OH MY GOD, THE TOBIAS RESURRECTION IS NEARLY COMPLETE!

Ladies and gentlemen, the upgraded Toby Pro-6 has landed... and she's a beauty!


To stress - I haven't actually held her yet (it's been 6 months since I did that!!!) but this picture from Julian Mullen shows the job - and trust me, this is stunning in comparison to the huge black metal jig that was attached to the rear end previously.
What you see here is a 10 year old Tobias Toby Pro-6, which is a great sounding bass, but it's been upgraded with:

• Internal GK-3B Kit (the only control "mod" on the front is the switch for the MIDI pickup)


• 9V OBP-3 kit


• Stacked knobs up the wazoo to incorporate both a 3-band EQ, pickup blend AND the GK volume control


• An excellent new Hipshot brass bridge - made to order and which got stuck in the US during the massive winter storms they had (in Florida, no less)!

Bridge and MIDI pickup in full view - the hipshot gives me lovely fast string changes and more mass than the old one did. The MIDI pickup is finally properly installed instead of being a jerry-rigged adhesive job (I do still have the old GK-3K, it's currently attached to a 4-string Aria Pro II). Beautiful!


My new socket-wonderment! I still have good ol' analogue out with the OBP-3 giving me far more headroom than before - the stock preamp was really, really quiet compared to the Warwicks I have, and I like a bit of grit when I dig in!


And finally... one very crowded engine bay!
I am literally slavering with anticipation to see what this beast has become: I'll be getting over to www.bassgear.co.uk in Twyford with the GR55 and the right cables in tow to check out and get some tinkering in. Julian will be on hand to iron out any glitches, and then she'll come home, for the first time in nearly half a year.
It's been a long haul, but it looks like we're nearly there. Don't regret a thing!

The mystery of the dead 10" driver (Warwick Neo can, celestion driver)

Aha - I've been a little paranoid about the Neo magnets in my cab dying on me since I had a long hat with David Eden at the Bass show 2014 in London.

One of my drivers failed a couple of years ago, in a Neo Warwick 4x10 cab. I was lucky enough to bag a replacement celestion matched to the originals at pre-raise prices, which was cool.

Anyway, I wanted to see if I could use the magnet for something else, thinking the coil must have died, so I dug out the old speaker and (with some glee) ripped it open today.




Here's the driver. Seems fine, but the cone travel is "crunchy". You can feel it.




Cone out...





Bingo. The nickel plating was lost on the front of the magnet, allowing the elements to corrode it: hence the filings you can see on top, and the "crunchy feel" when gently pushing the cone in and out.

Keep at eye out for this if you've lost a driver, or it's failing: mine sounded buzzy for a while.

The good news is, according to posts I've read, Neo drivers don't fade if they've got good anti-corrosion in place and decent heat sinks. These drivers have good fins on the back: the other 3 are fine, and the new one is too.

An interesting morning!