Stroopy121

Aha! That's perfect, thanks! I had thought that the scale may need to be shortened slightly by the saddles for fixing intonation which is why I'd have set them in the middle. Marvellous. Build Diary thread to come soon! xx

Ahhhh ok, cheers! So I have a 34" scale neck, when it comes to placing the bridge do I go about that in the way I described in the OP or is there another, simpler, way to do it? xx

Hey, I'm just moving into the design stage of a custom bass build and have got to thinking about scale and pickup placement. Here's my question: If a bass is 34" scale, where is that 34" measured? I had always just thought it was nut to saddle, but if the saddles move and are at 4 slightly different positions then each string will have a slightly different scale..? In that case, do I just set the bridge so that the saddles all sit in a line at 34" on the nose when they are all in a "centre" position then adjust the saddles to fix the intonation after the build is finished? xx

Lovely, thanks! WIll have a play with it and see! xx

Possibly the wrong thread again.. Apologies if so. Been having a problem with recording - I had my bass running into a DI box to the desk, aswell as 2 seperate channels with mics infront of my cab. Playing live the sound was fine but listening back theres too much 'attack' in the sound... The sound of my pick hitting the strings comes through nearly as loud as the actual sound does..?! I listened to both the DI feed and the mics seperately and all have the same problem. Is it just that the action on the bass is too low/I'm playing too hard or is there a "quick fix" to either fix this in the mixing... etc...? Any help appreciated! xx

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1354684' date='Aug 28 2011, 07:49 PM']Your post is a little confusing. What bass is this going in?[/quote] Sorry, it was late - It's for a 'from scratch' project. Humbucker at the bridge and a split coil in the middle is the style I'm after after falling in love with the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/lofiversion/index.php/t86953.html"]PingRay[/url]. Any clearer now? xx

I'm after something similar to a MM pickup although not necessarily trying to replicate MM tone. I'm currently thinking EMG is going to be the best bet through a John East pre. Also thinking about using an EMG P-pup in the middle and adding a series/parallel switch in. Hoping to be able to get a nice grinding RAWK crunch out of it but be able to scale it back to a smoother (but still ballsy) bluesy tone if need be. Any thoughts on a better choice than the EMGs? I've seen a few on ebay for decent prices but some can be pretty damn pricey - not sure if seymour duncans could be a more cost-effective choice? And the pre - any suggestions to look up other than John East? From what I'm seeing JE is the be-all-and-end-all but I'd like to see more options to look at? xx

Urgh, I had a stoater of a fumble during a gig last weekend.. The song was a brutally simple one too, I think it was Every Day I Love You Less and Less by Kaiser Chiefs. Anyway, I played the intro and pre-chorus fine but then went COMPLETELY BLANK during the chorus. Couldn't remember the key or anything, I even forgot the key of the intro/verse I had JUST PLAYED! So I look round to rythm guitar whilst fumbling blindly trying to sound it out and notice that HE CAN'T REMEMBER THE DAMN CHORUS EITHER!! He's trying to pick out the chorus by jumping round the fretboard, I'm trying to follow him and all the while lead guitar is GLOWERING at us, drummer falling off his stool laughing and I don't think the singer or audience even noticed! F# E A B. Those 4 notes left me completely stumped for a whole damn chorus! I ended up just stopping and laughing at myself (whilst looking at the rythmn guitar making it look like HIS mistake..) and fell back in line with the verse and the next chorus I just stopped thinking about and played it - like the million other times I've played the song. Thinking too hard just completely derailed me! xx

I absolutely love the naked simplicity of this. It's absolutely beautiful. Amazing work, can't wait to see what you come out with next! xx

That's the only headless bass I've ever liked the look of! She's a beauty! Hope the neck problems all get straightened out. /coat. xx

[quote name='Rumple' post='1341741' date='Aug 16 2011, 12:07 PM']Blimey those bodies are cheap! You could get a neck made by a luthier over here for about £150, a bit more then you wanted to spend but you do get exactly what you want. R.[/quote] I know, Right? Absolute steal! £150 doesn't sound too painful but a little more than I'd hoped for - I want the whole lot to clock in under £300. If I get a neck built, will it mess with the scale etc? I assume I'll need to route the neck slot on the body in closer to the bridge to hold the extra? If I do that, I think it's safe to say I might end up with the same playability issues on the uppermost frets as i would with one of the warmoth extended fingerboards? xx

So, I'm looking to put together a PingRay. P-Body with P pups in the 'sweet spot' and a hummer in the bridge. All black hardware and a really obnoxious orange or lime green or pink sparkley finish (maybe some form of stripes or polka dots containing two of those). Anyway, I've sourced a P body [url="http://www.guitarfetish.com/P-Bass-Lightweight-Body-Unfinished_p_1999.html"]HERE[/url] but I want this lady to have 24 frets... I've had a poke around and found [url="http://www.warmoth.com/bass/necks/Bass202124FretBoards.aspx"]THIS[/url] but Warmoth aren't exactly cheap... My other concern is that with that kind of overlap, will the last few frets be unplayable anyway? I'd be willing/able to carve up the lower wing on the body to improve access but would have to draw something up to see how that'd look. so my question is - how feasible is the whole, 24fret PingRay idea? Is there anywhere to get a cheap (<£100 ideally) but half-decent quality 24fret neck -Ideally with a paddle headstock but I'd take pretty much any head shape I could get - that would either fit a P-Bass blank or that I could mod the body to take it? I don't know how the extra frettage would affect the scale... etc... Thankies! xx

[quote name='lee650' post='1277841' date='Jun 21 2011, 10:25 PM']LOL if my [s]daughter[/s] son ever plays bass in the future it WILL be this one, absolute class [/quote] No need to be sexist! xx

Cheers for that. I've made a start on classical thump, been playing with the double thumb technique a lot too. I'm also on the hunt for more.. what's the best way to put it... more standard slapping? Slapping without Wooten's double-thumbing in it. A harmonic chart! That's exactly what I'm after. I'll have a poke around google for a good one, but if you have one feel free to post it, it would be much appreciated! =] xx

So.. I'm trying to improve my slap skills - I've gotten pretty proficient at just attacking the bass a la Flea and having some fun with that. Now I'm trying to work on having a more structured technique, more like Wooten. I've started picking out pieces from Wooten tunes and trying to learn them (obviously slowed down a great deal and gradually speeding them up) but I always get impatient and try to move forward too quickly and end up just attacking the hell out of the bass again... Are there any good places to find more 'Intermediate' level slap pieces that will help me advance my technique? All I seem to be able to find are Beginner level pieces which aren't taxing enough, or absolutely MENTAL material. Completely unrelated, but there's no point in starting two threads - harmonics. I've been working on Wooten's Amazing Grace as a bit of fun and the harmonics on the 3rd and 5th and 7th frets sound fine but the rest (especially 4th fret) tend to die on their arses. Am I missing something here? Do I need to fret these notes in weird places? And (Wow, I have a lot more questions than I realise) what note is a harmonic going to produce..? For example, a harmonic on the 12th fret of the A string produces an A, but is one at the 5th fret of the G string going to produce a C? Is there anywhere I can find a transcription of these so I can start playing with harmonics in compositions more? Apologies if these topics are already covered elsewhere... Thanks in advance. xx

First off, apologies if this is in the wrong forum, if it is could a mod do the necessary, pleaseandthankyou. So - I'm looking into starting my first build soon, I've picked out the majority of the easy stuff - woods, colours, shape, bridge etc. However, I'm a complete novice re: pickups and electronics (shocking considering I'm an electronic engineer but there you go). I'm looking to start delving into what the differences are between using P pickups, J pickups, P/J, humbuckers, dual/single coil, DiMarzio vs Seymour Duncan vs EMG...? Series vs parallel? Active vs passive? On board pre-amp?? Where do I start looking? Might be worth a sticky/wiki that goes into all of these things, or am I actually asking 50 different questions here that requires too much information for one answer? Thanks in advance. xx

Add in a humbucker at the bridge. Fluorescent orange body, matching headstock and all black hardware. xx

So I'm on the prowl for a wee 20w (or so) practise amp. An orange crush or similar maybe. Anyway - my question is this: Can any of you lovely chaps and chapettes out there recommend a decent (but cheap), small, lightweight practise amp that would also produce a satisfying tone if I were to use it for recording? Could I get that 'classic orange tone' out of a little amp? Otherwise, would you gents recommend using my big rig, or just DI and use a DAW? I'm aware that this is dangerously close to being a discussion about recording, rather than an amp, but as it's a practise amp I need then I'm posting the question here. It basically boils right down to: [b]Are there any practise amps that are better/cheaper than an orange crush? Maybe even a small valve/hybrid number?[/b] xx

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='1240258' date='May 22 2011, 12:44 PM']Pretty sure there's one on e-bay at the moment. Be quick, finishes at about [b]2:30[/b] At £118 so far. Edit:- Ended at £200.[/quote] I had to go to the dentist then, anyway. /coat. xx

Anyone have one? I'm GASsing pretty badly for one (1988). I've got an 1989/1990 Fender Power Jazz (porn to come when the mood takes me) and I remember being absolutely gutted when I saw it was so close to being a 'birth year bass' but wasn't. Other than that I own a 2000(ish) Mexican Jazz which is my workhorse so I'm thinking I'll try to track down a birth year P-Bass... but then again if I were to invest in an old P-bass I'd probably go whole hog and look for one that's much older, meaning I'd take an '88 damn-near-anything-as-long-as-it-plays-well! Anyway, anyone out there own a birth-year bass (pictures preferred, naturally) and if so, do you feel a particular attachment to it sentimentally? Or is it more a 'grass is greener' affair and once you own one it loses it's magic? xx