LeftyJ

Wal Mk1.

I would like to hear some finger noise This may sound odd, but I feel that it gives a fairly good impression of how coarse a string (or the string material) is, and it gives an impression of how forgiving the strings are when your playing technique isn't as refined. I know some strings can sound really scratchy when you move around, because the material "sticks" to your fingers. I've been playing Elixirs for so long that I'm no longer used to the more coarse feel of uncoated strings, and there's a sloppiness in my fretting technique that you won't hear with softer coated strings but which is very much present on the Status Hotwires on my headless S2's which require double ball strings. So this is definitely a personal thing, and I must admit there's a bit of laziness involved (hey Elixir, how about some double ball Nanowebs? )

My longest-owned bass is my Ellio Martina Forza 5-string, that I bought used in 2006 for €1300 (which also firmly made it my most expensive bass for a long time, until I bought a brand new Rick 4003 in 2009) and is still The One that I would keep if I was forced to sell all but one. I barely play it at the moment because my 5-string Status has stolen its limelight, but it fits me like a glove and the range of sounds is huge, from passive Jazz Bass to modern boutique tones.

250k would definitely not be suitible for low-impedance pickups. The stock MEC blend pot is 25k. As you can read in my first post, I already measured with a digital multimeter. The pots are fine, and all the wiring is connected and looks fine. I have already isolated the culprit, I know it's the neck pickup. I'm just hoping to find out what's wrong with it, and if it's fixable. Thanks @BigRedX, I feared as much 🙁

There's a few companies out there that replicate the original Sure Grip knobs, and the smaller EQ knobs too. Ibanez themselves still use (!) the Sure Grip III, which was on the Musician and Roadster ranges from 1982-1983. These are also sold separately for roughly €7,50-€8,00 a piece. They're not the period correct model for the RS924, but close. Thomann stocks them, and the UK distributor for Ibanez (Headstock distribution?) may also be helpful. Meinl shop in Germany appears to be the official parts supplier for Ibanez parts in Germany, but their site says they're not allowed to ship to the UK.

Last week I acquired a German-made 2001 Warwick Streamer LX for a great price. It has the stock MEC PJ active pickups and 2-band electronics with push-pull volume for EQ bypass and a balance pot. The pickups are sealed with black epoxy and the insides can't be reached without breaking the cover or the epoxy seal. The pickups are 3-conductor: a hot, a combined ground/- for the 9V power, and the + for the 9V power. The wiring disappears straight into the epoxy. The splitcoil does not produce any signal whatsoever. I have tried isolating it and using a multimeter to measure it, but I'm a little lost. With regular passive pickups, I can just unsolder them and measure on the hot and the ground and I'll roughly know what kind of resistance to expect and what to look for. The MEC pickups constantly require 9V though, and are very low-impedance. The bridge pickup appears to give 1.1kOhm with the 9V connected (and goes all over the place with the battery detached), the neck pickup none. It appears the signal is interrupted somewhere, but I can't find the source. What do I look for, and what possible problems could there be? I really don't know where to look. Thanks!

The stock pickups on the RS924 appear to be DiMarzio's. They use the same hex screw pole pieces, and to my knowledge no other manufacturer uses cream covers. I have owned an RS924 for over 10 years, but recently sold it because I prefer lighter basses and thinner necks these days. If your Roadster still has its stock electronics, active pickups aren't a requirement. EMG's will work because they have their own built-in preamp which boosts their output level to the same level as that of a passive pickup. If you originally intended to restore it as close to stock as possible, you could look at the DiMarzio's and maybe cleaning or replacing some pots - a likely culprit for the crackle you describe.

Yes Plug the BDDI into one of the XLR's, set operation to mono, and you're all set.

Looks cute, and fun! Would be cool if it holds up to the tension Laugh all you want, but that is exactly what Gibson and Moog did with the Gibson RD series

Wow, they're doing shortscale and short multiscale models now? Awesome, and pretty unique! Hey Ibanez, how about some lefties?

What model of Status pickups are you looking at? I have two Status S2 Classic basses, one older model with Status Hyperactive soapbars and a fairly recent one with the current "2003 Status soapbar" pickups. The Hyperactives are not available new, but the 2003 pickup is still the stock soapbar pickup for the S2 Classic and the S3 and is a drop-in replacement for EMG DC soapbars and Bartolini M3/4/5 soapbars. They're passive pickups, and Status claims they will work with most onboard preamps.

Cool stuff! Those were the final evolutionary step between the Roadstar II series in its many shapes and the Soundgear series that was introduced in 1987 (with the final version of the Roadstar II being the RB800, which basically is a Soundgear with a different headstock). The RB835 is pretty rare, and it seems it wasn't available worldwide. Google searches of the model nearly all appear to lead towards Russian and South-American websites. They're cool basses, but they have no real value as collector's items and they're a bit outdated unlike older, more Fender-like, models like the RB630 and RB650 that have become somewhat of a classic, and the beautiful RB924 and RB824. The one @TheGreek posted is currently on eBay for $349.99 in Japan, but IMO not worth it when you add in shipping costs and import duties. It looks good at first glance, but the back sides are badly worn. There's little logic in the naming of the Roadstar II Bass series. Models were updated regularly and sometimes changed dramatically while maintaining the same model name and number. The RB835 had some near-identical twins in the form of the RB850/851 and RB950, which in their last years of production had the same body shape but slightly different versions of the same pickups and different controls. Some models were Japan domestic market only, as Ibanez still does sometimes today. Some were only for specific other markets.

Our previous queen was driven around in one of these, until she had it replaced with a stretched Volvo S80 of the first generation:

Agreed. And the square-cornered control plate. I hate it just as badly on real Höfners, it would look so much better with rear-routed access to the pots and wiring and direct-mount pots.

They're Fender-owned, so that's one down

Oooooh, that top one in that gloss finish, but with the black hardware of the one below! That would look incredible.

Of all the things I have GAS for at the moment, the most persistent is for a fun lefty shortscale. Top of my GAS-list would be this Atelier Z Baby Z:

Poor Leno - Royksopp

Some great suggestions in this thread! Cort, Crafter and Tanglewood are great for the money, especially used. I'm not familiar with Vintage acoustics, but I like their electrics and basses. Art & Lutherie is indeed great too, and I'd like to add their sister brand Seagull. I own a Crafter D7L dreadnought with a solid cedar top that I like a lot. It plays and sounds great, and looks and feels very solidly built. I've had it for over 10 years now and even though I don't play it much (I grab my Taylor GS Mini most often) it's not going anywhere any time soon I'd like to underline @Skybone's suggestion to look for a solid top! They really do tend to sound better, and will only improve over time.

I used to own an Italia Torino bass that will get you close soundwise (semi-hollow with a big, bold mudbucker in the neck position) but it has a single cutaway bodyshape and an added bridge pickup (a guitar humbucker in a closed chrome cover).

That would be Mark D Phillips. The same guy that changes 7-string guitars into wide-necked 6-strings for ham-fisted people, and who butchers cheap Gear4music B-stock acoustics into "thumb style" guitars. He's been going at this for years, and his work is just plain awful. Search for his name on the forum and you'll find plenty more of this type of junk https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/mdphillips1956mark/m.html?item=193840192221&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Nice Cort Artisan B5 fretless: https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/left-handed-bass-guitar-cort-b5fl/1387424366 It's an older one, with the old two-piece bridge assembly (I'm guessing late 1990s). Those wenge necks are brilliant, far better than you'd expect for the price.

That's a Corvette Standard, not a $$ or a Jazzman. It's nice, but it's the entry level model as far as German Corvettes go, and in my opinion this pickup configuration and position is very conservative and Jazz Bass-like, and not what I associate with typical Warwick. It has the Just-a-nut 2 which was not nearly as good as the all-brass, individually adjustable J-a-n 1 and the J-a-n 3. However, it is the active version with stacked bass and treble controls, which is nice. It also appears to have the desirable full wenge neck in the pictures, despite the description saying it has ovangkol with a wenge fingerboard. The description says nickel silver frets, but they appear to be proper bell brass. Looks like the seller copied the specs of a more recent one, but I would say this one is from around 2000. Could be a lovely bass! Could be worth asking for a picture of the back of the headstock, it will help determine the neck wood and it will show you the serial number with the year of production. I'm sure you can do better on the price. I paid only 500 euros for my used 2003 Streamer LX5 around 10 years ago, and just yesterday I had a 2001 Streamer LX 4-string delivered to me that I also paid 500 for. It can be done 🙂

Exactly what you would expect from a wooden neck I've made some minor adjustments to my S2 Classic necks when I switched string gauges, and the necks responded quickly and did exactly what I wanted.

* waits for NBD thread to pop up *