FAQ

- Do you do setups? How long does that take? How much is that service?
Answer: Yes, it usually takes half an hour to an hour, but you get a free cup of coffee while you wait. This quick service is available by appointment only. It’s only 30 euro with the purchase of a new set of strings (strings not included…) and 45 euro without that purchase. 

- Do you do amp repairs and service?
Answer: Yes we do. Our tech stops by every week to pick up all repairs and usually returns the fixed amps the next week. These repairs are very moderately priced and are warranted for two months against the same complaint/defect.

- Do you do larger repairs such as refinishing/refretting/defretting/fixing broken necks or trussrods and so on?
Answer: Sure we do these too. For these repairs we have found an oustanding luthier whose prices are very moderate again (a refret for 250 euro). These repairs normally need a little more time, eight to ten weeks is considered normal.

- What does my instrument need maintenance-wise?
Answer: basses with a rosewood fingerboard like to be treated with fingerboard oil every once in a while, once or twice a year usually will do. You can easily do this yourself but we are happy to do that for you when we replace your strings and do a setup. Other than this finished instruments don’t need a lot more than just regular cleaning with a damp soft cloth. To keep your bass in good condition technically you should always take the instrument out of your gigbag or case after returning home from a gig or rehearsal. Leaving your bass in the bag or case can cause humidity-problems such as oxidation of the electronics or even warping of the neck. Instruments need to be able to breathe, just like you do.

- How frequently do tubes need to be replaced?
Answer: consulting different sources has taught us that a standard replacement needs to take place after three to four years of average use. This goes for both preamp and poweramp tubes. Replacing a preamp tube is fairly easy although you need reasonable screwdriver-skills and high-quality tools. If you’re not sure you can do this yourself you probably shouldn’t do it…
Poweramp tubes mostly need to be biased after having been installed and chances are a qualified tech can do a better job at this than you can, unless you are a qualified tech yourself of course.

- What’s the deal with ohms and speakers?
Answer: Hooking up two speakercabs to your amp can be done in two ways: in series or in parallel mode. Although it may look like series mode when you daisy-chain the cabs one after the other it is in fact usually parallel mode… This is because internally most cabs are wired to that effect. When I say most cabs I actually mean all cabs we have seen so far…
This means that daisy-chaining your cabs or hooking them both up to your head directly is actually technically the same, for all (mono) poweramps are wired that way internally too. The only way to hook up cabs in series mode is to make your own special cable specifically for that goal. If you didn’t do this it’s safe to assume you’re working in parallel mode.
The total impedance of two speakers wired in parallel can be calculated using the following equation, where speaker  A is speaker 1, speaker B is speaker 2 and R is the total impedance: 1/A + 1/B=1/R. Let’s fill it out: speaker A of 8 ohms and B of 4 ohms result to this: 1/8 + 1/4=1/2,66666. The overall impedance therefor is 2,66666 ohms. In parallel mode the total impedance is always lower than that of each of the cabs! Another example: A is 4 ohms and B as well: 1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2 so the total impedance is 2 ohms.

- My bass is acting funny/hisses/hums/does nothing, how’s that possible?
Answer: that’s hard to tell from a distance, probably bringing your bass to the store is a good idea? Having said that there is one thing that usually is the cause of all kinds of strange behaviour. Poor grounding can cause all sorts of problems. Grounding can sometimes still be bad even when you think it’s not. When your amp is plugged into a socket with apparent ground, the ground can still be disconnected behind the socket…things like that do happen unfortunately.
Another thing you might want to check is the condition of the battery in your active instrument. Active basses can start acting real funny when the power is running low. We have documented cases in which the instrument started playing oriental scales in an unusually high pitched voice all by itself…. spooky huh? So check your battery before freaking out!