stock standard one. It's not muddy either, you get out what you put in, like any good passive system should do. I use it with a Schaller Jazz bridge pickup and that gives me a pretty good, broad range of sounds. I'm surprised your' Delano sounds weak and muddy - maybe there's something wrong with it or the installation.

I might be wrong but I [i]think[/i] the original version had a transformer power supply whereas the LMII has a switched supply. No point in going into details but suffice to say some players find amps with an 'old fashioned' transformer based power supply are slightly warmer sounding than the more modern, lighter switched supplies. It's all very confusing really - I've started hankering after a MarkBass and am positively bewildered by the choice, especially with the new MoMark bits-n-pieces amps....

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='650532' date='Nov 10 2009, 01:21 PM']One day I'll find a bass with a modern neck/body profile, but proper 70s jazz-style growling tone. I'll fit an S1 switch plus an audere pre, and I'll be in absolute bass heaven.[/quote] God! That's a really good idea - I assume you're talking about wiring the Jazz singles in series. Now I'm going to have to try it.... As far as choices go, I'd still go for a MusicMan Stingray with a 3 band EQ, or a Sabre (2 pup version, pre EB) if you can find one. The problem with the Stingray comments is they're all saying stuff like "one trick pony" and "limited sound", but this is misleading. A 3 band Stingray with a series/parallel/single coil switch can produce a good broad range of tones - it's just it still sounds like a Stingray. That doesn't mean it's not versatile. I think every bass player should own a Stingray at least once in their lifetime - same as being on the dole or running a Triumph Trident.

I use a Behringer Bass V-amp, which is good for bass [i]and[/i] guitar. Most other forum users hate Behringer but I've found it pretty good for messing around with amp models, speaker sims and effects. Cheap too....

definitely a czech-ease. It's an interesting bass but the question is; Does it have the sound of a double bass and the compactness of an EUB or the sound of an EUB but with the bulk & transport problems of a double????? It doesn't look that cool but I don't think it was down to the realms of 'twatdom'.

Don't forget the fretless bass is one of the most dynamic musical instruments in the world, meaning it's even more about 'how you play' than 'what you play'.

If you're in Kent or Sussex (I assume you're not in Cumbria), isn't it worth spending a tenner or so (15? 20?), on a travel card and paying a visit to the Bass Gallery up in Camden and The Bass Cellar (I think) on Denmark Street - both in zone 2? The staff at Bass Gallery seem a bit aloof at first but warm up if it looks like you're serious (typical Camden attitude), and in the Bass Cellar they're very helpful and friendly (especially unusual in that part of town), although they don't seem to have as much stock. This is all my own experiences by the way, some people might not have anything good to say about either but if you're looking exclusively at basses there's no better places.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='650664' date='Nov 10 2009, 03:23 PM']passive p/j - it's all you need[/quote] That's what I use.

[quote name='Anders' post='650100' date='Nov 9 2009, 10:04 PM']I've thought about those too.The Trace Elliot V8 maybe?[/quote] The v series are supposed to be good for grindy sounds, the reason I suggested a Quadra or Hexa is because they have a more 'modern' front end in the form of a GP12 pre amp so should be easier to get this elusive sound you're looking for. Mind you, I'd have a V8 even if it just sat unused in my living room .

Hmmm, what about a Trace Quadra or Hexa? Mind you, the term rocking horse s##t comes to mind when I think of these amps...