BigRedX

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1425419563' post='2707245'] I tried b-e-a-d on my steinberger , which is sturdy enough to take the pressure IMHO . [/quote] I don't know what you mean by this. Unless you are changing from a very low tension EADG set to a much high tension one for BEAD, then the B string is always lower tension than the G string it is replacing.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1425411526' post='2707091'] Er, yes I know... I thought it was fairly clear in my post that I was not being entirely serious. [/quote] I wasn't entirely sure if that smiley was just for the last paragraph or the whole post...

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1425403346' post='2706988'] Hostile/punative venues... Potential audiences stay at home now... massive cultural change over last 20 years - look at the rise in super-market alcohol sales and correlate to pubs closing. When audiences do appear, they generally don't want bands any more - only tunes they recognise are 'classics'/featured in films/featured in X-Factor/Radio which leads me to my next point... Guitar-driven bands old fashioned in this era of Urban/R&B which has been the dominant style form for a little while now. [/quote] And as I keep saying, from where I'm standing it's the complete opposite. There are far more gigging opportunities in my home town now than there were 15 years ago and even 35 years ago when I first moved here when getting to see a local band live at the weekend was a near impossibility. Furthermore I've probably done more gigs in the last 4 1/2 years with my current band than I have in all my bands over the previous 30 years. You just need to be entertaining and be prepared to put the work in to get the gigs because they are most definitely out there. As for the question in the OP. In my case it will be either death - my own, or a massive change in priorities in my life. And since playing music has been pretty much the most important thing in my life for about 40 years now I can't see that changing out of choice anytime soon.

Are you looking at the Ubox or their new stock, because unless they have changed their policy recently they don't sell new MiJ Fenders abroad.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1425392810' post='2706829'] I largely agree with this - however I [i]can [/i]afford a five-string and [i]do [/i]have the time to 're-learn' playing it, but I just don't get on with fivers. I would much rather play a four-banger tuned as Leo intended. This arrangement was perfectly adequate for most players and most types of music for most of the sixties and seventies, so why mess with it? [/quote] Leo didn't intend anything. He simply made an instrument that allowed guitarists to play the parts previously reserved with those with the time and ability to get to grips an upright bass. Why mess with it? Maybe because contrary to popular belief it is no longer the 60s or 70s. Besides the 5-string bass with a low B has been around since the late 70s, it's hardly a new instrument in the overall time scale of the solid electric bass.

TBH unless you have a specific drum part in mind for a song (and it doesn't sound as if you do from your post) you are IMO better off with a simple metronomic beat all the way through the song just to keep you in time and then your drummer can come up with their own ideas without being unduly influenced.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1425389051' post='2706763'] I currently don't have a cover for my cab, which means I have to shoo the cat away from using it as a scratching post - I don't really get carpet covers on cabs? Aside from the problems for cat owners, tolex has always looked so much better and more hard wearing to me? My head's in a rack case, so that's covered - I'm surprised more guitar amps aren't rack mountable, It does strike me as the best solultion. [/quote] I've found carpet to be far more hard waring than tolex, but then I don't have any pets or children. As for guitar amps, if you think that too many bassist are stuck in the past, then they've got nothing on guitar players… Look at what is desirable in the world of guitar amplification and it all appears to be throw-backs to the 50s and 60s both inside (fair enough if that is the sound you want) and outside - not so good when you are trying to deal with top-mounted controls on a tilt-back stand. Watching guitarists in previous bands contort themselves to see and alter their settings on these amps was always a good source of amusement.

I can't remember ever having to re-learn anything when I started playing 5-string basses. Maybe because it came after a period of mostly playing keyboards or because I also play guitar and in the past had dabbled with mandolin, balalaika and ukelele, so I was well used to dealing with instruments with differing numbers of strings.

Surely it's a slightly less extreme example of down-tuning a semitone because it "sounds heavier"? The best reason I could think of for using A432 is to wind up people trying to play along with your recordings without either pitch-shifting the recording or having to retune!

Really don't get soft covers for cabs. IMO a properly made cab is its own case. Also my experience with soft covers on something much smaller and lighter than the average bass cab was that they had the durability only slightly greater than a wet tissue and unless I could afford to replace them every 6 months or so the amount of protection they give when loading in and our of the band van is going to minimal.

I tried this for a while, but I missed having the G string. Also IME low B requires a much higher level of construction in the bass to get the best out of it. In the end I got a decent 5-string.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1425338033' post='2706425'] with all respect Pete, imo there aren't so many avenues that a bass builder can take to make the perfect headstock. just so happens that Fender and Music Man make great headstocks, that work very well. imo they invented the perfect ones especially the 4 top one underneath 5 string. why make a wheel that is the same as the rest of the wheels and then get criticised because you do so. change in electric bass is overrated imo. i think good basic design was established many years ago with bass. when did you ever see double basses change in design.?? instruments are instruments of the music that change around them. just saying. [/quote] TBH I think that you'll find the "acceptability" of the Fender and Music Man headstock designs is based on many years of familiarity to us as musicians rather than being actually any more aesthetically pleasing. Were you to show a election of "Fender-style" headstocks to people who had never seen them before, I doubt the actual Fender ones would come out on top as the best looking. Double bass design as all about producing the low notes at sufficient volume and with an appropriate tone acoustically to fit into the string section of an orchestra. As a result it's full of design compromises and is actually quite difficult to play. Solid electric bass guitars don't need to have any of those compromises and besides as an instrument it is relatively young and still evolving. So long as it is comfortable to play it can look however you want, which ultimately is entirely subjective. IMO being able to disassociate the aesthetics from the sound generating functions is a great thing as it allows much more flexibility in the design. It certainly improves the playability. You have to remember that a lot of Fender's original success in the electric guitar market was their ability to undercut the competition. As a result the designs were based on being able to be produced to a price-point using the technology widely and cheaply available in the late 40s and utilising relatively unskilled labour. Being able to produce an instrument that could take on the role of the upright bass but was only slightly larger than a guitar was a great idea, but styling it the same way as their existing instruments and using the same design compromises was not so smart. However in terms of instrument evolution its still early days for the bass guitar, so there is hope yet that the design will continue to develop as far as ergonomics and playability are concerned.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1425315216' post='2706137'] It's called a Combo! [/quote] I don't know of any combos that have one of the speakers at ear-level plus a built-in tuner, wireless system and all my effects (and can deliver 1kW if required).

My amp is a rack mounted unit and so lives in a Boschma 6U Rack case. I don't bother with covers for my cabs, AFAIAC they are hard enough wearing not to need them. From experience regular gigging takes it's toll on any case or cover that isn't a full flight case. In my guitar playing days the soft cover for my combo didn't last a year before it was shredded and useless. If I had the transport and a road crew, my whole rig would be fitted into a single flight case that could be wheeled into place and ready for use simply by plugging in mains power. Otherwise I'll stick with what I have.

They have a couple of good songs. However I think that if they were a guitar and drums two-piece as opposed to bass and drums, they wouldn't be getting a fraction of the attention that they do.

The eBay Global Shipping Programme, seems to exist solely for the purposes of those in the USA who for some inexplicable reason have an aversion to sending things to addresses outside of their country. I don't know why. Certainly here in the UK sending stuff abroad is no more difficult than normal. It just costs a bit more. For me the process is the same whether I am sending something 50 miles down the road or half way around the world. I would recommend that everyone selling on eBay makes sure that they have opted out of the programme.

But to a certain extent these people have a vested interest in telling us that wood makes a difference. And it probably does. However I don't think that anyone can categorically state that a particular type of wood will produce a particular type of sound for every given example. And for every luthier that claims to be able to tell how a particular wood will make an instrument sound there are just as many equally respected ones who say that wile they can make certain predictions, until the instrument is completed they will have no way of knowing for sure.

How can we tell anything from the tiny photos that keep being posted?

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1425213181' post='2705068'] Kinda liking this bass. How does plexi work out as a guitar material? I know a lot of drummers hated the plexi drum kits (except for Bonzo - gratuitous opportunity to show his lovely Amber Vistalite) [/quote] The acrylic body is quite heavy so it's smaller than the standard J shape which IMO is a good thing as I found it more comfortable and there was much better access to the upper reaches of the fingerboard. What I didn't like was the angled neck pickup. Far too uncomfortable to use as a thumb anchor and IMO the tonal advantages of moving the pole-pieces a few mm in relation to the string length are dubious to say the least. Unfortunately because most acrylic and plexi instruments are low-budget, the finish especially on the see-through parts is less than optimal.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1425080356' post='2703860'] i guess regardless of your opinion on Fender copies. playing one, might answer your question. ? [/quote] I owned a Jazz for a while. I found the shape uncomfortable and sold it. I could see the point of making a posh Fender style bass if it avoided all the design compromises that had to be made on the original due to cost and the technology of the time, but very few of them do, so what is the point?

I used the global shipping programme 3 times as a seller and there were problems each time so now I have un-enrolled from it. Also be very careful if you use it to send basses as there is a maximum parcel size that they will accept and a properly packed bass guitar is liable to be over the limit. Also I could send the items directly at a far cheaper price (and still have them fully insured and tracked) than the global shipping programme. A complete waste of time and money for the seller and buyer IMO.

Dick Venom & The Terrortones will be playing at [url=http://www.theoldangel.com]The Old Angel[/url] in Nottingham on Saturday 7th March 2015. It's a Dick Venom Presents… evening with The Ricochets headlining. Completing the bill is Dick Dynamite and the Dopplegangers. Admission is £4.00 on the door and it all starts at 8.30! [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Gig%20Posters/1965678_1043497138999359_5482845395464462437_o_zpssror3xob.jpg[/IMG]

Is it a Marathon neck with a different headstock grafted on?

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1425033493' post='2703128'] Thats not a shergold neck, look at the headstock [/quote] No it isn't. I wonder where it came from. In that case at £300 it's overpriced.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1425027752' post='2703011'] Duff duffs it up at 2:40 [media]http://youtu.be/ogxmYA3l6DA[/media] [/quote] To be fair he doesn't make it easy for himself using that clunky bolt-on neck bass.