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fretno · Jul 7, 2026

Rayjay said:
Just dropped my bass off to get a refret. It's a Fullerton Reissue 62 jazz, made in 83 that had been converted to fretless at some point. These are such great necks I decided to take a chance bringing it back to full glory. I decided to use a new to me luthier, but took my time picking him for his lack of reluctance compared to the other guys I asked, and for his recommendations from some friends. Good experience but he had some interesting comments during the meetup.

First of all, nice guy, and he had a big collection at his house of mostly basses. No red flags with the house or the shop setup or any of the repairs I saw.

But first he was a bit baffled by the concentric pots, which he never saw before. He thought they were a mod.

He asked about me "taking it apart" but he meant it had no pick guard (Jaco style). I had to explain I liked the look and intended to use it like that, and have the pick guard if I change my mind.

Then he was concerned about the frets I bought (Dunlop 6230 nickels) - specifically, that they would match the radius of my bass's board. Well, to the best of my knowledge, a fret will conform to the radius regardless of what it is. Am I right?

Also, he asked if I happened to know the radius (if it was 12" or 9 1/2"?) so I said pretty sure its vintage spec 7 1/4" - but he was quick to retort they never made them that tight. I didn't bother to argue.

Then he asked if I was having him refinish the body. No! I said only what we had discussed which was fret only and anything related (new nut etc). Glad we discussed that....

Not exactly deeply concerned but that's where my bass is now! I'll update in a few weeks. Should be ok, right?!? View attachment 7529724

A neck can be re-fretted without the body. So you could just ship the neck. A fret does not necessarily conform, it can actually fight you back a little. The fretboard prep is an important step and those boards are all different. The slotting is hugely important ,depth and width. The tangs on the fret is important. If not slotted correctly pounding in a big tang can force a bow. Lots of fun things to be aware of during a simple re-fret. After they’re in the leveling is a thing. Everyone has an approach here but the end result should be clear notes when plucked on every note and every string. All the way up and down the neck. Including open. To do this it usually falls within a certain spec. If the action is too high or low or relief is off. Or nut slotting. It will not play out on every note. Then there is string bending lol. We as bass players don’t bend much but there should be an understanding of it by the tech. I could go on and on lol. Since it’s underway and there is no turning back let’s all buckle up and grab some popcorn.

dbsfgyd1 · Jul 6, 2026

Wasnex said:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...I.E. if it sounds good to you...

IME it's very easy to fool ourselves when dealing with tone choices. The way we listen tends to vary over time. When you are tweaking your tone, you tend to focus in very narrowly on a certain quality rather than hearing your tone in it's entirety. Thus when you successfully add a certain sumtin, sumtin you might be totally pleased with the results.

However if you later do an AB comparison after your focus has broadened, you may find that the device that adds the certain sumtin, sumtin also adds other qualities that you don't want. You may not notice these qualities right away. But when you do, you may become fixated on them...or you may only notice when doing a direct AB comparison.

Bottom line, stacking too many devices usually ends up adding undesired artifacts. So it's a good idea to do an AB comparison to validate your initial impression. But ultimately, if it sounds good to you...

+100%

Iridescentone · Jul 6, 2026

Hang it on a wall to stare at. Just make sure the hanger is anchored to a stud! :woot:

Iridescentone · Jul 6, 2026

Is there any reason the zero couldn't be pre-slotted by the Plek machine? I know the Plek is only as good as the operator/programmer, but I've never seen one in action, nor am I aware of all its capabilities. Or would that be strictly a hands on thing?

Asking for a friend.

Daniel B5 · Jul 6, 2026

You'll probably get a response from Godin soon: last week there was a national holiday in Canada so perhaps their customer service folks took a long weekend.

But in the interim, as the owner of an A4 Ultra with synth output, I believe all of the A4 Ultra models have piezo and magnetic pickups that can be blended (maybe that's why the "Ultra" part of the name was added).

I think that only the first generation of the A4 Ultra included the 13-pin output for a synth, which was removed in the most recent generation.

emjazz · Jul 6, 2026

I’ve been ordering strings from them for a few months now. I’m a big fan. Outstanding service. I can’t recommend them enough!

OnPo · Jul 6, 2026

I own Höfner H500/2-AR-0 Artist Club bass since February and its great instrument! Not sure about Hofners new effecient line, this one is hand made exactly like the other Made in Germany models and came with same certificate. Maybe there could be robot involved in poly finish aplying and polishing, who knows. Also outer "veneer" seems to be slightly lower quality(like AA instead of AAA), les flames in maple and spruce top seems to be rift-sawn. It does not matter anyway, since it is a laminated body like every other Hofner bass

J Wilson · Jul 6, 2026

Venture 8x8

Ampeg :: Venture Series :: Lightweight Bass Cabs

ampeg.com

eduan · Jul 6, 2026

Hi,
Require a MOSFET for my Peavey Megabass.

Can anybody assist or provide details of an alternative which can work for “frakenstein” conversion.

South African bassist asking.

SeayBass · Jul 6, 2026

For those who are wondering about flexibility of these strings:
Here's a pic to give an visual on the flex of the cobalt flat vs actual flats. Pictured below are .095 E strings. They are both pulled to the max they'll allow. You can see the cobalt (inner loop) is much more flexible than the EB Pino flatwound (outer).

The Pino flats at this gauge are consistent in flexibility with labella flexible flats, or TI flats. That is to say they're relatively flexible in the world of flats. And you can see the Cobalt Slinky Flats are significantly more flexible than the traditional flatwound in this test. You can also see the exterior wraps, one is smooth (pino), while the cobalt has gaps more like a quarter round or some such.

For the record, These are both excellent strings, in my opinion. They're very different. The slinky cobalt are unique, in my experience.

Real Soon · Jul 6, 2026

Enjoying my Trilobite and in fact have it stationed at home connected to my recording chain. I've been using this board at my church gig Sunday mornings, but the switches are the LOUD type, incl the Mute switch that I use frequently. Not a big signal pop or anything, but physically loud, enough that I can't just step on it; I have to bend down and very gingerly try to press it as gently as possible. The mute switch isn't totally necessary for my purposes, but I find it a bit silly now for a preamp to NOT have one.

Man, do the EQ points work like magic. I have to really go to extremes to find tones I couldn't use somewhere, and gentle sculpting is just such a breeze. And yet, I can still make aggressive funk & rock sounds happen as well as convincing dub, reggae, & synthy sub-bass ones.

Matt Zory · Jul 6, 2026

elgranluis said:
It’s not the pots by themselves but rather the sum of the parts. A bass with original pots and solder joints you can safely asume that the body belongs to the bass and the finish is original. If pots have been removed then it starts raising questions.

Ah! Makes sense. I have the original chrome bridge and pu covers but those are probably a dime a dozen. I may have the bill of sale too. $165 if I remember correctly. But you know, I’m not selling it, I’m playing it. And at 5,6 or 7K—that’s not a life changing amount even if I were. Thanks.

SineSample · Jul 6, 2026

2F/2F said:
No. Lacquer smells like lacquer thinner – a sharp smell. It’s a great smell, but not sweet. The “sweet” smell is the smell of the case. I have many, many urethane finished instruments with this smell. For a while, either G&L or their case supplier was deliberately dusting the case linings with some sort of scent. Not so much the case any more.

Volatile organic compounds are added to dissolve the nitrocellulose solids into a liquid that can be sprayed. They have distinctively fruity, candy-like scents—butyl acetate smells much like bananas, while ethyl acetate smells like pears.

TimBosby · Jul 6, 2026

Oops, someone already shared this deal this morning. My bad. Welp, it's still going on at almost 9 PM central.

Metal Sombreros · Jul 6, 2026

Bassdude66 said:
I actually ended up trading it and my Jackson 5-string for an Ibanez 5-string.

Ooof

Lo-E · Jul 6, 2026

steubig said:
imo, the bridge pickup “hears” the higher partials better.

Oh, it does without question. And I prefer having it there when I’m playing that kind of stuff.

I was just surprised that it wasn’t as necessary as I thought it was.

Gorilla Monsoon · Jul 6, 2026

Ive just listed a BNIB Greathammer here. Opened only for the photo. Bought it, never even opened the box, bought the OG here later. One must go.

Joshua · Jul 6, 2026

Ordered.

D.A.R.K. · Jul 6, 2026

I’m in the camp of loving the just a nut, since I like to change string gages and tunings a lot. I ended up buying a handful of the screws from Warwick with different sized slots, as well as slotting a couple for my specific needs. The shipping was way more than the scews.

Metal Sombreros · Jul 6, 2026

Candy Apple Red gets me every time. It looks great on every single Fender model.

ProdigalBassman · Jul 6, 2026

RedHotFuzz said:
I love all 3 but I’d take the green because it reminds me of Fender’s Adam Clayton (U2) signature bass that I love but 1) can’t afford and 2) wouldn’t buy anyway because it’s long scale.

View attachment 7412238

Shame Cort didn’t do matching headstocks.

At least it's not naked like 99% of the basses and guitars Fender ships out!

JimmyM · Jul 6, 2026

sissy kathy said:
@JimmyM had a Hipshot one; he took it off.

I also had a Hammersmith Badass style aluminum bridge and took it off. I liked it a little better than the Hipshot, but I don’t dig what happens to the sound with them. I don’t want to say it weakens it, but I thought they were pretty polite sounding.

But people do seem to like those Babicz bridges, though I’ve never tried one.

5stringwonder · Jul 6, 2026

timendous said:
I want one of those atmosphere pedals so bad.

So do i!

dougjwray · Jul 6, 2026

OP here.
Thanks to everyone for an excellent discussion!
The true meaning of my question was, "Who else DOESN'T CARE if the neck changes back and forth, and simply adjusts, ignoring the truss rod?"
But I don't mind that the thread went in different directions!

Saetia · Jul 6, 2026

But yeah - he’s a real nerd and I love it. Honestly makes me better at my job on a daily and I appreciate his attention to detail.

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