Circle_of_Fifths

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1253297' date='Jun 1 2011, 03:01 PM']< Yakitty-yak > [color="#FF0000"][i] (although PP won't let me have the funds)[/i][/color] < ending yakity yak >[/quote] Ya know - I have over $700.00 US hung up in PayPoo and I am so sick and tired - this being my first action with them - that I had to have my attorney send them a demand for payment letter that cost me $35.00US just to get typed with a letterhead. I can see the deposit and yet they won't let me spend or transfer it out of their greasy mitts! I refuse to ever use or even consider using PayPoo again for this roughshod treatment of me by them.

[quote name='aldude' post='1218625' date='May 3 2011, 06:32 AM']Me at a recent gig. Shame the top of my head has been cut off, but it hasn't got much hair on it anyway so probably just as well [/quote] Is that an Ibanez SR500?

[quote name='gjones' post='1209175' date='Apr 23 2011, 06:05 AM']When I buy a bass, one of the things I take into consideration is, if I sold it or traded it in for a better bass, would I get the money I paid for it? Which is why I've always bought 'preloved'. I may try out basses in music shops but although I've owned 9 basses I've only ever bought one of them brand new (and lost a lot of money when I ended up selling it). There's usually plenty to choose from in the for sale section for the price of a brand new bass collection instrument and if it doesn't suit you you can always sell it on for around what you paid for it.[/quote] Used gold and diamonds? Maybe. Used dollars - always have and prolly will for a while yet - but used musical instruments are just too intimately personal to me. I might come off as crass here - but I never buy anything with an eye to profiteering on it later. What I buy I buy for [u]my[/u] enjoyment and not for someone to buy or own with my marks on it down the road when I am trying to get my money back. Sorry - it's prolly just me but I like new and that's what I buy and I have very little appreciation for used gear. I refuse to buy anything used in the form of a musical instrument (I don't care if it was kissed by the angels and played in the presence of royalty) or that has been owned by someone before me. That'd be like buying used underwear and regurgitated steak.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1203587' date='Apr 18 2011, 05:46 AM']Same here. Had Lakland's and Fender's and while all good basses, and i suppose better looking, none of them play better or sound better than my CV P.[/quote] If it's for the 'sound of a Precision' then almost any precision-type will work if it has the right p'ups and strings. I'd stay totally away from a heavy bridge since that wasn't part of the original design and the concession to adding them now is to improve marketing since some people actually believe a bridge make any difference at all. I totally don't believe the 'wood-tone' dialog since I just finished my own Precision-type bass (OK - don't yell about the head decal) and it has the lightest body I've ever lifted or felt. It sounds exactly like a Precision should and so I deduce it's not the wood either. [size=3][b][color="#8B0000"]My Homemade Fender No-Caster at 6lbs/2ozs - 2.778253254 kilograms[/color][/b][/size] (yeah - the string tree isn't on it in this pix.) But consider this::: It's an ELECTRIC BASS and the tone's in the electrical parts being excited by the strings, passing through whatever capacitor(s) and pots and then it's on to the amp where color is added or taken away. The tone-wood and HM bridges are an abomination to me - 1) for the fairy tale anecdotal testimonies and 2) the other as a pure fantasy. All in all - I have played the RWs however - and they are pretty sweet and sing very well - but they are awfully scratched and worn out to me. I like new-shiny-sparkles and a good wax job. They are MiMs too. Don't turn you nose up at MiM basses as they are just as good if not just a lot less expensive than the USA versions. I live just about 40 miles from Fender Corona and they send all the necks and body wood that is used in Mexico to be assembled there after the parts are machined here, rough-finished, for the cheaper manual labor and illegal-in-the-US paint processes that they get away with there. My MiM Deluxe Jazz is fine and dandy even though some people would not even consider buying one with that Mexican assembly line DNA. Too bad for those snobby people since they miss a lot of great gear that way.

Just don't trust the 'dated' picture scam either::: That's the pix YOU supplied - just ignore the copyright of mine by Picasa.

I keep it pretty simple::: MXR80 Bass +DI Dan Morely PT-13 Tuner DeltaLab DD-1 Digital Delay LMG-2 compressor which I use SPARINGLY - mostly for a slight clip on certain songs. That [b]A-B[/b] pedal is my amp control for my Notch Filter and StandBy. That dual-amber lighted thing is my 120V polarity and ground integrity tester with a built-in GFCI functional tester. And of course, my 1SPOT power supply. I really don't need many EFX as my amp has six freq banks to adjust the EQ and the (as reported) Notch Filter that I can turn on or off at will. I DO have a really good FUZZ though and when I play C/W, and a certain Marty Robbins song (Don't Worry About Me) is played, I use it to sound like the [u]1-Ton Bee[/u] that they used for that bass fuzz tone.

The Fender Jag - not to be confused with the Squier Jag - never was a really big seller in the US - it's home market. With resale values super low and the demand for them was lacking all the 'way around, it's logical that the Jag was DC'd when it was if not sooner. In all honesty, I considered one - but it un-impressed me a lot - lots less than a MiM Deluxe which could play circles around it I felt. Too many gadgets and switcheroos and thing-a-ma-bobs to go awry and asunder. If one has one - and one actually finds one is a delight to hold and play, then one should by all means keep that one as it will accrue value - [i]albeit not well-founded IMO[/i] - when they are scarcer than they are now and the collectors in Japan and Holland pay gross sums of Yen or Kronos (or whatever the Dutch use for coinage) and secret them to underground bunkers, never to see sun nor stars again in a private vault. One can only wonder, cannot one? Cute? - yes. Playable? - sorta. Valuable? - not to me. < insert usual disclaimers here > I have to go now and have a new muffler (engine silencing device-UK) installed (fitted-UK) on my car (auto-UK) and will return shorter than in a fortnight (a while-US) and resume this discussion then.

[quote name='faiz0802' post='1163703' date='Mar 15 2011, 02:04 PM']Oh, btw, My Squier fretless sez 'Crafted in Indonesia'.[/quote] It seems that the MiI Squiers are really upper-deck right now. The MiC and MiK basses have all been somewhat of a disappointment to me - except for my Squier Affinity Precision (the red and white one) which is a 1999 model. But as much as things stay the same, they also change and what's good today may not be tomorrow.

[quote name='faiz0802' post='1160149' date='Mar 13 2011, 12:27 AM']That's a very nice approach to it all. I see from your avatar that you have one too... The VM J Bass? How do like it so far? I have a Squier fretless which is a dream to play but I'm not very satisfied with the Passive circuit or the pickups. Am looking to swap the pups and throw in a J-retro deluxe in there. Still apprehensive though. I kinda like having the jack where it is and not on the eside of the bass, which I probably will have to route and make if I do invest in the J-retro deluxe.[/quote] I have a few Squiers. 1) The Squier Affinity P-Bass - the bottom feeder of the bass world - but it really is nice and I am in love with the ROTO77s on it and the extra capacitor I added top get it into Motown-land. 2) My VM-Jazz has had a lot of bling added to it - nothing electronic at all yet - but I have ordered a S/P DiMarzio stacked pot. ( [url="http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/DiMarzio-250K-Custom-Taper-Split-Shaft-PushPull-Pot-?sku=364668"]http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/pro...Pot-?sku=364668[/url] 0 ) 3) The VM-Jaguar has a small change - again nothing electrical or electronic, as I find these p'ups very hot and they are gonna stay right where they are. Maybe instead of another hole in your bass, you'd consider a concentric stacked pot that only uses one of the holes for a dual purpose?

OK - I never actually played WITH the Ventures - not in the strictest sense. But I DID play my bass as they were on stage and I was in the wings. Not on an amp - but unplugged. I had a Mosrite and they were just switching to Fender as Mosrite was going off-shore and I had one of their bass models for myself that later on burned up in a car accident. Sad to lose that iconic bass - but I also lost a good friend and my dog (the friend borrowed my car and the dog went with my car [u]everywhere[/u] no matter who was driving) - so they all died in the fire of the accident. Those days The Ventures, Eddie & The Showmen, The Beach Boys and Dick Dale were all part of my last years in high school in Huntington Beach, California, Class of '64.

For a short time Squiers were made in Mexico with US and Mexican parts to use up old stock and on-the-shelf parts. There have been some changes to the whole Squier line a few times - from bottom-feeder gear to some really righteous instruments that can hold their own against units much more expensive - to the Squiers of today that are recapturing the market whilst the high-dollar Fenders languish in stores and warehouses in this poor economic situation. It's a very good strategy to keep your best talent still working even if it's on lower-lined basses and guitars. If you get rid of the less qualified workers and keep the better almost-luthiers and artisans employed, should the economy ever recover then your people can go right back to building the more expensive gear and they can either rehire the laid-off talent or hire a whole new group of worker bees.

While the PG may be the right size - the holes are a longshot to get one that actually has coinciding holes. I have had a lot of good experience with getting the shape of PG I want - or color or whatever and just plugging the existing holes in the body with toothpicks and white wood glue and drilling new holes once the PG is in place. Herein lies another point of concern: there are different screws too. Some are Metric and some are on the King's Nose dimensions - with different thread pitches and threaded length under the heads. The one glaring difference is that some take Phillips #1 and other take JIS#1 cross-head drivers. The heads will be a slight difference in crown shape and overall diameter. If you put an SAE or UK equivalency dimensioned screw in and a JIS next to it - it's a glaring difference that will catch your eye all the time. There are SOME Squiers that will need a custom PG too - I have one that won't take a MiM, MiA, MiI or CJ PG since the trench routed for the jack is so large that there'd be an open area next to the PG uncovered. From my experience with my VM-Jazz, I had only one screw hole that actually was in the right place::: With some masking tape to control the depth of the drill::: Test fit [u]every[/u] move and measure six times, but drill/cut once.

I'd hate to see this guy's fingernails if he can render asunder a wire with any of them - fangs, maybe but fingernails, no way. I have a complete wire kit from Fender for the basses I have - if and when I need them. In spite of the age of the Squier - it has the same gauge wire, the same cloth covering (that 'vintage-thingy' that everybody wants except for a bass slapper) - so I don't get it ??!!?? The wires aren't gonna give you magic tones nor is changing the pots nor the cap nor the [u]anything[/u] if you don't have something that's actually broken and just needs replacement anyway. Yeah - this isn't a $3,000.00USD bass by any means - but we aren't going to get anywhere telling this new-poster to rip his bass apart for what is going to be a negligible at best improvement for his application(s) - musically [u]or[/u] aesthetically either. The pickups - if they aren't all shriveled up inside or had the wax melted out of them and they've gone microphonic - well, it just ain't penguin to want to change them for any other reason. Yup - they are possibly not as hot as a modern bass - but be ye not fooled - these pickups and pots are more than up to a good job and are gonna get you into bass-playing and tinkering, well on your way. You can do what you want - but I'd concentrate on NEEDS first - fix the broken whatever it turns out to be - and play the poor thing until you find that 'something' that isn't to your liking. FWIW::: the necks on most Affinity and Squier basses are very good - I have my old #13 (for years old) and I admire the wires in the frets which are so smooth and back from the edge like my MiM Jazz or even my older SR500 - which has some very good fret work too! I've seen high-dollar basses from fender that cost over $3,000.00USD that can shred cheese or clean under your fingernails on the sides of the necks - so if you have something nice - or it can be made that way (it can!) - then you are miles/kilometers ahead of the curve here. Bad fret work isn't just limited to low priced guitars - all brands and places of manufacture can be equal opportunity offenders in the venue. This is to be a learning experience for you - accept it as so and roll around in it - enjoy yourself. I am always suspect of anyone who generally badmouths a bass for brand, country of origin and peer pressure mixed with economics lessons and sheer snobbishness. Wire??? Bah!!! I've heard the iconoclasts proclaim that a black power wire from the wall to the amp makes for better tone that a brown one. Uh huh. Sounds to me like something to be argued in Parliament. Pots??? Bah !!! If they work and don't crackle or fall off. 250KΩ pots are still 250KΩ pits no matter the manufacturer and working is the true test. These things are like a light bulb - they are good until they aren't. Simple. Personally - the bridge IS the most arguable subject you can bring up - well, right after tone woods, that is. Leave yours alone until you either decide that you want a pretty chrome-y one or you have some extra coins in your pocket and just need to spend them on [i]SOME[/i]thing. MY opinion here: You will regret putting one on for a few reasons - the most base of which is the extra holes you may have to bore into the body to accommodate them and then explain that it was really an infestation of small Argentinian bass-eating bugs that chomped well formed holes there after you take that ignorant thing OFF and put the stock one back on, extra holes a-showing. If you think not - check out your CL and see how many HM bridges are offered for sale - used. You don't want to have to wear two bags over your head to play your bass in public - do you? The first bag is in case someone might recognize you playing a hole-y bass and the second bag is in case the first bag fails. Otherwise - beware of the '[u]sustain with- verses sustain without- a Hi-Mass bridge[/u]' Hyde-Parker/soap-boxers who will drive you to frustration (if not public drunkenness). Hi-Mass Bridges - therein lies madness! I know of what I am speaking here. Finally (until my next post) anyone who/whom suggests that your Squire bass as a piece of something less than desirable - needs to take a time out and just remember that not everyone is born with a silver bass in their mouth, but could certainly be better educated if someone were to put one there for them. {the normal disclosures and disclaimers}

I've got one of those old P-Affinity Squiers too and it is now a front-of-the-choir player. First - the p'ups are really quite good - but that may depend on the vintage of the gear too. The pots are sufficient, and in 13+ years I have not had a catastrophic failure of them nor scratchiness or any defect at all. I do NOT hang my hat on the knobs though, so your results may.... (insert disclaimer here). Wiring is wiring and the real problem may just be a bad solder joint. Really now - wires don't just somehow fail unless they are hit with great gobs of electricity (unlikely) or they rot (very unlikely) or there's rodent activity (you'd know about this more than I, since I am not there and you are). Any other mishap is kinda far-fetched and I have never had a wire spontaneous fail inside a bass, under a pickguard and no entry/exit wounds. You DO have a pickguard on this bass - right? The one biggest problem I ever had with my P was the output jack and it failed in stages - first crackling and then needing the instrument cable to be draped over my shoulder to make a better connection with the male-female parts. Oh - I did have a p'up start to fail after 13 years - so I got a used set of something-or-other-P-style from a Peavey bass. Just fine! It works and I still have that nice P-voice that I love. That should teach that Peavey owner to not leave his bass unattended. I have pixs! Lots of pixs! Oh - BTW: I added another switch and .1uF cap for super-Motown sounds! [b]NOTICE - THERE ARE NO SCRATCHES ON THIS BASS - ANYWHERE! [/b] I've got some pixs of my vacation last year too if you wanna see 'em.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1126648' date='Feb 13 2011, 11:46 PM']Good question. I don't know the answer to that but I am sure if you ask Fender they'll put the prices up. These are not in the stores yet but we will know why they are cheaper soon as someone buys one. I am sure that the "Lord of the Squiers" might be their first customer and he will give us the lowdown soon as he gets it.[/quote] Just for info: The VM-series of basses have all come down about 1/6th of their retail cost at GC and a few other related stores in the US. They are running $249.00 and they were $299.00. Go figger. I was shocked to see the $199.00 price tag on the new VM-Hummers, and since they are active - I don't get it either. Isn't this the way a dope dealer gets people hooked on drugs? 'The first one's free!" - right? Well, almost free. I have a pre-paid order for a candy red VM-Hummer - so I'll see what it sounds like when it hits the store here in SoCal.

[quote name='silky 2010' post='1131663' date='Feb 17 2011, 02:48 PM']Hi, Just wanted to give you all an update of what i bought in the end. I spent a lot of time in the music shop in Bristol, and eventually purchased a Squier Vintage Modified 70's Jazz FSR in Sunburst (which i think is the only colour they do this bass in as they apparently only made 1200 for europe) and a Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110 75W bass amp. For the last few months I have been using my mates old Aria bass with a really cheap 10W guitar amp. I cannot believe the difference with my new bass and amp, when the guy in the shop cranked up the little Line 6 amp it sounded absolutely amazing, especially for its size, the whole shop was vibrating! Its perfect for me as i only have a small house. It also has some cool effects like rock, grind, R&B, Clean, and Brit Pop, and Synth. The Bass itself is also a joy to practice with after using the old battered (held together with gaffer tape) Aria i have borrowed from my friend. So all in all i am a very happy chappy right now! I did spend a little more than i intended, but i thought i might as well get something decent straight away rather than buy again in a few months. If anyone has any tips for me regarding good songs to learn (easy ones) then I would be very grateful. Thanks again for all you help... Ben[/quote] It's gonna sound strange, but I feel if you can get into the basslines on ABBA then you are well on your way - besides we all KNOW how those songs go so you can mentally figure out what to do next . The bass isn't hidden in the background as bad as a lot of other songs and I feel it is a great training ground. Plus - of course! - Motown [u]anything[/u] is great for training your ear and fingers. Keep it simple and resist adding lots of 1/64 notes until you can work out 'the boxes'. You'll soon find a pattern that will do you well to recognize in almost all songs for your musical ear if you are not Oriental or a Mid-Easterner. Their music forms are a lot different from what you normally hear and will want to play.

I play a few Wine-tasting and Cheese tours for retired wealthy patrons and the sight of a plastic Fender bass won't cut it for them. I have an Ibanez SR500 - and it is more acceptable, but really to satisfy the audience, I use my Ibanez AEB10. It just fits their mental image and I have no troubles playing it through an amp - the same amp I'd use for a Fender - so it's all good. Really - an AEB is just fine for most venues anyway - it can do a lot of tone-things that a slab cannot and most that they can, and I really want (on one hand) but actually eschew the premise of using an URB. Big, fragile and although it is THE icon for jazz, it's too large to truck to the gig for me anyway.

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1125397' date='Feb 12 2011, 12:21 PM']I don't live there any more but I still rehearse there.I challenge your claim![/quote] To the thought of becoming 'one' with the bass - it happens sometimes not for a day or a week - but I find that if I am playing for more than 20 minutes or so, then things get a lot easier and somehow there's a communion of sorts where one actually has a flight of freedom and less thinking about playing. The notes just come naturally and the fingers find their mark with no mental gymnastics. This is why the second set in most play nights is usually the best. Everyone is in the same groove and it's just 'the music' at that point. I get some 4-set gigs sometimes, and the first and forth are the sloppiest for various reasons - but the first is cold and the last is just plain tiredness and slop. Many times I just wing-it and play what I feel opposed to what is written and that's when the creative juices start to flow. Now one cannot do that with every song, as there is the perception of the way it's supposed to sound - but one can take certain licenses with a song and get away with it (insert grin). It's kinda like 'hitting the zone' when I used to run cross country - after the first 3 or 4 miles, then it was a floating feeling and the strides opened up and I didn't feel anything but the wind and the ground just flowed under me for the next 8 or 10 miles. Vision even narrowed to not see the peripheral things around me - but just concentrate on the route and the desire to get to the finish line with no other distractions. Same with playing music - it all narrows down to just 'the bass and me' feeling.

Fortunately I get to play 600+ full-Watts where I live, but I can be heard downtown, about 8 miles away. This is the next town, 22 miles away - Palm Springs:: It doesn't matter if you pack the walls, floors and ceiling with mattresses - bass leaks out and you will have a very hard time to stop or contain it. It also isn't very directional, so actually it doesn't matter much where you point your drivers anyway. I typically play 40-acre BBQs and dances, so I need the power and when we're playing the whole city parties with us. If the town was to buy a traffic light - there'd be no place to put it here either, as we are very rural. I tried playing in a deep valley near here and it just seemed to make it more powerful and channeled the sound in a more direct beam I think.

[quote name='hhoward' post='1118747' date='Feb 7 2011, 03:50 AM'][b]thanks for that great clip, i only wish i knew how to download it.[/b] others seem to get angry when i say that i think that tony levin isn't human hehe either that or he come out of the womb with bass in his little hands anyone heard Elephant Talk, to me that is impossible and i have played for over 30 years always striving to get better. i have just discovered lead guitar recently since building a small recording studio and after doing lead bass for so long it seemed like a toy to me, the same speed but a 3rd of the work i love bass and always have since i was a kid, when someone told me bass is a four stringed guitar so i picked it up thinking it would be easier, so young so stupid hehe once again thankyou all HowardH[/quote] Here's a Downloader add-on page from Firefox users::[url="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCIQFjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Faddons.mozilla.org%2Fen-US%2Ffirefox%2Ftag%2FDownloadHelper&rct=j&q=downloadhelper%20firefox&ei=jUdTTcKaFZLEsAObnvCbBw&usg=AFQjCNGug_PEOuLK79UjqYIUE89lpi-JIg&sig2=Dz56Up6xtA1xaDpDWKj1Mw&cad=rja"][b] LINK[/b][/url]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='1120436' date='Feb 8 2011, 10:53 AM']Get an MXR-80+ & use it as an outboard pre. G.[/quote] Yeah - the M80 is tops - and if I were to change out the J p'up on a Special, I think I'd really consider trying to find an OE J for the VM-Jaguar. I've said it b4, but the p'ups on the VM-Jag are seriously hot. In fact, if you can find both of the Jag p'ups, you'll be very happy with the results. I can get olde school all the way from Motown to serious spine tingle out of them.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1120458' date='Feb 8 2011, 11:11 AM']When it comes to price, I thought we are talking about new instruments and [b]I don't see where the extra £90 for a CV goes.[/b] I would not suggest that it is impossible to get anything better than a used CV for the price, because anything is possible and I have had some amazing basses for a lot less. Having said all that, I agree that both are great value instruments with enough choices to find one that suits most people in the price range. Play both and choose [b]your[/b] favourite. £228: [attachment=71618:vm.jpg] £318: [attachment=71617:cv.jpg][/quote] I tried to love the CVs, but the neck radius wasn't to my linking as well as the VMs. I seem to prefer a flatter fingerboard than the CVs have. However - I think the extra money is in the neck details on the CVs. Like I said I don't care for the tighter radius, but there is a lot more work to making them that way than the non-rounded sides on the VMs. Even with the bound neck on my VM-Jazz Natural, I still think either the VM or the CV is a personal choice - but just for the neck details, not overall quality. What I am eagerly awaiting is the new VM-Hummers when they hit in April - now that that's the date being bandied about here in the US anyway. Here the VMs and CVs haven't gone up in price - I wonder what's happening in the UK with the prices there? In fact, the new VM-HBs are going to be 66% the cost of the VM-Jazzes, at $199 USD.

[quote name='harvey1-8' post='1117899' date='Feb 6 2011, 09:33 AM']I spent 3 months in Flagstaff in 2008, beautiful part of the world.[/quote] Yup - right next to The Grand Canyon and a few miles from The Petrified Forest too. BTW: Holbrook is the place that was used for inspiration for Disney's movie: "Cars". I have some pixs of that too. I actually have a house in Snowflake and another in Concho, both in Arizona plus the house here looking down on Palm Springs, California. Most of the year I am either here or in Montana for the trout fishing.

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This is me on a roof I had just re-shingled:: and a little later on near my home in Arizona:: This is my wife, standing in front of a petrified tree in Arizona, in between Flagstaff and Holbrook:: I have more in case anyone wants to see them.