Jean-Luc Pickguard

I have a few shorties [list] [*]an Ashbory. [*]a CIJ Fender Mustang (30") [*]a '71 Fender Musicmaster(30") [*]a 90's Squier Musicmaster (30") [*]a Danelectro longhorn reissue (30") [/list] My Daughter also has [list] [*]a '71 Fender Musicmaster [*]a daisyrock Heartbreaker (30") [*]a Daisyrock Stardust Elite (32") - which is lovely [/list] my favourite bass at the moment is the mustang - It has the fastest neck of all my basses and as the strings feed through the body Thomastic Jazz Flatwounds JF324s fit on it which is a massive bonus to me. I tried some "vintage" 70s mustangs in Denmark street and for some reason the ones I was able to try were very knackered and/or very overpriced.

TI Jazz flats only come as one standard set (JF344), so I use: .043, .056, .070, .0100 * the 32" JF324 set on my mustang is slightly different, but I guess we're talking 34" sets

[quote name='BigRedX' post='161810' date='Mar 22 2008, 02:57 PM']Looking at JLP's photo I'd say that he has one turn to many on the E as it looks as though the final wrap is over the one before because there's no space for another below it. Ideally you want every sting to pass over the nut at the same angle as the G and D which are being held down by the string tree.[/quote] It guess it does look like that in the pic, but the final wind isn't on top of another wind. As the TIs are for 32" and the bass is 30" scale, so a much thicker wound bit of the string goes about halfway around the string post.

Lovely looking bass. I vote for with keeping the pickguard, but maybe a different one if you don't like the plain white one. "Aged" white pearl will look good, but if you prefer it sans-guard, how about putting a clear one on?

Martin at the Gallery told me that it isn't necessary to cut bass strings when putting them on. I guess this may not always work for Gotoh/Warwick style tuners with skinny posts, but for my fenders I never cut the strings; the windings stack neatly on the post and there's a good break angle on the E. Here's my mustang wearing an uncircumcised set of Thomastic JF324 Flats. [attachment=6732:jlpmustang.JPG]

Unfortunately the only place I saw the Bass Cello was the Bass Centre when they had a retail space. Thomann.de sell them and have a [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/helpdesk_moneyback.html"]policy[/url] where they will take it back if you don't like it for any reason, no questions asked. I ordered my CR5M from them, but didn't send it back

The bass cello is a different instrument to the NS cello (in the video) - The bass cello is bigger - has the same scale length as a bass guitar & can be tuned as a bass or a cello. I almost bought one, but ended up buying an NS-CR5M bass instead.

playing to backing tracks is useful for practice and can be great fun, but just doesn't compare to the thrill of interacting with a drummer and other band members.

A chap I know bought his to use with didj until it broke and has been in for warranty repair for several months with no idea when it'll be fixed

Scroll down the BP forum - Jonathan Herrera confirms that it is not an April Fools joke.

They're thicker than regular strings, so you need to set the intonation at the bridge so the 12th fret harmonic gives the same note as you get when fretting at the 12th fret.

I have them on three of my basses, a highway 1 jazz, an '81 precision & an epi t-bird. Yes they do work - very well as long as: [list] [*]The little screw that governs the amount to detune is set up properly [*]You have a small dab of vaseline on the pivoting piece [*]you remember to tune up, flip the lever up & down and retune [/list] As soon as they make one for my mustang I'll get one for that as well.

[quote name='burray' post='155768' date='Mar 12 2008, 09:29 AM']I don't suppose there are any more of these going are there? I can't find the stopper bottles anywhere around here! :-/[/quote] I discovered last weekend that half-inch* shower hose washers from B&Q work just as well as the Grolsch ones and look a bit neater as well. * that's half-inch as in the size of the hole in the centre, not half-inch as in nicked.

James Jamerson's bass on Bernadette by the four tops

My son has the ashdown mini stack version for geetar and loves it, but then again he is only six. It makes a blummin' horrible fuzzy racket, and much improved by running it clean and using a behringer v-amp as a preamp for proper distortion tones, but I s'pose that defeats the object. I looks really cool though next to his squier mini-strat though.

The bassline on Sparkle City by Shuggie Otis is just perfect.

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='154056' date='Mar 9 2008, 06:01 PM']That looks cool. I wish I could do practical stuff like that - I'm hopeless![/quote] I'm OK planning it out in coreldraw, but by the time I've made it, it'll probably look more like Homer Simpson's spice rack.

My 90s MIJ '62 sounds like a precision should, it does the Jamerson sound with plenty of low-end punch, however my US '81 precision, although still sounding like a precision, sounds very different as it does have a certain growl. I suspect this may a lot to do with the heavy ash body (which makes the bass a bit of a boat-anchor) and one-piece maple neck. Both basses A/B tested with TIJF344 strings.

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='154023' date='Mar 9 2008, 05:16 PM']The spread of light's pretty good - esp in dark pubs. Easy and relatively cheap solution, me thinks.[/quote] That's what I wanted to hear. I think I might just get a set and have a go at making a case/stand thing. [quote name='stingrayfan' post='154023' date='Mar 9 2008, 05:16 PM']If you do - could you build me one please? Haha.[/quote] If I do make one I'm sure I'll post pics on BC and probably a pdf of the plans. Certainly This is the kind of thing I have in mind... [attachment=6310:lightbox.gif]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='153819' date='Mar 9 2008, 09:47 AM']Hey Barney, we recently got a pair of [url="http://\"http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_par_56_alu_schwarz.htm\""]these[/url] from Thomann which are great. Bought some [url="http://\"http://www.thomann.de/gb/prod_AR_196226.html\""]floor stands[/url] and put one either side of the stage on auto. They go through a cycle of about 6 colours and look great - better than traffic lights. And as people have mentioned they don\'t get hot. Good old Thomann... Edit: adding picture [/quote] The LED PARs look good - inexpensive & lightweight too. I might have to check them out. With one on each side of the stage, is the spread of light wide & bright enough? It should be possible to design & build a simple ply or mdf case to fit them in that breaks into two halfs and acts as stands for ease of setup. I'm happy with my all-in-one maplins "traffic light" set at the moment (They've only been used for one gig so far) but something small & light which doesn't rely on fragile bulbs or act as a heater would be brilliant.

[quote name='jono b' post='152553' date='Mar 6 2008, 06:06 PM']Clearly what you want is one of [url="http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/web/our-catalogue/Gibson/Electric-Basses/item/3349"]these[/url]. If only it was sunburst :wub:[/quote] ...If only it was the original pelham blue

I got one of these sets when maplin were doing them for £50. nice & easy to carry as both halves clip toghther and plash in sync.

Bill Wyman - especially when he mumbles along only occasionally hitting an actual note.

I have a bottle of something called "sticky stuff remover" it smells like orange scented petrol. I managed to get 10 year old stickers of my old precision with no ill effects. I have no idea where I got it though as it was ages since I bought it.

Someone's bound to say "the tone is in the fingers" so it might as well be me.