bassbloke

[quote name='Paul_C' post='171515' date='Apr 7 2008, 03:11 PM']You can still connect the bridge pickup to the five way switch - the easiest way is to run the hot out from the pickup to the middle tag of a 3-tag on/on mini toggle switch, with one out to the five way switch and the other direct to the vol pot.[/quote] I want to do any drilling, so I'll content myself with losing that one switch option as the others will more than make up for it and I can always return to factory default for the cost of a 5 way switch - the one on it is temperamental.

[quote name='BassManKev' post='170230' date='Apr 5 2008, 01:09 PM']that 3 jazz pickup combination would sound dynamite [/quote] Tell me about it. I realised that that I was actually losing one option I currently have which is pickup nearest bridge soloed, but it so bright, I would never use it. The two bridge pickup combination is wonderful and I reckon all three would strip paint.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='169902' date='Apr 4 2008, 04:56 PM']This all seems a bit weird to me, I always mute everything with my left hand, thumb over the top for the lower strings. Is this weird and/or innefective?[/quote] It's not the best way of doing things. I've only ever seen one player on a five string using the thumb of the top technique and that was the bassist in Running Wild who effectively used TIMR on left hand rather than IMRL, which seemed and looked bizarre. Using your right hand for muting is far more efficient and sounds better too.

The bass is great. I swapped strings between my backup deluxe jazz, so it's now got a nice set of Warwick EMPs and sounds great. Paul_C your suggestion is perfect, with one minor modification. I'm going to use the push/pull switch to control the pickup nearest the bridge as that's the one in the non-standard location. Bring it in will add a really nice edge to the sound without the need for extra electronics or piezos.

I recently took possession of a Fender HM Bass. This is a rather unusual beast in that it has 3 jazz pickups and a 5 way switch P P [b]P[/b] P [b]P[/b] [b]P[/b] P [b]P[/b] P [b]P[/b] [b]P[/b] P [b]P[/b] P P Now, it would be really nice if I could find a way of adding the following [b]P[/b] [b]P[/b] [b]P[/b] [b]P[/b] P [b]P[/b] Does anyone know if such a switch actually exists?

[quote name='Jimbo' post='166022' date='Mar 29 2008, 06:36 PM']01. Silverfoxnik 02. WalMan 03. Merton 04. Johngh 05. OBBM 06. G-77 07. Rich (hopefully) 08. Alexclaber 09. Tauzero plus the future Mrs Zero 10. Steantval 11. Doctor of bass 12. Birdy 13. ped 14. Machines 15. tonyf 16 MacDaddy 17 Owen 18 Bassace 19. Moody 20. McGraham 21. Skywalker 22. Jimbo 23. Urb 24. bassbloke[/quote] Burpster is supposed to be along too - we're doing a bass swap.

You have four choices with a laptop 1) Onboard soundcard 2) USB or, preferably USB2 interface** Edirol, M-Audio, Phonic, Line 6 etc... 3) Firewire Interface ** Edirol, M-Audio, Phonic 4) PCMCIA interface *** Echo Indigo, etc... ** Assuming your laptop has Firewire or USB2 ports *** Your laptop requires cardbus slots (32-bit) If you already have mixing desk and mics, etc... then a standard 2 in 2 out interface will serve you well - cheaper too. What's the spec of your laptop? You need upwards of 512MB, 1GB + ideally to stand any chance of using the machine for recording. You should also invest in an external USB hard drive to store your projects, etc... as these can soon eat up hard disk space.

Just got back from a dissapointing gig. 4 bands on a bank holiday bill, so very tight stage times. The first and second band turned up late for rehearsal, brougt their own backline and caused the evening to start late. If that wasn't enough, both proceeded to over run meaning that us, the main support, played a whopping 4 songs and the headliners got 25 minutes. How would/do you deal with tardy bands?

If you want a cheap, flexible pedal, look at the Akia Intelliphase. they're quite desirable as they're not made any more. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Akai-P1-Intelliphase-pedal-phase-pedal_W0QQitemZ140216735191QQihZ004QQcategoryZ22669QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Akai-P1-Intelliphase...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

Or the cheaper option, which is a 3 hole control plate from a stack knob jazz - Maybe a tenner from AxesRUs

Thanks for your reply, although forgot to post your own playing problems My problem simply relates to string crossing at speed. For example, I used to play in a covers band and we played Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater, off scenes from a memory. There's a fast part before the bridge that has you alternating between a fast root - octave riff with fills that cross all 4 strings. I managed to pull it off, but it always felt like a bit too much of an effort, I think because I wasn't 100% happy with the way I crossed the strings. In the end I played it 1321 ascending and raked descending. It's a major annoyance for me because I don't have a problem with speed or accuracy of notes when playing more linear patterns. I know practicing it constantly is one approach, but it seems a little counter-productive when I'm not actually 100% of the way I'm tackling it in the first place. What probably makes things harder is that I play near the bridge and really concentrate on pulling the strings rather than just hammering them to get as consistent and pure a tone as possible. It's much easier to play right up bythe neck but IMHO, sounds awful.

[quote name='sticker' post='160045' date='Mar 19 2008, 05:24 AM']I'm interested in this mod and any others you care to suggest too , I'm loving my VM jazz ^_^ Can anyone tell me if there is a bit of hum generated when you turn down the volume of either pick up ? Mines does this and as I'm new to bass I wasn't sure is it's a characteristic (Stratocasters have a tendancy to do the same) or if my pickups are borked ! Cheers[/quote] It's quite a standard problem on basses with single coil pickups. One good way of reducing the hum is to line the control cavity,pickup cavities and the rear of the scratchplate and controlplate with copper shielding foil. It's an easy enough process and is fun in a Blue Peter 'you can do this at home' kind of way. You can buy rolls of tape from ebay or [url="http://www.axesrus.com"]AxesRUs[/url]. Another thing to bear in mind is that a lot of mass produced basses, from the cheapest Fender copy to even supposed high end US bass can have very poor wiring and it's worth having a look under the controlplate to see if this can be tidied up. Even if you're no good with a soldering iron, it's worth seeing if a local music or electrical shop is able to re-wire it for you using shorter,better shielded wiring. It can make a huge difference.

The over/under cable twisting method is the best way to keepyou cables in good shape. I'm using the same Monster cables I bought in 1999. Our guitarist literally stuffs his into his rucksack andI enjoy sitting watching him untangle them and try and smooth out the kinks at the start of every rehearsal.

[i]Note. At the present time, i am planning to make up to 1000 of these and then decide if i want to sell the company[/i] Interesting. Any takers?

I thought it would be a really good idea to have a thread in which we explain one big problem we have with our playing and see if other people can offer advice. Everyone that contributes needs to have a problem fo their own. My biggest problem is string crossing at speed when I'm paying a part that covers 4 or even 5 srings. I can't decide what feels most comfortable to me T123T123 ascending and 321T321T descending 12121212 ascending and 12121212 descending 12121212 ascending and raking when descending 13131313 ascending and raking when descending I'll spend hours working on the one technique then come back to it a few days later and it won;t feel natural.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='155775' date='Mar 12 2008, 09:35 AM']I'm technically not very good, but I have no problem at all expressing myself on my bass. I can play anything I want. The only time I want to improve is when my guitarist comes up with something I can't play fast enough with my fingers, but don't want a pick sound for.[/quote] It's one thing to contradict yourself across multiple posts in a thread, but to contradict yourself twice in the same thread just shows that, as with previous threads, you have nothing particularly constructive to contribute and are just being contrary for the sake of it.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='155282' date='Mar 11 2008, 01:38 PM']Anyone bringing a Boss ME-50B? I'd love to have a fiddle [/quote] I'll be coming to the bash to do a bass swap with Burpster. I have to head straight to rehearsal afterwards, so I'll be bringing my rehearsals/small gigs rig with me Tech ND212 cab Tech TVM600 head Boss ME50-B Fender MIA Deluxe Jazz V with Audere JZ3D 3 band I'll bring my Boss Loopstation along as well for a laugh.

[quote name='Hamster' post='155097' date='Mar 11 2008, 09:33 AM']I wonder if they do an 88 string bass, with an iron frame to withstand the tension. You could play it with both hands whist sitting down? Hamster[/quote] Yes, but it would need a snappy name like, I don't know... ..a harp.

I feel a sporting analogy is appropriate. I'm a keen swimmer. I try and swim everyday - 40 lengths in my lunch break. I'm no slouch - I'm faster than plenty of people,but I'm certainly not a professional. My favourite stroke is front crawl. I'm not very good at backstroke, don't really like breast stroke and haven't even attempted butterfly. That's not a problem. There are plenty of pro and semi-pro swimmers and I often encounter them when doing my lengths. They swim faster than me and often for longer. There's obviously a demand for whatt hey do. They're taking something they enjoy and pushing themselves to the limit. Also, they feel the need to train as hard as they do - either because that's the level they need to reach and maintain or because they feel that if they don;t work so hard, someone else that does will overtake them. So, unless the people criticising Mr Gwizdala are professional jazz musicians, I don't see how they can be qualified to comment on whether 1) There's a demand for such music 2) Whether Mr Gwizdala's practise regime is appropriate or excessive 3) Whether Mr Gwizdala's advice is accurate.