Slipperydick

I use my 91 Mex with a Hartke 3500 4X10 combo. Really punchy, almost knock you off your feet. Great for walking bass lines - for me, anyway.

[quote name='Ross' post='1220649' date='May 5 2011, 09:27 AM']Could you wear less clothes?[/quote] What do you suggest I leave off ? Maybe once upon a time I could, but nobody wants to see a 6 foot, 17 stone sweaty old git jumping about with his shirt off.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1219309' date='May 3 2011, 10:43 PM']Atleast it's [b]sweaty not sticky [/b][/quote] No - slippery !

Thanks for the replies. I dont fancy the sound of Driclor, already got dry & itchy skin on the backs of my hands, wonder if using Betnovate has made the sweating worse. I dont sweat much elsewhere, at least not compared to others. It seems to come from between my fingers where they join my hands for some reason. I already use a beer towel, still got the same Guiness one since 1977 bit like a lucky charm, but the sweats only really been a problem for the last few weeks, so I wonder if its an age thing. might try talc, johnsons baby stuff dont smell too much iirc. Sweat bands, well my wrists dont sweat, and they wouldnt look right with the black suit would they ? Bass-Dog85 is probably right and I'm just a bit too self concious about it.

For the last few gigs, I've had sweaty palms, especially my left hand. I dont mean just a little, I mean to the point where my fingers are sticking together. I have suffered with really dry skin on the backs of my fingers/ knuckles sometimes,but I dont think theres a connection. I dont get excessively nervous before gigs - not usually anyway - so I dont think its that. I've been playing the same Bass for years without problems, so its not a reaction to the laquer or anything of that sort. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas, or suggestions of how to reduce it. Using a towel and wiping my hands during a set doesnt seem to help much, and as we tend to play 2 or 3 numbers at a time, straight off without stopping, its not always an option .

Providing you can actually play, just look for another band that does like what you do. Sounds like the last lot were a load of F##kwits to me. We could all improve, I know I could, and we all try to, but bearing in mind finding a band takes time, work on your weaknesses, and get on with it. I quit a few times, and always regretted it, all that time just wasted.....

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1213125' date='Apr 27 2011, 08:51 PM']I've got a set of the Alice strings,and actually they aren't that bad.Took a bit of playing in,but they are perfectly adequate strings that I would use in preference to Rotosounds..( I think everyone knows my opinions on Rotos..).I wouldn't use them on stage though.[/quote] Yeah, I got some Alice strings off of ebay for £3 a set. Great for the money, but they take a LOT of playing in. Hartke ones are too klanky for my messy style though. C'mon, Swing Bass aith that expensive are they ? and they do last.

[quote name='jensenmann' post='1211864' date='Apr 26 2011, 06:11 PM']I´d always check microphonics when swapping tubes. Especially when the amp is exposed to vibrations like being placed on cabs. Put the new tube in it´s place, give the amp a minute to warm up and carefully knock with the rear of a screwdriver on the bulb. Compare what you hear from different tubes and use the one with the lowest noise. Microphonic tubes will smear the sound in a very unpleasant way.[/quote] As above, plus check for dirty or corroded pins or valvebases. Waggle the pre amp valves in their bases by gently rocking them with an index finger on the top pip. Any crackles and pops can usually be cured with a little switch cleaner on the pins.

Quick, somebody bite his hand off. I still love mine, which is the earlier one. Trouble free since new c.1974, although only used as a spare these days.

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1211795' date='Apr 26 2011, 04:38 PM']All good points above. If it were mine, I'd undo the transformer fixings (usually a single bolt through the middle with a large washer) and prop it up on a bit of foam rubber or similar, then check if this makes any difference to the hum. If it's still noisy then it's probably within the transformer itself (loose windings etc, as mentioned above) but if it's quieter then it's probably the fixing arrangement, e.g. a bit too loose, allowing the transformer hum to resonate against the chassis. Re-fit the fixing and ensure it's really tight (thoughj not too tight to damage the windings).[/quote] What he said.... Try another engineer ! I assume you are talking about a noisy Tranny, ie. it buzzes, as opposed to hum coming from the speakers, which will be something else.

Its gone the same way as OGWT did. Every week I look and see who is on, then watch something else. Just cant be arsed with it anymore. The format, the choice of artistes (most anyway), even Jools himself. Time the BBC had a rethink

There were 2 sizes of Bulgin 3 pin. Might be the photo, but that looks like the smaller one to me, and not the one that was fitted to Marshalls. I think there is a moulded mains lead still available that will fit, much safer than a bakelite one, which as has been said, had no effective chord grip and no strain relief. Being bakelite they had a tendency to go electrically 'leaky' as well. Put close to your nose a dodgy one has a very distinctive smell, Pull the mains plug first though. Have to agree, much safer to fit an IEC type.

[quote name='bluesparky' post='1189137' date='Apr 5 2011, 03:35 PM']Why not do a machine gun style blistering slap bass solo, far too loud, in the wrong key and with no rhythm in the middle of a ballad and then give the audience a knowing wink? Or the plain white badge on the strap sounds good....[/quote] I been Known to do that after a little liquid refreshment, grin rather than a wink though. Used to piss the drummer off no end.

The Mighty Mite neck I bough, from ebay, came from a guy in Colchester iirc, already had a Decal on it. But it was plain un laquered wood. Took a few coats to hide the edges of the tranfer but looks OK.

[quote name='charic' post='1189117' date='Apr 5 2011, 03:25 PM']I've always thought this would be a good thing too. I love meeting BC'ers and would probably wear a pendant or something quite happily [/quote] Really good idea. Could be a bit more subtle than that though, like a bit of blue tape on yer lead, plain white badge on yer strap, or something like that.

Only my opinion, but a decent sound, and a good feel for what you are doing goes a long way, its got me through the last 30 odd years anyway. We all get cxonfidence issues sometimes - at least I hope I'm not the only one. i dont really know what I'm doing, had no training, aint got a great ear. I have been to auditions for bands more than once where they tell me the last guy they tried out couldnt even manage a decent 12 bar walking bass line, and he'd been playing for years. Now that [i]would be [/i]faking it ! I spose it depends on what you stuff play really. Jazz is not my bag, R&B/Blues/Rock n Roll is. But I have been in covers bands in the past and got by without struggling too much to work numbers out one way or another. So if the OP is faking, so probably are a hell of a lot of others.

I been faking it since the 70s when there were no tabs, no youtube, only chord books that were expensive and often wrong. At least now I know I'm not alone.

I realise its a different type of plastic, but surely as its still a thermplasic, have you thought of looking on old vynil records sites. Google comes up with a few ideas for straightening warped records.. I seem to remember putting brown paper on warped singles and ironing them when I was a kid, cant remember how well it worked though.

[quote name='theplumber' post='1174118' date='Mar 24 2011, 12:21 AM']Just bought a Westfield p bass from e bay...£20 plus £20 postage...bad spray can paint job but plays great...what a bargain!...Despite 3 or 4 other decent guitars...I am now stripping the paint off this....maybe stain it natural as the body is 1 piece...or paint it white with new scratch plate and 60's type vibe....Jen from the band horse has one which looks and sounds great....and she got it for pea nuts...Anyone else got one of these cheap great guitars?[/quote] I bought cheap one off ebay about 3 years ago for bits. My 13 year old daughter saw it and asked for it. so I set it up a bit and gave it to her, started her off with Bass, which she had shown no interest in before, and she's still playing. Still got it. Its pretty good really if a bit on the light side, plays well and even the pup aint bad. Well impressed for the price to be honest. On the strength of it, I bought a cheapo Westfield les paul copy just to mess with, it was bloody awfull !

[quote name='BottomE' post='1173456' date='Mar 23 2011, 04:02 PM']We do it like this. The person that gets the gig gets a commission from the others. This isn't a percentage but works like this: Gigs between £250 - £500 - £5 from each member Gigs between £501 - £999 - £10 from each member Gigs between £1000+ gets £15 from each member Typically we are a 4 piece sometimes 5. So say we were a 4 piece getting £400. We all 4 get £100 and then pay £5 from that £100 to the gig getter. Seems to work so far. If there is anything left it goes into the slush fund towards our originals project.[/quote] Sounds fair to me, might even be worth a bit more tbh when you consider the effort involved sometimes.

How many are not getting an even split and have not realised it ? I was once with the same band for nearly 3 years, the band had been going since the mid 60s with only 2 personel changes, one particular regular gig, I wont say where or name names, we always thought was a £125 gig. Then one night the DJ, an old mate told me it was unusual as the club was a good payer usually, so for a change I went to the club office for the money. Turned out that the woman there was only covering for the usual one " How much do you want ? she said, Oh the usual grand I said with grin. But she took me seriously, went away and asked her boss. She came back and said "No way, its £250, same as usual" I took the money and did an even split, and quit. The band split up within weeks, never did find out the real reason, but it seems that 2 members who I called the dynamic duo, thought they were the talent, so should get more than even the other original members. Looking back, it seemed like all the gigs those 2 found were poor payers or freebies. Since then when I join bands I always ask, usually its even, TBH I wouldnt much mind if its not, as long as the one getting more is earning it in some way, not doing it on the sly.

Theres a bald patch above the P pickup on my Bass Collection where my thumb has worn the paint away, started to appear within months of me buying the bass. Wouldnt be there if there was a scratchplate, would it. But as has been said, its more likely just a convenient and cost effective way of mouting the pots and pickups / cover the routing etc.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1169346' date='Mar 20 2011, 11:47 AM']Are you sure it's the fret size per se? Only I have completely the opposite experience. I like that clankiness but my bass with small thin 'vintage' frets doesn't do it nearly as much as one with bigger, thicker frets. I had assumed it was more down to the fret profile than the actual size, with the one with a wider, shallower profile giving more clank than the ones where the contact point with string was very small. It might even be possible to get what you're after by re-profiling the existing frets to make them more rounded? I'd be interested to know other people's thoughts there because that clankiness is a bit of an elusive tonal goal for me.[/quote] Not really sure about anything. The bigger, more rounded frets on my BC and on one or two others do it less, I can control it, but the bigger frets just seem a lot more forgiving and less prone to it. With identical action height at the 1st fret and at the 12th, same strings, same scale length - although the BC has 24 frets. I cant see what else it might be.

Thanks for all the help. Main reason I fancy thicker frets is that both my 91 Precision and my Bitsa are a bit rattly, not fret buzz, just Klanky when I fret strings, even with Roto's on them, and much worse with Slinky's or Hartke strings. I do my own set ups, but have had the precision done once or twice over the years without any real improvement. Doesnt happen so much with lighter strings, but its still there. Other basses that I have with thicker frets its not a problem, so I guess its just down to my playing style, but after all these years its not about to change.

Its not, the neck was plain wood when I got it and I just laquered the back. i might do it afterwards though.