lowregisterhead

[url="http://s1141.photobucket.com/user/lowwregisterhead/media/c6268724-d33c-4b17-8808-2c6f456e5def_zps5873594c.jpg.html"][/url] Great basses, but like any instrument, they can be a little variable. I've had a few over the years, and one or two have not been outstanding, but most have been very good. I'm with Pete regarding the preEB's - they have a juiciness the new ones lack. The Classics come close, IMHO, but a good early Stingray has something special about it. The one I sold that I regret to this day is pictured above - a heavily modded preEB that I let go for stupid money because I couldn't pay the rent one month back in the 80's. If anyone sees it, let me know!

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1384007899' post='2271849'] Where's the fun in that? [/quote] The 'fun' as you put it, is in NOT being struck round the back of the head with a large frying pan by She Who Must Be Obeyed...

Marvellous. Thank you KiOgon! Now to get soldering without burning the kitchen worktop...

Thanks for that folks - I may well have a go at swapping one around to see what effect it has. And it's nothing like the way a jazz 'spreads out' when you bring in both pickups Woodinblack - I know what you mean, but this just sounds wrong! :-) Has anyone got a wiring diagram they could post for a standard two-volume-one-tone passive setup?

I just bought a second hand bass, with twin soapbar pickups, and two individual volume controls and one tone. When I turn up each pickup individually, they sound fine, and the tone works as you would expect. When I turn up both volumes together, the overall volume drops dramatically and the sound becomes very hollow, and not at all what I would expect from a twin pickup instrument. I don't know much about circuitry, but I suspect the pickups have been wired incorrectly so they are out of phase when combined. Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance to the many knowledgable members of this forum! Dave

Uh-huh-huh! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Elvis-5-String-Bass-Guitar-/121138375614

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1380552785' post='2226960'] Back in the late '60's, before there was such a thing as an after-market pickup, the first experiments were those who sold ceramic magnet bars to replace the alnico magnet bars in Gibson humbuckers. This was easy, as all a person had to do was unsolder the cover, loosen the bottom plate screws, and switch out the magnets. Well, the ceramic magnets, not having any electrical conduction properties, had the effect of lowering the inductance of the pickup. This made the pickup brighter, but could also cause magnetic coil saturation and harshness. Later, companies like Larry DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan (who was working in Fender's London shop, learning how to fix pickups and other aspects of guitar repair) took those same magnets, but wound the coils differently, whether with more of the same wire, or a different wire, or even developing different magnets, and started the after-market pickup market. (Mighty-Mite was there, also, but went into necks instead). Others, like Dan and Kent Armstrong, first started as a repair shop, then expanded: Dan with the plexiglas guitars, and later Kent with the pickups. And so it goes with the rest of the famous after-market pickup names. Alnico II: darker, smoother tone. Alnico III: good presence. Alnico V: top end and clarity; Alnico VIII: Ballsy, can be difficult to control, depending on the windings; Ceramic: no conductive interaction, so the same gauss will lower the inductance, increase brightness and clarity, but taken over the edge with gauss or the wrong coil can sound harsh. [/quote] Fascinating stuff! When it comes to Stingrays specifically, I've personally always preferred the sound of pickups with alnico magnets to ceramics, but there are so many variables, I find it all a bit bewildering. Best of luck to the OP with the changeover, and I look forward to hearing about the results.

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1379267921' post='2210629'] - And has anyone noticed the guy who works at Queen St station in Glasgow all the time and is the spit for a young Pino? So even when I'm not playing bass, I can still get reminded how s**t I am. [/quote] I hate it when that happens. I pulled into a petrol station behind Bruce Dickinson a few months ago and was reminded that I'm not a wealthy rock singer/world class fencer/airline pilot/author. Just one of those would be enough for most people, surely. He's just showing off.

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1378994016' post='2207476'] Yes, just spoken to Barry at House Music and they're expecting a shipment of 6 Radius (Radii?) later this month. No pricing yet, they're still doing the figures.. [/quote] Thanks for that - I shall keep an eye out!

Just sold Ziggy some strings. Great communication, very fast payment, a pleasure to deal with. Thanks!

[quote name='TomRichards' timestamp='1378910057' post='2206380'] Try contacting Mark Stickley at Bass Direct. I am not sure if he has any, but he can probably get access as the sales team at NS Design still has some ties to Spector. (Interesting story for another time.) These basses are a perfect blend between NS Design headless innovations and the Kubicki style string in the headstock. They look great, and play well. They are especially well suited to fingerstyle players as the piezo system in these is superior. [/quote] Thanks for that - I'lll give him a call.

If (a big 'if', admittedly) the US list prices are anything to go by, it should be around £1700 over here, maybe less as it's made in the Czech Republic. House Music are listed as a distributer, but I've had no response from them so far. Are they still in business?

Anyone seen on in the UK yet, or tried one out? Looks interesting...

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1378758209' post='2204422'] Pino has always been my favourite player. And, unfashionable as it may be, it's his fretless playing that I love. Now, his playing alone (on Call Me, Shoot Down The Moon, NY Minute, Playhouse, Wish It Would Rain Down, Do You Remember etc etc) makes my jaw go slack. But what makes my jaw actually hang open is when I consider that, without formal theory training and whatnot, he had the maturity, at the tender age of 26, after playing bass for only 9 years, to engineer classical Stravinsky ideas into a pop song - Wherever I lay My Hat. It takes a particular type of artistic mind to do that. Whoever reckoned there are thousands like Pino Palladino - I think not. CB [/quote] Seconded.

Yorkshire blancmange? Is it strawberry or chocolate??