Jean-Luc Pickguard

I can tune accurately in well under a minute with noise all all around me and my bass unplugged. I don't have perfect pitch, or probably even 'good-enough' pitch - just a Planet Waves SOS tuner.

[quote name='theosd' post='179993' date='Apr 18 2008, 05:34 PM']They are just always really boomy - only buy if you're a plectrum player.[/quote] What? Mine isn't boomy & I use flatwounds & fingers. It doesn't neck dive either - after ten minutes well spent relocating the strap button.

[quote name='thewalruswaspaul' post='175559' date='Apr 13 2008, 10:47 AM']Have not done pickup swap yet , have just got some new machineheads coz the squier ones suck , will fit pup in next week or two , am currently trying to decide between the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/scpb1_vintage_f/"]Seymour Duncan SCPB-1[/url] and the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage/lipstick_tube_f/"]Seymour Duncan Lipstick Pick up[/url] , both seem to be in the vintage ballpark , will let you know once I have done the swap[/quote] 'm not sure if the SCPB-1 would fit. You need a strat size pickup unless you are cutting a new pickguard. Kent Armstrong also do a strap size lipstick pup. I'd go for a Brandoni enclosed cool rails though. Mine sounds massive in my '71 musicmaster.

I stopped using roto flats when I got three bad sets together. They may have improved since, but they were total crap five years ago when I last bought them.

[quote name='nickcarey' post='178887' date='Apr 17 2008, 02:46 PM']The other thing I was wondering about are the types of strings Musicman fit to fretless Stingrays by default.[/quote] Just a guess, but I'd be surprised if they fitted anything other than Ernie Ball strings

I'd send an alternative set list and ask if he actually wants a bass player onstage. What an idiot.

I have one somewhere, but hid it from the kids and forgot where...

I have several different tuners and only ever use a planet waves SOS - It costs next to nothing and is easy fast & accurate, even on a low B. And its possible to tune in noisy surroundings in total silence.

Go for it - There's nothing wrong with modding a cheap bass - if nothing else it builds up experience, so working on a more expensive bass later will be less daunting. I have put a couple of rail humbuckers into 71 musicmasters. My daughter's has a Brandoni white hotrails with explosed blades and mine has an enclosed black brandoni cool rails. The cool rails sounds (& looks) much better to me, although my daughter likes the zebra effect of the hotrails. I think the coolrails is more suitable as the hot rails sounds a bit too zingy for my taste. Last time I looked either pickup would set you back about £30 from brandoniguitars.co.uk

Donny Hathaway Live, for Willie Weeks groovy p-bass solo on voices inside.

[quote name='Macko1968' post='170163' date='Apr 5 2008, 11:02 AM']I remember seeing one of these circa '84 & not being allowed to touch it by some misery guts shop owner.[/quote] I remember going to Denmark Street in 1986 looking for a Hohner B2A when they were first available. Rose Morris had one in the window, but the chap there wouldn't let me try it out even though I said I would buy it on the spot if I liked it. I went a few doors down where I was allowed to play one and bought it. I knew the B2A hard cases weren't available - the first shipment was a couple of weeks behind the basses for some reason, so as soon as I bought he bass I back to Rose Morris it and asked the same chap I spoke to earlier if he had a case "this" holding it up.

Stash hidey-hole?

I can understand "the funk machine", but anyone know why jaco's was called the "bass of doom"?

According to most of the spam emails I've been getting, I'm not qualified to play my Danelectro longhorn.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='165508' date='Mar 28 2008, 07:58 PM']Changing your jazz p'ups for split coils? That could be difficult, you'd have to re-route the body for that and i wouldn't do it unless you've had experience with this before or if you get a pro to do it. You'd also have to get a custom pickguard cut. I wouldn't imagine wiring that would be too hard if you know what you're doing though.[/quote] The coils are split, but they are still the standard jazz size. As for strings I lke the lovely floppy rubbery feel of Thomastik JF344 on my fenders, but not everyone appreciates flatwounds.

+1 vote for a CIJ Mustang. I got a good-as-new secondhand one for £300. Apart from 30" scale (JF 324 strings fit ) Its nice & light and the nut is definitely narrower than the 70s mustangs I tried (overpriced / knackered ones in Denmark street). I have a danelectro longhorn which is nice & light, bt the body is quite large. I have a nice squier musicmaster I've been thinking about selling, however its pink If I was buying for a nine-year-old though, and the budget was limited, I'd look out for one of these:

A few of my basses have a "below the strings" tug bar - not that's ever going to be used. The chrome pickup cover is useful for Jamerson-style hand resting, but it doesn't make me play like him.

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.