Matt P

Just saw these, they look mighty familiar! If Ibanez do stop the production of the 500W Prometheans it seems that there might be other options. [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BT500H-500W-Bass-Head/B1D"]http://www.gear4musi...W-Bass-Head/B1D[/url] [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BT5110-500W-Bass-Amp/C61"]http://www.gear4musi...0W-Bass-Amp/C61[/url] Red Sub is a new name to me but the prices seem pretty good. Matt

i got a text message on the way to a practice, as i was only 500 yards from the venue i ignored it, parked up and then checked my phone, practice cancelled as the drummer was playing football, the drummer had booked the practice venue for us 2 days before. i wasn't impressed, mainly because i was the only one who'd actually left their house, the lead singer would pick up the bassist as he didn't drive and of course the drummer was out playing footy. the band didn't last long after that!

i'd suggest something else for the practice with headphones, you might struggle to find something powerful enough to gig with that has a headphone output, i'd go for something designed for headphones like the korg pandora, much easier to use than headphones into a combo. they crop up in the classifieds here fairly frequently. then i'd suggest a nice secondhand amp for gigging, trace elliot are the obvious choice (for me anyway, ymmv) you might even be able to get a head and cab setup within your budget even allowing for the purchase of the pandora. if you've got some space to store it and a strong back there's plenty of cheap kit out there. Matt

i wouldn't advise one of the stools with a back, i had one for a while and it's fine for an hour or so but any longer isn't very comfortable, i found it made me lean forward all the time as the "backrest" just cut across my lower back and that didn't help my posture at all. have you had a browse of ikea yet? the first place i would head is the bargain corner, they sell off the returns and the shop demonstration items, you might pick up one of the really nice chairs for a decent discount. failing that have a quick check of how much it would cost to visit a chiropractor a couple of times, the price difference of a properly comfortable chair won't seem so big compared to back pain! (i speak as a man who suffers) if you're going to sit in it for 8 hours a day i'd say that a good chair is a worthwhile investment. Matt

well it wasn't a bass but i popped in to get a wall hanger to keep my acoustic on and ended up with a brand new McIlroy acoustic g****r, nearly 2 grands worth of walnut lovelyness, worth every penny. and i got the wall hanger too. Matt

ooh and don't forget wilkinson, the pickups in my vintage les paul were amazing! proper early Peter Green tone.

double check the polepiece spacing, i had an epiphone les paul and it had wider spacing than a gibson (so the lovely seymour duncan JB i scored from ebay didn't line up) personally i prefer the zebra uncovered pickups in a les paul but each to their own, ebay can throw up bargains if you search carefully, i paid about 25 quid for the jb and they sound great, (especially matched with a 59 or a jazz at the bridge) another option might be catswhisker, slightly cheaper than wizard and all built to order (you tell him the tone you want and he builds the pickup) [url="http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html"]http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html[/url] Matt

definately have a go with the Fenders and see what you think, they are very nice but i found them just too loud, great tone but i couldn't get the tones i wanted at low enough volumes. i ended up with a tiny terror and a 1x12 cab (fender with a celestion neo) if you want a brit tone keep your eyes peeled for the Marshall JTM30 series (30w available with various speakers), should be well within your budget and they'e a lovely amp, i've got it's biggest brother the JTM622 (60w 2x12) and it's wonderful, mine has a lovely ac30 type growl when cranked, even my tech was impressed (i think he bothered the neighbours with if for quite a while) they've also got master volumes so very easy to dial in the right tone at a sensible volume. another option might be the smaller Laney amps (lc and vc series) very cheap and with good valves (and possibly an upgraded speaker) they sound very nice. Matt

hello, i think you will struggle to get a bigsby to work with this guitar due to the construction, but what about this instead? (similar price as far as i can tell) [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008[/url] should be a very easy fit and as a bonus the arm comes off for those times you don't want it. and if you ever decide that you don't need a trem anymore it will leave no trace and you can easly swap back to the hardtail. Matt

hmm i wouldn't try it then, the open tuners will be a nightmare to paint and then the black is likely to wear off on the gears, and whatever you do DON'T paint that badass! it will never look as good as a proper black one and you will seriously devalue it. personally i'd replace what you can like for like and sell the gold badass, then get a different bridge in black (plenty of cheap options) and keep the money ready for when a proper black badass II pops up. Matt (edited due to stupidity!)

i'd not reccomend it, it's a pretty fiddly job to get it looking good, you'd probably have to dismantle the hardware to get a good finish and it wouldn't nesseceraliy stick very well without proper surface preperation, what bass is this? (i looked at your sig and none of the basses have gold hardware as far as i know) i'd price up some replacement black hardware, if the parts are fairly standard (fender for example) you might be able to get the whole lot cheaply on ebay or in the BC classifieds and then sell the gold stuff to get some money back. Matt

before you go out and investigate new chairs double check the arms on the comfortable one you have, they might just unscrew, i've got one of the more expensive ikea ones that came with armsbut i just left them off when i built it (they're still in their wrapping under the desk) failing that i think that most of the ikea ones come self assembly so the arms should be optional in fact they seem to be an added cost extra [url="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/20652/"]http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/20652/[/url] this is the one i've got, very comfortable but not the cheapest. [url="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/"]http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/[/url] Matt

bought a SWR Headlite from Soliloquy, arrived very quickly and very well packed, a top Guy To deal with. Matt

having read the official statement it seems like a good thing, moving production back to usa should boost sales over there and over here it should get a little easier to get hold of eden gear (judging by the number of shops that stock Marshall) and of course theres the legendary Marshall customer support (i've got a few of the guitar amps myself) matt

i actually really like this, i have a soft spot for the black-black-maple thing, and then i checked out the bass solo (laughed so hard i stopped breathing), just for that i feel that i must own this bass! i've actually played a few vintage guitars and they're excellent so this bass has just popped in very high up my want list, with an added j-pup it would serve me well when i don't want to use my 77. Matt

blimey judging by the number of reply's since i started typing my last post, Howard is going to spend the whole year building P/J's for basschatters.

I would ask (i've got his phone number somewhere as well i think) but i've also got most of a p/j in bits lying around waiting for me to assemble it and i've been telling myself that i don't need another bass repeatedly for the last 6 months, maybe once i've bought a new amp (which is actually needed and getting more urgent as time wears on) i'll have a quiet word about having a copy of my 77 built that doesn't give me backache. I did actually enquire many years ago about a custom build (back when he ruled his little emporium on Nun Street) and the price quoted was very reasonable, even allowing for inflation i'd guess that it was still reasonable especially considering the quality and the fact that it would be exactly what i wanted. Matt

[quote name='Chatty' timestamp='1325350521' post='1482429'] How much are the stock PJ's going for these days? [/quote] the real question should be "how much does the Bass Doc charge for one of his masterpieces" Matt

i've seen this in the flesh too (was being carried by a very proud small boy) and it's an absolute stunner. Matt

i got a polytune which was exactly what i wanted, also permission to get a new head in the new year so i'm watching the classifieds carefully. Matt

i'm a big fan of Kenwood for in car audio, i've got a couple (older models though) any of these would seem to fit the spec; http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/products/car/cd_receivers/usb/ Matt

mmm that's very nice, let me know if the black olp needs a new home, i've really been enjoying the one i have on loan, wouldn't mind one for myself. matt

it can happen, i have a few basses but my '77 p-bass is the one that gets pulled out of the rack the most often, it originally belonged to a friend and i played it just after ge bought it, it totally sold me on p/j equipped p-basses, i spent the next 6 months playing loads looking for one that felt right, in the end i found a perfect 78 and did a swap (with money my way) i've played a few more since then but the 77 is the one for me (even though it's heavier than the moon and gives me backache after 30 minutes) the only thing i ever miss is a low B but i'm working on a copy of it that's slightly lighter (not hard!) and strung BEAD. (don't often use the G) Matt

welcome to basschat Zac, you've picked a pretty difficult project there, as icastle said you're going to have to cut that front board into sections and then re-connect all the joints, i doubt that you can just disconnect the features that you don't want unless you have a [i]very[/i] advanced knowledge of the circuitry, i'd also say that having (accidentally) snapped a board myself it was a nightmare to repair and that was a very simple board with just a handfull of connections. judging by the pictures i'd guess that the big board would need to be cut into 3 to re-configure it better and this would give you loads of connections to make. i'd also have a think about heat, there's already a fan and some vents on the back, if you put this into a smaller box there's a chance that it could suffer from overheating due to bad airflow. (i imagine that Ashdown modelled up the airflow around the components when they designed it to prevent overheating.) have you priced up how much the materials are going to cost for the new cabinets? from a quick check on the for sale forum here this amp would be worth about 140 quid, if you add in what the materials are going to cost i'd say you could pick up a 2x10 and a head from the classifieds for the same amount. Matt [size=2](Edited for spelling)[/size]