dmccombe7

Brilliant

I have the ACS ones but to be honest very rarely wear them unless i feel the band is approaching "too loud" but we dont really play that loud on stage. I also have a set of Senner ear plugs for the bike and they fit really well and allow certain noise thru. They do a musicians ear plug that might be worth a look. They are round rather than shaped liked the ACS ones and more like the industrial ones you get Dave. Dave

I tried that ice thing after our first set and it worked a treat for the 2nd set. I've been steeping my fingers in meths for the previous week but didn't seem to do anything. More gigs is the answer. Dave

whereabouts was it Stevie. Sounds like a venue to avoid. Dave

I did look at Stewmac shims but they dont appear to do one long enough for Sandberg 6 bolt neck pockets.

Yes the more i read up on it the more serious issues around shimming is that it can warp the neck and i've seen some examples on line. I've contacted Sandberg to see if they can offer advice on it and if they can supply a shim specifically for this bass. Dave

There seems to be different thoughts on shimming whereby if its shimmed at one end (stepping effect) you lose some of the sustain from the neck thru the body because you've reduced the contact area slightly. Others say it makes no difference to the sound from the bass. I'll have a look at maple veneer sample idea and check out the link you've posted. Cheers Dave

I get what you mean. Think i'll try this at the weekend as no gigs and the bass needs some new strings. Looks like a plan is starting. Many thanks for the advice. Dave

I watched a few vid clips on shimming and its taken me a little while to get my head round why you just shim the very back of the neck rather than the full neck pocket but i get it now. Any idea what thickness you might be talking about or is it a trial and error thing.

Was it the plastic or cardboard that you used. ideally i need to raise the neck approx 1 - 1.5mm to give me some spare adjustment on the E saddle.

What did you use to shim the necks ? Dave

I think you can ask for a more powerful version but its not a standard production by looks of it. Dave

So that's a definite NO then

Well that's mine just paid for and should be sent out Thu/Fri no idea how long it'll take to get here especially if its held up at customs until payment made. or do they deliver and just send you an invoice for the money to be paid ? Dave

£800 plus £28 postage to UK then add on Import tax and VAT so i'm guessing circa £1k in total Dave

Thanks @Bluewine you're a true gent. I was going to take a holiday over that area and make a visit to the museum not long after it opened but life changed and it didn't happen. Maybe some day. Many many thanks for sharing some HD pics. Always appreciated. Dave

1st gig with Glam Rock band and our new guitarist at The Dreadnought in Bathgate. One of the singers had food poisoning from the night before so she was extremely unwell but like the trooper she is The Show Must Go On she carried on. New guitarist did a sterling job after just 3 weeks with the songs. Venue was pretty busy with people up dancing almost from the 1st song. Quite a few standing with mouths open when we took to the stage but the feedback has been amazing. Several people mentioned they were too busy watching the show to dance and were amazed at the outfits and what they were witnessing. Very hot on stage and drank about 2 litres of water during the show. Few early bird pics have appeared so here's one of them to give you an idea of what we do.

My VM4 has plenty of travel left on the saddles and string height is 1.5mm across the board. I know Fender set up manual states 2.5mm on the E string and i can work with that but its better and easier for me at 2mm or less. I bought the bass 2nd hand so it would be worth having a pro look at it to be on safe side. Dave

Dont recognise the bass amp ? what make and model is it @Franticsmurf ? Dave

I'm gonna put my MarloweDK in at some point to get the string height a bit lower. I've tried all i can think off but the E string saddle is bottomed out with just a very slight lift with the screws to keep saddle flat of the base. G string much the same. Neck is almost straight with very slight curve. If i lower any more i get string buzz. If i make the neck any straighter i get fret buzz at 4th / 5th frets. String height at 12th fret on E is approx 2.2 - 2.3mm. My VM4 and Geddy Jazz are 1.5mm and i can feel the benefits with that little lower action. Dont get me wrong i'm gigging with the Marlowe and it sounds great in the punk band but i just feel it should have a better action than it does. Action was 3mm on 12fret E string when i got it. I think it either needs shimmed which surprises me as it must have been like that when it left Sandberg or something done to lower the saddle heights but not sure that's possible ? I'll let an expert sort it out. I'll use Chris from McIntyre Guitars in Edinburgh. I've already mentioned my P bass issue but he was very busy at the time so i decided to hang off a bit. Dave

I've stored that Handbox historical fact in my file for useless information where i keep most of my brain. Its a small file for a tiny brain. Dave

You've got it made Blue, Limo picks you up for the gig plus you get to play my perfect venue. HD Museum. I'm drooling. Dave

Obviously its a safety thing. If no one working there's no risk of injury. Job done. Dave

That would be a walk in the park for you guys doing a 1.5hr set instead of 3-4hr gigs. Dave