Bloodaxe

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUPERB-VINTAGE-BASS-RESTORATION-NO-RESERVE-/170631240778"]JapCrap or RussianRubbish?[/url] I'm sure I've seen one of these (or something very similar) a year or so back that surfaced in Lithuania or thereabouts. It looks absolutely shocking, but if it stays sub-£20 inc. delivery, could prove tempting.

[quote name='uke' post='1205331' date='Apr 19 2011, 10:57 PM']OK here we go! Cheers got the gist now![/quote] It depends what you're looking at it on... In my browser (Firefox) & at my current screen resolution (800 x 600), the little info bar at the top of the thumbnail says 'reduced 39% of original size'. That would suggest that if you were to resize your image from its current 1024 x 768 down to 400 x 300 it'd fit with no scaling on my monitor. Dougie's image is showing me a reduction of 50%, which gives the same end result of 400 x 300. P.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1205249' date='Apr 19 2011, 09:38 PM']I think the one thing I disagree with about that is that there are no "Antis"! J.[/quote] I only adopted that (after much pondering & crossing out) as 'Can't See The Point Of It As It Applies To Me-ists' was, I felt, a tad on the long side. P.

[quote name='Krysbass' post='1204695' date='Apr 19 2011, 01:05 PM']As a music non-reader who’s happy to also admit to not being able to name most of the notes on the bass fretboard (though not saying I’m proud of that) I think my lack of musical theory is due to one simple reason: As a bassist in covers bands and currently an originals band, I’ve never found myself in a situation where I’ve needed it and never had any difficulty in communicating with other musos due to my lack of it. Believe me – if I thought it would benefit my playing in any tangible way, I would somehow find the time to do some swotting up on it. <snip>[/quote] This pretty much sums up where I'm at right now. However... On Saturday I did a dep gig with 24 hrs notice for a guy who's very well networked (if he wasn't, I'd have blanked him). Whilst the gig went OK, we got compliments, & I got paid, I'd have found it a metric sh!tload easier had I been comfortable navigating a chart (of which several were available). I've decided that This Must Change. For the moment, my complete inability to read the dots can stay as it is, as I have no need for it [i][b]at present[/b][/i]. There may come a time when this attitude will change, but I'll deal with that one as, when & if I ever need it. Another factor in all of this is people's individual learning style. I have great difficulty with 'learning for the sake of learning', but [u]not[/u] when I have a focussed application. I suspect that a good number of the 'antis' here are in the same boat & no amount of proselytising by the 'pros' will change that. Pete.

[quote name='Bassman Sam' post='1204353' date='Apr 19 2011, 02:39 AM']Hi Guys and Gals, I'm trying to find the best way to remove white paint from my gold anodized PG. I bought my P-bass thinking it was in original condition 15 years ago but now know, thanks to Basschat, that it has been strip and varnished. The PG has at some point been painted white and is now chipped so I thought I would remove the paint but don't know what to use so that I don't bugger the original finish. Any suggestions welcome.[/quote] Assuming it's aluminium, stay away from anything abrasive & also anything that contains Sodium Hydroxide (e.g. Oven Cleaner, Caustic Soda etc.). Abrasives will damage the micro-thin anodised layer, and caustics will attack the aluminium. So... What's left? Chemicals! Either good old-fashioned paint stripper (e.g. Nitromors), or some nasty solvent like Acetone (Cellulose thinner), MEK, or Xylene. Of the solvents, Xylene is probably the easiest to get as it's freely sold as Hammerite Thinners. You might get lucky with Acetone from a car spares shop. Personally I'd try the Nitromors first. Plenty of newspaper & an old brush, then lard it on. Leave it for half an hour or so then apply some more. With any luck the paint will start shifting & you can then just rinse off the yuk with the old paintbrush and plenty of washing up liquid. If you opt for the solvent approach, the trickiest bit will be finding something that'll allow you to fully immerse the pickguard - have a look in Poundland or similar for a roasting tray perhaps. You could try repeatedly swabbing it with cotton wool soaked in solvent, but a full soak will be less work - with any luck the paint will almost completely dissolve & then you can clean it up with a coarse cloth (like an old flannel) & plenty of washing up liquid. You may also find that there's a slight haze left on the surface. Other than repeating the process with fresh gunk there's not much can be done; the anodising process can be slightly porous & paint that's got in there can be a bugger to get shot of. If you do need to use a scraper, make sure it's plastic & go [i]very[/i] gently. There's a good chance that the solvents will make a mess of it though & it'll only be fit for the bin afterwards. Patience is a virtue with this kind of thing, it may take several applications. Oh, wear gloves & open a window.

6 here. A moderate case of JapCrap Fever, but with the twist of being brand-specific: Is there a cure? If there is, please keep it to yourself. Pete.

[quote name='burgundymouse' post='1202161' date='Apr 16 2011, 09:26 PM']So, I've been noodling along to my laptop now for about 6 months and think its about time I went out into the big wide world and met other musicians.[/quote] Do it. I've learnt more in the last 2-3 years through Jam Nights than I have in the previous 20-odd years of bedroom noodling. [quote name='burgundymouse' post='1202161' date='Apr 16 2011, 09:26 PM']There's a jam night in a pub not far from me tomorrow.[/quote] Whereabouts? Not the Cherry Trees at Norwood Junction is it? There's also The Oval Tavern quite near East Croydon station, on (seemingly) every other alternate 2nd Tuesday. [quote name='burgundymouse' post='1202161' date='Apr 16 2011, 09:26 PM']What should I expect? How good will everyone be and indeed how does it all work? Advice very gratefully received![/quote] There's no 'one size fits all' answer to that, they're all different. My nearest (The Perry Hill Tavern SE6 on Tuesdays) is more song based & can be rather cliquey, whereas my more regular Wednesday night jam at the [url="http://www.coachandhorsesbluesjam.com/home.shtml"]Coach & Horses[/url] in Leyton E10 is much more straightforward - you're likely to just get a set of instructions along the lines of... "Swing shuffle in C, quick change, 2-5-1, & watch me for the stops" It's only when you get to the chorus that you find out it's Flip Flop & Fly (or whatever). Great fun, keeps you on your toes, but can be a little tense... especially if the drummist isn't all that (or you get landed with the resident loony), but when it all clicks together, it's absolutely bloody fantastic. Pete.

[quote]If you live outside the USA, please ask your local music store to order our books from one of the foreign distributors listed below. Thanks! - Sher Music Co.[/quote] So, try your local shop? Alternatively, cut out the middle man & contact the distributors directly. These have a web presence: Elkin Music 31 Exchange Street Norwich NR2 1DP Telephone: 01603 666332 [url="http://www.elkinmusic.co.uk"]http://www.elkinmusic.co.uk[/url] Jazzwise Publications Ltd 2( Gleneagle Mews London SW16 6AE [url="http://jazzwise.com/contact-us"]http://jazzwise.com/contact-us[/url] Manson's Guitar Shop Exeter EX4 3AH 01392 496 379 [url="http://www.mansons.co.uk/contact/"]http://www.mansons.co.uk/contact/[/url] None of them actually list the title you're after, but they all seem to stock the Sher Real Books. I've not had dealings with any of them, but Manson's have a pretty good reputation.

[quote name='Funkmaster' post='1200227' date='Apr 15 2011, 08:09 AM']I'm itching to contact them (him) back and say - prove you're the publisher and demonstrate in what way we've infringed their copyright! But I'll wait to hear what the MU say and keep you posted![/quote] I'd be inclined to do just that very thing. Nosing around I found this site: [url="http://themusicologist.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/musicology-169/"]http://themusicologist.wordpress.com/2008/...musicology-169/[/url] At the bottom of the page are a number of comments, including a couple from our man... I won't quote them in full, but here's a few choice bits: [quote]I wish we were paid for the popularity of the song, we would be millionaires. However, time has been cruel to his offspring, where his music is concerned.[/quote] Fair enough, plenty of artists have suffered less than fair contracts, especially when viewd in hindsight. He goes on... [quote]... however, Chess never has acknowledged to the family their appreciation of our father Tommy Tucker aka Robert Higginbotham’s contribution to the Chess family or the music industry in general.[/quote] Well, if Chess had TT stitched up like a kipper with a typical 50s/60s contract, them's the breaks mate. The Chess catalogue is now owned by UMG which also owns BMG and Geffen. [quote]... Paul McCartney’s former brother in law, John Eastman administers a 62.5% publisher share of the song. However, they have not been kind to our mother or brothers where royalties are concerned and we are now attempting to get back royalties from them.[/quote] As I read it (& I'm not a lawyer, nor have I ever played one on TV)... UMG own Chess, BMG are UMG's publishing wing, and one of the Eastman's (of Kodak fame) has a substantial stake in it. Whether the Higginbothams have any legal rights to it at all looks possibly murky (I don't begrudge them their moral rights to it one little bit though). Might be worth a casual enquiry to BMG under the guise of re-recording it & seeing what their response is. OTOH, I quite like JTUK's suggestion that the alleged song is best left to die. God knows we're not short of 12 Bar Blues tunes to cover.

As jonsmith has said, Tommy Tucker's real name was Robert Higginbotham, & as I understand it Richard is his son. As far as I'm aware, Mr H Jr. believes he has some claim to the rights of HHS & presumably sees his father's work as some kind of inheritance. One of the blues jams I go to had this very same issue last year - probably brought about by them posting an mp3 of the offending tune on their website & making it available for download. They've since removed all instances of the alleged song & it's become a 'banned' tune on the night. I'll make a few enquiries & see if there was any further correspondence. Whilst I suspect that Mr H is what's known in the trade as a 'vexatious litigant' I'd personally play safe & bin it for evermore. Substitute a soundalike such as 'Memphis Tennessee' or this equally overegged old chestnut: Pete.

[quote name='Robert Manning' post='1195333' date='Apr 11 2011, 06:59 AM']I have two fender jazz basses... one maple neck one rosewood. same pickups. they sound very different.[/quote] I'm not in the least surprised tbh, in fact I'd be astounded if they did. Two Fender Jazzes... That were (in all likelihood) made & assembled by more than one person and made on different days/months/years from different cuts of wood possibly manufactured using different machines that were set up differently and... fitted with pickups that were also likely to be made separately with subtly differing windings (& possibly different batches of magnets that also differed) wired to pots that conform to a fairly lax + & - % tolerance the tone circuit of which contains a capacitor that could have a tolerance range of ± 10-20% The notion of 'identical' instruments (especially those that are mass-produced) is, IMO, pure unadulterated snake oil laced with hokum. There are just too many variables. That said, I'll bet you a pound that they both sound [i]exactly[/i] like Fender Jazzes.

You could try Bob Foster, he's just over the Somerset border in Wellington: Unit 28F, Tonedale Ind. Est, Tone Mill, Tonedale, Wellington, Somerset TA21 0AB Phone: 01823 660300 Fax: +44(0)23 8040 5087

[quote name='robocorpse' post='1192804' date='Apr 8 2011, 12:49 PM']Agreed, but it adds at least 100 quid to the value of any 60s/70s Marshall... If you wanna keep it original, take the wooden back panel off, replace it with a home made one with an IEC plug added to it and wire it into circuit, then desolder the Bulgin. That way the amp conforms to most regs, will pass a PAT test, and its able to be put back to original spec when you sell it further down the line.[/quote] Good compromise. My old 69 Marshall still had its when I flogged it & I can't see my Axis NH-100 being worth a lot (especially with the chassis mods its had) so I'm not over bothered on that one. That said, I've just had a look at the Axis & at first glance it looks as though the IEC plug fits through the original hole & the bite mark from the Bulgin's flange looks like it'd cover the holes for the IEC. The OP's is a Carlsboro... not the most collectable of amps, I'd dare to venture.

[quote name='barkin' post='1192381' date='Apr 7 2011, 10:46 PM']Thanks folks - off to get a replacement IEC connector tomorrow.[/quote] Wise move. I had a couple of Bulgin-fitted amps, & my biggest concern was that there was bugger all strain relief and NO cable clamp - so the only thing securing the wiring was the terminal screw blocks. Oh, and the fact that the housing was made of Bakelite which would chip/break/shatter if you looked at it in a funny way. Absolutely appalling design.

Hot off the press, my take on You Shook Me... [url="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8453031/You_Shook_Me_All_Night_Long.pdf"]PDF[/url] [url="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8453031/You_Shook_Me_All_Night_Long.gp4"]GuitarPro 4[/url] (will open in Tux Guitar as well) Usual caveats re: accuracy, but it's certainly sufficiently adjacent for banging out down the local boozer. G Maj, first position, all the way through. If you go above the fifth fret you're doing it wrong. This is one of those tunes that's a damn sight easier to learn than it is to write out. Mssrs Williams & Rudd are very good indeed, my respect for them has gone up a further notch today. Pete.

[quote name='BassBus' post='1185622' date='Apr 2 2011, 10:20 AM']And what about the hat the singer is wearing. [/quote] I'm not convinced that's a hat... reminded me of this: Can't decide about the bassist. Either he's got a very novel combination pick/finger thing going on or it's conventional flatpicking & his fingers are just in the vicinity without doing anything.

[quote name='Rumple' post='1177590' date='Mar 26 2011, 08:12 PM']I's be interested in knowing what pub the Swiss Cottage was in FH? lived round there most of my life and keen on local history but I can't remember that name popping up. still they change so often and I have a poor memory so that's no surprise Cheers R.[/quote] From a bit of nosing around t'interweb, I turfed up these: It was on the corner of Stanstead Road & Wastdale Road (just before the Fire Station & the Shell garage if you were heading towards Catford). It 'mysteriously caught fire' in 1978 & there's a modern block of rather yellow flats there now. Welcome aboard Balbosa... at this rate, we'll be able to hold a SE London Bashette.

Bon Scott-era AC/DC is usually pretty straightforward, my current fave is this one from T.N.T/High Voltage: Watch out for this lot, along with Sabbath, Lizzy & SRV they de-tuned a semitone.

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='1175350' date='Mar 24 2011, 10:39 PM']Found it! Tony Joe White. This is amazing. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRPO9qXCyyg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRPO9qXCyyg[/url][/quote] TJW is awesome. Swamp Blues ftw.

[quote name='tommorichards' post='1170690' date='Mar 21 2011, 02:04 PM']How approximately? And do you have any pics of the eyelets? How close are they?[/quote] According to [url="http://www.oilfield.de/download/techtabs/mechanic/mech001.pdf"]this chart[/url], 42 AWG = 0.0632 mm 46 SWG = 0.0610 mm I'd say that 22 thousandths of a millimetre was as near as makes no odds, plus you could get more turns of 46 SWG on the bobbin. The Scalextric eyelets as fitted to my GTO are 3mm long, 2mm O/Dia with a 3mm flange: P.

[quote name='tommorichards' post='1170266' date='Mar 21 2011, 01:30 AM']Im looking for some pickup eyelets And some (probably) 42 awg wire. Besides Stewmac in the USA, are there any local (UK) sources for these parts. I want to fashion my own pickups, and these would be the only things i can see having a problem getting hold of.[/quote] [url="http://wires.co.uk/acatalog/SX_0032_0090.html#aSX0063_2d500"]One of these[/url] might fit the bill. 42 AWG is approx 46 SWG. The eyelets were bugging me... seen 'em somewhere... couldn't think where... Scalextric! - they connect the motor wires to the brushes. [url="http://www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/html/body_nsr.htm"]Item 4821 (508)[/url]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1168482' date='Mar 19 2011, 05:00 PM']Although I really like Mick Karn's playing Japan, I wanted a Travis Bean TB2000 long before I discovered that's what he used. So it's only co-incidence that I want the same bass that my influence uses.[/quote] Similar tale here. I ended up with an Aria TSB in 1982, 'cause I couldn't afford the luminous orange Precision in the shop window. I've still got it, but it's been usurped by a pair of 1980 SB's. I'm a huge fan of Jack Bruce & Neil Murray, & they've both been associated with SB's in their time, but it's pure co-incidence that I've ended up with 'tribute' basses. My only conscious hero-worship type purchase was caused by John Entwistle's appearance on 'Gastank'. As soon as I saw that explorer, I wanted one; not because JE used one, but because it looked absolutely mental. 20-odd years later & I picked up an '83 Aria ZZB Custom that's as mad as a badger & has fulfilled all my pointyness requirements. P.

Intriguing idea. Bb min

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1165137' date='Mar 16 2011, 11:20 PM']But...but...Goddamn it LARRY GRAHAM, people!! [/quote] I'm not a fan of Disco either.

I wavered a bit over the Tastefully option, but then I realised that I instantly kill any YouTube video that shows a bass player with their thumb set to 'stun'. So that must make me a hater.