Mr. Foxen

'Nother Rockinsbetter: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROCKINBETTER-BASS-UNUSED-RICKY-REPLICA_W0QQitemZ150315373227QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item150315373227&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROCKINBETTER-BASS-UN...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url]

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='350595' date='Dec 10 2008, 12:31 PM']+1 on the Digitech Bad Monkey, also look out for an old Boss Heavy Metal HM-2 or a Turbo RAT.[/quote] Joe Garcia will be selling a HM2 when he gets round to it, prememp and send him an offer.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='349928' date='Dec 9 2008, 05:00 PM']I've had a Johnson (why am I smiling as I write that?) and, for the money, you can't go far wrong as a basic platform. Don't worry about whether the body is alder or plywood. At this price-point, the sonic differences will be swamped by all the other factors ... bridge, pickups, strings, tuners, lead, amp, speakers. Just make sure you avoid MDF. Bear in mind that, when upgrading components, two of the things you can upgrade are the body and the neck. If you have a plywood body and you can actually hear the difference, wait for an appropriate 2nd-hand L/H body to turn up on eBay. There's nothing to prevent you from starting with a Johnson and gradually swapping out ALL the components over a period of time, ending up with a parts-bin bass which has no Johnson content at all.[/quote] Thats pretty much what I've done, liked it enough I did it again.

I don't think you need to worry about some low end loss if you are going into a combo, probably best getting a guitar one, they sell kinda easy after cause there are lots of guitarists about. One with an eq for the bass would be good.

Some rapid pickup purchase action went on between us. All good.

It can live again, dude on another forum had his bass bust in a car crash and it was glued and lives to this day: [url="http://www.uglybassplayer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10576&page=2"]post 17[/url]

Have the band transpose everything into the key of E or A, if you have a detuner D might be an option. Throw horns/pump the air with your free hand.

[quote name='Jesus' post='348933' date='Dec 8 2008, 07:04 PM']Its funny you mention this guy as i had already sent him a message. He has no left hander fretted Jazz's, a couple of P's though.[/quote] If you fancy a reverse headstock Jazz, I have a Johnson fretted neck sat around, kinda have plans for it, but could do with some pennies, I will send it to you for £30, with tuners on. You'll need to replace the nut. Its very chunky though, might be better off with another neck entirely if you fancy a different profile, and that kinda kills the idea. Edit for reverse headstock pic:

I bought my Johnson off htis guy, bunch of the stuff he claims about the pickups is not true, but message him and see if he has a fretted one, he was cool to deal with: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHNSON-JAZZ-BASS-LEFT-HAND-FRETLESS-IN-ABS-HARD-CASE_W0QQitemZ350131845901QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item350131845901&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1298|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHNSON-JAZZ-BASS-LE...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url]

I recon a catskin strap would set that bass off nicely. Oil finish is probably the way, but I have no idea how you'd blend the edge to where the body finish starts, I picture the oil seeping underneath and lifting it. Edit: spelling

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='348818' date='Dec 8 2008, 04:58 PM']The thing to consider when going down the route of modding (the voice of experience... from someone who doesn't always take notice of his own experience ) is that the costs of the mods do not/rarely increase the value of the original instrument; they may make it easier to sell but the price won't reflect the money spent. Added to which you have to consider what would you pay to just buy a better model of bass than pay to buy a cheapie and then add the cost of the mods? e.g. Cheapie bass + cost of mods = decent instrument; worth cost of original bass (minus depreciation... often high on low end basses) + small percentage of mods 'V' Mid priced bass + NO mod costs = decent instrument; worth cost of original bass (minus depreciation... often not as high as on low end basses) There are no hard and fast rules and you may well end up with a better instrument if you go the modding route [u]but[/u] 'You pays your money...' [/quote] Value and worth are different things to resale price. I know I can't get nearly as much as I spent on it for my franken P bass, but I play it over basses that cost more than it did.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='348576' date='Dec 8 2008, 01:32 PM']Not a bad price considering what these things have been known to go for on the Bay. Judging from the blank, elongated neck plate, it's a Hondo, an edge-view of the body would confirm it - it'll be ply. The chip off the back edge looks like it's the top veneer which would bear this out. J.[/quote] Dealt with this guy before, he is down the road from me. He pulls down auctions if he doesn't like the price that is reached, hence I don't deal with him.

I've used Johnson/Axl (same thing) bodies, they are solid wood, claim to be alder, I tihnk three pieces but I never stripped them. They are fine. The necks are chunky, which I like. You can get plywood Squier so thats not a great guide, Squier have been made all over the place at various times and at qildly different quality levels. Johnson copies come up on the bay for £50, when I've wanted to mod, thats what I've picked up.

I think they are coming up cheap second hands as people are trying all the shiny new DIs available. Pretty sure the secret is all in the blend knob. The actual sound engineers can correct me, but I think as a bass DI its going to be a familiar item for a house engineer, which is a benefit, although it might be a bit of an obvious sound.

To original poster: Get a 2x10 or a 1x15, then later, get another of the same and a head. Also, there is a DI out on your head, so you can go the PA if it has subs for bit more volume and such out front. The Ashdown EB are fine combos, your best plan for the moment might be to score a milk crate and just have it a bit higher up so you can hear it better, and the DI into PA for out front. Whens its time to splash out on more hit, don't buy in a hurry, post up what you do, what you want and what you have to spend, thats when the techy stuff above is important. I think your pennies are best saved at the moment.

Danish oil is kind of a vague term, I used Rustions Danish oil for finish my Wishbass, and a lot of sanding, came out well, could do witha few more coats though. Rustins is thinned Tung oil and stuff to stop it drying as fast and make it easier to apply. I think some 'danish oil' is wipe on varnish type stuff. It won't mix with water, some sort of solvent is needed.

I'm no expert, but I'm trying to learn. The sunburst looks wrong and the pickups look to be round ended. Am I right? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Jazz-Bass-1971-1972-non-original-electrics_W0QQitemZ150314503633QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item150314503633&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Jazz-Bass-197...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url]

Ran hands over one of those Nevada pedals, its solid feeling. Guitarist seems happy with the sound. Starting to get the idea with this pedal modding lark now, so might score some things to play with.

The horrible yellow to greenburst Spear bass has all the pickups.I have a J in the neck of my P bass, sounds pretty good, balances better than a bridge J which always seem to get overpowered by the P.

You are gonna get stung for a handling fee on the import duty also.

I'm pretty sure I gave a lefty one to a basschatter for experimenting on, not sure what state it was left in. Also, this the same neck? [url="http://www.trade-it.co.uk/category/musical-guitars-bass/region/w-uk-south-west-avon-bristol/WashburnB20ActiveBass-1929550.html"]http://www.trade-it.co.uk/category/musical...ss-1929550.html[/url] Been listed for ages and relisted. Dunno if its gone now.

Right now I can't afford anything. Problem with modern drivers is the chassis is a different shape and won't sit in the recess, so it would be fairly major surgery. Considering moving this on now its been diagnosed.

[quote name='Dosi Y'Anarchy' post='345581' date='Dec 4 2008, 03:53 PM']At least give us a price range, i hear the Digitech Bad Monkey is pretty awesome, and you can get that for around £30, (or you could get a Humphrey Mods Badder Bass Monkey from the states), or you can shell out £150-ish and get a Tech21 VTbass. I had a black Marshall Guv'nor, tried it for about 15mins then sold it, couldnt get any low-end out of it, did kinda sound like I was playing through a Marshall guitar head tho, also they're discontinued now so they get more expensive all the time, it might be worth trying the new one and adding a clean blend. I reckon the new one could be just as good as the old one, but Tim Commerford used the black one, so thats what alot of bass players go for. I also have owned two EHX English Muff'n's, they are awesome, but personally i found they lost too much low/low-mids to be heard in a mix, but it really was like playing through a Marshall tube amp, and sounded fantastic. I've since sold both, but wouldnt say no to a new one, now that i can blend in some clean low-end with my LS2.[/quote] I used a black Guvnor with a LS2 for the droney parts in most of the recordings on our myspace. Might do same again, its only 2 capacitors to put some serious bass capability into a Guvnor though, guess they made it like that to stop guitar being muddy.

What are you hoping to achieve by doing this? Getting 'all of the watts' out of your head likely won't make you any louder. It will also mean you won't be able to use a second cab, and a second cab is the way to get more loud.