Matt P

i don't play myself but have a friend who's very highly talented, and he's got a Korg SV1, it's a mightly impressive bit of kit, if you can get one with your budget then i'd say go for it, the sounds it is capable of are fantastic, my friend has sold most of the rest of his keyed instruments and has just got the sv1 and i think a Korg triton for making weird noises with, the sv1 is the one that gets taken to gigs though! matt

hello, bit of a bump here, has anyone used one of the 2 into 1 cables to get 18v with a H/B Jr? i need 18v for my MXR Blowtorch and this looks like a good option as i don't have that many pedals to power (blowtorch, mxr super comp, tc polytune and a bassballs nano) does it come with the 18v cable or will i need to order one separately? Matt

i don't subscribe to the n+1 formula, for me the correct number is s-1 where s is the number that would cause the breakdown of your relationship/bank account (delete as appropriate) my current collection is in double figures but only about 6 are basses, a double bass has been veto'ed on space grounds which i can understand as our house is already pretty crowded with other stuff, an EUB could be squeezed in though! Matt

have you taken the old speaker out yet? it should have either 8ohm or 4 ohm marked on it somewhere, it should be a blue marvel speaker (standard fitment) for a replacement the celestian eight 15 is a good option if you need 8ohms or jensen make one called the mod 8-20 which is available in either 4 or 8 ohms. eminence might make one too, what you should be loioking for is a speaker that is marketed by the maker as a guitar speaker, beytween 20 and 30w rating should be fine. Matt

the '77 Precision in my avatar is my main bass and the one that i'm never selling, it only gets put down if a song needs a 5th string, i can see it being usurped by my incoming Letts 5 string though but i'll probably still use it a fair amount, i'm thinking i'll thin the herd when the Letts arrives, might get down to just 2 basses but more likely i'll just sell some and then buy some different ones! Matt

Hello, welcome to the forum! i have a feeling that an off the shelf scratchplate would be pretty difficult for that bass as the pickup combination isn't that common and it appears to be left handed. Luckily you have joined the correct forum as we have The Bass Doc on call, who is an expert at custom scratchplates, break out the ceral box and some scissors and work out what shape you want, make a template then send him a message, if you happen to be in the north east of england then you can deal in person but if not then you just send him the template in the post and he'll make a scratchplate and post it back. His work is totally top notch and his prices are very reasonable, i've had one madefor a cheap bass and i've seen them fitted to basses with price tags in excess of £1000 and they are fantastic quality. Matt

can't quite believe this thread has made it to 14 pages, (edit make that 15!) Steve, thanks for the original post i really liked it, then it all got a little silly (in both a bad and a good way) i loved the Etta James Track, it gives me goosebumps every time i hear it, Nigel/Silddx/Xilddx, I adored the Kit Richardson Track, i've ordered the EP and am listening to the download as i type this, totally amazing! i hope you're heading out on tour so I can catch you Live and buy you a Pint/Beverage of your choice as a thankyou for introducing me to an amazing artist! (the bass playing isn't half bad either ) Matt [size=2](oh and IBTL)[/size]

are you looking at new or secondhand? your budget would net you some serious kit from the classifieds here, and if weight isn't a problem then the range of heads, combos and cabs that you could consider is massive. and you could have the pick of almost any brand you can think of. the usual answer is to buy with your ears, try as many different combinations as you can, it's a shame that you missed the north east bass bash as you would have had the chance to try about a dozen different rigs (with your own bass) but you might find that local members will be happy to let you have a go with their rig at a practice room or in their own homes, some might even offer to bring the gear to you. Matt

i have to say that i love a P/J and my main bass is in fact a '77 P-bass with an added j-pup at the bridge (some kind of dimarzio we think) but i didn't do the work it was done years ago by a previous owner. if i had an unmodified p-bass then i wouldn't have the guts to have it modified. i'd probably be looking for a bass that already had the P/J config or getting a jazz and swapping the neck pickup for a P (easily done without major surgery) having had a little glance at your collection of basses i'd have thought the jap p-bass might be the more likely candidate for an extra pickup, or maybe a p-pup in the jazz (might just require a new scratchplate if the routs are big enough and would be easily returned to standard spec) but it's your bass so it's up to you what you do to it. if you do decide on a MM pickup then you'll need to reverse the p-pup to get it in the sweet spot, search on here for Pingray to see how it's done, i'm going for this pickup config on my new Letts 5 string. Matt

big thanks to everyone who turned out, i felt very welcome! i can't wait for the next one, hopefully i'll have some new toys to show off. some of the kit i was allowed to try was outstanding, i just wish i'd had the cash to take some of it home (and the space n the car!) i can think of at least 5 basses there that were up for sale that i'd love to have brought home with me. Matt

Is anyone who's going to the bass bash tomorrow interested in a cheap P/J bass? I've got a sunburst bitsa that needs to go to make room for my incoming Letts custom. It's a fenix body with a ryder neck and ibanez pickups, i had it assembled by the Bass Doc and it plays very nicely, strung with flats. 140 quid? I'll bring it along if anyone's interested. i'll also have my Ashdown 4x8 with me which will be for sale later this month when my new Barefaced Midget cabs arrive. trials welcome and i'll hold it for someone if they want it. I might bring My Yamaha RBX765a along too which will be up for sale when my new Letts bass arrives in March. Matt

For me a 5 string is all about versatility, I play in church a lot and there seem to be loads of songs in e flat, the low b means that a descending bassline that was written on an organ can be played properly. I also love it for songs in e as it gives me a fretted low e. I will agree that not all 5 strings are equal. But there are some great budget ones available. Matt

the only point i'll make is to check that you have enough adjustment to set the intonation of the lowest string, it will likely have to go back from the position it was in for the E string. if you don't feel confident to set the bass up yourself then a good tech should be able to set it up for very little outlay as it should just be tweaks and fettling. Matt

i'm a bit bored so i had a look at the pics and the schematic, i think that you need VR1 (10k linear) and VR3 (50k Linear) i think these are the right pots http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2pcs-Potentiometer-Pot-B10K-10K-Linear-shaft-20mm-/150592219036?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item230ffee79c http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2pcs-Potentiometer-Pot-B50K-50K-Linear-shaft-15mm-/160573866934?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2562f2c3b6 both are from china but it's only just over a fiver for 2 of each of the pots, worth a shot? Matt

Ok, well if you need any help just give me a shout, I'm sure some packaging could be fabricated. Failing that are there any Manchester people heading to the north east bass bash this Sunday? I'm sure the bass could be transported there and handed over Matt

i'm not in the market for an EUB at the moment but i work in the same village as the seller and i guess i might able to be a middle man to get it to someone who wants it. how hard would it be to pack up and post? Matt

there's not really an option there that i wouldn't like to have a go at but i voted singing, i play guitar as well but the abilty to stand up and sing in front of an audience would be ace, i did it twice, solo, accapella, in front of a whole school and i've not had the guts to try again (i didn't want to sing but i had no real choice) Matt

i've never owned anything tottaly cr*p, i've borrowed epi eb's and played a few cheapies but the worst one was actually a mex precision that a mate was trying to sell, it had hung on the wall of a local pub for years and sting had signed the scratchplate so my mate thought it must be worth a few quid, unfortunately no-one had taken the plastic off the scratchplate before getting it signed and the signature was wearing off, it had an action that you could get a bus under and sounded dreadful, last i saw of it was an advert on gumtree with an asking price of £1000! by contrast one of the best p-basses i've played (with the exception of my 77) was a mex precision special (with the p/j pickups and a gold scratchplate) that belonged to another friend, it played like butter and sounded perfect. i don't think he'd part with it for 3 times it's street value! Matt [size=2](edited to try and improve the spelling, not sure if it's any better now though)[/size]

how wide is the head? i've got an ashdown 4x8 with neo speakers that i'll be selling very soon, it's almost exactly 20kg and nice and compact, if you're in the north east you'd be welcome to try before you buy. (although i could probably post it without too much fuss) i'll not want much money for it either, maybe about £100 + P+P, it's a bit scruffy but it sounds great. Matt

currently an ashdown 4x8, but will be swapping to 2 1x12's as soon as my midgets arrive would have gone for a 2x12 but wanted smaller cabs as they live upstairs. Matt

This is a long shot but is anyone coming up from Lancashire? I might need some pa speakers brought over. Thanks Matt

for practices i'm the taxi, we're a three piece, the drummer can't drive (not sure i'd trust him behind the wheel!) and our guitarist/vocalist can drive but his only vehicle is a pickup truck with a tiny cab and no load cover so not great if it's raining! (it's his company vehicle and usually full of tree trimmings and dirt anyway) i don't mind for the practices as they're on my way and the others pay for the drinks and snacks at half time. for gigs we split gear between my car (driven by my wife) and the singers girlfriends car (driven by it's owner as the singer isn't insured to drive it) i'm pretty lucky as my band is made of 3 great friends so it's not a chore. Matt

[quote name='paul torch' timestamp='1359023385' post='1948507'] Cheers Matt. I've done a search in the for sale section but can't seem to see any there. [/quote] i must apologise! i've just had a look and there's only one available at the moment (and they'd rather sell with the head) i'm sure that last time i looked there were about 5 SVT210AV's up for grabs. this is the only one i can find at the moment [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/196875-ampeg-micro-vr-svt-210av-cab/page__p__1944593__hl__ampeg__fromsearch__1#entry1944593"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/196875-ampeg-micro-vr-svt-210av-cab/page__p__1944593__hl__ampeg__fromsearch__1#entry1944593[/url] Matt

i forgot to say that there are a few for sale in the marketplace too! might be able to save a few quid! matt