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Kubicki club?

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#621
factorplayer said:
Glad you don't find it offensive. Juvenile? yeah, totally. I didn't mean it to be pejorative toward actual gay people (whom I have 100% no problem with), but I could see how it could look that way.

anyway that same bass is down to 1199 now... someone better pick it up!
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I gonna try to get that bass. I badly want a X-Factor fretless. I emailed the guy to see it I could buy it now but he said it was a consignment so he had to let the auction run.
 
#622
factorplayer said:
Glad you don't find it offensive. Juvenile? yeah, totally. I didn't mean it to be pejorative toward actual gay people (whom I have 100% no problem with), but I could see how it could look that way.
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Well, I do think it is offensive, but I presumed you hadn't intended any offense when you used it. I certainly am familiar with the non-overtly homophobic usage of "gay", "f-g", etc. as insults. In the '70s as kids we would call each other such things, having no idea what they meant (I was known for a time when I was without a front tooth as the "toothless fairy"--my 10 year old sister thought she was very clever--she wasn't suggesting that I was homosexual, she just picked it up from the culture that being a "fairy" was a bad thing).

I am convinced, however, that a certain amount of bigotry is maintained without any real malice, much less hate--in institutional structures, unreflective habits, language, etc., and that it still works to exclude and diminish people. I don't mean to make Talkbass an uncomfortable place for anyone--where everyone expresses themselves with trepidation--but I do think we should work to create an environment that is as inclusive as possible. Since we are interacting here almost exclusively through language (plus some pictures and sounds), it is principally that which we need to take care with.

I don't think that such an effort should be viewed as "politically correct" (not that you tried that angle), but just democratic and ethical.

Best regards to all,

Steven
 
#623
banditcosmo said:
I gonna try to get that bass. I badly want a X-Factor fretless. I emailed the guy to see it I could buy it now but he said it was a consignment so he had to let the auction run.
Click to expand...

Best of luck banditcosmo! It looks like a beauty. I have a fretless Factor-4 (the 34" scale version, with no extended range on the E-string) and I absolutely love it. It plays great and sounds amazing with D'Addario chrome flats. I can go from a bright and snappy sound to a big Jah Wobble dub kind of tone with the turn of a couple of knobs.

Let us know if you get it.
 
#624
I had a problem with my bridge tonight, so I took it apart. In figuring out how to put it back together, I located the pictures from the original patent at the US Patent website, and thought it'd be useful for anyone else has to take theirs apart. Very clever design.
 

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#626
Peter Weil said:
I had a problem with my bridge tonight, so I took it apart. In figuring out how to put it back together, I located the pictures from the original patent at the US Patent website, and thought it'd be useful for anyone else has to take theirs apart. Very clever design.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that Peter. I have never taken one of my bridges apart (they've always worked flawlessly for me), but it is neat to see how they are constructed.

I actually think that the Ex-Factor tuner/bridge mechanism has received insufficient attention, as most people fixate on the uniqueness of the Ex-Factor string clamp. For my money, however, it's the very best in the business.

Its closest rival, the Steinberger tuner/bridge, was invented first and is more compact, but the tuning action is not nearly as smooth, the tuning ratio is not quite as precise, and it still has set screws for height adjustment through which string energy can be lost. The steel string guides on the Kubicki, that mount much more substantially to the main mass of the bridge, are totally unique and seem to me a substantial improvement in design. The tuning mechanism is amazingly smooth and it has the highest ratio (80:1, compared to 40:1 on the Steinberger and 20:1 for a Fender) I've ever heard of.

I think the string clamp and extended range on the Ex-Factor is really cool, but the bridge, laminated neck, the hybrid electronics, the pickups that follow the significant radius on the neck (which I also really love), all help to set the Kubicki apart as much or more from other basses.
 
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#632
Lately *both* of my Ex-Factors have been giving me grief come string-change time, specifically with the ratchet spring heads. After loosening the strings all the way with the tuning knob there's usually one (sometimes two) of the string wheels that simply will not release when I press down the string head. I usually have to fiddle with it for a few minutes at least and sometimes put some pressure onthe string wheel to get it to let go. Needless to say this is really annoying.

I looked at the helpful bridge diagram above but couldn't really get much insight from it. Any ideas?
 
#634
The string release mech. will not work if the string is still under tension. When you put on new strings, make sure you only finger tighten the string wheel before tuning up the string. If you put too much tension before tuning, the tension will still be there when you fully dutune the string, thus the release not working. Hope this makes sense.
 
#635
jasethebass said:
The string release mech. will not work if the string is still under tension. When you put on new strings, make sure you only finger tighten the string wheel before tuning up the string. If you put too much tension before tuning, the tension will still be there when you fully dutune the string, thus the release not working. Hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jase that sounds like what's going on, however when putting on new strings if I don't get the string wheel to click into place I almost never have enough tension on it to tune it up to proper pitch... so I guess the issue is with my stringing technique.

I love my bass but man if stringing them isn't a pain in the ass!
 
#636
factorplayer said:
Thanks Jase that sounds like what's going on, however when putting on new strings if I don't get the string wheel to click into place I almost never have enough tension on it to tune it up to proper pitch... so I guess the issue is with my stringing technique.

I love my bass but man if stringing them isn't a pain in the ass!
Click to expand...

Have you tried snugging up the wheel with the string off the saddle when installing new strings? Or taking the string off the saddle before releasing the ratchet mechanism when removing strings?
 
#638
jasethebass said:
The string release mech. will not work if the string is still under tension. When you put on new strings, make sure you only finger tighten the string wheel before tuning up the string. If you put too much tension before tuning, the tension will still be there when you fully dutune the string, thus the release not working. Hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...

Thanks mang!
 
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