Kiwi

I've had this exact problem and I used superglue to seal and build up the finish again in layers until it stood proud of the surrounding finish. Then I used a nail buffing pad like this one using one end to abrade back the finish and the other to polish the sanding marks off. I was stunned at how good the results were. I could only tell where the superglue finished and the lacquer started by holding it up to reflective light. Most standard and metallic bass finishes are based on automotive paint ranges, so if you can get a test pot of a near match you could probably do a reasonable job. The match doesn't have to be perfect for a small ding but if you have a choice its probably better to err on the side of a lighter shade. The only thing I would add is that if the body wood is porous, you might have to look at sealing it with a touch of something before putting the colour layer down. Then build the transparent finish back up with super glue.

[quote name='dood' post='2320' date='May 19 2007, 05:47 PM']A large percentage of the sound of an electric bass is down to it's electronics & pickups. More so than that of the type of wood used.[/quote] You know what? If you're referring to simply upgrading the pickups, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree there I've played around with sticking pickups in basses enough to understand the kind of difference that swapping pickups can make and the closest analogy I can think of is changing the microphone in front of a singer. However when you factor in the position of the pickups and their design, that can make some difference. For example my Celinder and my Stingray sound very similar to one another when played unamplified because they both have maple necks and ash bodies. However I don't need to mention that there are HUGE differences when you plug them in. However I'd suggest that switching from a bubinga neck to a graphite neck or something like that would have a greater impact on the instrument than changing the pickups. Ultimately its all about how the different elements are combined, but if you've got good wood start with - stuff that is seasoned, stable and stiff then you'll have an instrument that is responsive, reliable and ready to growl. The other thing about making comparisons is that they depend on the viewers previous experience. I couldn't probably tell the difference between an ash and an alder body because I know the wood is sufficiently variable in its character that frequently they're interchangable. However there are some on Talkbass who would probably swear blind they can. My first two basses had plywood bodies and I couldn't wait to get onto a solid wood bodied instrument. I found plywood doesn't really vibrate all that well and it sounded a little dead at certain frequencies (the ones I liked to listen to for slap). So I saved up hard for an instrument which didn't have those problems.

[quote name='JPJ' post='2654' date='May 20 2007, 02:34 AM']Did you try the Alesis 3630? I found this to be the most uncoloured of all compressors I tried, and I'd still have one if I still had a rack to keep it in.[/quote] Hi Kev, no I haven't unfortunately. I do have red/blue compressor settings built into my MPXG2 which sound OK but still don't quite hit the spot. A little too clumsy sounding. Hopefully Dave's going to finish the compressor off soon, I'm really looking forward to trying it.

[quote name='Sugden' post='2629' date='May 20 2007, 01:45 AM']You do have an outstanding collection. But i have to say that pedulla is one of the best basses i have played when i had a quick go at the bash i thought it sounded stunning. Pretty damn good player as well, nice clips.[/quote] Thanks! I just bashed something into the computer, I didn't have a lot of time to faff about. The Pedulla's pretty special, I hope I never have to sell it because it would probably have to go before the Smith fretless, unless I stop using fretted and fretless together live. [quote name='paul, the' post='2619' date='May 20 2007, 01:24 AM']What job do you do? Because I'd quite like to abduct you and parcel crate you to Guatemala while I discretely fill your position.[/quote] Im an urban designer - well, I manage an urban design team who oversee a lot of significant projects in London. And who was it who said 'be careful what you wish for because you might just get it'? My job can be politically complicated at times but it has certain compensations and I manage the salary I get carefully. [quote name='paul, the' post='2619' date='May 20 2007, 01:24 AM']nice basses! Just don't think about bass A that you'd sell for bass B that you'd buy - it'll drive you puddles.[/quote] Well, tbh, I'm kind of happy with the combination I have. The Smith 5's, Celinder and Stingray will cover most of the musical situations I'm likely to encounter. There aren't too many other basses out there I'm lusting after... ...although I do like the Status Stealth basses and Rob's offered to do something a little special for me at some point The AGC basses are also very, very nice sounding.

This is the only custom bass I've ever had made. It ended up being a bit of a mess at the end of the day. If the bloke making it doesn't really know much beyond making a specific product then you end up taking a lot of responsibility on yourself.

well in which case lets secure www.bassmultidimensionalquantumreality.com If only Doctor Who owned a fender jazz, eh?

All the exposed metal bits have to be coated in a rare metal, gold's not rare enough. Its got to be futurinium or something pretentious sounding. Preferably with a trademark signs all over. Something reassuringly elitist. Yeah and then it'll sound like liquid jesus dipped in butter. Only then will I get respect from my fellow bass players and it will definitely help me address my feelings of inadequacy. The fact that it going to cost more than a years worth of therapy doesn't matter, coz I won't have to face my personal problems. Oops. Did I go too far? I never know... :wacko:

Here's my motley lot, although if any of you have accessed my [url="http://www.freewebs.com/crazykiwi_bass/mybasses.htm"]website [/url]there probably won't be anything you haven't seen already. Anyways, to start off with this is my trio of Smith BSR-GN basses. I like them because they're well made, warm, growly and supple to play. I originally bought the fretted 5 string from the Bass Palace (now out of business) in 2003 and they got it in a trade from The Low End in Tennesee as NOS. It was a bit of an epiphanic experience to see this bass when I collected it in Hong Kong - couldn't wait to get it back to the UK and plug it in. Sound wise its very warm, growly and has a crisp but not overly bright top end. I've recorded with this bass and it sounds near perfect going into the desk - very phat and growly. The neck is made from a 5 piece laminate of maple and bubinga with graphite reinforcing and an ebony fingerboard. The body wings are made with maple facings front and back on a mahogany core. The pickups and 3 band 9v preamp are kens own brand as is the hardware apart from the tuners which are Schaller M4's. For a long time after getting the fretted, I'd been looking for a matching fretless. Then last year, after faffing about with Modulus and Pedulla, I spotted a fretless 5 at BassNW and pretty much bought it on impulse. I did worry that the differences in body wood might mean tonal differences too, but they weren't significant enough at performance volumes for me to worry about. So now I have a pair of fretted and fretless basses that I can swap interchangably mid set without needing to faff with the eq on the amp or on the desk. The neck is the same maple and bubinga 5 piece laminate with ebony fingerboard as for the fretted 5 and the body wings are plain black walnut over flamed maple core. Compared to the fretted 5 its got a little bit more upper mid growl. The preamp is 18v on this one with series/parallel switches and mid preset DIP switches inside the cavity, in addition to the 3 band eq. I got the Smith 6 in 2004 after I sold my house in Plymouth. Compared to the 5's, this bass is a little more even sounding across the strings. The high end on this 6 is particularly sweet - it reminds me of a flamenco guitar. Shame I don't have the skills to really put it through its paces, so its more of a toy than anything. The neck is again the maple/bubinga laminate with a black walnut core on the body wings and quilted maple facings. Everything else is the same specification as the fretted 5. Next trio is my collection of "trad" 4 strings In the middle is a Celinder Update 4, bought from Flanker, it was made in 1998 for Thomas Skarbye. I bought this bass in preference to a genuine 70's jazz bass. The Celinder is better made, better designed and sounds just as good if not a bit better thanks to the preamp. Soundwise, its about as close to the sound of Marcus Millers bass as I have ever heard - huge lows, crisp highs and a compressed upper mid range. The neck is made from maple (one piece with graphite reinforcement and maple fingerboard) and a danish ash body, lindy fralin pickups, Aguilar OBP-1 preamp and a Badass bridge. To the left is my 1978 Musicman Stingray. I bought this off Ebay with a mutilated body, and last year managed to score a matchingly mojo'd 77 body off Ebay which matches the neck almost perfectly. I wasn't too impressed with the sound at first because it sounded a little lifeless but after about 6 months it all sort of settled down and sounds as good as I think its possible for a stingray to sound. Its got warmth, bark, growl and attack in spades. To the right is a 1984 or 1979 Musicman Cutlass 1. I'm giving two dates because the body has a 1979 date and serial number whereas the neck has a 1984 date. To add to the mystery, the neck has a factory fitted three bolt neck where most Cutlass basses have 4 bolt necks. In fact, this bass was made for Cliff Williams from AC/DC as an 'artist special'. Tone wise its like a Stingray but with a slightly deeper, harder sound less growl but more oomph. I've got a case for it with Cliff's home address but as yet haven't had any confirmation letter from him Now for the single shots This is my Alembic Series 1. Alembics are idiosyncratic instruments at the best of times but I've always wanted to own one. I did own an Elan 6 for a while which I bought off Ped but it was really heavy and dark sounding so I sold it. The Series basses really are in a class of their own with a very distinctive, full but crisp sound (and growly depending on how much maple is in the construction) plus for extra w*** factor they're stereo . The bass is pretty much a swiss army knife of tone with a huge variety of tones available using the onboard Q filters. Probably what is most unusual is the graphite through body neck which probably makes it 1/50 ever made (maybe even fewer in long scale). The body is chambered and made from a core of mahogany with facings of lightly flamed walnut. This bass also has a bit of history having been owned by a number of well known Canadian session musicians, including Hugh MacMillan from Spirit of the West. This bass is a Jaydee Supernatural Mark King, it was made in 1985 and features mahogany wings, maple/walnut centre section with a glue in walnut and mahogany neck. It's pretty typical of its type but this was my first decent bass which I bought in 1991 after working two dead end jobs and saving enough to afford it. I placed an ad in UK Guitar magazine and the seller was located in Bournemouth. He was a teacher/player and was upgrading to 5 string Warwicks. Its got a very bright sound with a strong mid-emphasis and not as much warmth as my musicman basses. Because I played it exclusively for 12 years, its still the bass I'm probably most comfortable on. As for all of my other basses (apart from the Cutlass maybe) I can get super low action on this bass however the neck does need a twice yearly adjustment as we go from summer to winter and back again. Usually its just a quarter turn on the truss rod. Finally this is possibly the most amazing fretless I've ever owned. I bought it from vmaxblues via ebay and sold him back the bartolini pickups after replacing them with Alembic Activators. This bass has a poly (ie "diamondkote") finished ebony fingerboard and the neck is reinforced with steel bars so I'm able to get a super low action. The change in pickups freed up the mid range considerably and added some much needed crystal clarity which really lets the singing tone shine. With stereo chorus its lush. The bass is all maple which does give it a very bright and punchy character. There's not a lot of fullness to the B string but the Alembic pickups through a neutral sounding amp let lows thunder forth if needed. This mid range mwah is astounding and with my GK amps I can set up a mild feedback effect at performance volumes which makes the bass literally feel like its alive and has a mind of its own.

I say have as many as you're comfortable with. I've got a self imposed limit of 10, simply because I'm too concerned I might start collecting in earnest otherwise! Everytime I see an unusual graphite necked bass (eg. Steinberger, Klein, Rainsong, Strata etc.) from the early 80's on fleabay I can't help but add it to my watch list.

Welcome NAS, whats the status like to use? [quote name='Bassmonster' post='2408' date='May 19 2007, 07:56 PM']lets hope all our stays here are permanent[/quote] They will be if I have anything to do with it. I'm fed up with all this shifting about.

I am a fan of it but have yet to find a compressor I like. Most compressors I've tried have either been too coloured (removing some of the sparkle and low end) or too severe in their impact (sucking volume and adding an unnatural thup at the start of a note because the attack setting is too coarse). The kind of compression I've liked the most has been just from valves. They tame the high end (which is really all I'm after for when I'm slapping) without removing low end punch and (particularly) the mids. The Trace Elliot dual band compressor is the best I've tried so far but I still don't want to use it in my rig because the tone still isn't right. Dave Hall is going to send me his valve compressor prototype to try out soon and I'll pop a review in the reviews section.

Dood's endorsed by a few names. I think you have to approach them and sell yourself. Get a press pack together and send it to the company, put in a CV, CD, stage and studio photos and a covering letter demonstrating that you've been a life long user of their gear. Helps if they already know you too. Lane Baldwin talks about endorsement deals [url="http://www.laneonbass.com/eden.htm"]here[/url] and on his myspace blog [url="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=80056738&blogID=197949021&MyToken=463851ad-ebca-45ea-a50a-b39dbaa27086"]here[/url]. I wouldn't say Eden are uncoloured in my experience though, I had to sell mine because it wasn't letting me hear the upper mids from my Smiths. They are good amps with the right bass however.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='2342' date='May 19 2007, 06:29 PM']- pathological liar[/quote] I don't believe you!!

This is the most amount of gear I owned at one point about 2 years ago until I joined a band that actually gigged instead of just rehearsed. Then I had to face loading and unloading outside venues. (I have a choice of about 5 different amps there and still have two Burman heads, the Bass 400+ was bought from Basszilla and sold to Ped only to be replaced by a Strategy 400 which I use mainly as my hi-fi amp. The Eden WT800 was sold to Chrkelly, the Loud 2x10 cabs went to funky_bass_guy, one of the Burman heads went to Pete.young, I still have the Deep Impact). So this is my current rig. Just as loud but a bit less complicated. This was my rehearsal set up when the band I was in had its own rehearsal studio. I'll end up selling it when I get a few bits sorted out.

and the colour of the LED's too. Blue ones sound the best. BTW: 2 No. Trantec diversity wireless Custom 3 channel stereo mixer/Alembic power supply (being burn tested as I type) Lexicon MPX-G2 (and possibly a stereo valve compressor if I find one clean and subtle enough)

Steady on lads! We had a look at a "karma" system which R,5,R,5 suggested on Bassworld and it turned to be very complicated to implement and potentially subject to mis-use. I haven't seen any module as such which is available for invision boards that could be used as a feedback system in the same way as Ebay. So the solution we've got is very much a band aid type thing. However I'll ask Phatmonkey if there's a better and easier to implement alternative.

Its now there guys, we just forgot to put it in while we were setting up the forum behind the scenes. Pure absent mindedness on my part and nothing else.

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='2009' date='May 19 2007, 07:28 AM']I'd just like to add a big thank you for all the work you guys have put in. If I'm honest I'm a bit fed up with all the moving around and losses involved but you guys are in the driving seat. So, did I say thank you [/quote] We're fed up too, but our choices are very limited. In terms of the bigger picture, its the best way for us to make sure everyone has a forum which isn't shut down in the face of potential legal action. Thanks again Pete and everyone else for coming over.

I have a few others but these are my 4 main basses.

I don't really know in much detail to be honest. I've just found firewire very very reliable and stable, hot plugging is easy and I can daisy chain devices (I have three external firewire drives) with no problems. The firewire devices are detected easily by the PC also. I don't think there's an issue of quality - if the device is working properly then the information is getting through. There's bound to be someone on here who knows more about it than me. Yes I have Flankers old Celinder. Its a great bass, and with the two Smith 5's and the Stingray I've got a quad of stunning basses that will cover nearly any playing situation I'm likely to encounter. Chris Celinder says he'd like it back if I ever choose to sell.

The important thing is that the reviews are there. Its great the number of contributions we've got already! It could be great if we had sound clips too!

[url="http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm"]http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm[/url] [url="http://www.cwol.com/firewire/firewire-vs-usb.htm"]http://www.cwol.com/firewire/firewire-vs-usb.htm[/url] Here y'go matey

345 members and counting... ...this is better than we could have ever hoped for. You guys are the greatest!

[quote name='acidbass' post='1656' date='May 18 2007, 05:55 PM']There's really no Substitute for a genuine Hofner[/quote] LOL!!

Looks like we'll end up setting a BWAG's forum up at this rate!