I've been following various threads, reviews, etc. on the San Dimas. Managed to get one at a good price and thought I'd share my experience:
Got a blue one "Used". Good thing. The white was too plain and the green was, well, green... Came with all the original packing and tags, still had plastic on the tuners and backplate. Not a horrible set-up but not great. This thing is a beast. Some folks described it as "punchy". Yeah, like Mike Tyson! I would say "aggressive". Like "My guitar wants to kill your momma" (thx F. Zappa) aggressive. It was also pretty noisy. I want to keep it so I did Low End Lobster's shielding approach (thx! Video on YouTube). I had all the materials left from previous projects so all it cost was time. That solved the noise issue. I don't feel that the preamp is unusable, in fact I like it. I have lots of basses with lots of different preamps and this one is pretty OK. You can adjust the gain with the trimpot on the preamp, which I tried, but opted to return it to the original setting. What I discovered is the preamp, with all the tone controls set to minimum, is about unity gain with the passive bypass (vol push/pull). So, for me, the way to operate this preamp effectively is all about cut rather than boost (which is how I use my other active basses). It's different, but not inherently bad.
On to the set-up: I was not able to lower the "G" string to the action I wanted as the bridge sits too high. The saddle was set to it's lowest point. I removed the neck and put in a shim. I only shim the end, not the entire pocket, which gives the neck a slight rake that I actually prefer, as it makes lower fret access more comfortable. I really wish more mfrs. would make their neck pockets slightly deeper with a tilt adjustment and/or slightly angled back. One of my pet peeves and a reason I love my Kubicki Ex Factor. One thing the shim facilitated was it gave me the ability to set the p/u heights to even out the output, a common complaint on this bass and P/J's in general. A tip here - put a bit of bar soap (not liquid) on the p/u height screws before reinstallation, they will work far more easily. Nice that the foam they use is thick enough and firm enough to offer a wide range of height adjustment (are you paying attention, Squier?).
Now, shimmed, shielded and set-up, I'm ready to go! But wait - the open "A" string buzzes horribly on the first fret! Upon further investigation, it turns out the nut is cut very poorly! The "G" string slot is much too high, the "D" is OK, the "A" and "E" are too low. Out come the nut files, super glue, and baking soda. Cut the "G" string slot to proper depth, a touch of super glue and a sprinkle of baking soda on the "E" and "A" slots (a really handy repair technique, also works for stripped screw holes), re-cut to desired depth and NOW I've got a bass that's a pleasure to play. Not for every gig, but it will have its place.
I see why folks have issues with these basses. Seems QC is spotty. Am I happy with this bass? Yes. Am I happy it took so much effort to make it that way? Definitely not. As you might gather, I have a real fondness for maximizing the potential of my basses. A bass that's perfect out of the box is, frankly, a bit disappointing. There's a world of difference, though, between tweaking and tinkering, and full-on repair before it's usable. I wonder if these "used" basses are unmarked factory seconds of some kind.
Thanks for reading. I welcome any comments.
Got a blue one "Used". Good thing. The white was too plain and the green was, well, green... Came with all the original packing and tags, still had plastic on the tuners and backplate. Not a horrible set-up but not great. This thing is a beast. Some folks described it as "punchy". Yeah, like Mike Tyson! I would say "aggressive". Like "My guitar wants to kill your momma" (thx F. Zappa) aggressive. It was also pretty noisy. I want to keep it so I did Low End Lobster's shielding approach (thx! Video on YouTube). I had all the materials left from previous projects so all it cost was time. That solved the noise issue. I don't feel that the preamp is unusable, in fact I like it. I have lots of basses with lots of different preamps and this one is pretty OK. You can adjust the gain with the trimpot on the preamp, which I tried, but opted to return it to the original setting. What I discovered is the preamp, with all the tone controls set to minimum, is about unity gain with the passive bypass (vol push/pull). So, for me, the way to operate this preamp effectively is all about cut rather than boost (which is how I use my other active basses). It's different, but not inherently bad.
On to the set-up: I was not able to lower the "G" string to the action I wanted as the bridge sits too high. The saddle was set to it's lowest point. I removed the neck and put in a shim. I only shim the end, not the entire pocket, which gives the neck a slight rake that I actually prefer, as it makes lower fret access more comfortable. I really wish more mfrs. would make their neck pockets slightly deeper with a tilt adjustment and/or slightly angled back. One of my pet peeves and a reason I love my Kubicki Ex Factor. One thing the shim facilitated was it gave me the ability to set the p/u heights to even out the output, a common complaint on this bass and P/J's in general. A tip here - put a bit of bar soap (not liquid) on the p/u height screws before reinstallation, they will work far more easily. Nice that the foam they use is thick enough and firm enough to offer a wide range of height adjustment (are you paying attention, Squier?).
Now, shimmed, shielded and set-up, I'm ready to go! But wait - the open "A" string buzzes horribly on the first fret! Upon further investigation, it turns out the nut is cut very poorly! The "G" string slot is much too high, the "D" is OK, the "A" and "E" are too low. Out come the nut files, super glue, and baking soda. Cut the "G" string slot to proper depth, a touch of super glue and a sprinkle of baking soda on the "E" and "A" slots (a really handy repair technique, also works for stripped screw holes), re-cut to desired depth and NOW I've got a bass that's a pleasure to play. Not for every gig, but it will have its place.
I see why folks have issues with these basses. Seems QC is spotty. Am I happy with this bass? Yes. Am I happy it took so much effort to make it that way? Definitely not. As you might gather, I have a real fondness for maximizing the potential of my basses. A bass that's perfect out of the box is, frankly, a bit disappointing. There's a world of difference, though, between tweaking and tinkering, and full-on repair before it's usable. I wonder if these "used" basses are unmarked factory seconds of some kind.
Thanks for reading. I welcome any comments.
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