Jean-Luc Pickguard

[quote name='The Funk' post='64698' date='Sep 24 2007, 12:31 PM']I'm sure he had no idea what he was in for or what he was doing. You'd expect someone in a shop to say "we don't do that and we're not the people to ask". A helpful shop would then say "ask such and such".[/quote] In my experience a lot of shops charge for a simple set up when they really should refer the customer to someone better qualified. I've seen shop staff making the classic mistake of raising or lowering action using the truss rod without considering the amount of relief in the neck. I guess its like the floor staff in PC world thinking that a purple shirt, name badge and the ability to read the backs of boxes means they're qualified to give IT advice even when they don't really have the slightest idea of what they're talking about.

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='64676' date='Sep 24 2007, 12:02 PM']... does at least involve some real abuse, so is possibly closer to the spirit of a genuine relic!. Clive[/quote] I beg to differ. A "relic" treatment simulates the natural playing wear & tear an instrument picks up from constant playing not mindless abuse/vandalism. A bass attacked with a file is never going to look remotely like one that has picked up wear/mojo naturally. If that is what the customer wanted then very well, but in my opinion that would make him a complete idiot.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='64659' date='Sep 24 2007, 11:12 AM']There is a definite difference in tone between playing hard, and playing medium, or soft. Plus, at gigs, we all get a bit carried away, surely? Maybe if I kept them cut I wouldn't break them, but then I wouldn't have such a mean tone for my pops![/quote] In that case the only option I can suggest is nail varnish

I keep my nails trimmed down as much as possible so they don't catch the string at all. I carry a little nail trimmer gadet with sissors & a file - its now one of my pre-rehearsal & pre-gig rituals. I started doing this when I noticed that alternate notes varied in brightness as my index finger nail was longer than the middle finger, so the notes played with the index finger were brighter which sounded odd. To improve your technique, economy of movement is your friend. You don't need to play hard to sound like you're playing agressively - its all in the timing, turning up the amp + using a limiter if necessary.

[quote name='Mike' post='64593' date='Sep 24 2007, 07:21 AM']I just love the look of the aged P.[/quote] Just a suggestion - have a look at a sunburst highway 1 Precision. It has a thin soft lacquer, you'll put your own playing wear into it after a while - obviously not as immediate as attacking it with tools, but with a bit of patience and a lot of playing it will show "honest" mojo a lot sooner than a poly finished instrument.

The musicman web ste is: [url="http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/"]http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/[/url] Not sure I would want to buy a bass from this man though: Sterling Ball President of Ernie Ball Musicman.

Difficult to diagnose sight unseen, but a few things to check off the top of my head: is it catching in the nut? - if so run a soft pencil in the nut slots to lubricate. Check the screws in the machinehead are tight - the one holding the main gear for fender-type open tuners or the one at the top of the button for Gotoh-type enclosed ones. These can possibly loosen with time, although this is rare in my experience. The A string wouldn't be going under a string tree, so it won't be that, but if it was a D or G string it could be. I'd also take the strings off and put them back on winding tidily onto the machinehead capstans, in case they was originally wound on haphazardly.

Looks like I will have to sell mine. I've used it for a few gigs and lots of rehearsals with an Ashdown MAG 210 deep, but now I have a 4 Ohm Schroeder 1212L and I'm selling my Ashdown stack the powerblock won't be much use as a spare...

[quote name='BassBunny' post='63877' date='Sep 21 2007, 11:32 PM']It looks like the wrong jack socket to mount on the control plate. When i got the EMG's for my Jazz they supplied a pre-wired stereo jack to power the pick-ups. Looks like this giuy lost his and used whatever he could lay his hands on. Weird.[/quote] The decal is fake. So the neck is unlikely to be Fender. I wonder if the body or anything else is genuine...

I'm sure the counter staff at Eric Lindsey Music in Catford will have a go if you really want it done... See this thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6049"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6049[/url]

Apart from the fact they have no idea how to do a convicing relic job, I bet the customer was ignorant of the MIM routes under the pickguard being so different to the jaco bass and will get a bit of a nasty surprise with the swimming pool round the neck pickup. The discuss covering over the wiring route with gaffa - Yeah that's going to look so cool . An MIM jazz really needs to keep its frock on.

Next time someone need a definition of the word dickhead, they should be referred to this video. It sounds like the customer wanted a jaco bass so they offered to relic a mex std, not having the slightest idea how to do it or the differences between lacquer and poly finishes.

I think the last set of strings I bought were about £40 for a 5 sting set of TI flats to replace the stock strings on a new £200 Peavey. The TIs will probably last about ten years, so I consider that a bargain. I used to use Rotosound flats, but I had three sets of crap ones turn up in one order once and haven't risked them since.

A japanese sting bass has the wrong type of paint to relic convincingly. Plus the fugly pearl signature marker will look even more wrong on a relic.

[quote name='Bass_Widow' post='63196' date='Sep 20 2007, 04:58 PM']He has a very garish purple signiture bass.... doesn't really fit anywhere in the house. [/quote] This One? Its lfalex innit?

No one really needs more than one bass and one guitar My missus started complaining when the total reached around seventeen basses & twelve geetars including the kids' instruments...

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='63062' date='Sep 20 2007, 12:51 PM']I generally get more attentive service in Sound Control, believe it or not.[/quote] They're the same company these days aren't they?

I'd love to see Line6 (or someone else) make a reliable 500W head with a similar size & weight of a Mark Bass LMII and line 6 flexibility including a good compressor/limiter.

[quote name='51m0n' post='62357' date='Sep 18 2007, 09:44 PM']My advice - get a pair of PZMs (pressure zone microphone).[/quote] I have a pair of "tandy/realistic" PZMs. & they work very well.They are actually balanced mics: you can snip off the minijacks & put on XLRs. Converting them to phantom powering can also be done but is very fiddly. I used to swear by them ,but as you have to sort out the batteries, cables and recording device I'd always use the H4 these days.

I have just bought a 1212L and I'm over the moon about how small and light it is compared to my Ashdown MAG cabs. I must admit I'm surprised you're thinking of getting a PJB suitcase -Its actually about the same weight as the 1212L and the LMII together. I'd have thought the briefcase would be a more appropriate choice as its half the size. I'd probably get one of the smaller schroeder cabs like a mini10L+ to use with the LM in the house and for "acoustic" gigs if the missus complained about the 1212L being "on display".

My first impressions of listening to the 1212L were not good with my crate powerbock, but I guess thats because it can only put out 75W out of a single channel into a 4 Ohm cab and its also designed as a guitar amp. It was all fuzzy and unfocussed. I have gigged with the crate using the 8Ohm bridged output into my Ashdown MAG 210, but I guess I can't use it as a spare anymore with the 1212L. No problem really: the last powerblock on ebay went for more than the new price I paid, so I should be able to get my money back on it. Trying the 1212L with the MAG300 head it sounded very bright at home, I wasn't sure about how I would need to tweak the eq on the amp for the best sound live so for the gig I decided to use my Highway 1 jazz with John East J-retro to be able to do any eq adjustments on the bass. At the gig the schroeder sounded absolutely majestic. I had no problem getting the sound I wanted with the MAG's eq flat, just adjusting the J-retro. I mostly used a sound I found that I absolutely loved. It cut right through the mix, but also had warmth without any wooliness. It was almost like I have previously been playing with a duvet over the speakers when I used other cabs. I kept the tweeter control set to 12 o'clock, however as the knob protrudes a bit I pulled it off to minimise the risk of any damage occuring to the pot in the boot of the car. As the 1212L is smaller than the MAG210 I was able to fit the MAG head and my bits & bobs bags in the boot of my smallish car where the head would not fit in with the MAG210 cab, so thats an added bonus. All in all I'm glad to have joined the "Schroeder Club". Jorg does indeed make wonderful cabs. Now I just need to find the perfect head to go with it as the MAG sounds good, but I'd like something smaller, lighter and more powerful. Maybe a littlemark II?

At last count, 15: NS-Design CR5M upright Fender Highway 1 Jazz with j-retro Arctic White Epiphone Thunderbird Ashbory Stentor Student 3/4 DB '90 MIJ "Jamerson" '62 reissue Precision 81 "heavy ash" cherry sunburst precision Fretless 'parts' Precision Peavey Millennium 5 AC BXP Danelectro longhorn Squier vista musicmaster '71 Fender Musicmaster '86 Hohner B2A 'cricketbat' Dean Pace upright Homemade 1 string "plank" EUB

My 1212L was delivered this morning. I should have had it delivered to home as it was waiting for me when I got into the office. I can't wait to get it home and put it through its paces (quietly). First thing I noticed is the carpety felty covering is kind of blue which looks better than the black on my Ashdown MAGs also it is easier to carry than my MAG115 & 210 cabs, similar in weight, but it seems to look even smaller than I expected.

I have ordered a 1212L from SHXmusic - should be delivered tomorrow hopefully. I haven't had a chance to try one yet though, I just know I need something light that weill be loud enough and the Schroder seems to fit the bill from what I have heard. I will put it through its paces onstage on Sunday.

[quote name='Legion' post='59156' date='Sep 12 2007, 11:17 AM']Unfortunately with them being monster strings it pulled the neck a bit and put the action rather high, so I tried to correct it but seem to have been left with a buzz on only the open E string.J[/quote] Did you just adjust the action at the bridge? The reason the action went higher is because there was more tension pulling on the neck, so you should have tighened the truss rod first to set the relief correctly, then made any nesessary height adjustments at the bridge and nut if necessary.