muttley

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1346594936' post='1790942'] And now it's been withdrawn. But, like a phoenix from the ashes, the [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-II-Bass-guitar-/251143684328?_trksid=p4340.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D1762251278946893876%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D4%26"]same photo turns up here[/url]. [/quote] That ad actually appeared before the initial BIN one was withdrawn (someone on the Westone forum linked to it). Not only same photo but same serial no. More sensible price though.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230844766813&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123#vi-desc"]on eBay[/url]. [quote]I have seen similar models in far worse condition selling for over £2,000 so please bear in mind when bidding, I promise you will not be disappointed.[/quote] Yeah, right

Take it to a local music shop that does repairs; the cost of restoration will likely be peanuts (relatively speaking, of course ). Provided nothing is loose in either the neck or sound-box, all it needs is a bridge, a/some new peg(s) and a set of strings. However, you may wish to change the tail to one with built-in fine tuners (depends how well the pegs work). Is the sound post still in place (a wooden dowel that couples the top and back together under the bridge)? Fitting a new one won't cost more than a few quid. If you want to play, you'll need a shoulder rest (Wolf are the best, but £25-£30 each) and also try some different chin rests if you need more support. Regarding the bow, ask the repairer's advice. It may not be worth it. If you want a case, I can recommend the lightweight Tom and Will ones. I've got one and so do a few other players in our orchestra. About £70. As a reference point, my current violin cost me about £60 from an auction, in similar condition. The repair work was only about £60 or £70. Its probably worth several times that figure now .

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1345814169' post='1781892'] SR500 has soap bar pickups, I think, so I would guess SR400 too. [/quote] Current ones, yes. Older SR500s had P/J like the model in the pic . See [url="http://www.ibanezregister.com/Gallery/basses/sr/gal-sr500.htm"]here[/url].

I think it's either an SR400 or SR500. What confuses me is that 3 control knobs suggests SR400 but the only pics I've seen of this model with 3 knobs are in painted finishes. Ideas?

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1343865314' post='1756712'] Funny, I thought people bought a Musicman/Warwick etc cos they want it to sound like a Musicman/Warwick etc etc - who would buy a new 3 band MM if they really wanted a 2 band one etc etc. I don't totally buy the idea that there's no market for pre amps - there's even a guy on BC who is advertising made up MM Sabre pre amps - he's had quite a few replies so perhaps people do want their Fenders or whatever to sound like a Musicman - there seems a much simpler and practical solution to me - and if you have a Sabre with a knackered pre amp, no doubt EBMM may be able to help you. I liken this bass modding and customising business to car modding - many people don't bother but there again there are people who transplant, for example high powered Honda engines into old Minis - whatever floats your boat I guess! The point about retaining stock bits is a sensible one - a modded Musicman is not likely to be a very saleable commodity, at least for a market price. [/quote] I honestly don't know. I was just proposing an alternative hypothesis in response to your previous post. If owners do upgrade, I can imagine owners of more expensive basses keeping the OE components for the sake of originality. Owners of less expensive basses might a) not bother to sell the original pre-amp as there's not really a market for such bits or b.) they just upgrade the whole instrument. Yes, I've seen the thread on here about the MM-type preamps for sale. The price is extremely keen, however, so probably distorts the picture a bit (plus it's is a new component, this thread is about s/h preamps ).

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1343780959' post='1755287'] On the other hand, people who buy basses with pre amps, such as Warwicks and Musicman, Yamaha, Ibanez etc leave them as stock - [/quote] OTOH, people upgrade such basses and keep the OE preamp gathering dust. Not because they want to return it to stock later, but more that they recognise that there is no market for OE pres, because every owner already has one...

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1341877246' post='1725672'] Also worth noting that you can effectively separate the effects of changing capacitance/inductance from those of the phase cancellations if you have a pre-amp that buffers each pickup separately before the blend. [/quote] Presumably the same could be said of a pre-amp that doesn't buffer before the blend? If the input impedance of the pre-amp is of the order of megohms then a few henries difference plus or minus isn't going to have much of an effect within the audible range.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1342021479' post='1728266'] if you have a look at the sale forum now.... I don't know if it says anything about fashion or not, but theres an awful lot of the kinda specialist bass makes, up for sale [/quote] That may just be that BC-ers are more likely to be customers for this type of bass. If you have something more generic you're more likely to get a better price on eBay.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1342008014' post='1727870'] The wood of an acoustic instrument has far more influence over the sound than that of a solid bodied electric one. [/quote] He was joking, surely? Or have I missed something?

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1341876568' post='1725668'] The resonant peak [/quote] <pedant mode on>It's [i]resonance[/i], not resonant. The peak isn't resonant, but indicates the frequency at which resonance occurs. Same with resonan[u]ce[/u] frequency.</pedant mode> If I had a pound for every time I saw or heard that common error I'd have enough for a new bass . Add in the "is it 3dB or 6dB" confusion and I'd have enough to retire .

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1341664647' post='1722446'] tonewax. ??? [/quote] snakewax more like...

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1341670648' post='1722559'] Must be fretless Precision basses, as I just picked one up [/quote] Fretless basses full stop, if the current output of the major manufacturers is anything to go by.

Have a look at double bass fingering. Instead of the "one finger per fret" approach of guitarists the hand doesn't reach more than a tone before changing position. Index to second finger is a semitone, second to fourth finger is the next semitone etc (the third finger generally isn't used until you get to half-way up the fingerboard). As [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/180652-learning-the-bass-guitar-with-smaller-handsfingers/page__view__findpost__p__1717169"]uncle psychosis wrote[/url], there are lots of female db players with small hands who cope perfectly well.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1341275722' post='1716370'] The Trades Descriptions Act 1968 (cap 29), sec 36(1), is the relevant legislation. Therein it is stated, under the heading "Country of origin", that, "[f]or the purposes of this Act goods shall be deemed to have been manufactured or produced in the country in which they last underwent a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change." A significant body of case law exists, and my advice to the OP would be that the sanding, finishing and assembly to which he refers arguable does not meet the "substantial change" test, in that the CNC'd bodies and necks produced overseas are still, after all processing, CNC'd bodies and necks. Should any BCer have complaint with product purchased from the OP's company they should address the matter to Trading Standards local to the OP's registered business address. [/quote] Actually, I disagree with that statement. From what I've read in this thread, the basses are finished, assembled, set up and tested here in the UK. A box full of parts does not equal a playable instrument, therefore Vol 11 could probably argue that a substantial change has taken place during the assembly and testing process. However, I do think that "assembled in the UK" is more appropriate (and less misleading) than "made in the UK". It would be good to see some unique designs, if a market for such things exists.

[quote name='chilisfan16' timestamp='1341158153' post='1714460'] It is rockschool, I'm currently going through the pieces and putting my own twist on things and changing a few bass solos. How strict are they with improvising from the tablature? [/quote] I don't know for certain as I've never done a RS exam. However, since the dots are written out, they are written for a purpose so my advice is follow them. Develop and improvise and only where stated. That said, marks will be given for interpretation so don't play it like a robot. [quote name='chilisfan16' timestamp='1341158153' post='1714460'] Also how long would I get to look over the sheet music for the sight reading? [/quote] It should state this in the blurb. [quote name='chilisfan16' timestamp='1341158153' post='1714460'] And there's also the part after that which I can't understand from reading what the exam will cover. Something about rhythm and melody? [/quote] Quick Study piece or Ear (Aural) Tests?

Close enough for rock 'n' roll, as we used to say . Another useful yardstick is that the wavelength at 1kHz is about a foot.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1340722495' post='1708598'] Not to mention if you have say a soundwave of frequency 40 Hz travelling at 300 m/s (typical sort of speed of sound), that would make the soundwave 7.5 metres long. You would have to be pretty far away from your amp to be a whole wavelength distance away. [/quote] The speed of sound is actually approx 345 m/s. Therefore at 40Hz the wavelength is just over 8.6m . If the theory as stated in that article were true, none of us would hear the fundamental of bottom E in any normal sized room .

I [u]am[/u] an Acoustics Engineer (CEng, MIOA) and I can tell you that that statement is total BS. There are many factors influencing the frequency content of what you hear but if that's what he meant he has expressed his point very badly.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1340690799' post='1708057'] or asses [/quote] That's animal cruelty The rules do state a [i]maximum[/i] of 3 woods. I wonder how many entries will be made from a single type.

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1340219804' post='1701370'] Are you doing to put side dots on it? [/quote] Yes, I will eventually. I might leave it nude for a bit just to see how I get on with the intonation .

I ordered a fretless Jazz neck from CH and it arrived yesterday. Quality is fairly good considering the price - just needs a bit of smoothing here and there. Profile is nice and slim too.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' timestamp='1339840917' post='1695148'] The one that gets me is "You get paid £50 for a gig? You only play a couple of hours" yes, and the months writing, practicing, recording, promoting, travelling, soundchecking, setting up/down, networking etc etc then we're lucky to get paid at any gigs, I know I rarely do. [/quote] What's that story of Picasso and the napkin sketch? edit: Here it is:- [quote]The details change and it may be apocryphal, but it’s worth recounting the story of Picasso’s napkin. The artist was, apparently, sitting in a Paris café when a customer recognised him and pleaded with him to execute a doodle on the back of a serviette. Picasso obliged and, handing the work over, asked for $10,000. “How can you possibly ask for that much money, the picture took you less than a minute?” “On the contrary,” replied the artist. “It took me 40 years.”[/quote] [url="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/being-modern-conceptual-art-2370214.html"]source[/url] Ask them what they would charge for 2 hours freelance work. How much does it cost to get a plumber in? Or go to the dentist?

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1339753772' post='1693683'] The body radiates sound, its a much larger speaking area. Its the same artifact as the acoustic output of any other instrument. [/quote] I'm not denying that. Large area yes, but tiny amplitude. However, an electric instrument's output is not the amplified acoustic output from the body. The acoustic output when played non-amplified is an artifact of the fact that a) no structure is infinitely rigid and b.) the strings will radiate some sound. It's the finite rigidity of the structure that will potentially have an influence on the sound (see the link above to my other post).

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1339710958' post='1693321'] If it isn't plugged in, there isn't an electric bit. There is still a tone though. [/quote] An artifact at best, surely? The string will radiate some sound (and a line source is a very efficient radiator of sound), the body and neck structure also due to it not being infinitely rigid. However, surely these are not designed-in characteristics? Don't they just "happen"?