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[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1336029413' post='1639592'] What do you mean by strange sounds? [/quote] If you set the pickups too high the magentic pull will disturb the free vibration of the strings. When this happens notes don't sound pure and will start to waver a bit. You'll know when it happens, iIt just doesn't sound quite right! As long as you keep the pickup height below this threshold you can play around and find the settings that sound best to you. Further away - more open and mellow; closer - more tight and focused. G side usually set slightly closer than E side to get even string balance. Bridge pup generally set slightlly higher than neck to balance output. Not always the case as some bridge pups are wound hotter to compensate. Have a play, any changes you make can easily be reversed!

...and here's one of the string anchor at the headless end [attachment=105911:ns_design2.jpg]

this is the only complete pic I can find [attachment=105910:ns_design.jpg]

I'm not a Godin expert but this blurb from the Godin website may be of some help: "[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]We are a Canadian company with our head office located in Montreal and we build our guitars in several different locations, five in Quebec and one in New Hampshire. For those of you keeping score, that adds up to six factories spread out over about 1000 kilometers. So why not just have one giant guitar factory? Although there are some obvious inconveniences associated with spreading ourselves out this much, the up-side is that these smaller operations promote a more intimate working environment which gets everybody more involved and this is reflected in the instruments themselves.[/font] [font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Godin guitars are assembled in our Richmond, Quebec and Berlin, New Hampshire factories. The necks and bodies are all made in our original location in La Patrie, Quebec.[/font]" I don't think 'assembled in USA' means it's in any way inferior to a 'manufactured in Canada' Godin. The bass on ebay isn't an Ultra as you rightly point out but I think it is a current A4 model (it has the individual RMC saddles rather than the earlier single saddle Baggs transducer).

Some useful 'how to' tips here - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/wax-potting-microphonic-pickup-g-l-pic-heavy-859675/

[quote name='blackmn90' timestamp='1334830232' post='1621889'] ... maybe my bridge pickup was wound to be weak on purpose. [/quote] As Doctor J says. it's more usual for the bridge pickup to be wound hotter than the neck, not weaker. Maybe your Tokai doesn't have a properly matched pair of pups.

General wisdom is to put a compressor as the first thing in the effects signal chain. If it accepts an instrument level input then this can be before the amp (and before any other effects). If it needs a line level input then run it from the effects loop as you're already doing. I run a DBX160A from the series effects loop of my amp. That's a general guideline anyway, as with most things there are no hard and fast rules. You can probably do the exact reverse and still get a decent result!

The neck pup gets stronger vibrations from the strings than the bridge and will therefore generate a stronger output. Balancing the output of neck and bridge pups is down to seting the pickup height. I have my bridge pup set a little closer to the strings than the neck but it's a matter of personal taste. If you're not happy with the balance on your jazz try lowering the neck pup or raising the bridge pup and seeing how that sounds.

Doesn't the Dean Stylist have a tunomatic bridge with a couple of screws to adjust the height?

No worries Gary, I've now switched the wiring on the neck pup to bring it in phase which I'm pretty sure is how it should be. Great little bass with a huge sound and a lot of character, I like it a lot. Cheers! Ian

Here's a chart from the G&L forum listing allen key sizes. http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=43 For Tribute models refer to the metric table. According to this the trussrod is 4mm.

I've just acquired an Epi Allen Woody and noticed that the mini humbuckers are wired out of phase. Control setup is VVT. When both pickups are turned all the way up the sound becomes very trebly and loses bottom end. I've checked the pickups using a multimeter and sure enough they are out of phase. The pups have separate wires for hot, cold and earth so it's an easy fix to swap over the hot/cold wires on one of them, but I'm now curious whether they are intended to be out of phase. Sounds unlikely but the reason I'm even asking is that there are some useful tones on offer around the point where the balance of the second 'out of phase' pup just starts to bite (around the '8' mark). The Woody has a very full bottom end and this adds a little edge and tightens up the low end without losing it altogether. On the other hand, with both pups up full it does lose a lot of bottom end which doesn't seem right. If anyone reading this has an Allen Woody can you please let me know what the sound is like on yours with both pups maxed? Cheers, Ian

Just bought an Epi Allen Woody from Gary. Very pleasant experience, quick replies to messages, honest and fair to deal with, bass was well packed and exactly as described. Would happily do business with again. Thanks Gary, very much appreciated! Cheers, Ian

One to consider is Thomastik Acousticores (AB344). These have a nylon core with phosphor-bronze windings and sound like a classical (bass) guitar. Very expressive strings. And expensive for that matter but they are a bit special! Not everyone likes them - but I do

'Transcribe' is very good as well (http://www.seventhstring.com/) but a little pricier at $40

Depends what you're after and what sort of music you play but if you go for a fretless I'd suggest having the piezo bridge as part of your pickup configuration. My Recurve (0067) has piezo + humbucker (switchable single-coil) and filter preamp which is a very flexible combination. The piezo has a very wide and open natural sound. Combined with the more focused sound of a mag pup you can cover everything from acoustic-like tones to real grunt and snarl with all points in between. Have fun speccing your bass and enjoy!