tauzero

"Mustang Sally". It's the law. I generally just have a little play around acoustically to see how they feel. Bear in mind that I'm not actually looking to buy anything these days (unless just the perfect 5-string fretless comes along for ten bob) but I'm open to checking stuff out anyway. I don't have anything as a normal piece to play and find myself struggling to think what to do, though it often finishes up being "Toccata".

[quote name='spacecowboy' post='390981' date='Jan 25 2009, 02:46 PM']anybody else got what i suppose you could call a [b][/b]wife[b][/b] bass? did you have the one and then let another in? How did it go? and are you still with her?[/quote] I'm quite happy to play other basses. I've never found one to touch my JD Thumb (which I've had for 21 years) or my JDised fretless Thumb in 4-strings, and ditto my first 5-string Tsai. I'm still looking for my ideal fretless 5-string.

Band 1: right-hand side because the guitarist and drummer were the founder members and the guitarist goes on the left. Band 2: no drummer. Band 3: next to the MIDI file player that does the drummer's job. Open mic nights: on the right, whether there's a drummer or not, so I can see the guitarist's left hand. I'm not bothered which side I go. I can play equally badly on either side.

Is this the Brunel chap you're all on about?

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='389609' date='Jan 23 2009, 02:41 PM']Seems I'm in a tiny minority then. Not unknown, I must admit. Position maintained and conscience perfectly clear though. [/quote] I signed both the noise level and the arms embargo petitions. While the noise level petition is not very soundly based, noise level meters are coming into more and more venues. Anyone acquainted with the history of motorcycle regulation, specifically the helmet law and the noise level restrictions, will realise that prevalence of noise meters may well lead to their becoming mandatory, and that prosecution of offenders takes second place to tightening the restrictions so that the obedient majority are penalised by the disobedient minority.

They did reply to me, but they were after someone younger than 51.

[quote name='BassManKev' post='378507' date='Jan 13 2009, 12:21 AM']its got a certificate, so looks like it could be. As said, its now obvious why fender reinvent the same bass over and over again and never think out the box...because this happens [/quote] You'd have thought that they'd manage to do a better copy of a Warwick Streamer than that. They've got the top horn looking like a semi though, so that's a good start.

There's the Ergo bass look:

[quote name='bremen' post='386099' date='Jan 20 2009, 02:07 PM']The participating shops tend to be specialists in bassoons and cellos rather than electric/electronic instruments though. And there are limitations in what you can buy; I think computer-based instruments don't qualify, nor do amps and speakers. It's been a few years since I looked though, might have changed.[/quote] It's been revised (I think). You can buy amps now as long as it's with an instrument. The perfect opportunity to get a back-up bass, then...

[quote name='chris_b' post='384588' date='Jan 19 2009, 12:51 AM'].... and when they toured the record he couldn't play it, so had to play something else instead![/quote] He played something very similar to it. And evidently Paul Simon recognised how well that little bit went down with the audience, as he got him to play it a second time. At least he did at the NEC, 22 years ago.

1) What do you look for in a music shop? What I look for is something I very rarely see - as others have said, secondhand instruments. 2) What would you ideally like to see in a music shop? A wide range of secondhand instruments, including everything I want for a tenner. Well, I'll settle for a pre-91 5-string fretless Thumb. For a tenner. Strings, plectrums, etc are good things to hold in stock for the casual visitor. Staff who are knowledgeable, not too pushy, and psychic, so they know exactly when I'd like a bit of help. Headphone amps for the Saturday afternoon shredders. Signs saying that people are welcome to play but if someone else wants to try the same gear out, they must be prepared to take turns. 3) How far would you travel? There is actually a little second-hand instrument shop about 25 miles from me, and if I actually felt I had some disposable income (things are still a bit tight at the moment), I'd be wandering over there once a month or so (and telling him to let me know if there's anything really interesting). I used to be a regular visitor to Musical Exchange, before they became Sound Control in Brum. That's about 15 miles. 4) Am I mad to consider this? Does it matter? How much can you afford to lose?

[quote name='jake_tenfloors' post='384385' date='Jan 18 2009, 09:30 PM']I definitely agree about splitting up amps and effects. I don't see these going together. Amps & cabs i don't mind.[/quote] It makes sense as it mirrors the Gear subforums.

It works on the back of the bass, but it's too much visual clutter below the centreline on the front of the bass.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='376518' date='Jan 10 2009, 11:25 PM']Here's the link to the radius jig I copied: [url="http://home.mindspring.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.mindspring.com/~adhamilton/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/neck_jig_3.jpg&target=tlx_new"]Radius Jig[/url][/quote] That link just shows the one photo - this is a link to the page with the jig on it. [url="http://home.mindspring.com/~adhamilton/id13.html"]http://home.mindspring.com/~adhamilton/id13.html[/url]

My Behringer AB100 got noisy when mains-powered, so I put together the 2B|!2B box, which is two footswitches, each switching one channel on and off. Allows me to have either instrument switched on, or neither, so I can leave them on stands on a resonant stage with no fear of them feeding back halfway through the bingo. And I put LEDs on too. As I've got one 3-pole 2-way footswitch left over, I'll do a straight A-B box too.

[quote name='Beedster' post='380374' date='Jan 14 2009, 04:13 PM']So, for arguments sake, if a 1970 Fender is built entirely from components bought from 20 different sellers on ebay, and all of those parts are 100% verifiable as authentic and original Fender components from 1970, and given that the combination of neck, body and hardware on any one bass was likely a matter of chance at the Fender factory in 1970 (pauses for breath)......, is there an argument to say that the 1970 bitsa Fender in question is, to all but the most anally retentive purist, original?[/quote] Well, the neck and body won't have had 40 years of snuggling cheek by jowl. It's the neck and body I see as being of fundamental importance, other bits may need replacement because they're damaged (though I would hope that a seller would mention any changes from original if he knew about them) but the basis of the instrument is the neck and body. Of course, if you buy a proper bass with a through neck, you don't get that problem.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='380144' date='Jan 14 2009, 11:57 AM']Those Variaxes any good - that's to say, how 'realistic' do they sound?[/quote] I think they sound pretty realistic. I mainly use the acoustic models and they do sound like electroacoustics (they don't sound like an acoustic does, er, acoustically). But as I've got cloth ears, I just had a quick look for reviews on That Interweb, and there seems to be a consensus that the models are at least reasonable. Incidentally, all the Variax solid-body six-strings use the same electronics, so it's nice that the one I found suited me best was also the cheapest.

[quote name='ARGH' post='379425' date='Jan 13 2009, 06:00 PM'][quote name='tauzero' post='379062' date='Jan 13 2009, 02:30 PM'] There's no [b]need[/b] for six-string basses. They have a niche. Most bassists can live without reaching into that niche.[/quote] Is that a wheelie bin in the corner of your classroom? [/quote] I do believe you're confused by the fact that I have said that there is no [b]need[/b] for a six-string bass. If you look very carefully at my sig, you will see that I own several five-strings, one six-string, and one seven-string bass. If you think very carefully about the English words that I have used, or perhaps use a dictionary, you may come to a correct conclusion about their meaning.

[quote name='Linus27' post='379208' date='Jan 13 2009, 03:45 PM']HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I had no idea they made the Elite as a 2 + 2, only the Elan.[/quote] Nonono, 2.2. 2200 steaming ccs of pure throbbing power. The Elite like an Eclat. Not the dinky little thing that can just about get to the end of the driveway without blowing up.

I have a Telecaster Custom, a Telecaster Thinline, a 1959 Strat, a 1958 Les Paul Standard, a Les Paul Junior, a Firebird, a Gretsch, a Rickenbacker 360-6 and a 360-12, Gibson ES-335, ES-175, and Super 400, an Epiphone Casino, a Martin 6-string and 12-string, and a Dobro. That's what the manual for my Variax 300 tells me I've got, anyway.

First bass was : Rosetti 7 semi-acoustic piece of crap From : someone at school It cost : £7 Which today is : £79-45 First real bass was : Hayman 40/40 self-assembled From : Fender Soundhouse (which still smelt of smoke) It cost : £72 Which today is : £416-16

[quote name='bumnote' post='378405' date='Jan 12 2009, 10:51 PM']I used to have an original elan [JAP 4D] Unreliable as hell. but wonderfull, Mixture of bits of cars, mainly ford, hillman imp and others. Service every 3000 miles. twin weber carbs which never seemed to stay tuned, I used to carry a home made 1x15 where the passenger seat should go.[/quote] I had a Lotus Elite 2.2 (the one like the Eclat). One of 173 made, which meant there were another 172 piles of unreliable sh*te taking periodic rests round the English countryside.

[quote name='JJTee' post='378151' date='Jan 12 2009, 07:40 PM']Once I've done this, is there anything (in terms of copyright/legal stuff) to stop me e-mailing the collection to anyone that wants a copy of the file?[/quote] Well, if you emailed them to me, I could do some research to find out whether it was legal or not. I'd obviously have to study the material though.

I think my own views reflect those of Eight, Alex and Ped. When I read AM's initial post, my first thought was that a beginners' sub-forum wouldn't get far if it didn't have experienced people in it. Rebranding Theory and Technique as Learning for All (or something like that so it's not exclusive to beginners) would help. Gear advice is another question, if you ask n BCers for an opinion then you'll get a minimum of n+1 opinions, at least 50% of which will be entirely unsuitable to the requirement or cost at least twice as much as the stated budget, so I don't see that there would be any advantage in having a beginners' bit for that. If the current gear and technical forums aren't ideal for beginners in AM's view, perhaps she could give pointers to what she would actually want from a beginners' section.