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3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

The length of the exposed core or the tapered part has no impact on the sound or strange behaviour... Think piano strings and you'll understand.

The big difference with a piano is that the wound/tapered strings (ie. lower strings) have exactly the same amount of exposed core showing at the witness points at each end. The speaking length of the string is completely symmetrical - it has a taper at each end and has a straight pull across it's length from the anchor point at one end to the tuning key at the other. It is designed to produce a single note only, and the string geometry and mechanics of installation are optimised for that purpose. By contrast, a typical tapered B is only tapered at one end, generally has a different break angle at the bridge and the nut, and has the full string gauge passing over the nut. Which is quite assyemtrical. On top of which, it has to produce many different notes. When you fret the string you introduce yet another type of witness point, at the fret itself, which again is at variance with the taper at the saddle. In effect, whether open or fretted, a tapered string is heavier at one end than the other, which can give rise to unbalanced vibrations, which then causes the wierd intonation issues.

I've experienced wierd intonation problems with tapered Bs before. This wasn't due to poor string installation, it was down to the tapered section of the string being too long for the string anchor/saddle configuration of the bass. The taper/core ran too far over the saddle and into the string voicing area which can cause all sorts of odd effects. I think you get best results with a tapered B when the transition point is as close to the saddle fulcrum as possible. Finding a taper with measurements that suit a particular bass isn't always that easy.

Bear in mind that VAT is charged on the total cost of importing the goods which includes the cost of the bass PLUS the cost of shipping PLUS the duty. If the package passes through Parcel Force for final delivery (as some shipping agents such as USPS do) they also add on a handling fee of £12.

The Mid Sweep info sheet is here - http://www.east-uk.com/pdf/midsweep02.pdf

You'll need to tap a 9v feed from your existing preamp board (or battery connector). I'm not sure if it's best positioned before or after your existing pre, but it has simple screw connections for the wiring so easy enough to try both and see what works best. Either wire the pickups directly to the Mid Sweep and the output of the Mid Sweep to the input of your existing pre or vice versa.

Here are the cut and boost freq curves for the Musicman 2-band.

Also an interesting technical article about the original Baxandall circuit https://learnabout-electronics.org/Downloads/NegativeFeedbackTone.pdf

I think you mean the Mid Sweep 01 - https://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/single-stack-modules/mid-sweep-01.html

I have one of these as part of an SPM-02 modular preamp. Very usable mid control, particularly with the variable frequency sweep. Not sure how easily it would fit with your existing 2-band but John is usually very helpful with advice. If you're thinking of getting one I'd give him a call.

3 hours ago, funkle said:

Great deal! If only they did a forearm contour on these. I’m almost tempted to buy one and alter it...

I was concerned about the lack of body contours when I got mine last year but haven't found it to be a problem. The body radius is enough to soften the edges. If it had a hard edge like binding that would be a different matter! Great basses and outstanding value for money.

Probably made by Schaller to Ric specs. Hipshot do a Ric replacement tuner which is very similar but doesn't have vintage features such as the paddle rivet and the large slot screw on the cog.

https://hipshotproducts.com/products/hb5-bass-tuning-machine

Bought a Stingray pickguard from Adam, good chap to deal with, quick shipping (I had a tracking number within minutes of buying!), well packed and item as described.  Pleasure to do business with. Thanks!

Hmm, that's interesting, I'll have to have another play with mine! I know the wheel sets the frequency but I've always set the trim pot to a slight boost to get that mid-bump.

Great basses these. I'm intrigued by your EQ2 setting with the trim pot in the neutral position (neither cut nor boost) - can you actually hear a difference in tone when you switch between the flat (position 1) and EQ2 (position 3) settings?

PMd

Cool, thanks

14 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

There’s a stew Mac version too...which is better 😊

Is this the StewMac one you're thinking of? I can't see a cross-slot version on their website...

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/wrenches/truss-rod-wrench-for-fender.html

It was on the bass when I bought it so not sure where it came from. You can get replacement Bronco pickguards from earlpilanz on ebay here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz/Bronco/_i.html?_storecat=25805454010

How much do you fiddle with the controls when playing live? If you mostly just set and forget then I wouldn't worry about it. A little crackle here and there is all part of the vintage experience!

13 hours ago, BassBunny said:

The standard "tone" control on a jazz is a treble bleed.

The treble bleed in the Obsidian wiring is an additional cap+resistor on the vol pot which retains high end (which is normally lost) when you roll down the volume. It also slightly changes the taper of the vol controls. With both vols full up the treble bleed will have no effect on the standard Jazz sound. If you back one or other of the vols off to favour the bridge or neck pickup there will be a slight difference in sound over the standard wiring. Probably not enough to really notice unless you're listening for it. 

11 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

...if a judicious tweak to the truss rod could make a difference.  I would have thought that would make a tangible difference to the vibration characteristics of the neck and, if I read the article correctly, presumably you only need to move that node a teeny bit away from the fret.

And the other thing I've never tried is detuning a semitone.  If the paper is right, then that should completely change the node positions...

Yes to both the above. A small tweak on the trussrod (one way or the other) will shift the resonance slightly, whether enough to make it go away will depend case by case. Detuning by a semitone will dramatically shift any coincident resonances. You will lose the old dead spots but might find some new ones!

10 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Christophe LEDUC once told me, a very long time ago, that all instruments have a dead spot, even a Steinway piano or full graphite instruments, but the work of the luthier is to "hide" that dead spot.

I think this is exactly right. I had a Zon with a noticeable dead spot, higher up the neck than usual due to the stiffness of the neck but it was definitely there. Variations in harmonic content and decay characteristics of individual notes will usually be found on any instrument if you listen hard enough.

The attached doc gives a useful scientific explanation of dead spots and is worth a read. They occur where resonant frequencies in particular parts of the neck happen to coincide with exactly the same position as a fretted note of the same frequency. Read on to become demystified in this much misunderstood topic! 

Dead_Spots_Bass_English.pdf

15 hours ago, TwoTimesBass said:

It's puzzling, best guess is it's somehow shaping the harmonic response of the valve ...

Thanks, maybe that's it...

Thanks for the link. I guess it could be, although the added cap mentioned in the HF rejection circuit goes direct to ground...

The schematics below show part of the Orange AD200B preamp circuit compared with the Terror Bass 500 Mk1 preamp. The TB preamp is supposedly based on the AD200B but there are some noticeable differences. One that jumps out at me is that the TB signal is fed back to the input of the valve via capacitor C5 (47p) which doesn't happen with the AD200B. Can someone explain what this 'feedback' loop does and why it's there? Thanks for any input from all you valve amp experts out there!

This article may help - https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/11/12/understanding-guitar-grounding/

It's to do with improving comfort and reducing playing fatigue in the fretting hand. This page gives a good overview of different asymmetric shape profiles - http://www.kappi.com/blog/2012/10/asymmetric-neck-shapes/

2 hours ago, Drax said:

Ah that’s just a bad drawing. Modern C is symmetrical. 

+1! There are a zillion variants on neck shapes but the chart below is a useful guide for the most common traditional shapes. Assymetrical neck shapes are also available and can look similar to your drawing.