The Official Telecaster Bass Club

[SurferJoe46]

Were the twin string trees an Ibanez idea?

[jbd5015]

No that was a recent necessity. I play flats, and they produce a lot more tension i guess than rounds. He was able to get the neck straight and intonated, but the head stock warped up on him. He said its not unheard of, even on fenders. The g-string tuner is above the nut now, so it would have been pretty terrible to play.

Im impressed with it to be honest. ive got about $600 in the bass with purchase and all the work i had done. its got a very unique tone that sits quite well in the mix and has the look for sure!

-Jeff

[Mike in Chicago]

I was fishing this a couple weeks ago to sell. Wasn't all the way electronically hooked up, due to me sanding back to natural. No decal on the headstock (got a little blowback from someone here, borderline being accused of selling a bass w a fake neck). So I pulled it off and decided to get it looked at. Brought it to one of the really reputable places here and they went nuts over it, hooked it up and everything works. Even the bullet truss rod is working. Pickup is loud and boomy. They're going to clean it up, re-set it up and make it workable (wasn't that bad anyway) again.

Looked at the stamping on the base of the neck, neck plate and pickups, all check out as original. The headstock? Whoever had it before me (at least 25 years ago) sanded down the headstock for reasons nobody knows, and that's per the guitar guys I took it to. They would be able to tell.

So I guess we talk now to Fender, and get a decal after submitting the #'s put it on and clear coat the headstock.

And I'll put this puppy back in service. A story with a happy ending.

[SurferJoe46]

Never seen a headstock warp - not that way anywho!

Although - I can say that I'm repairing a mandolin for a friend that has more whoopies in the neck than a BMX track, and the headstock is contorted into pretzel-logic too. No trussrod in the neck of which to speak - and I had to make a taller bridge to compensate for the nastiness of the neck.

The owner was shoving Popsicle sticks under the bridge to compensate!

Still, the frets from about the 12th on up are never gonna be playable.

I guess under the adverse conditions and possible questionable construction methods and techniques, anything's possible.

Thanks for your answer - it will be mentally filed for the day when I run into this situation on a bass.

[Chef]

Valenti 1955 Precision-5; on it's way to me now...it's sorta Telecaster-y.

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by jbd5015

How about a lawsuit telebass? 71 ibanez I just had spruced up. New frets, pickguard, and ash tray.








Cheers,

-Jeff

Dude. I want that.

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by Chef

Valenti 1955 Precision-5; on it's way to me now...it's sorta Telecaster-y.

Damn, Chef. That's sexy.

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by Chef

Valenti 1955 Precision-5; on it's way to me now...it's sorta Telecaster-y.

Yum!!!

[Chef]

Here's a finished snap:

[Peer75RI]

How about this one?

[gurensan]

Originally Posted by PDGood

I'm no expert on this, but I've heard that pickups change with time. Wood definitely does - if you are among those that believe the body/neck/fretboard play a role in the tone of an electric instrument. (I'm not touching that debate).

I've heard that too, but honestly I don't know how. If the magnets lost a little strength over time, maybe, I could understand that. It's not like they can be replaced.

.. or can they? CuNiFe magnet rod just isn't gonna magically become available, but I wonder if a vintage pickup can take the magnet screws from the Squier pickup, and... would the resulting frankenpickup sound like a Squier or a Tele or something in between?

Dude you just HAD to make me think, didn't ya.

[PDGood]

I sent the question to an old friend who used to build custom guitars and did his own pickups. Very smart guy too. He would know if anyone would.

[Chef]

Peer: niiiiice.

[gurensan]

Originally Posted by PDGood

I sent the question to an old friend who used to build custom guitars and did his own pickups. Very smart guy too. He would know if anyone would.

Cool. Post back if he gets back to you. I've done all kinds of weird crap with basses but I have never modded a pickup in any way except sanding to fit a cavity.

[PDGood]

One of the things he used to do is take a guitar and capo it to play the notes that aren't open strings then put it in a closet with an amp feeding back on those notes and leave it for weeks. The idea is that the wood responds to continued vibrations and forcing it to go where it typically wouldn't helps it open up a bit. Seemed to work.
I saw some guys at NAMM with an invention that does the same thing. It definitely changes the sound. Whether that's a positive change or not is a matter of opinion.

[PDGood]

OK..here's the info on pickup aging from the amazing Ed Jones in Atlanta:

Pickups with alnico magnets lose volume and fullness as the magnets age out. A coil wire's coating gets stiffer and brittle, which can add some microphonics. Also, not all coating is the same, ditto on the plastic or fiber used for the coil forms, and lead wires, and solder. So certain pickups gain certain characteristics as they age, and how much they have been played, etc. PAF's have alnico magnets, lacquer coated wire, and the alloy in the wire has less copper and is harder as well. Age all that stuff out and you can see why it's so difficult to get an "authentic" PAF tone out of present day materials, and collectors get so weird about whether the solder has been disturbed (who knows what's in there). Doesn't stop folks from trying though. I used to rewind them with wire from 60's era P-90's, which are now pretty valuable themselves, or unwind bad coils by hand to find/repair the break.

[bluewine]

What I'm gigging with now.

Blue

[gurensan]

Originally Posted by PDGood

OK..here's the info on pickup aging from the amazing Ed Jones in Atlanta:

Pickups with alnico magnets lose volume and fullness as the magnets age out. A coil wire's coating gets stiffer and brittle, which can add some microphonics. Also, not all coating is the same, ditto on the plastic or fiber used for the coil forms, and lead wires, and solder. So certain pickups gain certain characteristics as they age, and how much they have been played, etc. PAF's have alnico magnets, lacquer coated wire, and the alloy in the wire has less copper and is harder as well. Age all that stuff out and you can see why it's so difficult to get an "authentic" PAF tone out of present day materials, and collectors get so weird about whether the solder has been disturbed (who knows what's in there). Doesn't stop folks from trying though. I used to rewind them with wire from 60's era P-90's, which are now pretty valuable themselves, or unwind bad coils by hand to find/repair the break.

Cool. He say anything about CuNiFe? I wonder if those age out too. If they do, in 30 years the squier pickups might sound like the Seth Lovers do now.

[PDGood]

Nope, but it seems logical that change would take place. What that change is in terms of sound is anyone's guess. Don't forget strings age fairly quickly and that will alter your sound a great deal. That will mellow a Squier into a vintage Fender-ish sound. It certainly has worked on my old Peavey.

[gurensan]

Originally Posted by PDGood

Nope, but it seems logical that change would take place. What that change is in terms of sound is anyone's guess. Don't forget strings age fairly quickly and that will alter your sound a great deal. That will mellow a Squier into a vintage Fender-ish sound. It certainly has worked on my old Peavey.

We both had newish strings. I'm thinkin that the slight loss of magnetic strength over time is probably the culprit. After all, the squier was louder and the Tele mellower...seems right in line with what he was sayin. I suppose we'll know for sure in 30 years!

Now...I wonder if the magnets are forcefully aged will they match?