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Hapa · Aug 11, 2026

I received the bass back at week 9. I am happy. I received what looks to be a perfect example of what they can do. I received focused attention in email through the process. I will take pictures tomorrow. The neck is brand new, I have a serial number, fretboard to neck join looks perfect and I could not have had a better outcome with the warranty. I will play it a bit and do another tone related post. I really hope the wolf note/ dead spots do not exist on this neck.

5StringBlues · Aug 11, 2026

H-town checking in. Welcome!

T. Brookins · Aug 11, 2026

Reverend Jazz Bomb pickups are a modern marvel.

CHILLIBass · Aug 11, 2026

(Mic'd up with a literal Iphone and a dream (roughly slightly off axis))

LadyLoveStingRay5 · Aug 11, 2026

Nedmundo said:
I've liked the Reverend basses (and guitars) I've tried, especially the Thundergun and Mercalli 5. At the Philly area guitar show a few years ago, I enjoyed playing the Mercalli 5 so much that I considered buying it, but then I tried a Sandberg TT-5 a few booths over, and I instantly forgot all about the Mercalli. The Sandberg's neck is much more comfortable for me, and I prefer the slightly narrower string spacing. But the Mercalli sounds great, and Reverends are always very well-built. The Triad is seriously cool, and if I ever venture into short scales, the Sentinel would be at the top of my list.

Last year I strongly considered a Charger HH guitar, but it was another near miss because I discovered the wonderful necks on Fender's American Ultra II HSS Strat. (The Fender is much more expensive so it isn't an entirely fair comparison. I do prefer the Reverend necks to Fender's American Pro line because of the 12" radius fretboards on the Reverends.)

I'm lucky to be able to try many Reverend models, because we have two large dealers in the Philly area: Russo Music in the city, and West Chester Music out in West Chester. These days, I think Russo has the better selection.

Sandbergs feel great in the hand.

RobL 08723 · Aug 11, 2026

I have a 2x10 I’ve been playing for several years 70-90 shows per year. It’s an absolute monster but I’ve decided to sell only because we use IEM’s (a GK plex) and I don’t need that much stage volume any more

They are the best cabs I have ever played!! Looking forward to the 12 mini

bassfootballguy · Aug 11, 2026

Hey there!

Fellow Milkman owner/player here. Do you have the first generation 1x12 cab or second? And what do you like about the Julia through the Milkman as opposed to other chorus pedals for bass?

Thanks!

BFG

LadyLoveStingRay5 · Aug 11, 2026

I some how failed to post my Bacci in lovely lavender .

kramj · Aug 11, 2026

thank you all!

No expectations except 'I heard SVTs sound good'

Seems the consensus is it's safe to use the cabs if I'm careful. which I get, but I was also concerned about volume spikes etc.

But maybe I'll just give it a go!

dbee · Aug 11, 2026

dbee said:
I've got a EUNA and a Peterson tuner up front. I tried living without the EUNA, seeing if I'd adjust to the Peterson buffer. I missed the EUNA. It's just one of those subtle pedals you notice when it's not there – though I run it with the Bright and Low switches engaged (not so subtle). With all switches off, A/B'ing with the Peterson, I'd say there is much to gain as just a buffer IMO.

Edit: meant to say there isn't much to gain

basted · Aug 11, 2026

It looks funky. Enjoy!

iiipopes · Aug 11, 2026

I have an older version of the OP's bass, one line down on Ibanez' model scheme, a 2010 SRA305. Shortly after I got it in 2012 I upgraded it to EMG full actives with an EXB, I started using D'A EXL170BT along with a 130 tuned up to C. I have used that for countless gigs. I would experiment with different strings occasionally but always went back to this standby. My sound man liked them. The band liked them. They slotted the mix well in my 10-piece party band including a Chicago-style horn section. Cheap, good intonation, lasted well. When you put a set on, for the first couple of practice sessions before a gig just turn down the tone knob a number or two to tame new string zing. They will let you know when it is time to change them.

Funkengruuven · Aug 11, 2026

MrAB4003 said:
I ended up donating it to a local music store at the end of 2022. So I don't have it (or any Fender products for that matter) anymore.

A pity, I have had good luck fixing them.

cataract · Aug 11, 2026

GRRRR said:
It's definitely a beast... in more ways than one.

I saw you had a post of your prototype in a MM pickup thread back in 2018. I think its pickup was some sort of MM/Jazz hybrid. What was that like?

That pickup sounded great. It was a Proto Guitars / Ulyate MM/J. I had an exact copy installed in another (regular) bass and the results were the same- all of the MM heft with slightly more definition.

10/10 would recommend. I know a couple of other pickup builders are also making this configuration these days, worth checking out for sure if you get the chance.

tarwy · Aug 11, 2026

Hi all, apologies for reviving an old thread, but I’m working on a 35" 5-string Spector-style neck-through build and trying to model the body/neck geometry accurately in CAD.

This thread has already been incredibly useful. I’m still missing a good side profile of a USA NS-5XL, though. If anyone here owns an NS-5XL (or another 35" neck-through 5-string Spector) and wouldn’t mind taking a few photos, it would be a huge help.

The most useful photos would be:

Full side/edge view of the whole bass: looking directly at the thin edge of the instrument, not the front or back. Ideally have the bass lying flat, with the camera level with the middle of the body thickness and several feet/metres away. Using some zoom rather than a close wide-angle shot would help reduce perspective distortion. I'd like to see the body curvature, neck/fingerboard angle, bridge height and headstock angle all in one shot.
View straight from the very bottom/end of the bass, looking lengthways toward the headstock: in other words, looking across the curved body from the strap-button end, with the camera centred on the neck-through centreline. Ideally the camera would be far enough away and centred so the left and right sides of the body look symmetrical. This is mainly to capture that spector body curve, it's really hard to find a good photo of it.
A close-up side view of just the body: basically the same viewing direction as photo 1, but zoomed in so the body fills most of the picture. Ideally it would show everything from the strap-button end of the body, past the bridge, and up to where the fingerboard meets the body. This would let me see the exact curve of the front and back surfaces along the length of the body much more clearly than in the full-bass photo.

If you have calipers or a ruler handy, two measurements would also be extremely useful:

maximum body thickness around the bridge/butt area;
body thickness around the waist.

Even decent phone photos and approximate measurements would be much better than what I have now.

Thanks very much to anyone willing to help.

RodRy · Aug 11, 2026

Well, over the weekend I went to band practice and my beloved Tune Bassmaniac would not send any sound to the amp. I believe it is a problem with the jack, since I can feel it moving around by just a little wiggling of the plugged-in cable. I have not opened it up yet, and wondered if anyone else here has had experiences with replacing the barrel jack in the hidden pocket on these basses?

Picture is not my bass, but close enough.
:help:

mikewalker · Aug 11, 2026

Digntynleisure said:
“Recording bands live” love that, and as a fan/observer from afar, it seems like you always nail it. Always has been my favorite way to record, either as a bass player or millions of years ago when I assisted in studios. And even today I think the end results are better.
...

better to my ear too - you get to hear "that invisible thing in the air" that is happening when live musicians mesh :thumbsup:

LeeNunn · Aug 11, 2026

Thanks to ChrisDev for cleaning this up.

iriegnome · Aug 11, 2026

Well I bought the Glarry GIB 5 string. Set it up and it plays like a $70 bass, but it weighs 5pounds 9 ounces! So cool! Also I started a frankenbass and I will be using a body made of Paulownia. Just a bit over 2 pounds for the body! I stained it today and it looks pretty good.
Worked with the doc for my FMLA paperwork. They were going to try to make me take 3 months off work which is impossible! All correct now. 6 weeks severely limited then see how everything works out

sunbeast · Aug 11, 2026

rojo412 said:
In this case, it's not a bass pickup... but I'd certainly like to apply this knowledge in the future, using a bass pickup, should I ever need to do so.

Snagged a guitar today and the neck pickup was already completely disconnected.
Looking at it once I removed the pickup from the body, I saw one of the wires was disconnected. It appeared to have come loose from the ground plate, so I soldered it there and the pickup made sound and read 6.3k.
Low for a humbucker, but okay...

ANYWAY, I was looking at how it was constructed and seeing it was odd coloring - Orange and white wires from the main line, orange and green on each coil.
This is basically how it was wired at the pickup:View attachment 7554841 View attachment 7554840
(both green together with the white wire out, north coil orange to orange wire out, south orange was disconnected when I got it, but grounded and it made sound)

Seeing how this was already kinda messed up, I basically figured I should try to do a 4-lead wire, assuming the coils were still good.
View attachment 7554842

Tested each coil for DCR and they are both reading about 6.3k. So the coils are still good.

Knowing this and seeing how it was initially hooked up, I was hoping someone may guide me to a way to now PROPERLY wire this to a 4-lead (+ ground) wire, which I have here already (red, black, green, white, plain).

It looks like a Dimarzio (not sure what it is) and am familiar with their scheme, so I'd prefer to make it like that.
View attachment 7554863

Anyone have an insight on how to do this correctly?

I'm not exactly sure what constitutes starts and finishes on each coil.
It was apparently supposed to only be a 2-lead pickup, which would typically come series and have connections made within to make that happen properly (series link?).
So yeah... just hoping someone can help me make better sense of this.

TIA!

From your original photo, if the orange wire were grounded and white sent to hot then you'd get the two coils in parallel and if the white was sent to ground and orange sent to hot then you'd get a single coil (assuming the bare wire was grounded in both cases). It's impossible to guess whether the coils are reverse-wound from each-other vs whether you instead have to wire the coils out of phase manually (with a Dimarzio you are wiring them out of phase manually)- you'll have to check that by wiring it up and seeing if the humbucker modes sound particularly thin. If the sound is thin in the humbucker modes then use reverse the two leads from one of the two coils (doesn't matter which). If the original wiring was correctly in parallel + in-phase then it suggests that the coils are reversed from the Dimarzio orientation (the two middle wires would be the coil start from one coil and coil finish from the other).

BassmanNate · Aug 11, 2026

Just wanted to report a bit of success. I bought this used Squier CV P-bass that someone had fitted with a Quarter Pounder. Sounds great except that touching the pole pieces sends a horrendous buzz through the speakers. Touch the pole pieces to a string and the noise went away, leading me to realize they aren't grounded.

Put a piece of copper tape across the back of the pole pieces and another going between the backing foam and the pole pieces and between the foam and the shielding, grounding the pole pieces to the shield. Dead silent. Wish I had taken some photos while I was in there.

AlBass · Aug 11, 2026

Thank you! Yes with holes

Aaron David · Aug 11, 2026

how did you arrive at your decision on which to keep, OP? What were the virtues & limitations of each?

Aaron David · Aug 11, 2026

I've only played a few Lakland USA models and have never played a FCS Jazz, but a couple things to consider, nonetheless:

* Oil finish on Lakland will feel different than gloss or satin finish on the Fender
* Graphite reinforced rods in the Lakland neck may be advantageous

Aesthetics, prestige, status are important to many, and Fender probably wins on that front. I'd feel pretty good about rolling the dice on either, as far as buying without the opportunity to play it first. As good as one can, anyway.

joelb79 · Aug 11, 2026

Fender 250K S-1 Switching Volume & Tone Control-Split Shaft

Huge selection of top brand guitar & bass electronics, pickups, parts & hardware. Plus hundreds of free guitar wiring diagrams.

guitarelectronics.com

Forgot about this guy.. This might be ideal as well.. for this situation. I remember the S1 functioned like i mentioned I would like this to work out as well.

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