mcnach

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1431265869' post='2769395'] Since this seems to have become the official gear-share grumble thread, I had a guitar gig last night, let the guitarist from another band use my amp without prior arrangement, and he had the gall to complain that it didn't have a gain channel! If you're going to rely on whatever amp you can scrounge on the night, carrying your choice of overdrive pedal might be a good idea, no? At least nobody thrashed it or put drinks on top of it though... [/quote] Well, you clearly didn't get the memo, so find whoever was in charge and tell them off. You were expected to carry a selection of overdrive pedals and other assorted effects for this other guy's enjoyment. Idiot. Not you! The other guy

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1431254154' post='2769178'] Would want to see it as the whole point of Roqsolid is that they are functional and cheap. That doesn't put them in the same league as offerings by Aguilar or Berg, for example. but then those might be £70 plus £'s.. If you could see them, and more importantly feel how padded they are, you could make a decision. [/quote] I have the standard one for my MarkBass CMD121P combo. It's very well made, but I'd go for the padded version next time. It adds about £5 more only, for 5mm padding. That doesn't look as substantial as my TKS ones, but I'm sure it would do the job well. Total cost for a BB2 type cover would be just under £55, if I calculated it well. You may add pockets for cables etc but that adds more. For me the point of these covers is to protect it from the elements when moving it etc. They're being transported by myself, exclusively. No cover offers enough protection against a heavy PA amp being dropped onto the cab etc, it's flight case territory then.

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1431251919' post='2769137'] To the original poster, I'm sure Chris McIntyre in Edinburgh fitted the Luminlay dots to a friend of mine's bass. [/quote] I didn't realise the OP was in Scotland! Mine were fitted by Rory Dowling, of Taran guitars (a one man acoustic guitar building operation), in Fife. Beautiful job. He used to be based in Edinburgh (at the workshop Chris McIntyre is now, in fact!) and he is now near Pittenweem in larger premises. Beautiful area, good excuse to visit and have fish and chips in Anstruther

Also, when screwing back the neck, I like to thread the screws through a candle first, to allow the wax to just slightly lubricate the thread. The screws then follow the threaded hole a little more easily. Whatever you do, be gentle, you don't want to enlarge the hole.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1431240859' post='2769016'] When you are securing the neck to the body make sure that the screws pass through the body without catching. They should be a tight fit but the thread should not catch. If the screws do catch on the body this can cause you to create a gap between the neck and body because the screws can be screwed tight up to the end in the body wood, but only part way into the neck wood. The resulting gap is then like a shim. [/quote] Yup, listen to this man.

These are the Luminlay fitted to my black Jazz:

don't mention Marusczcyc!! I ordered one (a PJ type) and I still have another 4-5 weeks to wait! It's agony!!!

You can replace the side dot markers with the "Luminlay" (google it) ones. They'll look just like normal whiteish markers in normal light, but they'll fluoresce in the dark. You can charge them with a UV torch simply by a quick sweep along them. The strong fluorescence dies down in a few minutes but the residual glow is long lasting and very visible in the dark. In addition, if your stage/pit has UV lighting... the markers will glow strongly all the time. Pretty easy and cheap to fit.

[quote name='donslow' timestamp='1431125489' post='2768141'] I'll try and keep this brief to prevent me rambling My bass started life as a vintage modified precision, new wiring, pickups, bridge, neck, machine heads, pick guard later it's near perfect, with one exception, still don't like the colour, Have just spent the last 5 days stripping the paint to bare wood, sanding and refinishing with wood dye, time to put it back together........neck on, pickguard and all electrics on, bridge on I restring it and the strings are flat against the fretboard on all frets, saddles raised as far as and still same problem, check the neck relief and is exactly how it was before taking it off, in order to gig with it I currently have 4 pieces of thick card (came from a whiskas box if it helps) underneath the bridge to raise it enough to get a decent action out of it Long story short, the bridge appears too low for the neck now there is no paint on the body, is this a common thing?! Has anyone else come across this problem? What are my options to repair? If it helps the bridge is a gotoh 203 "OEM Style" bridge Thanks in advance [/quote] Is the neck angle correct? If there was a shim in the neck pocket and misplaced it, the tiny difference in neck angle can cause that. I'd try a shim anyway (I use thin cardboard, from a business card or similar, or a bit of sandpaper, typically), increase ever so slightly the neck angle, and see whether that allows you to set up the bass nicely. It'll probably fix the problem at the saddles too.

I had a Nordstrand NJ4SE fail on me a while ago. They use very thin wire on those and I could see the end of a broken wire loose from the coil. Upon posting about it on Talkbass, as I really liked the pickup but was worried to buy another if they had a history of failures I learnt that there isn't really a documented problem with them, and someone from Nordstrand contacted me and asked me to send it to them. They fixed it for free. Contact Nordstrand!

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1431112546' post='2767996'] Interesting stuff about pickup placement - particularly where the 24th fret would be. I've always thought Ricks were good at producing the fundamental - is that a product of it? And are the harmonic positions somewhere to avoid? [/quote] considering that as you fret different notes, the nodes will shift too, I don't think that plays a role.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1430994195' post='2766606'] DR Fat Beams. Growl and heft in spades and would suit a Wal down to the ground... In my humble opinion, of course. I've also been enjoying D'Addario EXL-170 BT (Balanced Tension) which also growl very nicely, if that's your thing. [/quote] +1 on the Fat Beams

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1430893035' post='2765554'] Does this mean if you can vary playing behind , on and just after the beat during the same song you are a good bassist , if so I was better 25 years ago than I am now. [/quote] if you do it consciously for a particular effect, and you remain in control, sure!

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1430826832' post='2764886'] I'll probably wait for the Gen 4 options, you know the Tolex finish ones... You heard it here first [/quote] Now that would be nice!

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1430816005' post='2764722'] I'm sure I'll be told otherwise, but I do wonder about the thin-ness of the ply being used on some of these cabs now. Standing up to the rigours of the road. [/quote]I I'm sure if acoustic guitars survive, so will a cab Unless you are touring in Afghanistan, maybe.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1430781402' post='2764594'] I see this has 2 speakon sockets. Why is this? Sorry to be dumb [/quote] If you have an amp with only one speaker out and want to use two cabs, you can use one cable amp-cab1, and another cable can1-cab2 using the second speakon socket. The sockets are almost-always-but-check-manual-please wired in parallel.

[quote name='Salt on your Bass?' timestamp='1430732043' post='2764020'] My band don't like coming home with me to schelp it up two flights of stairs from 30 yards down the road..... I like having big cabs that I can carry around myself (excluding any tonal considerations i find as a plus with them) the weight is a bonus but not my sole consideration. [/quote] That sums up my point of view too. From time to time I've said "ah, whatever, just use a trolley, go big". But the balance "pain in the arse" (or back!) vs "sonic enjoyment" has generally been tilted away from enjoyment. I used to use a 4x10 + 2x10 for a while and it was pretty nice. I was really happy with the sound. If felt hefty without having to be loud. It was "present". The 410 alone was about 45Kg. Between two people is not a big deal, but I used to load my car at home by myself as I didn't want to have someone come over to help. My girlfriend helped at times, but I could manage by myself... However, it was awkward. Now add bad weather, rain, wet streets...moving a bulky item through a crowd of people was never fun, even with help. So in the end, small/lighter wins for me. And it's not like you need to compromise a lot, I don't think. My BF Compact (Gen2) remains a fave for me. I heard nicer cabs, but this one can sound pretty damn good, and can deal with an amp pushing it, so you can get loud enough with it alone. It doesn't feel as hefty as the 610 solution I used before, but it's not a joy-killer at all... and it's just so easy to move and set up. This also means that if I play a festival or any other situation where backline is provided in order to make changes smooth and save hassle, I can still use mine and be happy rather than using an often substandard battered old combo (why guitarists get good gear and bass seems to be almost an afterthought?). IN most situations, I go through the PA, so the amp is mostly a stage monitor. With the Compact + BigBaby2 I never felt I didn't have enough power or presence (I'm not playing stadia ). I have used that, without PA, in a few village hall type of venues without PA support. I use my wireless to go around and see if the levels are balanced etc while we sound check... Those two cabs move a lot of air. They don't sound half bad either! I think that's a pretty good compromise for size/weight/power/sound quality. The only places I didn't like its sound in, were places where I'd never be happy anyway because teh acoustics are poor and there's little you can do, except not being too loud). Now I have an even smaller set of cabs, a pair of TKS 1126. They have a markedly different sound, and they're smaller. I can fit both in the boot of my car, which was a deciding factor in my buying them: I don't like to leave gear in plain view in my car, so that way the only thing not in the boot is my bass, which stays with me. I have not used that as extensively as the BF, but they can also move quite a bit of air. I feel maybe not as much, but I have never tested them side by side. They also have authority and sound pretty good. Soundwise I can't decide, I think I prefer the TKS, at gig volume, but there are too many factors involved and never used the two rigs in the same situation/venue. They are smaller, but they're a bit heavier, therefore more awkward to move around staircases, with people etc, if you have one in each hand. In short, each solution has definite pros and cons, but those pros and cons are weighted differently for different people. I find that the notion that one of the solutions is inherently and substantially worse, from a sonic point of view, ridiculous. There are differences, and there are combinations that make me smile and others not... but not a single one makes me go "ugh, that sounds disgusting" after I've had a chance to tweak the amp/bass controls. You know what makes me go "ugh!"? Having an underpowered combo, which you need to push too hard, and you end up having to choose between a decent sound or being heard. I've played my share of gigs with provided backline that meant I could have just mimed. Smaller lighter gear allows me to never go through that again. Barefaced may not be my absolute favourite when it comes to pure sound... but I do like it, however, where they gained my appreciation, was in working hard at making small/light solutions that REALLY worked, where I did not feel I was compromising too much in terms of sound (quality & 'heft'). Yeah, I can get help. But I prefer not to *depend* on other people. Especially when we play places where they provide backline... asking band mates to help bring my own feels a bit extravagant. They would help, no question! But I'd feel a bit bad asking. I just bring my own "little" solution, and I can manage by myself even if I always get asked if I need a hand when they see me. It's nice to say "nah, I'm ok, thanks!" and still be set up and ready to go before the guitarists are

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1430697258' post='2763857'] I have - one of those Washburn Statuseses which went "plunk plunk plunk". [/quote] I don't play any of that new fangled plunk music...

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1430141301' post='2758313'] Short of wiping them down with a clean dry cloth after use, do any of you have suggestions for prolonging the life of your strings? I find that even being meticulous I start to get signs of rust after 6 months or so [/quote] 6 months? My strings get replaced more often But even when i keep them longer, I don't ever recall them getting rusty. I don't do anything particular to them. I do tend to have clean hands before playing, and I don't do anything to them afterwards. I may wipe the neck if it's warm and feels a bit sweaty etc... but don't really touch the strings.

Through "Strings & Things": [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/acchom.htm"]http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/acchom.htm[/url] click on Ernie Ball/MusicMan and then look for "spares" and find the tuners you want there. I once bought a couple there that were also bent, for a USA SUB that was sent to me with inadequate packaging.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1430560291' post='2762560'] In a way I'm glad mine didn't come with a singed plate. I appreciate the idea but I think they look ugly. [/quote] it's only on the back anyway...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1430401312' post='2761042'] You see a lot of stuff on the interwebs about Behringer and their alleged low-quality and low-reliability, but it's worth saying once again that they do manufacture and distribute more products than every other brand put together, so statistically you're going to see more instances of Behringer failure than anything else. Of course people don't post anything at all if their products are performing OK, why would they? For what it's worth, the Behringer products I've used have all performed perfectly well with no issues. I think I might buy that £99 bass amp for the hell of it and kick it around a bit, see how that goes... And another thing, I had cause to use a TC bass amp as backline and I did not like it one bit. It didn't blow up, however. [/quote] I used a Behringer BX4500 as my first bass amp head. It was heavy, the fan wasn't the quietest, but I liked the sound. I have had only ONE amp head failing on me, during soundcheck, with a nice cloud of smoke. It was not the Behringer, it was a TC RH450! To be fair, TC reacted really fast and I was able to collect a new RH450 locally three days later. Now, that's service! My little kick-about practice amp is a Behringer BXL450A. It doesn't sound half bad either. I had it since 2007, and I use it all the time. Never missed a beat. See, it's boring to post about success stories... so I won't continue with my Behringer UB1002 mixer, my Behringer V-Amp2, my Behringer AC112 guitar combo... etc

RHCP tribute: Richt Hoat Chillis, inactive since May 2014, but currently in talks with view to resuscitate it. We formed in May 2009. RATM tribute: Radge Against The Machine. Formed in 2011, we stopped in June 2014 when our singer decided to quit. We haven't found anybody suitable since. From time to time we look... and next Monday we are auditioning a guy who seems very promising, we'll see!

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1430412661' post='2761205'] Sounds a bit ropey to be honest. I'd like ti hear what users can get out it after months of tweaking and gigging etc, but it sounds like quite an expensive toy at the moment. [/quote] yeah, that demo doesn't sound too exciting to me...