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US Masters club

#181
@Versatek6
I'd say the bridge is just shy of the bottom of the body. The bridge is huge but the design and functionality looks promising. I have not adjusted it yet. The truss rod was to tight when I got it. The D and G string where basically thumping against the fretboard all the way up and down. I have been working on adjusting it over the last week.

What I find interesting is the fretboard has a wave similar to post #51 by @Razman, except it is opposite. Meaning with a capo on fret one and hand fretting twenty four, my 0.38mm feeler does not lift the string at fret 5....but it does at fret 7 and then gets tighter as I move up the board. I am not sure what to make of it yet.

Its is strung with steel strings and looks like a little bit of fret ware on the first few. I don't know much about this or if it would be an issue.

I have about 5 more weeks to decide to keep it or return it.

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#182
RasJay said:
@Versatek6
I'd say the bridge is just shy of the bottom of the body. The bridge is huge but the design and functionality looks promising. I have not adjusted it yet. The truss rod was to tight when I got it. The D and G string where basically thumping against the fretboard all the way up and down. I have been working on adjusting it over the last week.

What I find interesting is the fretboard has a wave similar to post #51 by @Razman, except it is opposite. Meaning with a capo on fret one and hand fretting twenty four, my 0.38mm feeler does not lift the string at fret 5....but it does at fret 7 and then gets tighter as I move up the board. I am not sure what to make of it yet.

Its is strung with steel strings and looks like a little bit of fret ware on the first few. I don't know much about this or if it would be an issue.

I have about 5 more weeks to decide to keep it or return it.

View attachment 5408377

View attachment 5408378
View attachment 5408391
I think that these basses were out of production before the introduction of this bridge. I may be wrong...

View attachment 5408390
Click to expand...
 
#183
RasJay said:
@Versatek6
I'd say the bridge is just shy of the bottom of the body. The bridge is huge but the design and functionality looks promising. I have not adjusted it yet. The truss rod was to tight when I got it. The D and G string where basically thumping against the fretboard all the way up and down. I have been working on adjusting it over the last week.

What I find interesting is the fretboard has a wave similar to post #51 by @Razman, except it is opposite. Meaning with a capo on fret one and hand fretting twenty four, my 0.38mm feeler does not lift the string at fret 5....but it does at fret 7 and then gets tighter as I move up the board. I am not sure what to make of it yet.

Its is strung with steel strings and looks like a little bit of fret ware on the first few. I don't know much about this or if it would be an issue.

I have about 5 more weeks to decide to keep it or return it.

View attachment 5408377

View attachment 5408378
View attachment 5408391

View attachment 5408390
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about your neck problems - I miss what that bass could have been had it not had neck issues. I explored options to fix it but wasn't worth my time/trouble. Regarding the fret wear, that doesn't look all that bad to me. Best of luck with that one.
 
#184
I see why the previous owner installed a string tree. When playing the A,D,G strings open, they have a bit of vibration in the head stock area. Pushing on the string just behind the nut resolves it. Standard tuning.
 
#185
I returned this bass yesterday to GC. The wave thing in the neck was very slight and did not seemed to affect the action or playability. Truss rod works as expected. Something would need to be done to remedy the vibration from playing the open A,D, and G strings. The slightest pressure behind the nut remedies it. The bass is at located Guitar Center on South Las Vegas blvd.
 
#186
P
RasJay said:
I returned this bass yesterday to GC. The wave thing in the neck was very slight and did not seemed to affect the action or playability. Truss rod works as expected. Something would need to be done to remedy the vibration from playing the open A,D, and G strings. The slightest pressure behind the nut remedies it. The bass is at located Guitar Center on South Las Vegas blvd.
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Played this bass there yesterday. Very interesting. Sounds good. I suspected some neck issues but didn’t have time to properly overlook it. Left me thinking about it though. Would be nice to have a P bass with 24 frets as part of my arsenal. I might talk it over with the tech there. He has neck heating accessibility there. But well made instrument nonetheless.
 
#187
rigorous bass said:
P

Played this bass there yesterday. Very interesting. Sounds good. I suspected some neck issues but didn’t have time to properly overlook it. Left me thinking about it though. Would be nice to have a P bass with 24 frets as part of my arsenal. I might talk it over with the tech there. He has neck heating accessibility there. But well made instrument nonetheless.
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I gave it a good cleaning, wax, and oiled the fretboard before I returned it. And I think that Delano pickup sounds fantastic in there. That bridge is the easiest I have ever adjusted.

I slowly adjusted the neck (1/4 turn at a time) over a few days because it had far too much back bow. And I keep my house at 40-45% humidity here in Vegas so I let it acclimate a few days before starting those adjustments.

I do already have a 5 string Warwick and I returned the US Masters and used the money to gift my brother a Spector ReBop for his b-day.

The neck wave in that Masters is ever so slight and didn’t seem to cause any issues playing. I bet you can point it out to GC and ask them to discount it.
 
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#188
Thanks for the info! Now I know what to look for. Yeah I find the bass very interesting. I love that’s it’s passive too. I did notice the open G string sounded muted. I’ll have to take a second look first chance I get. Seems like a lot of bass for the money!
 
#189
Here is a picture I took of that neck (Serial# B181). Looking from the body to the head stock. I can see a slight dip around frets 5-7 that I verified with my feeler gauges. Perhaps some heat and clamps could straighten it? The G (also A and D) string did not sound muted to me played open, but they rang out from some vibration at the nut (sounded like chorus effect). That is probably why it had a string tree on it before. A very slight touch behind the nut resolves it, so I think that could be easily addressed in different ways. In addition the MusicNomad Premium 1/4 truss rod wrench for Taylor guitars from Amazon worked great. I returned that as well.

I removed the Delano pickup and put some new foam under there because the pickup was rather loose and would move a lot has I rest my thumb on it. I soaked the screws in some ballistol to move the surface rust on their heads. Inside the control cavity looked neat and tidy. I enjoyed cleaning it up!

At the end of the day, You could play it as is with one of the muting hair band things on the nut until you decided to address any issues. And I agree, it is a WHOLE lot of bass for the money. The birds eye neck and purple heart fret board are beautiful. It also balanced well using a strap (I tried my own strap locks on it).

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#191
rigorous bass said:
Thanks for the info! Now I know what to look for. Yeah I find the bass very interesting. I love that’s it’s passive too. I did notice the open G string sounded muted. I’ll have to take a second look first chance I get. Seems like a lot of bass for the money!
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It could be a bad string. That cause has had the same "muffled" effect for me.
 
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#199
Versatek6 said:
Looks kind of like an Aguilar. I have an OBP-3 in one of mine. Any printing on the top?
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Definitely is an Aguilar OBP-3 wired in 9v. Controls are stacked push/pull volume & tone (pull volume for passive mode, tone control works in both modes), bass, mids (push/pull for 400/800 hz selection), treble. The toggle appears to be series/parallel/“single”. The output is super hot on active and sounds like a P, a J, AND a Stingray had a mahogany lovechild.

Pretty much all the tones are useful in different ways and and provide a sonic sledgehammer regardless. Very very fun bass to play, have already broken it in live and it kills!
 
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#200
Slapped said:
Definitely is an Aguilar OBP-3 wired in 9v. Controls are stacked push/pull volume & tone (pull volume for passive mode, tone control works in both modes), bass, mids (push/pull for 400/800 hz selection), treble. The toggle appears to be series/parallel/“single”. The output is super hot on active and sounds like a P, a J, AND a Stingray had a mahogany lovechild.

Pretty much all the tones are useful in different ways and and provide a sonic sledgehammer regardless. Very very fun bass to play, have already broken it in live and it kills!
Click to expand...

My OBP-3 is in a soft maple bodied H/H. Although I don't have that pickup, I really like the parallel sound on the hubuckers. A little less output, but really clear and a wider spectrum, I feel. Happy that yours will be getting a well-deserved workout! :bassist:
 

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