Kiwi

judging from what I saw, he was just sleazy.

I'm a bit late with my post but WTF. We had issue with our keyboardist losing focus half way through the songs. Sometimes he'd be enjoying them so much, he'd forget to play. Othertimes he'd just busk and come in on cues late and it wasn't ever really a bring it up in band issue but it was irking to say the least. Then we recorded ourselves at a gig so we could mime over it for a demo vid. When we did the vid, it became glaringly obvious that the keyboardist had missed cues, played wrong notes, screwed up his solo and generally was playing sloppily. We did about 5 takes for that video and each time we did a take, he had to put up with hearing his mistakes over and over again. He and the guitarist still coast at gigs, but he's at least aware of the issue and I can turn around to him when he stops playing because he's too absorbed in the song, and give him The Eye. The coasting bit we're still dealing with. Sometimes both the keys and guitarist will stop playing (the guitarist suddenly finds he needs to retune a squier strat that he actually tuned 2 songs ago with his electronic tuner) so its just the drums, the singers, the bass and percussion... ...so plus one to the idea of recording a session and listening to it as a band.

[quote name='Thunderhead' post='306017' date='Oct 14 2008, 09:25 AM']Well, the two I've worked on both had blown and replaced main rectifier diodes (before I worked on them), bridged/repaired circuit traces where the originals had burned out, issues with the pots cracking their joints because the whole thing is badly designed with the entire preamp circuit board suspended from the (very low quality) pots and the jacks, plus nylon standoffs further back which make the whole thing flex as the transformers bounce up and down on the slightly too flimsy chassis, and stresses the front panel joints with every single movement. PCB-mounting pots is not inherently bad, but it must be done such that they are isolated from other forces - ie mounted on a board which is small, light and NOT connected to anything else. Likewise nylon standoffs are a GOOD thing when done properly because they allow movement and reduce shock on the board, but NOT in conjunction with other PCB-to-chassis parts - this is an absolute requirement in proper electronics design for mil-spec applications etc. The design and build quality is almost exactly like the very cheap guitar amps and low-end bass amps they made at the same time, not what should be inside a thousand-pound-plus professional bass head. It's good to hear you've had no trouble with yours (yet), but on the strength of only two that I've seen, BOTH with problems, I am in no hurry to own one. It's sad to have to say that because they're one of the best-sounding amps I've played through.[/quote] Its too bad you don't have a record of the serials, it might actually underline the point I made about early models. I'm sure the other two owners on this forum will chip in with their experiences too. I'll open up mine some time this week and cross check your comments against what I uncover. It might be interesting to see if there are any signs of movement in the PCB mountings or cracking solder joints so thanks for the heads up. I've already had problems with similar poor component layout in a non-trace sub woofer I used to own.

[quote name='birdy' post='306033' date='Oct 14 2008, 09:59 AM']I thought this myself for a while but was that when you were playing solo? For some reason they seem to sound not so good solo but awesome in a band situation, I think it may be this crispness that does that. The other thing of course is that the VTC (vintage tone control) goes a long way too taming the sound somewhat.[/quote] Fair enough, I've yet to try a Sad in a band situation.

I like the look of these two But all the Sad's I've ever tried have sounded a little too crisp compared to my other instruments.

hiya basskid welcome Some of us are already familiar with your uncles Vertical Jump bass. What are the chances of him putting together a little something for you, do you think?

FWIW Bass Direct do a similar USB to 1/4" jack cable

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='305445' date='Oct 13 2008, 01:14 PM']My Dad goes away on business within Europe at least once every 2 weeks (he works for a company operating within the European Space Agency) and he brings back the free toiletries from the hotels he's stayed in and puts them in a bag, then every couple of months he takes a full bag down to a homeless shelter. They’re always very grateful. Maybe do that instead of binning them if no one wants them?[/quote] Great idea! Now I just have to find a shelter nearby... ...bloody hell, there's one on my road! Job done.

[quote name='Thunderhead' post='304919' date='Oct 12 2008, 05:49 PM']most of the guitar amps), some of which sounded good but none of which were really reliable, and unfortunately that even applies to the last valve bass amps - including the mighty V8, sadly.[/quote] There were a few problems reported with the early ones namely blown fuse holders and the valve biasing tolerances needed revising but these are very minor niggles. Everyone I know who owns one has been perfectly happy with theirs. Mine was one of the last, has been totally trouble free and I've regularly gigged with it.

hahaha! Well I didn't want to kick up a stink about it but...

no takers? They'll be binned tomorrow...

Well the Oct 19th committment has been brought forward to Wednesday so there's a chance...

make sure you are routing for the Delano pickup and not just a standard MM shape. I've discovered at least one brand of generic but commonly supplied MM pickup case won't actually retro-fit a stingray because the corners are too sharp on the newer pickup casing.

damn, I would be up for this if I didn't already have two other committments that weekend.

Other books to give away: The Semarillion - A R R R Roberts (a piss take of the Simarillion by Tolkein) Linux Pocket Guide - was a supplement in a Linux magazine The Greedy Bastard Diary - Eric Idle (a log of a US tour) Selected Jokes from Past Chinese Dynasties (Vol 2-4) an anthology of Chinese poetry (translated into English as well as original Chinese) Dodgy Daves Little Black Book (East End humourous insight into gangsters by some bloke called Dave Courtney) Fantastic Stories - Terry Jones (a collection of short kids stories a little like nursery rhymes) Bass Desires - DJ Lufkin (I was given this to review, its a short novella about a bass player in a band) The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown I'm in the middle of preparing a list of other books for sale, spanning science fiction, cooking, gardens, English culture and travel. PM me if interested and I'll email it to you when I've completed the listing. Prices are mostly around the 3 quid mark, but there are a few hardbacks that are higher. None of them are anywhere near what I paid for them retail and all of them are in pretty good condition so grab yourself a bargain!

hehe, Double Eagle by James Twining is left. It's a bit like a cross between Andy McNab and Dan Brown I guess...

okdoke, Harry Enfield, Croc Hunter, HHTTG 1 and heroine diaries are accounted for...I'll PM you all with postage costs on Monday.

The Double Eagle - James Twining Digital Fortress - Dan Brown Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy 1 - Douglas Adams Crocodile Hunter - Steve and Terry Irwin Harry Enfield and His Humourous Chums - Harry Enfield Heroine Diaries - Nikki Sixx I'll chuck in a Bass Day 98 DVD for anyone who takes the lot. I also have some extreme science fiction novels (Greg Bear, Stephen Baxter etc) but they're too good to give away. If anyone's interested, drop me a PM and I'll send you a list and prices. Its unlikely anything will be over a few quid.

Haven't seen the vids mate, but I'll add the kit to the list. Are you interested in novels? I might have a few pulpy ones to get rid of too, Dan Brown, that sort of thing.