Fred's IB-5

[wazkelly]

the pickups could be changed as the stock pickup I got are quite weak (and can't be coiled split).
Also need to improve the setup. I get a bit too mucj fret buzz after the 12th fret...

Might need to review the neck relief and potentially angle...

Hi Fred, you can actually coil split those standard soapbar humbucker PUP's as I posted here.... http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=6476

Also discovered that once you have the action nice and low plus the PUP's at a decent height the volume issue is no longer as big a problem. It may pay to remove the PUP's and install some 5mm - 10mm high density foam underneath them and screw down hard to a level where they are close enough but not too close to the strings to cause issues. The Bourns 500k audio taper push/pull pots are easy to wire up and not too dear and would come in handy if you upgrade to splitable PUP's down the track.

Cheers, Waz

[FredA]

Thanks mate!

I've been learning to play the bass for a couple months now with Yousician and I'm enjoying it more and more. I've actually spent more time playing my bass than my guitars lately!

[wazkelly]

Hi Fred, check out this guy.....



Start Your FREE ScottsBassLessons Academy Trial Here: http://scottsbasslessons.com/

I have had a look at a few of his emails/videos and need to find lots of time to sit down and get serious about what he has to share, and the best part is most of it is free and you don't need to spend lots of money signing up for stuff.

[billb]

The gold hardware against that dark wood tone looks very very classy!

[FredA]

Hey guys, would be interested to get your thoughts here...

The neck pickup on my IB5 has stopped working suddenly, a bit weird as the bass has not received any shock (that I know of), nor been exposed to anything special... it worked as expected for months and all of a sudden the neck pup kills the output signal when selected.
It looks like something is shorting the hot to ground (and the whole output with it) when I start blending the neck pup in (I used a blend pot followed by a master volume instead of one vol per pup), I get a 0 ohm reading between Jack and ground as soon as I start blending it in.

So, I am going to start un-soldering so I can test the components in isolation, pup first, then blend pot, then the tone pots with caps.
But I'd love to hear if any of you have had this issue before, and how you resolved it???


And since I'm going to open 'the beast' and start messing around with the soldering iron, I am now thinking it would be a great time to upgrade the pups! I've considered it before, but didn't get to it...
So that's my second point, what soapbar pickup would you recommend for a 5 string bass?

Thanks!
Fred

[Simon Barden]

I'd suggest either a faulty selector switch, a signal wire that's come loose, or a bit of wire touching the screening.

[wazkelly]

So that's my second point, what soapbar pickup would you recommend for a 5 string bass?Thanks!Fred

Hi Fred, are you running a pre-amp with the stock humbuckers? If so, that should have made an immense amount of difference for not much outlay.

On my EX-5 I upgraded with Custom Bensons for about USD $220 and they are very, very close in size dimensions to the ones in your IB5. Sound great but depending on how the AUD is travelling planned upgrade could cost closer to AUD $300.

Other options at the time were Bartolini which seemed reasonable value & quality, maybe EMG who also make passives (not just actives as we tend to think of with them), and some others too. The odd measurements narrow the field considerably which is then fine sorted by how much extra coin you want to throw at it. Suggest looking on eBay and Gumtree as I nearly bought some well priced used Bartolini's as the Custom Bensons were an unknown in the Bass world and no sound clips anywhere on the internet, except for my low quality YT demo after installing them.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=6471

Best of luck.

Cheers, waz

[Simon Barden]

Bartolinis are superb pickups.

[WeirdBits]

So, the bridge pup is working fine but mixing in the neck kills the signal? Does it only happen when the blend is near/on full neck or in the middle/centre detent position, or anything short of full bridge?

Copper shielding brushing a pot's lugs is always a prime candidate for signal shorts, but we need a bit more info when there is a blend involved.

[FredA]

Thanks guys.

Re my neck pickup issue, the signal gets killed from the mid point on the blend pot. Found tonight another thing, when at 100% on bridge pup, I'm also getting a short when moving the master volume from max (it works) to middle and lower (it doesn't work anymore)...
Could be copper shielding going walkabout, but I find it weird that it suddenly stopped working after 10 months working fine...
Anyway, I reckon I'm going to have to take the electronic appart and test bit by bit to find the issue.


Now looking into upgrading pup... EMG make passives, Seymour Duncan and Bartolini...
The SDs are available (USD125 inc fret on eBay), the EMG 40Hz too (around USD220 with freight), and the Bartolini seem to be harder to find.
Any feedback on the SDs?

Cheers