Repairing a hacked up ‘74 Fender Jazz bass. Looking at all the issues, you wonder if it’s worth it to repair a neck like this vs buying a replacement. This luthier can perform wonders but at what cost.
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Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"
- Thread starter B-string
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Tried different cables, no change. 1/4 jacks on both ends, mixer main out to amp in. Both plugged into a power strip. Got no headphones, so cant test the mixer separately from the amp.
Check that the jack nuts at each end are at least finger tight. Look for visible signs of oxidation that could cause a bad ground.
Try not using the power strip, put both AC plugs directly into the same wall socket.
Fun to play with.
I've only watched a little bit of the Jazz Bass video, but I love the part where the guy is talking about the ebony fingerboard and that he paid only $27 for it. Just wait until the client sees what he's really going to end up paying for that bit-o-wood! 
Edit: missing words (damn weird keyboard!)
Edit: missing words (damn weird keyboard!)
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I'm done modifying basses myself. There's a good repair guy in Juneau that I send my basses to. I have a couple economy basses that I like but don't like the pickups. So I'm going to get them swapped out for Nordy's. 30 years ago when I was a touring pro I would have done my own work--we even had an electronics kit with a soldering gun in the band inventory. But anymore-- nah.
I can still do all the modding myself if I want to. But my instruments are set up just as I like them now, so no more goofing with them outside of changing strings, and even then, I let my string go a few years before changing them out.
I'd gotten into the habit of putting the strings I take off into the package of the strings I'm putting on and writing the name of the old ones on the package. It woulda been smart of me to write the date, too.
I didn't.
I'd gotten into the habit of putting the strings I take off into the package of the strings I'm putting on and writing the name of the old ones on the package. It woulda been smart of me to write the date, too.
I didn't.
When I install new strings, I put the date on the package and stash it in my instrument case.
These days many strings come sealed. In the past I would use a vacuum food sealer to keep them fresh, free of oxidation. I was buying guitar strings by the case so wanted to protect them for as long as they lasted.
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- Oct 22, 2015
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In my day we broke in new strings by slathering them with horse doopie.
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Some strings start out slathered with intestinal contents.
Cat gut is still used today. Violins and other instruments, including bass, were traditionally strung with cat gut strings. Some professional musicians insist on using the traditional cat gut. It’s stronger than the equivalent weight of steel. It was used for tennis rackets. Snowshoes used other gut material. Surgeons sewed people up with gut, eventually it dissolves in the body.
The video says sheep gut, but cat gut is still used.
Cat gut is still used today. Violins and other instruments, including bass, were traditionally strung with cat gut strings. Some professional musicians insist on using the traditional cat gut. It’s stronger than the equivalent weight of steel. It was used for tennis rackets. Snowshoes used other gut material. Surgeons sewed people up with gut, eventually it dissolves in the body.
The video says sheep gut, but cat gut is still used.
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It's for sure the mixer. I can plug anything into the amp with any cable I have, with power from the wall or the power strip, and it's clean. Plug the mixer main out into the amp (with no input to the mixer) and at anything but zero volume it sounds like a semi downshifting on Wolf Creek Pass. No rust visible, no looseness found. It's an old piece and hasn't had use OR upkeep, and was cheap to start with...so...
there's also the fact that I don't actually expect to ever NEED a mixer again.
Sigh! If you have nothing to loose, open the mixer and reseat all the connectors. Inspect the inside of the chassis where the main out jacks mount. Look for any oxidation, it is often a gray/blue color. Inspect the caps for any leakage or swelling, it will be obvious if you see it.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,921
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
I couldn’t handle that may beagles at once.
Yup.
The guy down the road, about 1/4 mile, had a few and when they get to howling...it really is annoying.
Really a dumb ****. I think most of them met their maker by running out into the road.
If there is, the answer is 42.
Gut strings are the harmonically rich tonal equivalent of a tube amp.
I was gonna say 40....hmmm. Back to the books.
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