Dammit. I haven’t got a blue one! Well, not that blue anyway 
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On the left is the Harley Benton jazz bass that was held up in customs for two weeks and just arrived this past week. I believe Angela Merkel put in a personal call to have it released as part of Germany’s recent aid package in support of the arts in response to the epidemic.
The used eBay-special Fullerton P bass arrived two days after the Harley Benton. It weighs approximately half of its German counterpart, which feels as if it weights 11 metric tons, not 11 pounds.
The Fullerton has a persistent rattle on the D string when fretting, which if I’ve read the forums correctly calls for a setup (or maybe I got what I paid for it). I’m going to use it as a guinea pig to acquaint myself with bass repair and maintenance while I work my way through B2B on the HB. Given my general level of mechanical abilities, I assume I will be playing Billie Jean with my eyes closed before I can perform a basic setup without screwing something up or unleashing a torrent of Anglo Saxon epithets on the rest of my household, even from my basement hideaway.
The lessons start tonight. If the reviews I’ve read about not wanting to stop once you’ve started, I have a feeling that a vacation day from working from home might be in order tomorrow.
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On which frets does the Fullerton rattle manifest?
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Okay, @JimP . . . sounds like a great approach 
Good luck with both basses and with the course!
Cheers, Joe
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Wow, the problem is worse than I thought. The rattle is very prominent on the third fret of the D and G strings, and fainter but still noticeable on the E and A strings. The entire D string is a buzzfest, and the first five of the G string are in need of some help.
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Sounds like Mr. Fullerton’s offspring is due for a full setup, including a truss rod adjustment. Whereas buzz on the higher frets can usually be remedied by adjusting the action height, if you have a buzz on the lower frets, that usually indicates neck issues. Which is not a problem if you’re not scared of addressing these, but it’s not as straightforward as adjusting the action height.
I think you’ll be relying on the Harley-Benton for the immediate future.
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Thanks. Yeah, the long-term plan is to work on the Fullerton and see if I can get it sounding decent, but not until I’ve made my way through the course, or at least until I feel comfortable that I am using these terms I’m throwing around correctly.
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Are you sure the bass is tuned properly? They can ship de tuned, and when you tune it, you may have to go up a full octive to get the proper tune and string tension?
If you are tuned proper, and still buzzing, it is most likely not a big deal!and the only real thing you could “break” so to speak, as you mentioned you will probably damage something if you try, is the truss rod. However, typically when I have to adjust one, it is very slight, I have never had to do more then a little more then 1/4 turn.
So you are not putting all your weight into it, like when changing a tire, so breaking it is pretty rare. Even if you broke it, you could get a new neck, or maybe send it out for repair, but chances are sli,
So if your strings are in tune, the quick thing to do is raise them at rhe bridge, and just turn the set screws and raise it up til the string doesn’t buzz.
That will make it playable, Nd you need one tool, and just a few min.
You define the string about 1/2 to full turn, raise the bridge by a full turn on each side (or 1;2 at a time, depends how fast you want to do it) and play the string to check for buzz. RIse til there is no buzz, tune the string again, check for Benz, shouldn’t be any, and then move to the next string.
After doing the G string, go back and check tune on them all, and check buzzing one last time.
THIS DOES NOT ADDRESS ANY NECK ISSUES, IT JUST GETS YOU PLAYING WITHOUT BUZZ, BUT PROBABLY AT HIGHER ACTION THEN YOU WANT IN THE FUTURE.
There are many good set up videos that will address this next step, and if you need to adjust the neck, then after you do, you can lower the string “action” y doing the opposite of what you
You did to raise them.
for the set up you can get away with probably only one, maybe two additional tools. The hex wrench for the Truss rod to straighten the neck.
Sometimes access to it is behind a plate or cover, so you may need a small Phillips screwdriver to remove it.
If you have one, a CAPO. Is EXTREMELY handy to help with measuring the straightness of the neck by using the string as a straight edge. Or if you have a straight edge, then you can use it and not need the capo.
HTH some, glad you got your Bad Ass Basses and are ready to change your life forever, for the better, by becoming a BadAss
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Hi mate,
That is one cool bass.
That timber is gorgeous.
I’m seeing a lot of timber bass around lately.
I might have to invest in one.
Congrats
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Well, I thought I had it tuned, but now you’ve got me thinking I might need to investigate further. Thanks for all the info about the possible repairs.
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This is my bass A Marcus Muller M7 series. It is a great active bass. But I would like to buy a second one for a more heavy metal sound and I thought a Jackson X series David Ellefson (Megadeth) signature bass.
If you guys have any other opinion which bass sound more heavy metal please feel free to post your suggestion.
Keep safe and play bass
Antonio
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@AntonioM, how about the ESP LTD Tom Araya signature. I love this Bass, and ESP LTD. I will own one day, at least the $599 one, prob not the $4000 one.
But I think they are actually cheaper in stores, like $450ish IIRC.
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That is a beautiful Bass you have there @AntonioM, the Tom Araya would go so nicely next to it.
There is also an ESP LTD Frank Bello model that’s
cool too!,
Schecter makes some bad ass Basses too, not sure who they Signature tho, I will have to look.
I think Sean Yesault (White zombie). That may be ESP too tho. It’s a cool coffin bass.
A Schecter like this would suit your quest for Metal
Or an ESP like this
Or even the ESP LTD “F” series
It’s like the Tom Araya tamed down, but it comes in Black and Mahogany, so would look good with your MM.
https://www.espguitars.com/products/20940-f-4e-mahogany?category_id=1963374-f-series-2
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I had a look at it but it is quite expensive one. The Jackson X series it is a bit more affordable one.
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I really like signature one great. I will have a look at it 
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That’s one for the bedside bass stand 
@T_dub
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My bass family:
On the left is a 2019 Ibanez Portamento SRF705. 5-string, fretless with a piezo bridge pickup. It goes bump in the night.
On the right is a 2005 Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay. No frills, just bass.
I play both guitars with flatwound strings. Can’t beat those warm tones and smooth finger feel!
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!
I started with the Ibanez AEB10. I really love the tone of this guitar. I decided that I would make faster progress with an electric while continuing to work with the acoustic. I took your advice and got a Yamaha TBRX304. I love this guitar. I also got the Fender Rumble 40. The 2 together sound pretty incredible.
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Here’s my family. Interesting similarity to Jon’s, a few posts above.
Bought the MusicMan new when I first got into it, and then Shortly after, I got the MIJ Jaco tribute (lined fretless) used off of Talkbass. Its supposed to be late 90s era.
I just got the U-bass for my birthday today. So far so good.
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Very nice Family indeed, or starting of one (
)
Looks like a mamma and papa. Some kids well come eventually.
Lol. Enjoy them, they are solid.
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