rushbo

Anyone retiring any short scale flat wounds? I’m not fussy about gauges, I’d just like to try some on an old semi acoustic bass I’ve recently renovated. Cheers!

Rest assured that it'll remain unmolested... I was really surprised at how good it sounds and how well it intonates, given the rather "primitive" bridge. I'll use it in anger at rehearsal next week to see how it copes in a band situation, as it would be a shame not to play it. ...and thanks for all the info, Bassassin!

Thank you sir. The panel allows a little bit of access to the pots and output jack. Maybe I should whack a set of active EMG's in it, just to mess with the purists...

I blame that picture of Blue holding that lovely, red Gibson... I picked up a slightly tatty, but generally intact semi-acoustic bass - an Eros Mark II - with a view to replacing pretty much everything except the body and neck. "All the hardware will terrible and made of either tin or cheese and the intonation will be so bad, it'll be unplayable beyond the second fret", thought I. Well, that's not the case. Once I'd scraped off the filth and given it a very quick set up, it seemed to play quite nicely. Pots were very scratchy and it had the weirdest fret buzz I had ever heard - a sort of fretless "mwah" noise, but just on three frets of the "D" string. A turn of the bridge height screw and bobs-yer-proverbial. A quick squirt of switch cleaner, followed by the dreary task of putting the thing back together (seriously... trying to put the pots back into a semi-acoustic is like trying to perform gynaecology through a letterbox) and it sounds way better than it has a right to. The action is medium low, there's no mains hum and the tone controls actually make a difference to the sound. Who'd have thought it? It took quite a bit of cleaning and there were some nasty, but shallow scratches to deal with. Out came the rubbing compound and some elbow grease and it looks the business. Well, I think so. Has anyone else had any experience with one of these? I've seen a few Eros basses, but they always seem to be generic Fender copies. The only info I could find online, was from a 1975 Rosetti catalogue, where I found out they were a bargain at £65.

I've got a set (40-100, I think) on one of my bitsas. They're ace. They're not as high tension as some flats (I find the Fender ones to be really stiff) and they've got a nice, rounded old school tone.

I've used these guys a couple of times with great results: https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/jockomo81?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754

This thread is way more interesting than I thought it would be! I started off as a pick player, because when I bought (or should I say, mom and dad bought) my first bass, I nervously said "yes" when the salesman asked me if I wanted a plectrum to go with the amp, lead and strap he'd informed my horrified parents that I simply must have. That phase lasted for years until I joined my first band and I started to experiment with fingerstyle. I use both techniques today, but I prefer fingerstyle as it suits my slightly busy/funky style. I'll reach for a pick if I need to play a fast, simple line with lots of repetition - a Ramones tune for example. I'd struggle to play that consistently with my fingers. I'd never be able to play "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" well with a pick as crossing strings so rapidly would result in a bit of a plectrum based car crash. I love digging in with a pick and playing fast, melodic lines with my fingers. I can play equally fast both ways, but it's a different kind of fast, if you get my meaning...

Amateurish is making simple errors, which could be easily avoided by a quick glance at a prompt. Neatly put and spot on.

I have no technical advice to add to this thread, but I need to compliment you on an incredibly handsome bass.

I've refinished quite a few necks and bodies with Tru Oil and wire wool or high grit sandpaper. The good thing about this method is that you can build up to a mirror shine if you keep on applying it, or just use enough to protect the wood. I'm not a fan of thick varnish on basses and although it's a fairly laborious job to get the original finish off, it's pretty straightforward. Cheap, too.

I played for a while in a groovy little Paul Rodgers tribute band, playing stuff by Free, Bad Co, some of his solo stuff and even a cheeky Queen number or two. We made no attempt to look like any of those bands as no amount of wigs and loon pants would cover up the fact that we were all "men of a certain age". The "dressing up" thing wouldn't have worked for us, but if you and the rest of your band can pull off a decent visual resemblance to Nirvana, Peter Paul and Mary or Napalm Death, then have at it, I say. Having seen a bunch of "heritage acts" phone in some rather lacklustre shows in the last few years, a decent tribute act is most definitely a viable option, if you want to hear your favourite songs played by musicians who aren't yet victims of the ravages of time. Just make sure that if you're making a decent wedge in clubs and theatres by playing another bands tunes, that you make sure PRS know and they can chuck some royalties at the original artists.

Aesthetically, I'm not a fan of music stands, especially if a band is playing on a small stage in a pub - it's just one more thing to clutter the "stage". I drummed with a band a few years ago and the lead vocalist/guitarist insisted on having a music stand, with a load of loose A4 sheets precariously balanced on it. This meant that a gust of wind, an overexcited stage movement or a random, bemused drunk could scatter the cheat sheets around the stage like oversized confetti. That said, I have absolutely no problem with cheat sheets or prompts on stage as long as they're unobtrusive. I played for a couple of years in a great covers band where the singer used a "monitor" which actually housed a teleprompt system. It worked a treat. At one stage I was playing in two bands and depping for a couple of others, which meant I had to whip out a repertoire of over 100 songs. I downloaded an app for my iPad ("forScore" - highly recommended) and bought a handy mic stand clip for it and it worked brilliantly - very discreet. I still managed to leap about in the graceless manner that has become my trademark. As long as you don't spend the entire duration of the gig, squinting myopically at your sheet music like Mr Magoo reading his bank statement, all is good. Get the right tools for you to get the job done. If people are so mortally offended by the sight of a music stand at your gig that they storm out, I think the problem lies with them rather than anyone in the band.

For about 20 years, my rig consisted of a Peavey TKO combo and an Ibanez 850 Roadstar bass. That got me up and down the UK numerous times and quite a way into Europe, too. Heavy as hell, but a thirty second set up and it sounded ace. Now I know better (cough), my go-to rig is one of my P bass bitsas, plugged into a Genz Benz Contour combo, but via a minimal pedal board consisting of a Zoom B3 and mt faithful SmoothHound receiver. I've got the extension cab for the Contour, but I hardly ever use it. It looks and sounds brilliant, tho. My set up time is close to three minutes nowadays.

Another vote for Smoothound. Mine works absolutely flawlessly and Chris is a top guy to deal with. There may be cheaper systems, but I don't think they're better than this.