Jean-Luc Pickguard

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1143278' date='Feb 27 2011, 01:31 PM']I think it's great. Personally I find this sort of thing a welcome relief from todays over produced, over dubbed, pitch corrected stuff. At least you know its being made by people rather a a computer.[/quote]
A big plus one to that.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1141869' date='Feb 25 2011, 09:52 PM']I also know another maker whose small amps do justice to their big brothers: Crate - they all sound sh***y!!![/quote]
Bit of a sweeping statement. Even if it was intended as an opinion rather than a definite statement of fact. My 15W Crate practice amp cost me next to nothing on ebay and it sounds pretty good to me whenever I use it for acoustic rehearsals with my Ashbory or Tanglewood. I have no idea what any other crate amps are like though.

trade it with someone in the same boat - there's bound to be someone after a 5er with a nice 4 stringer to swap. Or sell it & use the proceeds to buy one to replace it - remembering that you'll (probably) get a lot more for your money buying secondhand.

I don't miss my Peavey 5 string or my alpine white thunderbird at all as I used the proceeds to buy a natural Thunderbird pro-V, which I have now probably used for as many gigs/rehearsals/jam nights since I got it in December than I had used both of the basses it replaced in the years I had them.

[quote name='Mod_Machine' post='1135332' date='Feb 21 2011, 12:20 PM']Anyone know if the chrome plate where the jack socket and tone knobs go is a standard mustang guitar piece?[/quote]
no, the mustang bass plate one is a totally different shape to the mustang guitar one.

I once saw a kid trying a bass for the first time in a music shop. He wasn't as good a player as Peter Hook.

I like the mag pickup on my CR5M, but if the NXT was available when I bought mine, I'd expect I'd have gone for one of those instead and I'd probably not miss the mag pickup.

Both appear to be all maple with ebony fingerboard and are made by the same people in the Czech Republic. The natural finish on my CR5M shows off a nice bit of flame in the maple.

The stand on the NXT is the cheaper camera-style tripod used on the WAVs

[quote name='cd_david' post='1125884' date='Feb 13 2011, 12:51 PM']He likes his relic fenders this guy. A single ply white guard?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160533426700#ht_1420wt_1141"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...#ht_1420wt_1141[/url][/quote]
I have a hunch that this 'Fender' strat which sold for £375 possibly started life as an afinity strat from argos

I finally got to use the Ashbory in a band setting with the new strings- three of us from o5b are forming a cut-down acoustic band under a different name doing folkie/americana stuff aimed at pubs which are too small for the full lineup - the idea being totally acoustic apart from the ashbory going through a small amp - my £35 crate practice amp seems to do the job surprisingly well. We had a living room rehearsal - Mr drummer was using just a snare with jazz brushes & doing BVs, Mr guitarist was playing acoustic & singing lead. I was going to either take my NS upright or tanglewood acoustic, but settled on my Pahoehoe-equipped ashbory to see how the strings sounded in a band. It knocked me out as I managed to get the best double-bass-type sound I'd ever achieved from anything at low volume. Simlar to my weedwackered Stentor, but less hard work. We recorded the session & knocked together a demo, so hopefully we'll be gigging the lineup soon and the Ashbory will be my weapon of choice for it. Must get a spare set of strings soon.

When I bought a '71 musicmaster, some numpty had put a standard Fender BBOT bridge on so the E & G were pretty much running along the edge of the neck with mms to spare. I managed to get hold of the correct bridge so its much better now. So yes, it depends on the neck - whatever looks right. If the pickup has pole pieces you could also use those as a guide.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1131332' date='Feb 17 2011, 05:55 PM']Why didn't you offer to pay him cash, but he'd have to collect it from Penzance?[/quote]
That'll work

Its obvious that there is no bass & the offer of picking it up from Aberdeen is a bluff. I bet his preferred method of payment is western union - probably picked up on another continent. I don't really have time to scambait. If I ask for a photo of the bass on today's paper and standing against the front door of the address in Aberdeen (to check against streetview) I bet I'll not hear back from him.

[quote name='gareth' post='1122448' date='Feb 10 2011, 11:25 AM']I bet you that IF he does reply he will tell you he lives in the outer hebrides or some such far off place - and of course a million miles from sutton[/quote]
Not quite - Aberdeen

[quote name='"scamming twat' date=' Bart Muller <[email protected]>"']Hi,
The bass is still for sale.
It is located in Aberdeen at my uncle's place .He recently passed away and I have to sell his stuff.
You can come to collect or I can ship it to you .
Let me know what you prefer.
Regards Bart[/quote]

Surprise, surprise - what a see-you-next-tuesday

Paint it black by the stones - a stupid song with a stupid bassline

First Bass Owned: Yamato 'japcrap' jazz copy
'Go To' Bass: Epiphone Thunderbird pro-V
'Your' Bass: Fender CIJ Mustang

The sound that tends to work for me is my mustang straight into the LMII via a cheapo behringer limiter which is just there to help the overall level as it evens out the levels from my sloppy technique.

At my last gig I took a different bass. I was having trouble getting a sound which sits as well as the mustang as the bass I was using was my Epi T-Bird Pro-V. My mistake was that as I had paid for a two pickup active bass, I felt that I had to make use of everything it offered. Starting with the two pickups 50-50 with the eq flat, I fiddled around trying different things to get it sounding right to no avail until I turned the pickup balance all the way around to the neck pickup 100% + bridge pickup 0%, and the eq flat. As soon as I did that the sound was there. So it seems for my classic old-school flatwound sound, less is not just more, it is everything.

I had a spare set of rotosh*te flats i put on a squier musicmaster - The E string disintegrated at the tuner after a while. I use Thomastic TI JF324 on my mustang which is so called as it is a 32" 4 string set. 30" strings are too short for the thru-body stringing. LaBella short flats are available in several guages - I've used a heavy set on a musicmaster, but the G was too short to reach the tuner, so I had to use one from a 34" set. The danelectro specific LaBella flats are also 30" but very different - perfect for my longhorn.

Trust me - I know about these things. What you need is an "aged" white pearl one. Like the white pearl, but a much better creamy colour, so it doesn't look like an Osmond's teeth. I had one of this colour made for my vintage white mustang and it looks the nuts. (as the young people say these days.)

edit - pic added, please don't laugh at the Benny hat
[attachment=71795:mikeystang.jpg]

As an antidote to all the usual sl@pping & w@nkery you get on these events, perhaps I should send a video of myself pumping out 8th notes. Isn't that what most people who'd buy an ampeg would use it for?

No reply yet

It's ten minutes down the road from me. Shall I try to go & have a looksie?

edit: Just emailed that I'd like to pop around.

It looks more like a US reissue from the pics. Not saying that's what I think it is, as it *could* have been kept in time capsule condition. I've heard of basses played for a few months & put away in the past. I'm normally pretty good with knowing what's what with Fenders, but I'm definitely more knowledgeable about mustangs than jazzes and anything mid 70s onwards. Does anyone know what to look for which could help confirm is it not a doctored reissue for certain?

Some basses already come with the edge rolled or shaped from the factory (USA Precisions?), so this procedure won't improve them at all. I can't remember where I first heard about this way of doing it.

If the lower edge of the fingerboard makes a sharp corner rather than having a nice soft rounded edge, I run the shaft of a screwdriver side to side between each pair of frets applying enough pressure to compress the wood and rocking it to vary the angle in relation to the surface of the fingerboard. This results in a round ed edge which in my opinion gives a comfy 'broken-in' feel and makes even cheap basses feel a bit more classy than they were when stock.

It sounds a bit cack-handed, and it certainly isn't a necessary modification, I doubt it makes me play faster or better in any way. However my mustang & the other basses I've rolled do feel better to play without that sharp edge digging into my fingers.

* For obvious reasons it probably would be daft to attempt this on a bass with a maple fingerboard or any other where the fingerboard is lacquered, so my '81 Precison only has 30 years of natural wear & tear on the edge.

Anyone else do this or something similar?

Sounds like something a truss rod tweak would sort out. If you're wary of giving it a tweak is the a basschatter who does their own setups nearby who could give you a hand?

I had my first precision over twenty years before I had the courage to tweak the rod, but now I do all my own setups on my basses. I've only had to tweak the rod on my NS-Design upright once when I first got it - which was daunting as the bass was so expensive, but if you know which way it needs to go & tweak it a little at a time, it should be straightforward.

I've thought about putting together a short scale t-bird for ages - something like a CIJ mustang bass neck with a warmoth firebird body might have worked. Doubt I'd get one though as I've now got an epi pro-v. Glad there's no pics of this one as I don't think I'd be able to contain the GAS (if you pardon the expression)

[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280625155361&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D280625155361%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1"]Sad[/url]

I'm a hoarder

Definite keepers:
[list]
[*]'81 Cherry sunburst Precision. My first fender which I've owned from new for almost 30 years. Had to suffer working through the summer at Bejams to save up for it
[*]CIJ mustang. I know these are very easy to find, but after getting the frets dressed at the gallery this is the most comfy bass I have & it feels like home and just has 'my sound'
[*]Sunburst fretless Precison with unlined ebony fingerboard - a Fender inspired bitzer I made from brandoni bits, fender hardware & really cool hipshot lollypops inc xtender.
[/list]

Some I doubt I'll part with
[list]
[*]NS CR5M - I don't play it much but when I do its unlike anything else I have
[*]Natural Epi thunderbird pro-v - Probably too soon to say its a keeper, as I only got it in December, but its great fun to gig with.
[/list]