daddymack

lovely...how does it play? too bad they didn't sunburst the headstock to match the body....that would have been awesome

HNGD!!! [finally...I was getting full on the popcorn...] Although I have never been into 'off-set' bodies, that looks like a cool axe! The parchment/aged switch tip and knobs is an interesting touch How do the p-ups sound? Do you get that 'Jazzmaster' tone? Two-point trem? .010s should be nice and fat sounding on there...is that standard Fender JM/Strat/Tele scale [25"]? It looks more like it could be the shorter Jaguar scale [24"] from the rear shot. Might just be lack of 'scale' in that pic. One of my clients has a Squier version [not the Affinity]....he had me replace the p-ups, the bridge, tuners, pots, switch, string tree...by the time it was done, he should just have bought the Fender. The bridge was the biggest issue, and cost-wise the most expensive single part [he insisted on genuine Fender]; JM bridges have some inherent issues [string 'rattle' etc], and there are better choices on the market, but the customer is always right. I tried to get him to go with the Mustang bridge [which is a simpler and ultimately more reliable design] or a roller type [less string breakage] to no avail. I did put 'vibra-tite' in the saddle adjustment screw threads to stop the rattle-you may want to do that if you get the rattle]. About the only thing he left was the trem, which he said he wouldn't use anyway. I think he eventually replaced the neck with a 'mighty mite' several years later. He should have just asked me to build him one....

never tried google? Never looked in the software manual? Here: https://songbook-pro.com/docs/manual/settings/foot-pedals/

Audio flucker?

Thoughts...in no particular order...no insults here, and I do not think you're crazy. 1: If you don't want to risk a divorce, keep the guitar...just don't play it if you don't like it. Leave it our where she can see it, though..... 2: People who don't play guitar should not buy guitars for people who play guitar. It is not like buying an iron, a toaster oven or a curling iron....no 2 guitars are exactly alike. 3: Supposedly the Tributes are PLEK'd. Yours? I find it difficult to imagine with the other symptoms you've mentioned. 4: I have to think your neck angle is off...a lot, if your bridge is riding very high. What did the tech tell you after the set-up? 5: Gibson does make occasional dogs, even Les Pauls. They still sell them as 'B' Stocks...check your s/n! 6: Is it still under warranty? If it is, send it back!! 7: Have you had a qualified luthier look at it? 8: Some pics would help...especially of the neck, action, bridge/stopbar.

ksl, I'm glad you relented....because the world should not suffer another tragedy/travesty...like this....

I'm still chuckling.... When I read he had a single input amp, my first thought was 'use a mixer'....and then your pic was right under it....

If you try to 'recombine' them, you may need a ground lift; depends on several possible things, like AC powered pedals [Morleys and some other antiques], reversed +/- pedals, daisy chain DC power vs battery, where the amp is plugged in compared to the power supply for the pedals... If you have an older Fender amp, like Gardo [and I do as well] then yeah, you have four inputs to play with, all essentially the same. You could also run them into a mixer.... a fish once told me toan iz in da finners....so I am concerned about the future of toan being, as da french would say, fin-ny...an' I'd like my stake rayer....

The new mythbusters.....I had sent several guitar 'myths' in to the lads years ago, but nothing.... the greatest truth I learned here [actually, I pretty much already knew by then] "Tone is in the fingers" As guitarists, we 'buy in' to all the hoopla because it gives us something to argue about. But most of it is opinion, smoke and earwax. To be fair, for different reasons, I own plenty of guitars [appearance, weight, neck feel, body feel] and amps [weight, wattage, speaker size, features] but ultimately each is a guitar and an amp, nothing more. There is no magic; a second rectifier isn't suddenly going to make me sound like Satch, and my LP Custom doesn't make me play like Di Meola.

I have pickups sitting that I have had for a couple years, one for my cheap-o tele copy, [a Fralin Bridge], and a pair of gold Filtertrons for my big 'custom' [read: oft modified] jazz box....and I still have not installed them...because the more I work the instruments, the more I realize that the specific tone that those replacement pick-ups will provide are really not 'better' than what I can coax out of the existing configuration, although the Fralin will be less 'noisy'.

nooooooooo!!! he could wind up with this...

It has to be the whole package...at least for me. As much as I like seeing virtuosos play, there comes a point in the show where I want them to step outside of all that...some do, most do not. I'm certainly not a virtuoso, but I play a fairly eclectic mix of music, but I also [try to] incorporate some humor into the proceedings, be it a joke or two, a novelty/funny song, an anecdote that leads to a song...because I don't think being a serious musician means you have to be humorless...the job, as noted, is to entertain people.

^ but all moot since he had single coils in a hb housing....

without knowing what the actual finish is now, I can't suggest a solvent, so sanding with successively finer sand paper is the way to go, as long as the wood isn't very porous, that should get you to a reasonably clean surface. You can have stains tinted pretty much any color you want, and if you have a spray gun [like a Wagner] you can get great results out doors on a still day. If you have a spray booth, then just have at it! Consider also sanding down the back of the neck and the head stock face and staining them to match! Forget 'about how finishes do, or do not, affect sound, and/or how the wood breathes', it is 99.999% hog wash...and the remainder is nonsense, on solid body electrics. To clarify: [thanks mikeo!]

please come back so we can see it put back together

wider strap you could shave the back of the body, increase the 'comfort carve', rout narrow/shallow channels in a checkerboard pattern...but you ain't gonna knock two pounds off... or you could steam the cap off...and then channel it out to your hearts content. But this will likely change the 'feel' of the guitar drastically....

beat me to it....

do the p-ups look like this?

This is the early 70's 'hockey stick' head bass, right? Could you show us a pic of the pickguard?

are you referring to a Bose L1? Certainly a solution, if the OP has the budget for it...but since the OP has not returned since February, I doubt it matters anymore.

you could used solar powered [pre-charged] for a night parade, or battery powered led string lights, but how do you plan to attach them...?

As I guessed, the OP has been looking around for help in other places as well as here. I'm sorry to say that these basses were never particularly 'popular', and Harmony now is not Harmony then, so copies of wiring diagrams from ~50 years ago are going to be challenging [if not impossible] to find. Based on the date, this was likely built in Japan, and not Taiwan, but it was still an inexpensive 'starter' bass. On the plus side, the p-ups are likely DeArmonds [often marked as 'Rowe' on Harmony instruments up to 1975], and they are probably worth more than the bass. Have you tried contacting the new owners? https://www.harmony.co/pages/contact Not that I would expect them to have the diagrams, but 'one never knows, do one'? Without knowing what the final wiring 'goal' is [as bp asked above] there isn't much to be done. Are you returning this to 'original' wiring? I have to think not, with the push/pull pot you mentioned...but that makes at least one of the switches redundant. With an instrument this old and of little monetary value, why not ditch the original faceplate? Then you are no longer married to the on/off switches and 1V/1T arrangement.