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Bass Awkward

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  1. Bass Awkward
    I'm a weegie. Might hop over and have a look at this.
  2. Bass Awkward
    Hello dafLewis. Could you please add me to the list for these? I play almost exclusively jazz pizz. - but I, erm, well, I [i]own[/i] a bow... Will possibly have to take these gigging if they are around for a week or so. They're going on a carved, modified Romanian flatback (yes, one of [i]those[/i]), with a mic/piezo setup for amplification. Will be very pleased to check these out. Cheers.
  3. Bass Awkward
    Hi there, So, I sat my Ibanez musician down on top of an audio jack... Now the jack input is fritzy. If only it had just broken the sodding cable. I've taken it apart, and tested the wires for continuity: the issue is within the sealed unit jack input. It's wiggly somewhere inside, and because it is sealed, I can't get in to bend the contacts and fix it. The problem in replacing it is that it's a weird one. A giant switch on top of a mono jack barrel input, wired with a couple of diodes(!) to earth. Including the rest, there are eight (!) pins on the sodding jack housing - presumably a DPDT switch, and, er... I can't find anything [i]nearly[/i] like this, anywhere, and given the wiring, I'm totally unsure about trying to reconfigure it for a SPDT switching jack. I've even bodged a fix for one of the preamps in these bases before, but this jack has me absolutely stumped. Borrowing an image from another thread - though for some reason I can't put this directly within my post: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/attachments/image-jpg.447479/"]http://www.talkbass....age-jpg.447479/[/url] Bought something like [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-4-Switched-Jack-Socket-Panel-Mount-Connector-JS01-/191347277226?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Audio_Cable_Terminations&hash=item2c8d2fbdaa"]this[/url] as a replacement... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit: Found a 9 pin input - fishman make one that is available through thomann.de, or there's a nice cheap one that Stewmac sell. These are fairly similar to the Ibanez part, and identical in configuration (and I suspect that the StewMac generic part is just rebadged for Fishman). It just means moving the wiring over, essentially identical wiring on a different part. Easy!
  4. Bass Awkward
    [quote name='muttley' timestamp='1392213182' post='2365991'] It's still driving me nuts :-\. Perhaps the mods can change the title and put those of us with grammar OCD out of our misery? [/quote] Driving you nuts? I suppose a bass with [i]frets, less [/i]- would be less likely to have a zero fret? Anyway... I think that the sinuses in my head must be choked up, or the codeine is deranging me. I was thinking of a semi-fretless, with only frets 1,3,5,7,9 and 12. I'm kind of disappointed by the mundanity. My tuppence: given [i]less[/i] [i]of[/i] [i]frets[/i], more options for different body designs at different scale lengths, and with different pickup spacings open up. Given more, and it is at least possible to get away with reading things for other instruments - not to mention to get out of playing things in the wrong spot, given that 15th and up isn't really accessible on a jazz for the lower strings. Also, a 21 fret design with good access to the lower strings in the upper register is at least as good as a 24 fret design with poor access to lower strings at the upper register for many uses. Given that the utility of that extra space will most often be felt for 'special effects' and/or whilst soloing - or in study of harmony, and parts for other instruments - it can be said that the space isn't vital - though it obviously is nice. And the fretless, or the double bass, they obviously have none, and get along fine. The double bass even has more range up top (if your fingers and thumb can manage). My conclusion: I wouldn't fret about it. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFFFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Sorry.
  5. Bass Awkward
    Bought a really neat vintage Ibanez Musician at a very reasonable price from Mike: he was patient enough to wait after I had a bit of trouble fiddling with PayPal, kind enough to hold the bass through that period - and he posted it off instantly on receipt of funds. The bass arrived exactly as described and pictured - if anything Mike had overemphasised the flaws in photographs so as not to oversell the thing. I can only thank him for a great bass. Cheers!
  6. Bass Awkward
    Are you leaving the bass plugged in (even to a loose lead) when not in use? That would run down the battery - sometimes whether the preamp is switched on or not. The next thing to do is pull the battery. Then the jack on the inside, with the continuity tester, or the ohmmeter on a multimeter looking for a short between positive and negative without a jack connected. Then check the little flex that sits on top of the 9v battery. Try flexing it a bit to see if the terminals short. Now try shoogling the preamp about to see if it is touching the conductive coating on the inside of the bass. And then despairingly go around the connections to the preamp, and see if any of them (non-earth/negative connections) short to the earth ring of contact surrounding the pcb. I suspect if it's not that, it's a diode. But someone with an electrical background may have a better answer.
  7. Bass Awkward
    Just a little aside - obviously I agree that you must fix any hangar to the full depth of the screw, preferably to a load bearing wall, else to the solid wooden join in a partition or false wall. Unless you have a Hofner violin bass, in which case Sellotape, static, damp paper, or blu-tack will more than suffice. Same goes for most short-scale basses, especially if they have narrow string spacing.* Additionally, Ikea sell PVC clad 'swing hooks' often in big boxes of 20, for less than a single Hercules clamp. Obviously, they're nowhere near as good as the Hercules, or similar sprung clamps - but if you have a lot of basses to hang up, or spent all your money on that last Zon, Overwater or Pedulla, they do the job in a pinch, without requiring additional screws as these are integral to the hooks. You'll still need rawl plugs for walls, though. *this information may be dangerously untrue and prejudiced by my irrational big-handed, fat-fingered hatred of rubbery-sounding loose-strung basses for children.
  8. Bass Awkward
    Shall PM about this. Couple of questions re: action and neck.
  9. Bass Awkward
    I was initially encouraged to sterilise a needle and thread it. Then burst the blister with the needle and allow the thread to soak up all the blistery goo. Quite what the point in sterilising a needle is, if you're going to use thread like this, eludes me. Perhaps if you dipped the thread in meths first? Or perhaps a hypodermic syringe would be the best way to evacuate the squidgy sludge. Mind you, having those just lying about is quite hardcore, and in any case detracts from the simple pleasure of manually sooking up blister juice. Anyhoo, I've had very few blisters since I decided to start turning up WAAY louder than sax players and guitarists, then adjusting my playing to be quite quiet. Not so easy playing acoustically, though.
  10. Bass Awkward
    Okay, here's what's missing: World music section.... Unusual meter section..... The world music section should be geographically subdivided, and the funny-meter section should cross-reference the other entries (most often, this'll be 6/8 dances from whereverywhere) - Thus: Unusual Meter -> Simple Time -> /4 2/4 3/4 5/4 etc. World -> South America -> Brazil Afoxe, Afro-Brazilian 6/8, Bahiao, Bossa Nova, Choro, Frevo, Forro, Maracatu, Samba, Samba Reggae, etc., etc. Within each of those styles, we could have a couple of examples of each sort of music, a little discussion of the common theoretical aspects from each and how their application can affect groove (i.e. clave 'modulation' in Cuba, or swapping upbeeats in Jamaica). And we can have similarly long entries to Brazil for Cuba, Jamaica, Argentina, Indonesia, Bali, China, Japan, India (subdivided to Karnatka and Hindustani) and so on and on and on. It must be worth it! Even Baron VonWasteland's heinous plans should not put us off!
  11. Bass Awkward
    Whitstable's a lovely little town. If this was next year, I'd say - go along and visit/play the Biennale too! As it is, the place is worth a day out. If I lived in Manchester, I'd hire a van and make a weekend of it. Book a gig in London for the slower end of festival season! Do Glastonbury and take a huge detour! So a free bump for being in a nice town.. It's not that far from London, either, for goodness sake!
  12. Bass Awkward
    PM'd ===edit==== As in, I PM'd the fellow above back about his post, not that I PM'd myself about buying my own amp. Perhap that's obvious enough to let it slide, it just looks a bit strange to have a PM thing on your own thread.
  13. Bass Awkward
    Was that Zoltan, or Garry, Skej, or did I guess the wrong establishment? In answer to the OP, I'd go for Jacob's Ladder, but by Incognito, not Rush. The only good choon that bunch of scmoozy session pros ever did.
  14. Bass Awkward
    Any chance of a circuit diagram? And has anyone tried wiring up one of the [url="http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=33100.0"]Bartolini NTMB schematics[/url] kicking about?
  15. Bass Awkward
    About 9/10 of the basses you see in any situation, even in pits, will be 3/4. But still, it does have to be said, again, as others have said, that there can be a huge variance in basses size and shape, whether classed 3/4 or 4/4. Given that a lot of older basses are adopted from 3 string designs, and that the bass has one bout in the gamba and another in the viol, these variations are probably to be expected.
  16. Bass Awkward
    Hola, My first attempt at a Basschat sale, having bought a couple of bits and bats. All that's left is donation, after this (gulp). The amp head is a Hartke HA7000, once the very top of their line, and still their best amp a mon avis. Two preamps, tube and mosfet, and two power amps - 350w per side at 4 0hms, 240w per side at 8 ohms , ten band eq, compressor; basically two HA3500 power amps in one case, with one set of preamps. Because of this arrangement, you essentially have two 350w amps in one - you can plug in four cabs to this, and the resistance drop is per channel, so you can run four 8 ohm cabs from this, or EIGHT four ohm ones I demo'd something like this when I bought it, but I can't imagine that you'd actually use it unless you work in mining or demolition.. The amp also has a crossover section, meaning that you can change the frequency at which the signal is sent to treble or bass speakers, there's a bi-amp/ mono setting at back - it's very, very flexible. I'll include a printed manual. This one has had the fan replaced with a 24v brushless one to reduce noise (still noisy), and a tech has also sorted the arcing problem that can affect the on/off switch. It has seen a hundred or more gigs, but hasn't been mistreated (too) much. It's in a 4u SKB rack (leaving 2u for your compressors, midi gubbins and multi effects units). I'll include the speaker cables, kettle leads, surge and spike extension and circuit breaker it always stays packed with for gigs. It was my main gigging head for a good few years, and is very versatile - and more reliable than anything else I've used. The Hartke cab is the 4.5xl, and is rather marvellous as it incorporates a 5" tweeter instead of the usual piezo 'quack' thing you find in big cabs, and even horn arrays. It's marked 400w at 8 ohms, and has seen less than 50 gigs. Speakers are nicely played in without being at all over used. The Carlsbro cab is butchered down from a 2x15 (I was NOT going to carry a 2x15 AND a 4x10 about). It's a bit cheap and cheerful - a 200w at 8 ohm speaker. It is here as a bonus extra if you come over to pick this heavy stuff up (I'll help you carry it downstairs). Actually, the Hartke cab looks a bit newer in person than it does here, and I'll put the grille on the other one, too - I'll put up new photos asap. I'll happily enough arrange couriers and pay for them if you bite at £500. Obviously, collection is preferred. I can probably arrange to get these to you if you're around Glasgow/Edinburgh, but I'd always suggest to pop over and try them out - then you can pick up, too. ---------- Same price now includes postage ------------------- For sale, I'm looking for £500 delivered (without Carlsbro - which would cost about as much to deliver as its worth, or more) BUT I'd like to see what people really think these are worth. Send me offers. I want to see what you reckon. I probably won't accept £25 and that old DOD effect pedal that lives in your cupboard, but I won't get angry or abusive with you either. That said, I don't really see the point in selling decent gear in good order for little more than the £60 odd it'll cost me to post the pair of these things (yes, I've checked interparcel, and I'm including the dimensions, weight and cost of the great big boxes, too). I can try to sell it in local studios or elsewhere, or I can just keep it. All of that said, TRADES PREFERRED! I hate the reification and alienation inherent in monetary transactions (no wonder I'm poor)... I'd most happily swap for something more portable - a lightweight 2x10 and a small amp (obviously, I don't expect a mint wt 800 or Genz shuttle, but I quite like those lightweight Yamaha bbt thingies, or the LM250, and GK do a cheapie lightweight 2x10 - 210mbe - those go for less than the Hartke gear does new (and the Hartke gear was MORE expensive when I got it than it is nowadays. Silly me). I'll consider EUB offers, basses or equipment in ANY condition. If you want more pictures from any specific angle, videos or sound clips, do get in touch.
  17. Bass Awkward
    A Sessionette 100w combo - nice selection of i/o. Crackly pots, speaker replaced with Eminence Big Cat. £100 delivered. Pictures to come soon, and sound/video clips of crackly pots, along with good function - and a better description: I'm running late!
  18. Bass Awkward
    I had an interesting experience doing a T.V. gig in my late teens to early twenties. At the time I desperately loved the idea of being able to drink at my 'work' and I got absolutely hammered. I still recall watching the gig back on a monitor, and thinking [i]'who are these w***ers?'[/i] Just at that point, I started to sober up and realised why I recognised the bassist from somewhere. Never again. Of course, there is something to be said for improvising and composing in odd and affected states - I just wouldn't inflict that live on an audience.
  19. Bass Awkward
    Odd. Deserving of praise, and thanks for letting us see for free, but I feel it's a bit mis-targetted. I'd have thought that ALL we jazzers do this ALL the time anyway - not just Slonimsky and Bergonzi and Wayne Kranz, or whatever... And with more than four variables, and for four notes on every bar of bass with a couple of variations to quavers and triplets - taking into account chromatic approaches, passing tones, 3rds and 7ths, changing with a chord sequence and complementing a melody. ... Still, that is quite fun. I'd like to see one that can take four notes of any given chord, and generate a line for that, then change chord with a sequence for each bar. That'd easily create excercises in reading and walking bass for students. But 'band-in-a-box' already does that. Oh well. Nonetheless, this is a really good tech demo, and it's nice to create an mp3 and score on the basis of a mathematical concept. If you're into finding some really fun mathematical ideas to use for note generation, have a look at Allen Forte's 'The Structure of Atonal Music', or Schoenberg's 'Structural Functions of Harmony' or stuff by the late, great Milton Babbitt. Many of these ideas can be aplied to tonal music, too - it just means narrowing the parameters a little.
  20. Bass Awkward
    I bought some Tune bits from Howard - he took the time to ensure that everything was present and correct, and even managed to supply a serial number to help me identify the sort of bass they came from. Everything was top quality, and arrived really well packed - I can't wait to see how these things sound on the bass I'm going to get built shortly.. Thanks, Lewis.
  21. Bass Awkward
    It feels a bit wrong starting my own feedback thread, but hey, here goes...
  22. Bass Awkward
    Yep, I'd go with an ebony board too. Especially because you really do need a (very)hardwood board if you're going to use roundwound strings. And you need roundwound strings to keep life in the beast - flats really change the sound. But, as always, your sound is your sound. Just make sure you've tried out the new bass, and a bass with flats vs. a similar model with roundwounds before you jump on either. P.S. The epoxy coating 'how to' sounds very interesting Mr. Norton.
  23. Bass Awkward
    The OBT has a nasty little distorted side to it, and that engaged, you wouldn't really be able to hear the speaker distortion, right? And you have a cab rated 300w@8ohms, I assume? Mmmm..... I don't know how much harm it would really do - certainly I'd imagine that the amp should be up to it - it's not like it'll screw its output stage like a tube amp, and these things have fans, thermal cutoffs and (presumably) components selected to deal with the different tolerances implied by an 8ohm load... A lot depends on what the 'limiter' affects. And on the other hand, these things look like laptops on the inside, and repairs to modern amps are nowhere near as easy, or as cheap, as with old equipment. I have absolutely no idea - but you could take a hit for the rest of us, and try it..
  24. Bass Awkward
    I've just bought a bass body from Gareth; His communication has been excellent, and it's always a pleasure to receive a message from him; His price was more than fair, and the transaction was incredibly smooth. The bass arrived very promptly, exactly as described, and very, very well packed. And what else? All is lollipops and sunshine. I can't think of many more superlatives.... Thanks! And best of luck with all of the gigs and recording you're doing.
  25. Bass Awkward
    And don't let anyone tell you it's an inferior means of playing - in fact, it's essential for a particular sort of good rock sound, and the only way to keep up with a certain sort of metal (unless you get into that three finger alternation a la Billy Sheehan, or the flamenco four finger tremolo). Somewhat in concert with the experience of others - that different things work for different people - I found guitar picking techniques really useful. I think John Petrucci's 'Rock Discipline' videos sorted out some sort of picking technique for me (at a basic level, alternate strokes and string skipping are really important). After that, apply these techniques to scales, and speed up the metronome. Then play Misrlou for kicks, too. Try a variety of picks - they all give different sounds - but thin, hard, stiff picks are the fastest to play with.
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