Jean-Luc Pickguard

I have 8 wall hangers to display three musicmasters, three precisions, a jazz and a danelectro longhorn in the living room. Better than any other kind of wall art I think. The rest are in cases/gigbags or on hercules stands.

I have a crate BT15 - Mine was £35 off ebay, but they aren't too pricey new. Its not the most exciting amp to look at, but its great for low volume practice. The phono in is very useful for hooking up an MP3 or CD. If it can handle the low B of my NS CR5M, so it can probably handle anything. It has an effective eq and doesn't go all fuzzy like some practice amps.

Obviously 5 Believers will be doing our thing at the "Stormy Monday Club" at the Bulls Head in Barnes on Monday 2nd July Special Guests from Portugal: the legendary Dave Dog (ex Mungo Jerry Bob Geldof etc )and Marcus. The Bulls Head 373 Lonsdale Road, Barnes, London SW13 9PY a mere six quid for entrance. 8.30 start

[quote name='Steve Rickwood' post='22119' date='Jun 22 2007, 08:37 PM']Haha! Thank you for feedback. Design is cool btw. I'm gona pester the guy/girl to put strings on it - would be concerned if neck was twisted or warped. Cheers.[/quote] Wish doesn't use trussrods, so if there are any issues with neck its time to get the woodworking tools out. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a sh*tty stick (or another wishbass) - He sent one to Bass Player for review which was very below par. The reviewer seemed to be struggling to find something good to say about it - like it being a piece of folk art.

Since I got one I no longer get cramp in the hands during long gigs and I can play fast lines easier.

I have an NS-CR5M. I also have a Dean pace 4 string in natural maple, that will probably be up for sale soon to part finance a new Schroeder cabinet. Despite some rumours that the Dean isn't a "real" upright bass its great fun to play and sounds lovely with the TI jazz flats I put on it.

I use the Tascam MP-GT1. I have used the built-in fx on guitar but don't need any bass fx for practicing, so bass goes 100% dry.

It looks more like a steamer than a streamer

I keep a spare set of TI flat in my cables bag and always make sure I order a set whenever I buy a new bass. My oldest set is probably about six years old and still going strong.

Normally anything wish does looks like its been hit hard by the ugly stick, but I quite like the shape of that one, I wonder why it currently has no strings...

EMG Active Pickups come with a single battery clip for 9v but there were designed to be powered by up to 48v. I will try 18v if I ever reinstall my old EMG Precison pickup.

I like my Behringer BLE100 Bass Limiter pedal. A bargain at £20. [url="http://www.behringer.com/BLE100/index.cfm?lang=eng"]http://www.behringer.com/BLE100/index.cfm?lang=eng[/url]

[quote name='Toasted' post='3506' date='May 21 2007, 11:34 AM']I disagree. Strongly. Behringer is cheap and nasty.[/quote] I disagree. Have you had one fall apart? I have had no problems with Behringer pedals. I use a Behringer BLE100 Bass Limiter Enhancer, not because I can't afford anything else, but because it evens out the dynamics, its dead easy to use and it sounds very transparent - I agree that its inexpensive, but it certainly does not sound nasty. All the time I was looking for "the perfect compressor" I should have been looking for a limiter. The BLE100 enables me to retain dynamics when playing lighter but evens out the louder parts without making the bass sound obviously processed. It feels solid and weighty enough despite the plastic casing and has so far served me well for over a dozen gigs and countless rehearsals since I got it and it is still as good as new.

All I could see was a load of pretentious mumbo jumbo. If he doesn't want to pay ebay fees he should sell it elsewhere.

[quote name='parker_muse' post='14975' date='Jun 10 2007, 10:56 AM']Saw one in prestine condition... £325 Good deal? Thanks, Parker[/quote] If it feels right when you play it and you like the colour etc, personally I'd be happy to pay that for a mid/late 70s one, even more so for an early one (with the smaller butterfly tuners) in pristine condition. However I only had to pay £110 for the Squier vista musicmaser a few years ago and £100 for a stripped '71 musicmaster about 5 or 6 years ago. That one is now lilac and is my daughter's pride & joy, but I think those kind of bargains may be fairly rare. I think I paid over the odds for my blue one though (from Denmark Street!) as its so much fun to play and it looks stunning with the original aged white pearloid pickguard.

Some ideas: If there is a particular issue about its sound or performance that you want to address: Change the pickups Rewire it with CTS pots and a switchcraft socket. (this can make more difference on a squier than you'd imagine) install a badassII bridge (don't forget to cut the grooves) Upgrade the tuners if the existing ones are crap If you want somewhere to rest your hand like James Jamerson or Marcus: Install a chrome 'ashtray' pickup cover Install a thumb rest If its just a matter of marking your territory: get a different colour pickguard stick some stickers on it

There are three musicmaster basses in my house: a squier vista one, and a couple of '71' fenders - I have a sonic blue one and my daughter a fefinished lilac one. The original pickups on the fenders were a bit weak, so I replaced them with Kent Armstrong "strat" coolrails which makes them much more punchy and noise-free. They're great fun little basses, and my sonic blue one with aged creamy white pearl pickguard seems to be a favourite with the ladies.

Brandoni Guitars in Wembley - bodies, necks, pickups, hardware etc... [url="http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk"]http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk[/url]

[quote name='nik1093' post='13616' date='Jun 7 2007, 02:53 PM']does EMG make p-bass pickups[/quote] Yes - I used to have an active EMG in my old P bass. I took it out and put the original one back in as it was frankly a bit dull and unpunchy sounding. I might try the it again (perhaps in my fretless precision) with two 9v batteries as I have heard that the EMGs very different (in a good way) with 18v. As for painting the body, you probably want to strip the old finish off first. I used nitromors on my daughter's old musicmaster bass, (the previous owner had already removed 95% of the finish though) then I sprayed it with car paint from halfords - larger branches can mix the paint & put it in the can, so you can choose just about any shade you want. I used a can of white primer, two cans of custom-mixed lilac and a can of clear over the top.

+1 on the thomastik jazz flats - I won't use anything else. Also I'm sure they get better with age.

I have three - two big fender-type ones on a precision & a jazz, plus a gotoh 'Y'-type on an Epi T-bird. I keep a tiny tin of vaseline with my pliers, cutters & allen keys to keep 'em greased up but they don't need much attention and they work perfectly once they're set up properly. I've only had to adjust the little thumbscrew when changing from one type of strings to another. If its set up correctly the tuning stays spot-on in both positions.

[quote name='presoulnation' post='12362' date='Jun 5 2007, 10:34 AM']Hmmmm theres something about that I like. It would benefit from being a different colour methinks.[/quote] ...And maybe a different shape

I'd like a Five string Lakland decade USA 35" scale, rosewood fingerboard with pearl block markers & side LEDs. transparent red finish on a mahogany body with b/w/b pickguard & Black headstock. Strung with Thomastik JF-355 flatwounds. A pair of Fred Hammon's darkstar pickups & a John East U-retro with black knobs. I'm not sure when the 5 string version of the darkstars will be available though.

Thomastik Jazz Flats JF344 on 6 basses. TI JF345 on the 5 string. LaBella flats on most of the short scales, Old Roto flats on the ones I haven't got around to changing. Stock NS strings on the Ned Steinberger CR-5M. Thomastik spirocore light on the upright.

Hello everyone So this is the new place? Change of name - I was Mikey at the old place. To recap my bass collection: '81 Cherry Sunburst Precision '90 MIJ "Jameson" '62RI Precision Fretless FrankenPrecision '03 'Pimped' Highway 1 Jazz with J-retro & Lots of Chrome '71 Sonic Blue Musicmaster Shell Pink Squier Musicmaster Blueburst Danelectro Longhorn '86 Hohner B2A 'Cricketbat' Epi 'Snowhite' T-bird Stentor 3/4 Upright with K&K p/u & preamp Dean Pace EUB (possibly up for sale soon) NS-Design CR-5M I also have a few g*itars: my favorites are a CIJ '72RI Tele Thinline & a Stratacoustic