gary mac

On 14/10/2018 at 22:31, Mudpup said:

We had a blinding weekend.......

Friday night - a new venue to us in Hounslow. Rock venue with an established crowd and no worries re hazers/smoke alarms so we could use all the lights and lasers to best effect and make a good show of it in front of a healthy amount of punters. We've been on a good run of fSaturday night - a regular gig in a Hertford pub. The people that run it are lovely and they have a resident crowd that just start dancing from the first note. We've got to know quite a few of them over the last 2 years and its become like playing to all your mates. Again we played well and the sound was great - big and ballsy but not too loud for them. And again loads of nice comments afterwards - one bloke even insisted on helping cart the gear out afterwards (we've got a ton of stuff so thats a massive bonus). Oh and theres a brill kebab shop 50 yards away thats open late.....

That'll be Dancing Man SteveDoesn't stop dancing until the very last note.

Problem is if you want that authentic looking sixties tort, nothing else really comes close. Which is why, a couple of years back, when I need a pre CBS tort guard for a 63 P, I spent out the dosh on the genuine article. It took some finding, plenty of searches and e-mailing but was worth the effort and the wait.

It didn't come cheap and mrs mac thought I had lost the plot, "Spending all that money on a bit of plastic from the sixties, that looks like it needs a damn good clean". Ultimately though, the bass was complete once again

We hopefully get to weed out any scammers and get them sent off in to oblivion, so that you don't have to worry about dealing with them 

It's quite a common problem on Fender reissue 62's. THere is a mod that can be carried out, although I have found that it doesn't completely eliminate the problem. Also a little clear nail varnish on the pole pieces can help.

This has some very enjoyable bass playing on it.

I may have missed it but don't think anyone has yet mentioned Andy Fraser's work with Free. Well up in the mix and extremely tasteful playing.

8 minutes ago, Marcoelwray said:

@gary mac Great!!! Thanks!

No worries, just wish the sound quality of my recording had been better.

I wasn't sure whether to put this video clip up or not. I recorded it yesterday, shortly before Tim collected it. It was a one take thing and only later in the day, that I replayed it and discovered that the recorded sound level is a little distorted.

Anyway, I played the same riff and used the various pickup switchings to hopefully demonstrate the sounds on offer. 

That looks rather excellent Andy, great job.

Thought I would add a few pics.

It should be possible to sand the bottom surface of the saddle. You need to be careful to keep it square and level whilst carry out the sanding though. I recall seeing a device recently for this very job but for a one off job probably not very cost effective.

The way I do it:

First off, ensure that the nut is set up correctly and the neck relief is as it should be.

Next, take note of which way the saddle sits in the bridge.

Place a sheet of coarse sand paper on to my work bench.

Calculate how much material I need to remove from the saddle (Removing 1 mm of saddle will reduce string height at 12th fret by approx half of that amount)

Use a pencil to mark the area to be removed.

Hold the saddle against a small block of hardwood to act as a support and aid in keeping the saddle square and level. 

Proceed to sand off the material, until the pencil shaded area just about disappears.

Put it back in the bass, restring and enjoy a lower action

The bass has left my gaff and is now in the hands of @timhiggins for at least a couple of hours, until he delivers to @Grangur who is taking it on to the west country

Great to meet Bass Chatter Tim today, a very fine chap. 

@Grangur Tim has made contact about collecting the bass from me this week, so if you're planning on taking it to @BreadBin let me know a bit sharpish.   

Agree with what Jack has said really. Can't imagine that the heat within the cupboard is going to cause a problem in its self. If it were me, then I think on gigging nights during the colder months, I would be taking the kit out of the cupboard and an hour or two prior to loading in to a cold car.

It's the extremes in temperature and humidity that can cause problems.

@timhiggins Drop me a pm Tim and we can make the necessary arrangements. 

31 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

For me, a lot of it is being 'triggered' by the kick drum and playing a line that i sympathetic to the overall drum pattern. Over time you get to be able to read the drummer and you play the songs almost as a duet.

Yes and when it happens, it's such a pleasing thing.

I took delivery of the bass on Friday evening when @Grangur kindly delivered it to me at a gig. I didn't play it there and then, as I thought it preferable to familiarise myself with the controls and switching possibilities at home.

Others before me have already described the timber, hardware and components used, so there's no need for me to do the same. What I will say, is that the quality of workmanship, timber and hardware is all very good. It is not without faults however, but again this has been detailed by Rich @Grangur

What I will say from the off, is that this style of instrument, although very attractive, is not one that I would go for, that's not a criticism of the build but just my preference. I suppose it's about my more conservative taste in basses, to me a more standard  P or J bass just looks and feels right in a function/pub covers band, which is the type of gigging that I'm involved in. Having said that I took it along to last night's gig, with a view to just playing a couple of numbers, only to find myself really enjoying playing, what is for me a very different style of instrument and keeping it strapped on for the entire first set. 

Importantly for me, it was very shoulder friendly and balanced very nicely on my strap. Initially I felt a bit disconcerted by the thickness of the neck up in the first position. Actually I don't think I've encountered a bass with such a thick neck profile but once I forgot about that and just got on with playing, it wasn't a problem, nor was the radius which is flatter than my usual preference.

Sound wise it was impressive, although I have to confess that I didn't really experiment much with the settings, there wasn't time, we didn't even get a sound check. To me, that makes it all the more impressive really. For the record, I think I had both pick ups on and with the middle switch in the down position (can't recall what that actually does), volume control up full and the tone rolled slightly off. The only adjustment that I made was with the tone control, this is something I always do on my P basses, to suit certain tunes. Anyway, it was punchy, articulate and had a pleasing growl going on. It could certainly be heard, loud and clear over an enthusiastic drummer and two guitars.

Although I was happy with the sound, I have to say that I'm not convinced by the controls and think that the switching options are somewhat confusing. Having said that though, as mentioned earlier, I normally play basses with just two knobs, so it could well be down to my short comings in understanding the relationship between the pickups and the various options available. My preference would be for a simpler form of rotary blend/volume control for the pick ups, along with a tone control for each.

Have to admire Marco for his building skills and then sending his creation out to be critiqued by us lot.

This bass, with a few tweaks, a little attention to the frets and nut could be a real winner. I've enjoyed my couple of days with it and thank Marco for the opportunity to try something a little different.  

Very nice, a proper rock bass

That's great, thanks 

1 hour ago, Marcoelwray said:

Thanks for the picture! Tip top.

@gary mac thanks, let it be played!

I don't really mind one or two ding or dong, I prefer to gather more opinions

Well hopefully it won't be picking up any dings whilst it's in my care. 

I'll try to get some video footage of it in action tonight.

Marco. Although there was an explanation of the controls somewhere in this thread, can you enlighten me further as to exactly what is what? 

4 hours ago, Grangur said:

Handed on to @Gary mac

 

Thanks for bringing it over @Grangur and staying to listen to the band. I'll take it along to tonight's gig and give it a blast

4 hours ago, Grangur said:

Another thought is, I can have it back from you after you're finished, as I sometimes travel near Staines. So maybe I can drop it in to @TrevorR... besides, I've never played a Wal.

No, no that would be far to presumptuous.

That would be good and you'll be in for a treat playing one of Trev's Wals.

Happy to wait Rich, no rush at all.

I'll be happy to do some set up work to it, unless of course, Marco would prefer that it stays as is.

52 minutes ago, Grangur said:

Hey Gary, good one. I only got it recently, but I'll get it over to you soon. 

Cheers Rich. Talk soon then.