geoffbyrne

12AX7s have the highest gain, then 5751, 12AT7s and 12AY7s. I have a 5751 in my Hartke LH500 & it really sound good to my ear. For all manner of info on valves (tubes) in general, go here: http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/index2.html G.

Correct - as the Septics say 'Righty tighty, lefty loosy)'. G.

I've just gone through my old strings & once I've found a suitable box, there's a few assorted sets heading you way. G.

+1 on the BBG5 - I have one I got damn cheap & once set up properly, it's a great bass. G.

I love beer festivals!!! Played a CAMRA festival a few years ago in Loghborough - the audience was half-cut before we started & the night went amazingly, with huge amounts of energy coming back from them & a great ovation at the end. Although it was a good performance, we didn't play any better or any worse then we normally did on many occasions where we'd play in a club to 2 men & a dog & get some polite applause.

I've just joined the Blues Devils in Glasgow - they've been in suspension for a couple of years, so no current web page. G.

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1372943312' post='2131914'] Don't know how it's got a rep for a great PA if there's no foldback! If you've got a wedge mix at your side of the stage I think you'll be fine - there's also the question of how much of you the rest of the band need to hear. I've mixed (and played) gigs with no bass amp plenty times and if (the big if!) the PA can support it out front and on stage there's no reason why it won't be fine. When I was travelling to venues I wasn't familiar with I always put my rig in the van though, even if an amp share had been promised, and that saved my skin more than a few times. I wouldn't depend on it unless you're confident the venue can support your requirements, otherwise you're stuffed if something goes wrong. [/quote] There were 4 foldback monitors across the front of the stage, Mike, and none were operating. Now I have a bit of experience, I'll know what to ask for the next time. G.

We played at The Ferry in Glasgow last Saturday. It's a new band for me & the venue is reputed to have an excellent PA & engineer. Turned out we had no foldback, which did cause a bit of an oops in one number. Since it's a place this band (Blue Devils) seems to play fairly regularly, I'd like to give the above a try. Also saves my poor old 5-stent heart the hassle of carrying big gear. G.

I've been considering going into my MXR-80+, thence to desk plus taking a secondary line out to a smallish cab & head as an on-stage monitor. I wonder what an engineer would do if I just turned up with my bass & the MXR-80? Do the foldback speakers handle tha\t sort of thing? G.

I take it you've pushed the mids a bit? I use my outboard MXR-80+ (3 band EQ) with my BBG5 as it doesn't have mids in the on-board pre. The outboard makes all the difference. However! I have a John East U-Retro on my BB415 and it covers EVERYTHING! I'd say the John East J-Retro DeLuxe (the one with 4 pots) would be your ideal - covers Treble, bass and pannable mids & also is active/passive switchable with passive treble roll-off should you want to keep a passive tone from time to time. G.

When Howard (Bass Doc) was working on my BB415, he put on (Unsolicited - Thanks Howard) a couple of coats of conductive paint (mid grey), conected up the earth etc and it's perfectly quiet. G.

Gut/nylon strung guitars were never built to take the tension of steel strings - it would buckle. G.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1372544727' post='2127121'] That was Mick Taylor? Keef is famous for using 5 string guitars. Anyone know why? I'm loving it. Seem to have lost some of the groove of earlier incarnations but considering what's been going round in their veins for so many years I think they're amazing. [/quote] It's when he's using open tunings, like Open G (Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk ) or Open D (Jumping Jack Flash - I think) - he realised the 6th string is mostly superfluous, so he had several 5 strings made for him. Oops, beaten to it! G.

Actually, they are pretty decent. G.

I go from 30" to 34" & 35". The short scale is more of a problem as I over-reach. G.

Aaahh. If only. My confession: I took my Yammy TRB1005 Fretless to the band practice and..... I didn't enjoy it at all! I was spending far too much time getting my intonation right and not enough attention on the music. Now don't get me wrong - I LOVE playing my fretless - on my own. I don't have any probs. And, I've played gigs fretless when I had a Westone Thunder IIIb (Unmarked fingerboard) so it's not like I can't do it. Just don't seem to be able to give the appropriate attention in the band. Looks like there might be a TRB1005 up for trade..... G.

Rockaction5, many thanks for posting this info. It's always great to see a new and different maker/pickup become available - choice is good Have you considered a 5 string version? G.

The Hohner 'B' Bass is essentially a Jack body with a bolt-on neck, so, B Bass body? G.

Put it through the PA? G.

Amazon is selling a Legacy Strat clone in the US for $90, so £60 may be about right. G.

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1371542017' post='2115125'] Nice Vantage! Has that body been stripped? [/quote] yes, I think it probably was. It was a right mess when I got it - 1 pickup, the other was a pair of shells with foam inside - body stripped, no controls, badly defretted & no bridge. The rebaited contours for the dropped bridge had been expertly filled with a beautifully shaped blank, so it defo wasn't the same guy who did the rest. I generally tidied up & waxed the body, sorted out the fingerboard a bit, got a pair of GB pickups from Axes'R'Us and some decent pots. The bridge I found was a huge 8 string lump of brass. On putting it all together it turned out rather nice & with both pups on it was a very smooth sounding bass. I can't remember whether I moved it on here or on Ebay. On retrospect, I ought to have kept it as I'm kinda into short scales at the moment. G.