Kiwi

I posted about this on Bassworld but that info doesn't seem available any longer on Google. Agathis is the pseudo-latin name for Fijian kauri ([i]Agathis macro-phylla[/i]) which is often grown in large commercial plantations not only in Fiji but also around the Pacific in developing nations (such as Indonesia). Technically its a conifer although nothing like a pine or redwood. Its better known (and rarer) cousin is the NZ Kauri [i](Agathis australis) [/i]which grows about 40-60m tall in the north of the North Island. Fijian kauri is cheap to buy and easy to work but it lacks as solid a fundamental compared to denser tonewoods. Ultimately whether its bad or not is a question of taste but you may find the sound less satisfying than other woods depending on the kind of music you play and what your expectations are.

I'd say keep it the way it is. I've fitted a set of alembic activator pickups to my Pentabuzz which freed up a whole load of midrange growl. A set of EMG's might have a similar effect. If you fancy a set of alembics, I do have a spare set going but they're not cheap.

Hey Paul welcome aboard

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='51216' date='Aug 27 2007, 10:36 AM']Are you musical though and do you have a suit? Could be a dealbreaker...[/quote] What?! Is my green lycra suit and fetching antenna not enough?! I demand juthtith! Realistically though I have many suits, I have to wear them to work if I want engineers to take me seriously. They have a hard time believing me when I wear the green lycra costume for some reason, in fact some of them run off and hide under the nearest pile of Risk Assessments. As for being musical - you hum it Son, I'll play it.

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='51185' date='Aug 27 2007, 09:31 AM']By the looks of their [url="http://www.luckysoul.co.uk/main.html"]website[/url], they're trying to do the 60s retro thing, so I guess 5-string's a bit too modern. You'd probably look like Buck Rogers wielding your Ken Smith 6-string ironing-board Kiwi. [/quote] Buck Rogers? Duck Dodgers might be more appropriate for me. [i]"Good evening everyone in Theven Thithterth! I inthitht that you enjoy yourthelveth!!"[/i] Actually, could I take two strings off the Smith and it would qualify... ...or I could just use my 4 string J bass like normal folks...

Why on earth would you specify "4 strings only"? If they're right for the band they're right, regardless of how many strings they play. You've just discriminated against 5 string p-bass players who might otherwise be perfect for the job. BTW everyone on this forum in London looks good in a suit. You'll have to be more specific.

If you check out this post you might find there are a few of us who are lefties that play righty. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2918"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2918[/url] Heck, two of them run this forum Welcome aboard

[quote name='Hit&Run' post='50606' date='Aug 25 2007, 04:53 PM']Here's his latest words to me: " yOU HAVE A GOOD POINT!!! MY MUSICIAN FRIEND SAID IT WAS GRAPHITE, SO ILE TALK TO HIM SOON AS I CAN FIND HIM. CHHERS FOR INFO." He concedes at last! "There is something funny about the neck: Have a look at the photo of the back of the headstock. see the join just above the first tuner?"; says merchant. It looks like there's a definite join there, but I'd have thought it would be easier to put graphite rods in from the heel end. I think it's just a cheapo construction method. That join could proove a weakspot. Quite a few basses feature graphite rods in the neck, but I don't reckon Gould would have gotten into that way of making necks.[/quote] For a bass at that price level, I would be very surprised if there was any graphite reinforcement in the neck. Most likely that the join is simply happened because they're using lumber that is too short for the full neck length. There are some basses where the headstock is deliberately glued on as a separate piece (such as Smith) to remove potential weakspots (anyone who has seen a Thunderbird with a snapped headstock will know them). I would leave this bass well alone unless you're looking for something you can trash with a guilt free conscience. The timber used is likely to be any old job lot they could get in on the cheap. I wonder if [url="http://www.ggould.com/home.html"]Geoff Gould[/url] (founder: Modulus) knows these guys are using Gould as a brand name?

we use a place called Resident - its tucked down the back of some residential streets but the place is quite reasonable in condition and rates. We block book and so get a discount on the rates.

[quote name='chris_b' post='50589' date='Aug 25 2007, 04:05 PM']On the other hand...... I know a very good keyboard player, currently living in the Medway, Kent area, if that is of interest?[/quote] Thanks mate, since posting we managed to snag 'Jim'. But if your guy is comfortable with rehearsals in Willesden Green part of London, if would be worth having his details anyway.

Heh, if she'd walked off the promoter would have had a problem too.

[quote name='The Funk' post='50163' date='Aug 24 2007, 02:21 PM']That's the probably the safest and simplest way. I'm sure noone in the audience would take pictures if people realised it was because of her epilepsy and not because she doesn't want people to have photos of the gig.[/quote] If you read some of the posts on that myspace profile, it looks like she threw water at people and verbally abused them as well. Any other artist might have walked off stage and refused to come back on. Alternatively, the promoter could hired blokes with torches to shine them on 'flashers' in the audience so the bouncers could move in on the floor with a one-time warning (which is what happened at the Prince after show party).

[quote name='Lulu' post='50029' date='Aug 24 2007, 11:30 AM']Hey, that could be interesting to set up some kind of a small bassday with guys from the UK and French forums. You guys come here and we go there.... London/Paris Bass Days.[/quote] I mentioned this to Ped, in passing, the other day, myself. Might be a bit of a laugh!

[quote name='3V17C' post='50217' date='Aug 24 2007, 04:03 PM']Guilty as charged your honour![/quote] Me also... ...but you all knew that anyway. Can't make any excuses for it either. I'm just not a one bass person while I'm playing covers. At my rate, I'm racking up enough gear for an entire teen band except for the Roland TD drum kit... ...give it time though, I am a former drummer. I do play all the stuff I have, just not very well

There's a whole load of review links here as well: [url="http://prince.org/msg/12/240532/Catching-up-with-Prince-collected-O2-concert-reviews"]http://prince.org/msg/12/240532/Catching-u...concert-reviews[/url]

It seems like a hell of a health risk for her to take though, doesn't it? Only thing I can think of to sort the situation out is for Prince-style confiscations of all flash capable cameras at the door.

Oh well thats lot of number ones and number twos isn't it? Jon mentioned to me that he'd been looking at getting a local military machining workshop to make his hardware in the future - I wonder if these events will give him extra impetus to look into that? I hope it doesn't hold my bass up too although its still very early days yet. I reckon I probably won't get mine much before Christmas anyway.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='49770' date='Aug 23 2007, 07:51 PM']Well, she had an epileptic fit brought on by flash photography...[/quote] it seems there was more as well, judging by some of those posted reactions

[url="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=95747580&blogID=262875460"]http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...logID=262875460[/url] Her manager says: [i]"These dates were misrepresented to her fans and ticket buyers by the promoter of these 3 shows (DC, Charlotte & Atlanta). Meshell had warmly agreed to participate in a double-billed show with her and W. Ellington Felton - Meshell going on first and introducing some NEW music, then introducing W. Ellington Felton, playing a tune or so together and then letting him play for the crowd. She - as those who love and appreciate her artistry know - is not ever likely to play a date filled with past music. She may inject a few 'old' songs into the set (as the mood takes her) but is not the type of artist that likes to dwell in the past. It was not until we arrived at the venue in DC that we learned that the promoter had thoroughly disrespected our wishes about the setup and promotion of the show and had also not thought it appropriate to inform us before we arrived. At the end of the day most have no idea that this is the case and it only reflects negatively on her - no matter that the promoter is ultimately responsible. I am so proud of her for going on with the DC show - despite a terrible cough and a general feeling of malaise about the whole thing. We were met with the same scenario in Charlotte and Atlanta - in Atlanta people chose to disregard the requests of no flash photography and pummeled her from the front row until she passed out and fell over - and she STILL came back and performed an electrifying set - against my better judgment. I have read some of the comments (and have been sent many) but feel the fans should know that - even with all the misrepresentation by the responsible party Meshell IS aware and respectful of her fans and the folks who bought tickets to see her - however misguided they were. Was she angry? Yes indeed. The beauty of a Meshell as an artist is she is ever-creative and moving forward with her creativity. The beauty of her shows is that we - the audience - get to participate in that process. Any true music lover knows that in a live performance setting the energy between artist and audience work together to create something unique and truly worth being there for. For no one more than Meshell this is true. If the audience are coming to her shows to hear their favorite CD cuts they should think twice about their own expectations. Expectations can only cause suffering. The promoter was missing in action of course and - for that - he has to live with himself. Shame on him. --Meshell's manager"[/i] Anyone find the sense of indignation a bit odourous? Her OFFICIAL Myspace page owner says: [i]"Yeah, there were a couple of folks taking photos, but this seems to happen at every concert of her's. This will continue since she is always gaining new admirers, and no matter how many times I personally tell people that using flash photography while taking a photo of Meshell can kill her, people will continue to do so unless they are warned THAT NIGHT by Meshell personally before the first note of music is played. I feel it's unfair to blame the fans who might not have seen the "No Flash Photography" signs in the dark venue. It's also unfair to blame them if they don't read their tickets. Folks don't know WHY they are being asked not to use flash photography. They need to be told at the beginning of every show. And the only person they'll listen to is Meshell. But hey, that's just my opinion. Yeah, it hurt reading what I read about the Atlanta show. Reading and approving of every heartbreaking comment posted by her admirers. Especially those that were at their first Meshell concert, saying it would also be their last. It hurt me knowing that they're going to miss out on what so many of us have experienced seeing Meshell live. To those of you, if you're still reading, this week has been an aberration. I know that Meshell loves and respects her fans, but from what I've been told by many who were at the Atlanta show, well... let's just say I'm thankful nothing from this past week has been memorialized on Youtube. To me, the water bottle incident, the cursing out folks -- it's just not the Meshell most of us have experienced in a live setting."[/i]

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='49669' date='Aug 23 2007, 05:00 PM']Hey guys. My main bass is a MIJ '75 Jazz reissue. I like it an awful lot, but it's pretty noisy around any kind of electronics (up to and including my amp and POD!). I need to keep my fingers on a string or the bridge almost constantly. It becomes noticeably worse if I turn the volume down on one of the pickups (I like to rolll a little off the neck to give it a bit more 'bite'. Is this just a shielding issue? Is it a pickup issue? Can I take it into a shop and get it properly shielded by an hexpert and make this noise go away? Does anyone have a reccomendation of somewhere in Lnodnon to get this done? Be careful about tempting me with new pickups. All this talk of Wizard here is giving me GAS! Cheers![/quote] Did you look here first? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=194"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=194[/url] This is why we have pinned topics! Shielding a bass is relatively straight forward once you have some adhesive copper foil or tape. I've done it myself and its a cinch to get a neat looking job if you have a sharp blade to trim the overlap off. See if your local maplins or electronics supply store has some perhaps? Or maybe check out [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guitar-Shielding-Tape-High-Spec-Adhesive-Copper-Foil_W0QQitemZ250154745707QQihZ015QQcategoryZ42455QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]ebay[/url]? Your hum issue may be as much a product of your surroundings as it is of your bass. Shielding the control cavity may only address one area where hum can be picked up by your bass, the wires leading to the pickups too and pickups can also act as receptors. In fact, single coil pickups are fairly notorious for picking up hum when only one is being used at a time. It might be worth looking at alternative "stacked" jazz pickups if you really like your bass or saving to upgrade to a bass with humbuckers perhaps? If you decide to get a tech to look at it, there is another pinned topic in this Repairs forum with a set of recommendations. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=253"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=253[/url]