LITTLEWING

I totally get it. I bought an Aria Legend Jazz for £60 from someone who got it, played a few times and forgot about in a cupboard. I put new Wilkinsons in it, a Fender Himass bridge, new pots and electrics, added a Fender waterslide decal for the hell of it, fine wire woolled the neck and fret ends for that smooth 'played in' feel and because now it's essentially part of me it's my go-to bass indoors and more often than not my live weapon of choice. It's hard to explain but because I put 'me' into it I could never part with it.

Yes, I absolutely agree that in principle the pups angles should follow the string radius but I haven’t managed yet to get even volume response on any P bass I’ve owned, ever, mainly because there’s always at least one string closer to a pole piece which changes volume and clarity. There’s always one string louder than the others, so equal string height to pole or plastic goes out the window affecting the aesthetic of angles. I had one with threaded saddles which allowed more precise spacing allowing each string to be as near as dammit between each pair of poles and that one recorded really well. We all know Jazz pups being flat are a compromise and it’s an art to play softer on the E and G unless you want to go through a compressor. Good old Leo even recognised this with Strats and staggered the poles so that everything sounded nice. There’s a lot more to it than just plugging in and making a noise.

I was in a three piece a few moons back where the guitard was insanely loud even at rehearsal. Live in a pub i kept upgrading my gear until I had an Ashdown 300 head and Ashdown 8x10 cab. He simply wopped his Vox combo up even more and the drummer was losing weight sweating his n*ts off. Band I'm in now playing covers I'm using an old Laney 100 watt 1 x15" combo and it's plenty loud enough because we're all grown up.

Just curious why you were concerned about the pups not set slanting? I haven't had a P bass yet that sounded good with them set as per Fender spec. My Player series sounds nicely balanced with them nearly flat with the E only to spec. My old 2000 Standard Squier has E to spec, A to about 8/64 and D and G also about 8/64. They're all as different as girls' chesticles but still get you smiling with a bit of tweaking.

Sounds exactly what I do these days. I tend to drop a tad off the bottom end and add volume so I hear MY bass and not the circuitry colouring the sound. Then it's just simply altering the tone control and finger attack for each song.

Well, very interesting. So basically valves do one simple job whichever circuit they live in and all we hear in different tones are each manufacturer’s circuit design. Changing valves from any manufacturer does sh*t all and we hear what we want?

Although I haven’t exactly noticed any degradation in the valve sound on my 3500 head, I’m wondering if it’s time to upgrade the tube as it’s done some hours in it’s ten years of life. I sometimes think it’s a little too middly and the other day possibly farted a little using my p bass with custom shop 62’s. Any recommendations or just don’t fix it if it ain’t broke?

I really thought you might have said 'what feedback'?....

If you do find any on your magnets, i find a small blob of blu-tac gets it off in no time.

What do you do with an amp that doesn't have one? That's right. Turn up the knobs you're used to and play using your ears like normal. Who takes any notice of a flickering needle anyway at any point? I like Ashdown gear but tbh its just another gimmIck to worry about. Just ignore it and play, bro.

I used my new Player series Precision once or twice but actually preferred the sound of my old Squier Standard over it until I took the horrid farty mex pups out and put in some Custom Shop '62's. I'm not too fussed now about getting mojo dings on it as it sounds so bloody gorgeous and makes me feel good as I know the band will sound good too.

Okay, but it looks like you are saying you set the capo at the first fret and aim for 2.5 etc. I wasn't being sarky by any means, just trying to be helpful to other readers. Jeez....

Everybody blames strings when setting the witness point at the saddle gives the strings their tone and 'voice'. Maybe try this out when initially fitting strings.

FWIW, I used my small Hartke 15" tiltback combo rear ported cab (Fane 400 watt fitted/dead amp head removed) with my Hartke 3500 in our local pub garden and my wife recorded it loud and clear from our house 10 minutes walk away. You'd be surprised how it carries!

Ummm...you only use a capo to set the relief old chap, not for setting action. Just sayin'.