stingrayPete1977

Might be poplar not alder too especially if its a solid colour, my jazz is poplar and I like it as its nice and light.

On the guitars only the usa ones have the extra fret too, not sure if that affects any of the jazz basses?

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1365533734' post='2040874'] Are they really made of cheaper stuff? I don't care about tuning pegs, surely the wood used in US Fenders is no better? Are the pups different? Is the quality of the knobs poor? (I suppose that begs another question, what makes 'good wood' for a bass - please nothing about tone here!) [/quote] Usually the same wood but more bits of it to make a body, I had a Mex Strat from new which had US pickups back then but I think the new ones have weaker outputs depending on the exact model, the knobs are similar but the pots are cheaper with a cheaper feel to them when operated. Fwiw I have played more nice Squiers than nice Mex basses, although played lots of nice Mex guitars, odd I know.

I'd still be pre, straight in, I presume others would go from pedal boards that could still be pre di even when used with a rig. I have a preamp on every instrument I own so I'm never truly free of tone shaping and as I said before it starts from the fingers anyway. life is too short to worry about some stuff, just get out there and play!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1365515098' post='2040551'] Do you really believe that? Or are you simply parroting 60 years of propaganda from lazy PA and studio engineers? And if you do think your statement is correct why have you wasted money buying some nice GB amplification, when a simple powered wedge monitor will do the job at a fraction of the cost? [/quote] I use a 1x12T cab for monitoring if there is a big pa, the 2x12T I use for gigs with no or little pa support. Like I said loads of people are going to in ears so not even a need for a cheap wedge if the whole band has gone that way, on stage silence, bliss

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1365512556' post='2040497'] But no one would even think that a guitarist should plug his guitar directly into a DI box and use that sound for FOH, so why should the bass guitar be any different? [/quote] A good quality bass guitar usually sounds good direct in, An electric guitar with no fx usually doesn't, how's that? Also as many pro players are moving to in ear monitoring your idea that no one else is going straight in albeit after some form of box of tricks is unfounded.

We are all essentially post fingers, tone and volume can all be shaped right from there.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1365430167' post='2039453'] Surprisingly, it may have been Hofner, as they were offering active circuitry in basses from the mid-late 60s. [url="http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/factfiles/active/electronics.html"]http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/factfiles/active/electronics.html[/url] The guys who founded Alembic were also early adopters of active circuitry, but I guess they don't come under "mass produced". [/quote] Were they fitted to basses though? The OP does state active basses.

I know! It is staying in and looks like I will gain another one on the other bone further up my arm where they are going to remove a slice of my arm bone then join it back together.

I have £800 here waiting if he wants to sell it yob bass and all that.

[b]Quick update[/b]- looks like my arm has reached as much movement as it will at about 50%! The solution, and this is not a joke, is to have my arm shortened Only by a few mm but cutting your arm in half is cutting you arm in half regardless of how much they remove isnt it? Dont know for sure yet and will probably be a few months away so I am going to try and get on with things for now.

[quote name='sticker' timestamp='1365371892' post='2038793'] Here's a pic from the day it arrived ( has a matching headstock as well which is obscured by the bubble wrap) apologies for the thread hijack ... it fits easily in to the boot of a Focus ....and we're back on topic! [/quote] Awesome!

Totally pointless ain't it? I'm quite a softy left wing type really but honestly I'd be happy if they were found in the bottom of the Trent and Mersey managed to t cut most of it out but our guitarists new mini country man is quite bad

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1365356860' post='2038486'] Post. I am really happy with my sound and that's what I want the sound tech to have, and they can tidy it up if it doesn't translate as well through the PA. In my experience, often if you give a mediocre sound to the desk, you will get all the 'good' frequencies EQ'd out completely and the whole band will sound weaker as a result. [/quote] I've usually found the opposite where the sound guy is constantly trying to fight all the clever sounds that sounded great in the practice room that now sound awful, jtuk will be here to tell us he has an hour on his own to perfect all his patches or he won't play I'm sure but in my experience the band before spend an hour looking for the leads to a keyboard they use on one song if they remember and we get five minutes tops to set up! Next band goes on, P bass and a ten foot lead, sounds ace!

[quote name='WhoNeedsYou' timestamp='1365355862' post='2038467'] I drive 1.4 tdi ford fusion, cheaper to run [/quote] How much is the tax on them?

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1365351765' post='2038380'] I would imagine it does, but I'm very much a belt & braces person in some respects; I also do the healthy stretch of new strings to get them as "in" as I can ASAP. I'm just fishing really, never having has the OP's problem. [/quote] I just leave the same strings on for months once they have settled, the active treble pot on a ray can make any old strings sound fresh

I'd say we have cracked it then, make sure you get the bass out and put it on its stand to acclimatise when you get to the gig, if is a little sharp before going on leave it alone, check after the first song and it will probably be spot on again over a decade of playing rays has taught me that

Good point, some twat ran a key down all the cars outside the jam I went to on Friday, ours included, road worn! If I catch the w***er that did it his face will match!

I wonder if Ford would make a limited edition for musicians (I presume other musicians like them?) Or a Mark King model with loose wheelnuts that make a clacking sound over all the potholes, a 3 tone sunburst paintjob or maybe a Fender model or something!

The tapered post does still apply pressure BigStu, I can't imagine the modern ebmm nut is causing it either so I'd say its either the strings or the truss rod. If my basses are on the stands they are normally a tad sharp but I leave them alone as by the time the first song is finished they have normally settled back to being in tune, if I had retuned they would of gone a bit flat.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1365339718' post='2038183'] I went for the Skoda Octavia as the boot is so big I can get a Ford Focus in there [/quote] I do like them or a Volvo V50 which is the same car underneath as mine anyway.

Focuseseses or a herd of Focus maybe.

If we are talking live show then always pre, give the engineer a nice clean signal to work with, they know the venues foibles better than you or I

I'm going to bite the bullet and have the full ford 75k service when it's due, probably be over a year yet anyway.