bertbass

The type of pick and the material it's made of make an unbelievable difference to the sound.  My preferred pick is a Jim Dunlop, nylon, 1 mm, the black ones.  These give the sound I'm after, other makes / materials sound different and not to my liking.  Try different picks before altering the tone.

56 feet apart or more and you get no combing.

Don't forget that in the 60s everything was new and exciting including the basses and it was also virtually impossible to get Fender basses in the UK.  Other manufacturers set the standards.  60 odd years later and Fender designs seem to rule and most others have gone by the wayside although they keep making comebacks.  You can't keep a good bass down.

Try to buy a bridge and pickups that are not 19mm spacing and not only are they hard to find but also expensive, but they are out there, Retrovibe for one.

3 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

but my best guess is that 19mm string spacing at bridge would still be most common. 

My point was that it is now but wasn't in the 60s.  If you consider the short scale basses that were made in the 60s, most of them did not have 19mm string spacing.  British companies like Burns, Watkins / Wem, Vox. European companies, Hofner, Hagstrom, Eko.  US companies Danelectro, Gibson, Epiphone to name but a few, all made short scale basses to scale.  Now that short scale is popular again, no attempt has been made to scale the basses down, They've only shortened the neck length and used a standard bridge and pickup(s) because that's easier than redesigning them and they are plentiful.

Another option is to buy a straight edge like a metre rule and file notches in the relevant fret positions.

👍

everything you could possibly want.

https://www.crimsonguitars.com/collections/fretting/products/essential-fret-levelling-and-dressing-toolkit

Looking good.

Having started playing in the 60s, all the basses that I could afford, apart from one, were short scale and scaled down from 34" scale.  It was only in 1972, when I bought my first precision, that I experienced the wider Fender string spacing.  The only long scale bass I owned before that was an Egmond and that had a narrower spacing too.  I think I was expecting the same with 21st century short scale basses.

As an aside, the going rate for a second hand bass in the 60s was about a fiver!

I believe that TC have been bought by the Behringer group.

13 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

A question about short-scales, specifically the Harley Benton p-bass version. Are the pickups full-size, or are they scaled down as well?

Asking for a friend, who definitely didn't just order one, despite having not the slightest need for it... 

I bought one, a great bass, very well made and finished, however, I am disappointed with it.  The neck, for me, is too thick front to back.  I've thinned it down and it's a lot better, but this is only personal preference.  The hardware is good, especially for the price but what I'm really disappointed with, is that while the neck is shorter, as you'd expect with a short scale, the width and string spacing are the same as on a 34" scale, the hardware is also normal precision size.  The body is smaller which means the bottom cutaway is too small for my not especially large hands to get to the top few frets, yes I do play the dusty end occasionally. 

I wanted a short scale bass to be smaller all round. Narrower string spacing, narrower bridge and pickups, I'd be happy if the pickups were slanted to make the pole pieces fit under the strings.  If you're happy with the, to me, down sides, it's a great bass for not a lot of money.

1 hour ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

During my life I've certainly eaten for more than 10,000 hours but still regularly manage to spill food down my shirt. 
 

Clearly the theory is flawed

I thought I was the only one.

I'M LIKING THIS.

That might even put Amazon to shame.

Interesting, but I much prefer the sound of EL34s.

Anything Danelectro is lighter than a light thing that's very light and they sound and play great!

On 24/06/2022 at 08:59, BassBunny said:

+1 for Ampband. You get free web hosting as well with them.

And me.

Mrs Bert and I saw The Hollies in Brighton a couple of weeks ago, yes they're still touring and I have to say that the mix was pretty poor and got worse as the show went on but in the opposite way.  By the end the bass and drums were virtually inaudible as well as the backing vocals while the guitars seemed to get more predominant and trebly.  If you know the hollies at all, then you'll know that the Hollies' sound is predominantly vocal harmonies and when they're missing it's pretty noticeable, especially on He Ain't Heavy.

I once bought an empty speaker cabinet, 2 x 15, and it arrived with just the address label stuck to the cab.

Something like these are perfect for the job. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094YMMPXX?pd_rd_i=B094YMMPXX&pf_rd_p=20ea8c47-afc4-4e29-bb67-5046c8898146&pf_rd_r=Z2DSSW5P706C08XMVZ6E&pd_rd_wg=p8frP&pd_rd_w=nOMoH&pd_rd_r=8b4d1e97-d2c0-4d88-a391-3b95778d906f

and a nail file.

I would suspect that if the slot was not offset, then the amount of material between the screw hole and the string slot would not be enough to stop the saddle from breaking in two.

On 28/05/2022 at 01:13, stereoplayer said:

How about through  Amazon?

I don't know.  Once I found out how good Tuff Cab is I stopped looking.

I used these with Tuff Cab.  Great finish  and very hardwearing.  Duratex seems to only be available in the US.

https://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=TUFFROLL01C

This is what you want, comes in many colours too.

https://www.djsupplies.co.uk/products/tuffcabblackspeakerpaint5kg

We did it and it worked.