Feburary is whip the herd month

[spideyjg]

Been a bit quiet around here lately so I proclaim February the month to whip the herd into shape.

The rule is simple. You must give all the members of the heard some undivided attention be it practice, gigs, or noodling.

Good time to tweak truss rods, change strings, change batteries etc.

Should be fun. Thought of this the other day swapping the Lynx and HB 2K into repaired cases from the cheesy "cases" they were in.

Both need some tweaking.

Greg you can just do your wunkays.

Jim

[Nedmundo]

Yes, it is indeed time to get the herd into shape, in part by dealing with back burner projects. I have to complete the tone control mod on my SB-2 and give it some new strings, and figure out the pickup situation with my Jazz V. I got some boutique replacement pickups that didn't work out so well, and I need to either ditch them or send them back for a possible fix. I will try to get both projects done this month.

[dukeplaysbass]

Great, pick the shortest month of the year....

I just did that with all the Wunkays. Pulled them out, photographed the 1980 issues, played them, made sure they know I wuv them all....

[spideyjg]

Great, pick the shortest month of the year....

Tell me about it. I got 18ish to go through.

Jim

[jshilgebass]

Jim, there must be some kind of subliminal message that you sent out towards me.

Today after I got home from work, I got it into my mind that I ought to go down to the store and stock up on 9 volt batteries...gotta check a few of the basses to make sure that they had fresh ones...such as both G&L 5 stringers. When I got home I saw the box of Dunlop strings that I keep meaning to put on several basses...such as both G&L 5 stringers.

Following this train of thought, I got out the El Toro that I have been meaning (in addition to changing the strings) to swap out the jazz pickup someone put in the bridge position. I figured it was time for me to get going on bringing it back to life, so I opened up the control cavity...and was met with a bunch of wires held together with bits of duct tape. And they were just barely held together...most of them came loose and now I have to figure out what goes where.

I have now printed out the wiring diagram and your picture of the correct wiring for an El Toro. I hope I can do this...

It's looking like it will be a long time spent on "whipping the herd into shape".


Joe Hilgeman

[hoytbasses]

funny..... February is definitely my most productive month for building stuff........ I have a half-dozen or so projects that I am vowing to get DONE! there are one or two basses that have been glued up and partially shaped for about a year.....and my EUB project needs to get done because i have a gig on Feb 14th that i have to play it on!

and my gig machine needs a little tlc too!

[Mr. Mom]

My Tribby L2k has enough of the parts handy to start the project.

Good motivation, Jim!



And "18-ish"???? Dang, boy: You have to rent a new storage unit???

[spideyjg]

Yanked these three out to check out. The spacing from split coil to single is the same in the SB-2 and the P/J.

Not really digging the Duncans so this is going in the later projects file to deal with. The deciding factor will be trying the Lynx against it. May just drop an SB-2 setup into it but keep the tone pot.

The blue swirl was sounding better but whipped out the screwdriver and raised the redburst to the same levels and they are closer and the difference could be the Superalloys on the redburst and EB hybrid slinkies on the others.

Soundwise they are really a toss up.

Jim

[Flash]

We just got quite the project in:

1982 Hog L1000
Electronics are gone, crappy pickup wired straight to the output jack.
Frets removed and reslotted too wide to fret.

We are making it into a lined fretless with a new pickup and Mas can homebrew the correct electronics. Unless someone wants it as a project first.

[Nedmundo]

The two projects are underway. I dropped off the SB-2 at my local tech for the tone control mod, and setup tweaking if necessary. (I do most of that myself now, but a little TLC from a pro never hurts.) I've also made arrangements for fixing the pickup situation with my Jazz V, and I'm getting replacements at no cost. That'll do.

I need to figure out how the L-1500 fits into this. Maybe I need to mess around with pickup height, or try new strings, but I've been happy with the Lo-Riders so far. Maybe it needs some Chromes. It already has the resistor mod, a drop tuner, and stainless hex-key intonation screws, so I'm not sure what else to try with it.

[spideyjg]

So who is whipping out something from the back of the herd?

I'm digging out some oldies to measure pickup placements so the Lynx has to come out after the rain is over. Needs a new nut so that will be off to the lootier.

Jim

[dukeplaysbass]

Not a G&L, but from the back of the herd....

I'm pulling my 77 Fender P out this week. I have a Seymour Duncan J that I'm going to wire in. I got the bass back in 1992, and it was routed for the J back then. I had a wild time wiring and re-wiring it through the first six years, then ran it as a P since about 98 or so (the J leads are just tied off). It's been in semi-retirement since then. I played it a bit about two years ago when I found a correct 77 grey-bottom pickup. But I'd like to have a real P/J to mess with so I'm gonna drop in the new pup and see where it takes me....

[spideyjg]

Halfway through the month folks.

93, done
SB-2s cleaned.
fretless Bull strings changed from TI flats to D'Addario half rounds settling in.
Lynx evaluated for VT VT setup
Pimp, done
BABE EBMM coated strings removed and replaced with D'Addario coated after hearing the BABE fall short of the other 2Ks. Those EBMMs never thrilled me.

Non G&L Sabre sanded/oiled/waxed and battery replaced. Needs a new jack.
SX test bed cleaned and under test. Put those EBMM strings from the BABE on it.

Jim

[Chef]

Here's what I'll be taking to work tomorrow night.
1980 L1k. Finally played thru the frets to where it needed new ones. Got it back from Dolan last week, now nicely set up and wearing new XL170's.




And, 1983 SB1. I don't think it's a refin, as the edges of the control cavity only show this color. It's "my favorite 1951 Precision reissue," also now wearing new XL170's:


If I get up the gumption to drag three out, I'll take the 1981 L1K; otherwise, she'll go out Friday. This bass came with Rotosound Swingbass rounds on it (I think!), but whatever they are, I don't want to change them as it sounds completely pimp:

[Nedmundo]

Got the SB-2 back yesterday, with stacked controls for bridge volume and master tone. Also has fresh DR Fat Beams. So far, I'm happy with the mod. I normally play with the split-coil only, and wanted to be able to roll off some treble without reducing the volume. But I think I'm even more excited about dialing in some growl from the bridge pickup, and cutting the "zing" via the tone knob. At gig volumes, I think that will sound killer. I think I'll use the bridge pickup more now that I have the tone control. I also like the Fat Beams. I had no idea what to expect, but they seem to be a good match for the SB-2, with clean, strong lows. I prefer the lower tension to the stiffness of the SS Lo-Riders on my L-1500.

I also received the new pickups for my Jazz V. Carey Nordstrand is one stand-up dude. He saw one of my Talkbass posts about a problem with my NJ5FS set, and sent me a PM telling me to mail them in for a replacement set. Apparently a run went out with some problems that have since been corrected. I'm looking forward to bringing the thunder, hum-free, in a couple of weeks.