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I had one of these Fender American Deluxe Precision V's a while back, and I actually liked it, but wasn't in the right place to keep it. Harder to find, and a great sound.

Here one finally pops back up at a semi reasonable price.....and they messed with it and don't have the stock pickup. I wouldn't pay $2k for that crap, why does GC keep taking in janky stuff and trying to sell it at top dollar. What a waste for whoever screwed up this instrument.

Ok, sorry, just.....sucks lol. Rant over, let the snarky comments commence.

(I realize this is probably a dumb question, but I know next to nothing about electronics nor do I know how to solder, so please try to bear with me...)

So, I was looking at some wiring diagrams out of curiosity and noticed how on all of them the ground wires are soldered to the backs of the potentiometers, for example:



My question is: why is this done? I mean, (I think) I understand why the grounding is done in general, but why specifically are the backs of the pots used? A potentiometer has three terminals, couldn't they be used instead? Isn't it more difficult to solder a wire to a flat plane than a terminal you can wrap the wire around until it's soldered?

Here's how I can take a bass on my two wheelchairs. One wheelchair is electric ; the other is acoustic. The gig bag straps thread over the top of the electric wheelchair's backrest and down behind it. The other wheelchair doesn't have the right backrest for that. The net and straps shown are a pannier made for taking guitars on the back of wheelchairs. It's adapted from one made for taking guitars on cycles. I already had a cycle one, before I needed a wheelchair, and asked the maker to adapt the design for me.

Sire Z3: Really impressive value. The finish and build quality are excellent, with a reassuringly solid feel, low action and a beautifully smooth fretboard that makes it effortless to play. It’s noticeably lighter than my Warwick, although most basses are! I haven’t gigged it yet, but for home recording and DI it feels very much at home, particularly with the EQ kept fairly neutral. Passive mode sounds a little hollow to my ears, but that’s a minor reservation. Overall, an excellent bass that looks, feels and plays more like a £500+ instrument.

This one cost £379 online at Andertons. I had to wait a few months for the 'Olympic White' finish, but was well worth it.

I just picked up a Squier Affinity Jazz V, and I want to upgrade pickups.

I’m on the fence about spending $190 - $250+ on Duncan 67/70’s or Aguilar HC’s because they cost more than the bass did, but I’ve had them both before and I loved them.

Then I came across these…
Generic No-name AlNiCo pickups, look pretty good…but hesitant if the actual product is as good as how the photos look…

$60 for Amazon pickups is kind of unusual, too. Often, they are about $30.


I’m surprised that they even list DC resistance specs
“Neck pickup is 9.6(9-10)K,Bridge pickup is 11.1(11-12)K.”

Thoughts?

They been teasing this bass on their IG page, but now there are some entries of these basses on some online stores. Here is an example:


They are called the Avant, feature stainless steel frets and some unorthodox 3 single coil setup, with 1 slant and 2 straight (or maybe the opposite since its a multiscale?)

All sites I checked out have some weird specs like having 2 volumes for the middle and neck pickup, 1 blend for the bridge (whatever that means) and 1 tone. But on the Images we clearly see only 3 knobs. They also said its a 34 inch scale length which well... is also inaccurate

But still, I really liked this one, as a sucker for multiscale basses but also vintage looking styles, this one hits home. I can only think of the Dingwall SP-1 when it come to these features, so having a sub 500 bucks option is a god send. The 24th fret is a welcomed feature too, which is not seen in a lot of 'vintage' bases.

I really wanna now the scale lenght in these, and also the wiring of these pickups+knobs.

The only things I did not like are:
- The positioning of the jack
- Having no 21th and 24th inlay. Like I can get away not having the 24th but why not the 21th too?? Make no sense

What are your opinions on these?

Hey all,
I recently picked up an old (guessing 2000-2001) Tradition five string jazz shaped bass. The knobs are not stock. The bass is passive and i think has small pots in there.
The pickups volume knobs seem to do what they should and have a nice gentle resistance to turning which makes them feel like good qualitt.. But the tone knob is doing something very odd.
When I turn it up expecting more treble, I do get more highs, but also seem to get more overall volume that almost seems to have a mid push or density to it. When I turn it down, it drops treble but will turn the volume down and seems to be less weighty. This is completely different from other jazz basses I've owned.

Have you seen this situation before? Could it be intentional?

I'm not sure how to take advantage of this. The bass has great, warm tone with awesome sustain.

I'll have to open it up and take a few picks of the wiring. Not really wanting to spend on new wiring and preamp. Alsp, this bass is SUPER microphonic as inany touch to the bass is heard through the amp. I have to switch to a silicon ring to okay this one.

I am looking for a small combo for practicing at home, my study is crowded a bit so I don't have to much space for sound.
I have a multi effect but sometimes I feel like to plug directly into amp.
I don't have problem if I have to eq the sound for piano like high attack or warm for mellow sounds, etc.
I found 3 used for great price:

1. Ampeg BA-108 V2 (I like the 60° tilt)
2. Fender Rumble 15
3. Cort CM20B 20W

I really appreciate the help, unfortunately I don't have opportunity to try any of them, this is why I ask the community opinion.

I’m trying to source a .020” (.5mm) layer of black wood accent layer between the top and body. It’s a 2 piece body blank (not glued up yet). Each half is 21.5” long x 7” wide (546 mm x 177 mm). I’ve looked all over and either it’s out of stock or not even sold anywhere. I guess I could glue on some thick walnut and then plane it down but it won’t be black. Surely black wood or dyed black wood veneer is easily found?

On narrow (screw end ) of the neck heel I have three numbers in blue-green color arrayed thsuly:

010 5155
01201 (slightly smaller size)

I am not sure if it was manufactured in Mexico or not.
On the heel is: 1 TORRES

Anyone?

I just run IEM's these days, so my amps are almost always exclusively for practice anymore. That said, I've had my share of different amps over the years and often find myself (surprisingly) favoring those either with tubes (Markbass Vintage D2) or those that emulate tube saturation (Aguilar Tone Hammer, Eden Nemesis). It's actually a bit surprising because for years I just didn't find any 'logical' and 'technical' explanation that actually made sense to me, but after playing for quite a number of years now, that seems to be the direction I'm drifting. Note that that doesn't mean I simply like everything with a tube. I had a Markbass Tube 800 that I almost but didn't quite get along with (wrong EQ points and the "tube" was so tiny it hardly didn't even count). I also had a Mesa WD800 that just had some lack of "thick with sparkle juice" combination that I just couldn't find in there. However, the amps and pedals (Markbass Compressore, Markbass Vintage Preamp, Sushibox Slammpegg) I find myself using the most are often either tube or "tube-adjacent" (or darkglass).

Anywhose, if I were to lean into the deep end of a full tube practice amp, which one would y'all recommend and why? I don't know a whole lot about all-tube amps, but if it matters, I play 5-strings (usually Schecter Stilettos, but also an Ibanez SR with Nordstrand Big Splits and Aguilar OBP-3 preamp) and I do like to give a decent bump in my tone around 2.5kHz while either leaving flat or rolling off the low mids to reduce mud. I like a 'limitless' deep sound while also having good clarity and 'sparkle' - BUT also without having too much string/fret noise. Difficult combo to chase, I know.

Ashdown CTM 15/30 or Little Bastard 30 strikes my fancy (although I've never owned or played an Ashdown before). What are they like?

Ampeg has the Portaflex 20/50 heads. I've owned an Ampeg combo once (BA115, I think?) and wasn't impressed with the tone (although my SVT 410HLF was fantastic!). I don't believe I've played just an Ampeg head through a cab of my choosing.

My cabs are currently a Markbass 151hr (1x15 w/tweeter) and a Markbass 102hf (2x10 w/tweeter - both 8 ohm), so I've got plenty of speaker to push BUT sending 15, 20, 30, or 50 watts through that to get full tube saturation would be way too loud for a practice rig, I would imagine, soooo, perhaps I'd also need a load box?

Curious what y'all think about an all-tube basically practice amp!

More than 800 jazz standards, transposable to any key (including bass clef), with basic MIDI playback (chords and melody):

Jazz Standards A–Z — 865 Lead Sheets | Realbook.site

Useful as a quick reference, for practicing sight-reading, etc., and (AFAIK) completely free.

PS: Nothing to do with them, just posting it here in case someone might find it useful

One is a natural. I spent about a year and a half looking at t40s for a light one and got one that weighs in at 10#. Lucky me! Got it home, play it as my main bass at home, I like it. I've always wanted one with a rosewood neck because I think I can see my fingers and frets better against the dark color and my eyesight isn't that great so any edge is a good one. One came up locally and I bought it without weighing it but it's 10# as well, original factory Peavey paint job and rosewood neck. It's beautiful, it's going to be my stage bass for the little jam thing I have going right now.

Thing is now I have two, and I want to keep the red/rose one stock, but now I feel like I can play with the other one. I've seen some with the body shaved to a pillowtop and then tobacco burst, looks amazing really. Stain deep blue and gun oil, maybe put push pull knobs for single coil humbucker instead of the 123456-78910 thing that frankly needs better eyesight than mine to make it happen. I would maybe like to have a brass nut machined to let open strings really ring out and sustain.

I could spend $400 on super lightweight tuning pegs but there isn't a lot of neck dive on this one. If I remove a lot of wood from the body neck dive would be worse so all I would want is either a really shallow cosmetic thing or a little bit where my arm goes over the bass if that would help. I like my squier p bass body feel and think the t40 could be more comfortable. I would love to get a very shallow serpent carve done on the body but maybe some day.

At the same time it could use a neck shave so that would lighten up the neck a little and make it easier to get my left hand up the neck. Never blame your gear though says Chef Ramsay.

The gun oil t40 video on youtube was beautiful I'm sure more could be patterned from that

What would make for a beautiful T40 starting from a natural? I will shield the cavities with copper tape and use shielded wire between electronics in the cavity, run strings through the body, install push pull knobs for single/humbucker, other than that preserve the electronics and improve the wood if there is something obvious and in line with other bass guitars that won't make it a stupid frankenstein.

If I dig into the body I'll buy a replacement body and keep it salted away with the package along with a 1978 case that's pretty dang intact given the mileage and apparent value over the decades.

Can be found on some stores already, but I don't think Cort hasn't put out something officially yet. Just stumbled upon the pages because I've been looking for a do it all short scale for a while now. This definitely doesn't fit that ask, but I'm sure a lot of more vintage minded will like this.

Was at my favorite used store today, Atomic music in Beltsville. One the items I had on my list was a small form factor amp that I could use with my Portaflex 210HE. I normally use it for an extension cab with my BA210v2. Just thought it would be nice to have a BU amp or be able to use the cab without the combo. I tested out this Bugera Veyron and it sounded pretty decent... the price was right at $150 so I figured I'd give it a try (I traded in some old gear I had). They seem to have pretty decent reviews, and I've found that with Behringer products that they either work or thy don't. I do realize that with the wattage I have to be careful not to damage the cab. At some point I may look around for a 15" cab, or possibly a second 2x10. I don't see any reviews on TB that are trashing the amp, which is good.

This one looks like new, so hoping it was a good score...

My 8 year old son has been asking to learn bass. I'm not confident this is going to be something that takes but I would very much like to encourage him to do so. What are some inexpensive options in the short scale world these days? I'd rather not drop Fender Mustang money on this, plus I think even shorter scale might fit him better. Maybe an Ibanez Mikro? I want to get him something nice enough that it encourages him to play, but not so nice that I feel I need to get on to him if he uses a bit roughly.

I just like the feel of these strings, even the thicker/stiffer ones. I can't bend them at all or it hurts my fingers so I slide instead. I am looking for a way to keep the zing as long as possible. Among ideas are wd-40, isopropyl alcohol, thorough hand washing before playing, I suppose during playing if digging at it for an hour,

I hear the boil thing is good for one more session so that's not really what I'm looking for, more like how do I maintain my strings so I can keep them alive for as long as is reasonable. I can afford to change my strings, I just want to not be stupid about the interval and typically like to maintain my gear properly.

I have a Fender P-Bass Player II in Hialeah Yellow. I love the way it plays and sounds and thought about getting another Player II so I have a back up. As I scroll the ever so dangerous FB Market place, I stumble upon a feller selling the exact same bass, same color with a case and a Rumble 40 amp for a pretty decent price. I don't really need the amp, but it would be nice since I really don't have a practice amp. The bass and the case, that's another story. So the question is, does anyone have two of the exact same basses? I feel like the price is good but I'm hung up on having the same color. I have been eyeing up the Rallye Orange one as well, but I would be buying that new.

I've been wanting a metal flake bass for a long time. I prefer nitro, so that was a limiting factor. Saw this MJT body on ebay and snagged it. While checking it out, discovered the wire channels were not drilled. Matt offered to reimburse me for the 12" bits, and free shipping on my next order. Much easier than sending it back for the holes. Went together nicely, and I'm very pleased.

Hello, everybody.

I have a Stingray, which I bought brand new in 2001.

I haven’t played it in about 6 months, and when I plugged it in last night, no sound.

The battery was spent.

So, I installed a new battery, and the sound returned, but with 2 oddities:

1) The volume is only about half what it should be.

and,

2) The tone controls are not responding at all.

I am going to bring my Stingray in for a set up and cleaning, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this or knows anything about this.

I find it strange that the volume works, but not the EQ.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.

Mike

In the last couple of years, I've been listening to a lot of Japanese alternative bands. Whenever YouTube makes a recommendation, I will give the band a listen to see if the music clicks. Yesterday the band Yabai T-shirt Yasan had a First Take video pop-up. Based purely on aesthetics the bass featured in the video really checked the boxes for me. The logo on the headstock isn't familiar to me, so I turn to the experts here for help. Thanks!

I picked up this original Steinberger L2 for cheap because someone (Joe Sheals I guess?) turned it into a desert camo art project. Anyone know what type of paint this might be? And is there a way to get it off without damaging the valuable bass underneath?

Want to give a shoutout to Tone Table pedalboards out of Utah, and say how thrilled I am having worked with Jack on this pedalboard. On instagram as well.

I’ve never taken leave of the luxury of having someone set up a board for me before, but his boards seemed so cool and his work looked incredible, so decided to treat myself. He did not disappoint! Will definitely be working with him again.

Cost is incredibly reasonable compared to some of the usual suspects for pedalboards/rack builds you all probably know of well by now.

If you’re in the market for a board setup, couldn’t reccomend Jack and ToneTable more!

Tell him Fat Tony Marshall sent ya

I use a Micro VR 210 stack for rehearsals with a small ensemble. Light and portable, sounds great, gets the job done. It's "loud" enough but I find the single 210 cab lacks a bit of support in the deepest lows. Rubbing up against the the physics limitations of a sealed 2x10 box, sometimes it just sounds a little congested or forced, lacking in true low end at at louder volumes. I see Aguilar has a new 210 combo, looks ported - I wonder if it provides cleaner/deeper lows?

Anyone have experience with both of these rigs?

I've been looking at a range of basses, by a maker that I won't name. One model costs 345; another costs 736. Both have volume and balance knobs. They have the same active treble, middle and bass EQ. The woods are the same, as is the preamp. The finish is the same. 345 has the maker's own humbuckers. 736 has a third-party's split coil singles, which sell for 200. Let's say that their own pickups cost nothing. That leaves 191 difference in cost to us.

345 has a switch to tap the humbuckers into singles. 736 has a three-way mid EQ switch and a passive/active switch. A replacement switch costs 15, as it has it sells with the treble pot and its circuit board.

We now have a cost difference of 176. The knobs cost the same. The leftover difference is the hole for the passive/active switch. That's a lot of money for a hole. That wants to be a good hole, for that much money.