tauzero

So it's possible to keep a Precision looking decent for nearly 50 years. Really shows up the tat that you normally see...

Thought it must be a scam from the advert text - he refers to "pics" at one point, and says "There are two nicks on the back of the bass neck that I am disclosing here as you can see in the picks." at another, but there's only one picture.

[quote name='KevB' post='1084440' date='Jan 10 2011, 04:34 PM']Go on Jon admit it, if you had £8K for basses you'd buy 80 more pieces of Japcrap and open a museum [/quote] For 8k, I think Jon could buy 800 more pieces of Japcrap...

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1080670' date='Jan 7 2011, 01:30 AM']Being asked to hold on for a moment while someone gets the phone isn't an issue unless it's a long call and I'm stood about like a lemon[/quote] Any assistant worth their salt should be able to tell if a call is going to be a short or a long one in very short order, and if it's going to be a long one, tell the caller that they'll call back and get a number. What would really impress me as the customer in the shop would be if that happens, and as I'm leaving after being served, I hear the assistant calling back as promised. It'll never happen though...

I forgot another one - had the wireless die on me just as I was about to go into a bass-n-drums breakdown section of a song. Cue rapid shuffling of wires and continuation. I didn't use the wireless (a Nady 101) for years after that, and when I did I discovered that the problem was the power supply connector, a 3.5mm jack plug - the wire to it had broken internally and invisibly just where it entered the moulded plug. Exactly the same thing later happened to a second Nady unit I bought later.

[quote name='icastle' post='1080271' date='Jan 6 2011, 07:00 PM']Not too keen on the body shapes but there are some truly fantastic finishes on some of those basses... [/quote] I think the body shapes are fantastic - shame that Tony Tsai has stopped doing these basses:

Of course, if the position isn't actually employment [i]per se[/i] but a position where a self-employed person is subcontracted to the band, all this talk of discrimination and illegality is pure irrelevant crap. Do those who are describing it as illegal actually know that the bassist will be an employee, or are they all just spouting hot air?

First gig with new Warwick Thumb at the Mean Fiddler. Decide to adjust truss rod slightly before going on. It breaks. I play gig with rather unusually high action... At one pub gig, put my pint on a shelf just behind and above my amp. There is just enough room for it to inch forward and spill a few drops into my Superfly, which promptly decides to have the rest of the night off. I go through the PA. When I get home, I dismantle and wash the Superfly, then dry it out and remantle it. It works perfectly.

[quote name='Martin E' post='1072801' date='Dec 30 2010, 03:03 PM']£1 – 3.15mm, £2 – 2.5mm, 10p – 1.85mm, 50p – 1.78mm, 5p – 1.7mm and 1p – 1.65mm[/quote] I just measured up a clearance using a couple of 20ps... They're 1.7mm too, I now know.

One that Mrs Zero and I will be doing this evening for the first time:

So, was there anything worthwhile to make me watch it on iplayer or download it? Saw a few seconds of Kylie being a chipmunk and (later) Alison Moyet not being a chipmunk.

I love the fact that the Brian Blessed B-Quad Bike has appeared there too. It's the Thread That Will Not Die...

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1073043' date='Dec 30 2010, 07:33 PM']...and you wouldn't be slightly dismayed if someone did this to a 2010 Jazz?[/quote] I'd be overjoyed.

[quote name='jsixties' post='1072860' date='Dec 30 2010, 04:31 PM']Absolutely terrible. I don't know if is worst the "artist" work or the seller description . [/quote] It could be worse. It could be an Oly White Fender Jazz with nothing at all done to it.

The shop is empty...

[quote name='Merton' post='1073107' date='Dec 30 2010, 08:18 PM']I just "accidentally" phoned Mark @ Bass Direct (twice, bloody HSBC...) and "accidentally" paid for an MB200 to be my home/practice amp. Now just gotta wait for the tiny thing to arrive [/quote] At least the postman will be able to put it through the letterbox.

[quote name='mep' post='1072912' date='Dec 30 2010, 05:21 PM']And me. I've tried others, but always come back to JD nylon 1mm's[/quote] That's what I use - I don't use them much on bass but I do about 50/50 fingerpick and plectrum on guitar, using the JDs, and I just use the same plectrums on bass.

[quote name='Marvin' post='1073135' date='Dec 30 2010, 08:45 PM']With regard to the subject of U2 I've never understood the moaning about Clayton's playing. Most of the whinging seems to emanate from people who don't even like U2. It's not bass driven music so it doesn't require 'look at me' lines. Anything more 'colourful' wouldn't fit in, there's no space for it - the focus of U2 are Bono's lyrics/voice and Edge's guitar playing. Arguing that one could play a better line is a mute point, and somewhat irrelevant as only the 0.0000x% of nerdy bass players in the general populous would be listening to it anyway.[/quote] With U2, there's also quite a bit of difference between songs where the bass and drums are simply providing a platform for Bono and the Edge (eg. "With or without you") and those where the bass is providing a melodic glue (eg. "One"). I'm not much of one for playing the chugging note but I enjoy playing "With or without you" far more than the dreary "Dakota".

[quote name='nick' post='1072283' date='Dec 29 2010, 11:28 PM']It's a Gherson 'Finger Picar' - daft name or what! [/quote] It could have been worse, it could have been the "Jean-Luc Picar".

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='1069237' date='Dec 25 2010, 01:28 PM']I drop the bottom string to E flat but still play the A in the 5th fret position as normal and it sounds a semi tone lower? And this makes it easier for the singer? And is this called concert pitch?[/quote] Yes, yes, and no. Concert pitch is 440Hz A. 40 years ago or so, when I was living at home and we had an upright joanna, it used to be tuned a semitone down from concert - which, my dad told me, was standard tuning (ie. standard was a semitone down from concert). Always caused problems with my violin playing as the pianos at school were in concert pitch so if I retuned to the piano at home, it needed tuning again at school.

[quote name='Roland Rock' post='1066309' date='Dec 21 2010, 11:41 PM']2: I'll focus on the bass player and compare their standard to my own. If I feel they're better than me, I'll sit back and enjoy the show. If I feel they're not as good as me, a bit of smugness creeps in. I'm not proud of this, and generally regard myself as a nice person, but that's how it is.[/quote] When my current band was invited by my old band (who had dumped me for a mate of the guitarist's) to support them, this was the one. I managed to conceal being unbearably smug quite well, I think.

Happy Christmas to you all from everyone at Zero Towers.

Like Jennifer, I have a 6-string Grind. I had a play of assorted 5-string basses at PMT and found the Grind 5 was the most playable. I would like it active for preference so I might put an Artec preamp into it at some point.

[quote name='dbass' post='1062265' date='Dec 18 2010, 09:28 AM']Also - what is quite interesting to know - the Planet waves have those sprung jacks that "hold" them in your bass...after many chats with Warwick owners this actually buggers the inside of the jack socket up by applying unnecessary pressure. Happened to my FNA Jazzman and Thumb.[/quote] One was supplied with my Variax guitar. The guitar kept cutting out. When I put a reasonable quality stereo J-J lead (for the phantom power) in its place, the problem went away.