warwickhunt

All done. Bridge back 10mm and loads of intonation adjustment. @simisker - I have a Hipshot here and the holes weren't quite lined up so no. @miles'tone - Haussel Bassbars (N & B)

The plot thickens!

Fixings are at toward the back of the bridge, so plugging and refitting shouldn't be an issue BUT... this paint is fairly thin, satin and soft. I'm fairly sure the bridge will have bitten into the paint and it'll come away stuck to the bridge. Only one way to find out but if it doesn't lift off easily I'm going to be pretty miffed at Maruszczyk for managing to get this so wrong!

The bridge is in the wrong place! Just measured from the 12th fret to the front of the bridge (same bridge) on my regular Jake and it is 8mm further back than the orange Jake!

I wonder if the custom/non-standard builds like mine go through a different process/handling. Don't know why I didn't think of it earlier but it's easy to check as I have a regular Jake cased in my music room... off to check what's going on with that!

Maybe a different employee set up the jig for the 5 string bridge placement? It defo makes sense as I can simulate where the saddles would be if the scale was measured from the nut, not the zero fret and it would work then.

It had me scratching my head and actually wondering if they'd got the scale length wrong. HANG ON... they have messed up and I know why/how! The bass has a nut and a zero fret. I reckon they have measured the baseline setting from the 'nut' rather than from the zero fret which if the bridge was placed based on the zero fret it would move the bridge a good few mm further back! Shame on you Maruszczyk!

Yep, so the saddle mounts aren't as long and there's still room to wind yours further back. I think I have spare 'W' saddles, so I might be able to do something with them but we'll see when I get the chance to get it on the bench tomorrow.

It is part of my plan but if I put my preferred brand/gauge on there's no guarantee it'll be better... could be worse. I really don't want to have to fit gauges/brands that I don't like, just to get it to work. As you can see, the centre of the 'possible' travel in that trough is just about at 34" (the tape reads 17" as I was measuring from centre 12th fret) so technically it is in the right place but the fact that they used these long saddle mounts, boogers up the possibility of moving further rearwards. If the saddle assembly were narrower back to front and the saddle in the middle of the mount, I'd likely get enough movement on it... but I can't and it's exacerbated by the fact the saddle is wound down as far as it will go. I'll try a few things but worst case scenario, I may have to reposition the bridge, which I can do but I'm 90% certain that this bridge will be embedded in the paint and it'll rip part of the paint up.

Thought about that but the saddles are bottomed out in their mounts (go no lower) and turning the whole unit will take the string height up... unless I start grinding off the bottom of the saddle.

Background: I've a Maruszczyk Jake custom bass (above) which I bought used and took to immediately; gigged it since arrival and done nothing to it to set it up (it arrived set up as close to my ideal). I've been using it in a band project which necessitated me playing a little solo/interlude/noodle, so I started messing about and noodled up the dusty end. I confess I rarely have to do much above the 12th fret in any other band situation, so it transpired I noted the intonation was all to pot! I set about fettling the bass and adjusting the intonation. This is where my problems started... I adjusted ALL bridge saddles as far back in their travel as I could and this 'just' got the G string intonated; the D, A and E strings couldn't be intonated sufficiently! Initially I wondered if it was a miscalculation re. the nut/zero fret but after chatting online with a friend I measured from the nut and zero fret to 12th and then double checked from 12th fret to the bridge. The centre of the bridge is defo at 34" however if you look at pictures of the bridge you'll note that the saddle break point is near on 34"... with no possible adjustment of the saddle assembly further back! The issue is that the saddle assembly is fairly long with most of the mass being to the rear of the assembly (in relation to where the actual saddle is) and it only has the option to adjust forward from this position not back. I'm unsure if Maruszczyk are aware of this but it seems a pretty big oversight. I'm left in a position where I'll either need to move the whole bridge further back; not my favoured option as it is soft satin paint and I have a feeling I'll be pulling paint off the body. Alternatively, I can try and source some alternative saddle assemblies (possibly Warwick ones) but this really shouldn't need to be done by an owner!

Cheers I'll relay to tech.

As others have said, not mega rare (I also have one) and they pop up for sale on a regular basis. Great if you can get it sorted for not a lot of money but don't go spending a lot of money flogging a dead horse... buy another one!

Got all excited as the fuse tested 'dead' with continuity meter and all of the valves tested OK across 9/4/5. I found fuses this morning that I could run a test with (not exact match T500mA as opposed to T250mA but fine to test power up and output) but no joy... silence from the outs. I took out the test fuse and checked it was still OK (yes) and I plugged all of the leads into another amp and checked those to be sure it wasn't a different issue, no probs. The tech wants it back on his bench and no charge for labour but if a separate unrelated failure has occurred I've said I'm happy to pay for parts. I really do appreciate everyone's input and I'll report back when he's had a look at it.

He assured me they were checked,that's not to say that all of these faults are based on one problem; I've been around long enough to not get tunnel vision.

I've trawled the net for the schematic and emailed Eich amps again (Thomas Eich founded Tech Soundsystems)... nothing from them after the first reply saying they no longer manufacture these amps and keep no spares or records.

I'm only going to test the valves for basic operation to eliminate them + test the T250Ma fuse is OK (don't trust visual). As a side note - the tech who has done the work and fitted the new transformer(s), heat trip and fuse, would like the amp back (no further charges to me) as he won't be beaten on this and wants me to be fully satisfied.

I was using this as a very basic guide to see if it is dead (3 minutes in).

Doh... need to see if I can drag out my old PC (didn't bin it when I went to lap top) and find the file!

No manual or schematic sadly (despite me being the original owner), not sure about a different valve being required in 1 position? Power amp - Ah OK never had that problem but worth knowing.

@BassmanPaul I'm not sure if I need to whoop or groan! I whipped the valves (x3) out, as I knew they should be 12ax7 valves but I wanted to see if they were matching as the first one was blank and no brand. As I took them out I gave them a good examination and lo/behold as I drew out #3 it was discoloured reddish brown! I have no idea if this means it is dead but when my multimeter arrives, I'll run a test; Google seems to indicate pins 9 / 4&5 (correct me if wrong but I'll be testing all 3 the same way so should tell).

@agedhorseI can't really comment on a lot of the 'tech' stuff you've kindly given insight on but to recap and give a bit of user insight. @BigRedX Power amp certainly never given me issue or gone into protect mode but I'll be getting the next tech to take that into account. @BassmanPaul Off to check the Valves/tubes type. Fuse - T250Ma I've ordered a multi-meter to do a test on the fuse as it looks intact but don't always trust that. Heat/Temp - Neither of the replacement transformers seemed to run hot or burn out. The recent replacement I tested the plate/casing directly above the transformer and it was barely warm, certainly as cool/cooler than any other amp that I own (Thunderfunk/EBS350HD/Bugera Veyron). The original transformer 'burned out' last year, it was genuinely toasted and burnt. The replacement should have been a direct drop in but it was a custom wind and not available, the tech who did the work took note of the amp requirements and the spec he could decode from the photos I supplied and ordered a higher spec transformer as the exact spec couldn't be matched. This ran in the house for about 3-5 hours (not continuous) then literally as I played it, it started to distort slightly, lose volume and then no output. The tech took this on the chin and ordered a new transformer, fitted the thermal and fuse. When he fitted this replacement, he did a quick test on the transformer he took out and it was simply dead but no visible damage or smell. The new transformer ran in the house on test, I then gigged it twice (3 hours each time) and then I set it up at home to do some recording and as I messed with my PC it literally went from working fine to having no output (power still operating cooling fan etc, no burning smell). As a footnote I have run signals both from the pre into a separate power (line out and effects send) and reverse I've gone from a differing pre into this power (effects return and line in); none of the in/out to this amp worked but I've no idea if that indicates a broader issue or if it would do that when the pre is dead Oh and just to be absolutely belt/braces I did a parallel test with another amp and they performed as expected (eliminating some vagary in the way I was testing).

Basic https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TM0W8ZY?psc=1&smid=A3ROO57IJZEV22&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

On my 'to do' list for tomorrow. Be here tomorrow from Amazon

I'll check on fuse size. Just plain odd that the previous trans lasted 3 hours at bedroom volume (not continuous) and had no visible damage (unlike the first) but tested 'dead' and this one has no visible damage... as yet untested. One daft thought is that I have no means of testing that this fuse is OK other than OK visually; one should never assume!