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Broken string lock? After hearing so much about that and truss rods breaking (and after seeing one locally with a broken TR) I'll have to pass on one, as good as they sound. I'd love to have a Radius though...
You won’t be disappointed with a Radius! Immediately after this problem, I went and bought a WAV B-stock NS Design after personally emailing Ned about my Synapse problem. Long story short, he gave me a good deal at a price rate of $445. Well worth it! Don’t waste your time with these basses no matter how ridiculous people are selling them at. To each their own though, some people just like using stock or double ball strings only.
Whilst visiting Bass Central, I sampled many high-end basses they had hanging on the walls there, and the one I was most impressed with was the Radius. I don't think I could use Kalium strings on one because they are tapered, but there are other sizing options out there. Unfortunately I'm not in that price market yet!
You should get away with tapered strings on the Radius, I was able to fit in Pressurewounds Strings from GHS and they’re kind of thick strings. If not then, I know a couple people that contacted Ned about making them a special tuning bridge that can accomadte flat wound strings (due to the radius bridge not being able to grip the flat wounds properly).
Ooh, I've been curious about that as well. Will have to make the trek up there to try it. The tuning system reminds me of the ones on their violins.
My only concern was strings as I run a .142 balanced set on my fiver and when I buy strings again soon I'm going back to a .150. With the 35" scale length I'd probably be fine with a .136" set so my concerns are probably not warranted - just hope the tapered end isn't too long for the headstock area. Ha - that's if I could afford one - but I'll say this, I tried out a Modulus Q6, a fretless Pedulla, and several others (didn't take the $12.5k Dingwall Prima Artist down off the wall though) and then a brand new Radius CR5, and I was most impressed with the feel and sound of the Radius. Had I the $2600 or so I would have brought it home, and I NEVER buy expensive stuff like that brand new!
Anyway, I'd really like to have a seven or eight string headless, but will have to settle for a Conklin Groove Tools again when I'm able.
Raz
Made the attempt and purchased a Blue Synapse used (for a decent price) just to compare/contrast again and have noticed the synapse have single strings stocked. So without hesitation, I made the purchase to see for myself if there was any way possible the person before me modded the headpiece.
Turns out it wasn’t modded and the reason how the single strings are even on the synapse is due to the lightness of the strings. The synapse has on a set of Hartke Extra Light Gauges to avoid breakage of the single string adaptor (clever girl). After plugging it in and playing for a while, it’s gotten me to dislike the onboard Pre of the bass and only found the magnetic pickup favorable than the blend of both magentic/bridge piezo (At least with my NS Wav bass you can get a good tone out of their piezo bridge than the Synapse).
I would STRONGLY suggest to mess with your Amps EQ cause that will make all the difference of your favorable tone. It also helps using a Bass Preamp pedal, I’m currently using an MXR 81.
Overall experience, I’m glad I stuck with the NS Design Bass after playing through the synapse for the second time given the opportunity.
Turns out it wasn’t modded and the reason how the single strings are even on the synapse is due to the lightness of the strings. The synapse has on a set of Hartke Extra Light Gauges to avoid breakage of the single string adaptor (clever girl). After plugging it in and playing for a while, it’s gotten me to dislike the onboard Pre of the bass and only found the magnetic pickup favorable than the blend of both magentic/bridge piezo (At least with my NS Wav bass you can get a good tone out of their piezo bridge than the Synapse).
I would STRONGLY suggest to mess with your Amps EQ cause that will make all the difference of your favorable tone. It also helps using a Bass Preamp pedal, I’m currently using an MXR 81.
Overall experience, I’m glad I stuck with the NS Design Bass after playing through the synapse for the second time given the opportunity.
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I have a 5 string Synapse that I really like. Recently the treble pot has stopped working. No matter what I do it will not change the treble at all. The bass and PU selector both work fine.
Any suggestions?
TY - Chris
Any suggestions?
TY - Chris
I actually ended up replacing the entire tone stack in my fretted Synapse 5 with EMG. That’s a possible solution.
There's no real magic to pot replacement.
IME, the hard part is finding replacement parts that are identical in both electrical and mechanical specifications.
Then, any decent tech can swap the parts.
No argument, although it worked well enough for me...
My only point is that there's nothing that special about Synapse parts.*
Find some you like that work and fit and move on.
_______________
*Except maybe the piezo side of the pre -- but we're just talking about pots and such...
Actually, I’m pretty sure the Synapse has SMT pots which complicates things. I might be wrong, though.
I like that idea, do you recall which one you used? I have done this in the past with other Hohner Jack bass guitars.
That might not be a bad idea. I’m curious to know what parts you’ve swapped as well. I was never a fan of the piezo unless I was playing it on my Hartke 2x10 combo which for some reason resonates much better than my main GK Rig. Go figure lol
Hm. What’s the current available string preference these days? I have four and five string fretted.
IIRC a BTS system sans the pan pot since I replaced the piezo pickup with Spector saddles, and a VMC so all the holes got used.
