bassjamm

[quote name='owen' post='700003' date='Jan 3 2010, 09:33 PM']Some guy on TB sent out a 7 email monster on how to relic. If you (or anyone else for that matter) PM me your email I will forward it on to you. It is full of ideas.[/quote] PM on it's way mate...

[quote name='maxrossell' post='698138' date='Jan 1 2010, 05:28 PM']I don't actually think you should bury the pickguard. That's an extreme example of what you can do, but on balance it probably wouldn't have a particularly impressive effect. Get a mint green pickguard, round off the edges a bit, scuff it up, rub some stain into it then clean it up, that's about the best you can do with plastic.[/quote] It's a black pick guard, so any suggestions? [quote name='maxrossell' post='698138' date='Jan 1 2010, 05:28 PM']Ignore "how to" videos on youtube. I've yet to see one where the achieved effect is even vaguely credible. People who relic guitars for a living charge hundreds for a reason - it's way more difficult than just blasting the thing with an orbital sander or stabbing it with a screwdriver. 99% of it is done by hand because, as I said, the whole thing is a buildup of subtle layers of ageing. People who do it professionally do hours of research, and the effects they apply are not random.[/quote] Fair enough mate, although the guy did achieve a pretty good finish in my opinion...here's the link - [url="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=522drwagon#g/u"]Look at the "relic my guitar" vids[/url] [quote name='maxrossell' post='698138' date='Jan 1 2010, 05:28 PM']You'd apply stain to the whole thing. If you rough the paint up first the stain will take better, but you have to bear in mind that the stain will take far more on the wood than it will on the paintwork so you'll have to judge it carefully. Use very small amounts of stain and work slowly. Maybe dilute the stain some so you're not putting on too much at a time.[/quote] So just take it easy and do several coats then so as to not go gun hoe and screw it up out the blocks. That makes sense. Why would you apply the stain to the whole body though, even the non-exposed parts? Just curios. And I hear you on the lacquering thing. That all makes perfect sense then. Do you know of any good links to any photos, videos or guides then? I'm pretty sure I've grasped what you've talked about though, but any visual help would be a massive bonus too. As for the whole working by hand thing. That seems like the best way to go anyway to avoid making a hash of it. I'm not going to be in any rush to do all of this, as long as I can spend a good few hours on it over the next couple of weeks, with the end product coming together around Feb time, I'd be happy. Any tips on how to achieve believable wear on the maple neck and finger board? Would it be a case of using sand paper to break through the finish down to the wood in the correct wear zones/patterns, and then using the lacquer like we would on the body? Thanks again kind sir. Jamie

PM sent

Thanks for your help there kind sir. That's all more or less along the lines I was thinking of and reading about anyway. The body is black, so I guess I'm going to want to take the shin away a bit and get a duller look about to give the feel of age. That's what I'm after, an aged look, not a battered up pile of junk. Where you say the following though, how long would the pick guard need burying for, and what kind of effect would it give? [quote name='maxrossell' post='697983' date='Jan 1 2010, 02:45 PM']If I had time to spare I might bury the plastic parts, and put the metal parts in a jar of acid to wear off the chrome.[/quote] I've got a good idea as to what I like the look of though, and there's plenty of pictures online to find inspiration from I know. It's just a case of learning how to do it without knackering the thing up. There's a guy on youtube who's got some pretty cool 'how to' videos on relicing. He's using a full on power sander to do parts of it. He get some pretty cool finishes, but I'm worried that it could be too easy to go too far too quickly with that method. Hmm... Also, you mentioned staining. I'm guess the stain only really needs applying to the exposed wood and under coats etc? Not the whole lot? Would It be worth putting a Nitro finish on to the body then? Although, I guess that's just making more/hard work for myself. Thanks though maxrossell. Jamie

[quote name='maxrossell' post='697959' date='Jan 1 2010, 02:13 PM']If you've never routed anything before, I recommend having a professional do the route for the pickup. As for relicing, it really depends what effect you want to achieve. If it's subtle use for a few years you're going for it's mainly going to be sandpaper, t-cut, a tiny bit of dark stain, and a few nicks here and there in strategic areas (i.e. headstock edges, arm contour, the playing area of the pickguard etc.) If you want to trash it, then you might as well chuck it under a bus. Also it would help to know if it has a rosewood board or a maple board. If it's a rosewood board you mainly just want to roll the edges a bit. If it's a maple board you're going to want to sand back the lacquer and stain it in specific areas. Really, your best solution for relicing is to find pictures of actual old instruments and try to imitate the wear on them.[/quote] Well I have sent off for a few quotes for the routing, so that's probably the road I'll go down for it. But if I thought I was up to the job, I'd give it a go. As for the board, It's Maple. I was thinking about putting mother of pearl block inlays in, as opposed to the black dots. Not sure yet, but I'll most probably not do that and go for the worn look instead. Any suggestions on specific tools and/or products to stain and wear the woods? Thanks Jamie

Hello everyone, I've just purchased a project bass that I intend to do some modding and ageing on. It's Precision body with a Jazz neck. I want to have a Jazz Pickup route done and installed on it at the bridge. Does anyone know how to do routing, and relicing? I want to relic the whole lot, body, neck and parts. So any advice and/or links would be most appreciated. Want to try and end up with a [url="http://www.nashguitars.com/"]Nash[/url] kind of bass. Not necessarily taking huge chunks out of the wood and what not, more just heavy wear and tear etc. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. [b]*PICS ADDED IN POST BELOW*[/b] Thanks Jamie

Hey mate... How's this going? I'm thinking of setting off on an adventure along these lines. Have you got any links on what equipment is needed for spraying and the techniques etc? I want a Salmon Pink bass...figured I'm going to have to get it done for me, or do it myself!!! Hmm... Thanks Jamie

[quote name='BOD2' post='689087' date='Dec 19 2009, 02:27 PM']If you are only using one cable to one cab then it actually doesn't matter - either wire could go to either connection on the jack and work ok. You would only get a problem if you were using two cabs, with two cables and these were wired opposite to each other. In that case the problem would be that the cabs were "out pf phase" - it would sound weak but no damage would be done to anything. I would wire the orange to the centre connector of the jack (on the basis that orange/red = hot and blue = cold) and the blue to the shield or case of the jack.[/quote] Yep that's done it nicely thank you well...what I wanted anyway...my soldering was shocking

Hello there, I'm not too knowledgeable with these kind of things, but I need to convert my Speakon to speakon cable, to a speakon to 1/4" jack cable. So I want to make use of my cabs speakon connection, but my amp only has 1/4" jack connections. Now, I have my speakon cable, and I have a little jack cable that I'm going to use a jack connection from. But...I don't know which bit I need to solder to which bit That's where you kind fellows come in I do hope Here are some pics, so if you could simply say which bits I need to connect to which bit I'd very much appreciate it. So which part of the jack does the speakons blue cable solder to, and which bit does the speakon cables orange bit solder to? Thanks in advance! Jamie Pics: [attachment=38563:DSC00426.JPG] [attachment=38564:DSC00428.JPG] [attachment=38565:DSC00425.JPG]

Thanks fellers, I'll have a gander over all of that

[quote name='chardbass' post='680874' date='Dec 11 2009, 12:32 AM']Nice snare ghosting- cheers Mike! This is so laid back it's like you're watching it last week [/quote] He just nails it every time! The whole Voodoo album just has tonnes of soul and feel. Such an awesome example of funk and groove!!!

[quote name='carlitos71' post='688388' date='Dec 18 2009, 02:37 PM']have you tried swapping the valves?[/quote] Nope... But as has been pointed out earlier in this thread, it may not be a problem at all. I mean, it sounds fine, I just assumed both valves should glow?!?!

I think it may be that the valve just doesn't glow then. There's no fading in the valve, nor any audible dodgyness!!!

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='687788' date='Dec 17 2009, 09:49 PM']Sorry for the delay. Long sessions all week. Ouch. that's a tough one. To be frank you arent going to get a decent valve pre for that price. Anything in that range will be what's known as a starved plate design (which really means the valve isnt actually doing anything anyway). To be frank though, the whole valve thing is overblown. By 'warmth' people generally mean a mild but pleasing distortion being added to the signal. Many solid state designs do that at least as well. Even the next level up of valve equipment, such as the Art Pro VLA (which can be pretty useable on bass especially if you swap out the valves for mullards or the like) are really not much good for vocals etc. So, reasonable pres at that pricepoint? I can think of only two: the Rane MS1B is a bit of a giant killer. Pretty amazing for the price point but is at the cleaner end of the spectrum; or in the alternative, if you can manage a bit of DIY the Fivefish audio kit is amazing value and provides excellent quality. Alternatively, save up a bit more cash and buy yourself an FMR RNP. This is a genuine pro-level pre. You'd be astonished by the results you can get with it. Hope this helps.[/quote] Hey mate, Thanks for your reply. I know I'm asking a lot for the money etc. I'll certainly give your reply some thought though. I've been giving things a bit more thought as it happens, and I'm wondering if maybe I should just concentrate on getting myself a good bass sound sorted first, so a pre-amp or DI that would be pretty nuts for the bass, rather than trying to get something for everything at this stage. That way I could incorporate it into my live sound as well as my little studio setup. Does that make sense? Thanks J

Hello everyone, Right, bit of a dilemma? I'm wanting something to add some valvey goodness to my rig, but also to warm up my recordings a bit. Now ideally whatever I get would be great for bass, guitar and vocals, but that's a big ask considering I'd like to use it for my bass rig too. So I'm thinking about the SVT DI or something like the SVP Pro, BSP or CL. I've owned a SVP Pro in the past which I liked. The thing is, I quite like the idea of something smallish like the SVT DI that I can take more or less wherever I go, but I also like the idea of a pre-amp that will give me that lovely Ampeg tone and drive. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks in advance... Jamie

Sorry about the topic description...couldn't resist! So Hey... My new toy of Mesa goodness has got transformer to plug into the wall and then the power adapter for the pedal plugs into the transformer. Thing is, it's ridiculously buzzy after a while...not like deafening, but it's there...buuuuuzzzzzzzzing away in the back ground. How easy is it do convert something over to 240v? Or does anyone know of a decent, noiseless transformer solution? Thanks Jamie

[quote name='ahpook' post='687700' date='Dec 17 2009, 08:30 PM']then i suggest you rock it. rock it hard ![/quote] Yes yes...fear not for the rock it hard in all it's rocky goodness has but already commenced!!! Bring on the noise!

[quote name='ahpook' post='687610' date='Dec 17 2009, 06:49 PM']valves don't always glow - when i was swapping round valves in the dha pedal i had a while back, some would light up, some wouldn't. if it sounds ok, i wouldn't worry about it.[/quote] it sounds beasty to me thank you kind sir

Hi everyone, I've just taken receipt of a Mesa Boogie Bottle Rocket pedal from a seller on ebay. Now I'm no genius when it comes to things like this, but am I right in thinking that valves have an orange glow about them when they're in good order, and that when they're gone, the silver top bit seems to be more cloudy? Thing is, the two 12AX7A's that are in there, well, one seems to look fine, the other doesn't. The dodgy looking one hasn't got a glow at all really I've had a good play about with it, but can't seem to hear any problems tonally. Am I doing something wrong? Or is the valve gone d'you reckon? In a darkened room, only one is visibly glowing! Thanks in advance for any help! Jamie

Thanks again fellers... I'd be interested to see what you guys reckon regarding something for all round use though, not just bass specific. To be honest with you, if I go down the bass pre amp route, I know pretty much exactly what I want. But at the moment, I'm exploring something more for warming up anything that I put into my laptop, so guitar, vocals, percussion, bass etc. I guess I haven't really made that clear...sorry.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='686029' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:19 AM']Hi Jamie - I've just done some recording with an Aguilar Tone Hammer, it's a superb piece of kit and I'd recommend one highly.[/quote] Hello mate. How you doing? Thanks for the input...I'll keep it in mind, although I'm ideally after something valve based.