Threads

Last night at rehersal, while playing the first song, my amp was acting up. Amp is a Darkglass microtube alpha&omega 900. Sounds was coming and going. It sounded exactly like a bad cable does. I tried running bass directly into the amp with different cables, but the problem persisted. Also tried different speaker cables. However..

I took me 2 min to realize my buddy had moved my amp and accidentally changed the settings. The gain (one gain for both channels) was set at 7/10 (I usually have it at 3/10) and the passive mode was engaged. I use an active bass and have a preamp on my board as well. I think the signal was just way too hot. Master volume was a 5/10. We started of the rehersal with a very loud and aggressive song, so I just didnt notice how hot I was running

After I dialed the gain down and set it back to the active bass setting, the amp behaved as normal again. We played through our 30min set twice with no issues.

Does it make sense that a very hot signal would cause my amp to act up like this? If yes, is it likely I did some lasting damage to it?

I have a gig coming up this weekend and I am now super worried that I cant trust my amp Should I worry about this?

I dont know much about amps, so was hoping someone could make some sense of this and give me some advice on the gig. Should I borrow someone elses amp until I feel reassured mine is ok?

Tried searching without much luck. Though i know that the info is here somewhere.

I have a small MIM Fender P bass Jr. that I picked up years ago.
Been customizing it and want to do something with that volume knob.
There is no tone knob, and i like the simplicity of that. But I'd like to take it further and replace the stock pot
with a push-pull to enable switching the pickup into series mode. I am open to other suggestions too but i think this is what i'd do.
Any recommendation of a decent push pull pot to use for this? and perhaps a diagram of how it should be wired?
I do have an old push pull pot but it's 500K and i think I should go with 250K here.

Thanks for any help.

Hi -

I have an Ibanez SRF706. It came with Bartolini MK-1 pickups. I intend to replace these with Lace Alumitone soapbars, which I have received. They are a bit larger than the Barts.

What is the best way to have the cavities enlarged? I sent inquiries to a few local people who claim to be luthiers. The first guy to get back to me freaked me out. He doesn't have a router (too expensive, he says) and offered to do it by hand using hammer and chisel. I don't see how in the world that would look good. I think he thought the pickups had surrounds, which they do not. There is no room for a surround for the neck pickup as it butts up against the end of the neck. I suppose it would be possible to create a custom surround that would cover the pickup on three sides.

He thought two hours at $50 an hour would get it done. The thought scares me to death.

Would a quality cabinet maker be able to do this type of thing? I'm in Eugene Oregon and my choices seem to be pretty limited.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I would even be willing to send the bass (it is neck through) somewhere to have it done.

Bud

So, I’m about to take on a project restoring a ‘65 Jazz bass and was wondering if there were any recommendations for refinishing work in New England/the northeast. I’ve been in touch with Pat Wilkins but wouldn’t mind exploring local-ish options before sending the bass across the country.

Additionally, I was thinking this thread could help serve as a centralized place for people to post names and websites along with locations of luthiers and other talented folk in the community to help make them easier to find quickly for people who may be in similar situations.

Cheers!

Hey y’all!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I’m currently in the market for a 1957 style P Bass. I want a maple neck P with an anodized gold pick guard and either a black or sunburst finish. I’ve been looking at a bunch of different models but Fender has done so many through the years. MIM Classic 50s, AVRI 57, a bunch of Japanese ones, etc. They all look similar but I’ve only played a few versions so I want to know which ones the users here would recommend.

The main thing I want is the 1.75” nut and I want the neck to be as thick as possible front to back, and I want it to be less than $2000. Everything else I’m flexible on!

TLDR: What is the highest quality 50s style Fender P Bass have you played?

PS. I’m not looking for the original single coil Precision- I want a split single.

Seeking opinions from Talkbass family. I'm about to do a complete clean up. On my Tobias Killer B 5string. Cleaning, waxing and buffing, Polishing Fret's, oiling the bass neck fretboard as well. Even changing tuner's to Hipshot. I'm gonna be doing a little every other day. Question is! How long can I possibly leave my bass unstrung until I can finish everything My case is a mint conditioned plush hardshell case and my studio is climate controlled. So is this a big issue leaving the bass un strung for say 2 days?

Hi all. Just a quick inquiry:

Does anyone in here have experience with/or know of any recordings or youtube clips using a Fender Precision 5 string bass with a higher EADGC tuning? If so please post any clips or share any experiences you may have had doing this. I have a 5 string Precision that used to be my workhorse and am thinking of trying this out since it has such a lovely voice as a solo instrument. Looking forward to hearing any sound clips or reading about your experiences. Thanks in advance.

Looking for a passive PJ set for my squier. Bonus points if it has enclosed covers a la EMGs. Not looking for a vintage sound, but also not into bright modern sound. Something in the middle.

With expose poles, thinking of: EMG Geezers, Bartolini B-axis (these are interesting), Fender Yosemite, not sure which from Aguilar, SD, Dimarzio, ETC
With enclosed covers (look cool): EMG PJ, Aguilar DCB, Bartolini Classic and Original.

What do you all think?

Side question: how are the enclosed cover ones setup, considering i always measure from the poles?

Hi,
I have a bartolini NTBT 18V preamp in my moon bass.
When I roll back the volume I'm also losing quite a bit of treble. I've had a treble bleed installed on another bass in the past. But I don't remember exactly what that entailed. Some component hooked up to the volume pot. That's all I know LOL and that it worked. ...
Can you guys tell me what I might need. Anything to watch out for... Maybe even a little schematic so I can pass it on to my local repair guy.
Thank you so much

Picked up an Ibanez GVB36 from Sweetwater today. This is the latest version of the GVB36 (has the Aguilar OBP3 preamp).

Initial thoughts:
- I have tried finding a 6 string bass for years now and always find the necks/string spacing to be a little wide. Neck is still fairly wide/flat on this one, but the narrow string spacing (14mm) makes it work for me.
- I like the pickup/preamp setup better than I expected to. Some of the reviews on this bass complained about the preamp, but those reviews were prior to the switch to Aguilar. Prior to 2024, these used the Bartolini EQB-IIISB. I may eventually swap to US Bartolini pickups, but am happy enough with what is there that I may not. Extremely flexible setup as is. Nice full range sound with plenty of adjustment in the preamp.
- I typically use right angle cables or a Sennheiser XSW-D. Neither fit with the recessed jack. Need to find the extension cable that came with my XSW-D and pick up a straight-straight cable. Minor annoyance, but not something I thought about before purchasing.
- Sweetwater sales rep gave me a solid discount for picking up in store. I assume it was mostly money they saved not shipping, but still happy for the discount.







Somewhat related note, I traded some gear to Sweetwater’s used store. Since I could not find anything on others who have used their used gear trade in, I have a few notes below.

Pros:
- Easy to get a quote online before going into the store.
- No need to deal with shipping your guitar or having a difficult buyer.
- Transparent offers; they show you what they plan on selling your gear for.

Cons:
- Offers are not top dollar; they should not be given Sweetwater has to resell it. Just calling out selling yourself will net more money. On the plus side, Sweetwater did give me better offers than the time I tried MusicGoRound (granted these are franchised so probably vary by location).
- Trade in is in store only; fine for me, but probably does not work for anyone more than a few hours drive away.
- If you want a check instead of store credit, you have to have it mailed or pick it up the next day. As a general note, they pay check or store credit at the same rate (mentioning because Music Go Round pays more if you take store credit).

Overall:
I lost some money by not selling myself. Opted to go Sweetwater, so that I did not have to deal with listing/shipping gear. I have had a difficult buyer in the past. While it was only one bad experience out of many sales, I place some value on not dealing with buyers as a result. I am ultimately happy with what I was paid given the time savings/lack of risk. Bonus is that I was able to unload a good amount of gear in one day that likely would have taken weeks to sell online. Discount on my GVB36 purchase helped offset some of my losses.

I like my Forte D but I'm also just getting into using amp modeling with a GX-100. I was experimenting with a stand alone compression pedal plugged into the effects return expecting to bypass the eq and built-in compressor. To my surprise it sounded like the eq was still able to effect my tone when I adjusted it. I emailed Bergantino and they said that yes the return is in front of the eq. What's the point of a return if the eq still effects it?
So I'm on the hunt for a back up similar amp that has a true eq bypassed return loop. Any suggestions?

At the bottom of this post you can see the wiring diagram I used.

---

I just rewired my Orville EB-3 with a three-way pickup selector (kind of like a Les Paul).

With the switch set in...

... the NECK position, everything sounds and works perfectly.
... the BRIDGE position, everything sounds and works perfectly.

However, when the switch is in the MIDDLE position, everything sounds kind of, well... thin and wimpy.

But here's the thing: If I have the switch in the middle position, if I roll the BRIDGE VOLUME down to around 9, suddenly the middle position on the switch sounds FULL AND WONDERFUL!

Did I make some mistake in the wiring, or is it supposed to work this way?

MANY THANKS in advance!

Need some help here. Where do you get your tort guard for a 2010 Stingray 4H that fits with the holes and is top quality (red/brown parchment, ideally)? The web confuses me, so much out there. Point me in the right direction, please. Has to ship worldwide/Europe. Thanks, all!

Joe Hubbard's courses are on sale, 50% off, until December 2. The courses have been widely praised here on TB, especially the 2 year mastery course. If you were thinking about it, this is a good time to take the leap.


I am not affiliated in any way. Just someone who is taking the course and passing it along for other TB members.

Howdy Y'all,
I got got by the Musicians Friend stupid deal of the day and purchased a Sterling 5HH bass. Now, active isn't a deal breaker but it's definitely not my preference. That said, it means I don't need to go and throw a .160 gauge set of custom strings on one of my 4 bangers (all I currently have), and can instead use this with the heavy group I've been writing with and sort of mod it to my hearts content.

Was wondering if y'all had any recommendations on a set of pickups that you like in Sterlings as an initial mod, and if any are passive. I don't have any qualms just disconnecting the active bits, putting new pickups in, and setting it up to run a master volume and master tone with the pickup selector. Of course if all the available options are also active only that's fine too.

I've had my eye on these Metro Express basses since they were announced a couple of years back (or whenever they dropped). I even have a buddy who was able to buy one of the very first ones before they had the RSD labeling and it was a nice player. After watching the first RSD run come out with less than stellar reviews I put buying a SMX on the shelf but kept an eye out. Fast forward to the latest gen and I was interested again. After doing my homework and speaking with Andy Irvine about them I felt confident to make the purchase of a brand new metallic sage green JJ 5er. I picked this one up off of Sweetwater. I actually got it in a couple of weeks ago and have been able to play 5 shows on it....4 with my regular band and 1 as a sub. All I can say is this bass (IMO) is a killer instrument for the money. Definitely way more pros than cons. I put light gauge strings on out of the box, did the full setup and it plays excellent. The Warwick style adjustable nut and invisible fret technology they use on these basses give them a premium type upgrade. The roasted maple neck/FB also gives it a top notch look and feel. This one weighs around 9lbs 6oz and has been easy to play through the 3 hour gigs. Running the treble and bass around 30% and using the p/u blend knob has gotten me some excellent tones. And it's true what they say about a Sadowsky....they just seem to always fit well into a mix. The only thing negative I can say so far is the B string tuner has felt a little bound up but as I use it and tune it seems like it is freeing up. I guess the the only other negative (if you would call it that) is the preamp not being the stock VTC type preamp. I know this is a 'budget friendly' model and it does sound great, but I have gone ahead and ordered the standard pre and will be dropping that in this coming weekend. The band has been loving it and I was on the sub gig with some Texas touring pros ( a steel guitar player and a drummer) and a touring sound man and they were all really impressed with how it sounded. Sound guy loved it. I'm super pumped how this bass has worked out and I'm going to try and find a song or two to cover on the holiday break to put up on my YT channel. Glad I took the plunge!

Have a 5-string schecter bass. Came with EMG 40 pickups. I swapped them for Nordstrand Jazz bar 5s. I like them well enough, but could really use something brighter and clearer. More high mids, less low mids.

Any suggestions?

Thinking about building pedal board. Before going into too many details, my wish would be for;

Long
Closes up into case
Has as near to zero depth, i.e. tapered front pedal platform as possible.
Way to plug in wall warts and AC

The reason I need size is that this board would also be used for my guitar act. Some of the pedals get used on bass and guitar, a couple are either/or. Additionally, when playing guitar, I'm often singing, playing, and needing to turn an effect on or off, so want those pedals at the front tapered edge so easy to step on. While on bass, no need for that.

Alternatively, if there's a big readymade unit, I'd look at that, but at least an initial look around my phone didn't quite get me to what I'm after.

Been scouring the interwebs for info on these random "Loud Technologies King Slayer" speakers listed for sale locally. I even tried ChatGPT but that was a bust.
Does anyone recognize these and have some technical specifications they can share? The more detail the better.

The provided details from the seller provided are:
"These are in great shape. I believe they are from a 4x10 Ampeg cabinet. Pretty heavy duty 10s. They are from Loud Technologies (ampeg, mackie, etc.) They work great, and as you see in the pics, the cones are like new. They are 4 ohm, marked as king slayer and are dated 2019. If you want to try them out, you would need to bring some kind of 10” cabinet. Its not good to blast them just sitting on a table. I might separate them if you only need 2."

And before anyone asks, I messaged the seller to ask about the back-middle speaker and if the cone is actually bent or if it's just an optical illusion in the picture.

My pinky finger on my right hand doesn’t function properly and it sticks out all the time. I can’t pull it into my hand, in other words, it won’t curl up into my hand.

I’ve had two separate incidents in the past while working, The first incident I cut the tendon that pulls the finger in, so now my pinky stays straight. Years later, the second incident I broke a couple bones in my hand, so now my pinky bends back in the normal state.

These injuries haven’t affected my playing, but it looks weird when I play - my pinky sticks out and doesn’t naturally curl up along with my ring finger. For the most part this doesn’t bother me except when I see pictures or videos of me playing. In fact, for a number of videos, I taped my pinky to my ring finger so it wasn’t so obvious.

My main band recently won the local blues challenge and our band is off to Memphis in January for the International Blues Challenge. I think we would play a 25 or 30 minute set for each round, so it’s not a long time.

Should I be concerned for the competition in Memphis, and tape it or make something to keep my finger curled up? I wouldn’t want to lose marks for presentation. Or am I making a big deal out of something insignificant?

I saw this for sale at Music Go Round and am wondering if anybody knows the make / model.


View attachment mystery_bass.webp

I have an HS Stingray, and I’m looking to refine its sound a little.

It has the stock electronics with the 3-band preamp, and I’m currently experimenting to find the perfect flatwound strings for it.

With the bridge pickup soloed, it does a pretty decent Bernard Edwards/Chic impression. With the neck/bridge pickup blend (and heavy use of the onboard EQ), I can get a massive low-end sound for reggae/dub.

The problem I’m having is that—even with the most extreme EQ settings (max bass, mids cut completely, treble cut completely)—I still get some of that zingy top-end sneaking through.

I tried adjusting the pickup heights—lowering the bridge pickup and raising the neck pickup—and that solved the problem for the blended sound. However, the soloed bridge pickup lost its punch.

As far as I can tell, I have a few options:

1. Wiring a passive circuit to the bridge pickup – to pad it down or roll off some top-end. Essentially, I’m trying to replicate the sound I had when there was a big difference in pickup height.
   Does anyone know what kind of capacitor or circuit could work in this way?
2. Getting a different preamp – Are there any preamps that will preserve the general Stingray vibe, allow me to cut the mids and highs, and eliminate the constant zinginess I get from the stock 3-band?
3. Getting a custom pickup set made – perhaps with an overwound neck pickup. This is probably the most expensive option, but it could be a possibility!

Hi gang, anyone have a chance to compare these two cabinets. They seem to have a lot in common.
Opinions welcome..