well, thanks everybody, but this project just got officially scrapped :[ The bass seemed quiet but I thought that was just the "way it was". well, its grown even more quiet, the tone controls no longer do anything, and theres only one pickup working, and that's only if I have the blend knob in one specific position that is not easy to get the knob into. So tomorrow morning, its going back to the store. It will be a week tomorrow since I got it, and I've barely played it :[