Damonjames

I really like it, it is a throw back to the 2nd generation frusciante RHCP, and prefer it to the detour that "I'm with you" was. Despite "look around" I think the rest of that album is a reflection of who they were - a band trying to find themselves after a major part of the band had left. I really dig the new track, I hope the rest of the album follows suit, but agree it could do with a little more power and grit!!

Slim all the way. I prefer a neck that is shallow front to back, and narrower string spacing. I prefer Jazz in a fender and can comfortable play a stingray 5, but find it uncomfortable to play a precision or a jazz 5 with 19mm spacing. I tried an upright in a store once and played it for about 10 seconds! But I do have tiny hands!!!

I was in a grunge tribute band, and we had a good bunch of pubs that were keen to have us on 2/3 times a year, so filling out desired quota of 2 gigs a month was pretty easy. The grunge genre was always a gamble though (at least for a full nights entertainment) some nights were amazing and some were very quiet. I think there is far more mileage in a general 90's cover band, particularly if you do a lot of the Brit pop/indie stuff (the type of stuff I loathe playing on bass) you should have better success. The thing to bear in mind, is that for the most part at least, you target market is probably spending their weekends at home with the wife and kids, and probably will be another 10 years or so before we see our generation back in pubs on the piss on a regular basis once the kids get a little older. This is why the "classic rock" band is still so popular with most pubs! It's not impossible, but think it will become easier as time goes on!

I too am digitally challenged. My lady hands did struggle when I started, and I still find precision style necks a challenge. I would suggest going for a bass that's playable, regardless of budget constraints of it is even remotely possible, as if it is u comfortable/painful then they are more likely to give up. It will be hard starting, but you need to make it as easy as possible. A squier vintage modified jazz bass was a revelation when I bought it, the neck was just so much easier to play And they sound great for the money. Some standard major and minor scales are good to get the hands going, and just doing a chromatic scale was a great one for getting used to stretching and some endurance. For this chromatic run, start with the first finger on the first fret, and do 1,2,3,4 on the e, then a, then d, then g. Then slide the first finger up to the second fret and repeat all the way up the neck. A great tip for doing major/minor scales is getting used to shifting you hand to get the 4th finger notes, if you have small hands you will have to get used to floating it a little more that someone with a bunch of bananas for a hand. Tell them to above all persevere!

Hey all, sorry for the delay, it's been a crazy couple of weeks! So I finally got the new stings on the 'Ray, and as expected, had to adjust the truss rod a bit to get rid of the excessive relief (I don't know what strings were on there but they were stainless). I have replaced them with standard sliky's. The Intonation was being VERY temperamental, but I think I have it close, but will report back again in a day or two once the new strong fa have settled a bit. The nut didn't look unusual by the way. The interesting thing is that if I set the open string and harmonic to the correct pitch, (mostly e and a string) the problem area around 3-5 was still there. I had to set it up for the right pitch on the lost frets and just accept the compromise up higher. Will keep you posted!

I bought some new strings today, and will throw them on tomorrow and have a mess about with things... Jeez I hope it sorts it out!!

They seem sharp. Have checked it against two different tuners. I'll grab a new set of string today and set up and report back. I've just never had an issue like this before!!

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1454878331' post='2973893'] Could it be that performance anxiety for the recording is making you unconsciously press harder than usual, pulling the notes sharp? [/quote] Sadly, it's not that! The guitarist even tried with the same result!

And it looks as though early stingray 5's don't have compensated nuts, mine is a '95. Doing some reading, it looks as though it could be a string issue. I've never had it befor and had way more dead strings before now. I'll get some fresh ernie balls on and reset everything.

I picked this bass up used in Nov, and the strings had not long been changed. I'd guess them at 6 months, but wouldn't have thought that would be old enough to cause this much trouble??

Hey guys n gals, Just had a rather embarrassing experience while trying to record a bass track for a friend. The intonation seems fine on the 12th harmonic, but seems out on the 3-5 fretted positions, despite adjustments on the bridge saddle we couldn't get it to play in tune. I have thought I noticed this in the past, and checked tuning/intonation and just put it down to my ears hearing something that isn't there - apparently it is very much there!!! I am assuming that this is one of two things, either there is something fundamentally wrong with the neck, or it is a strong issue. For reasons I won't go into here, my lead in to today wasn't the best, so I'm prepared for the lack of preparation comments, but could it just be old strings causing this? Has anyone else with a stingray 5 had this issue? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Just clicked the sex type thing link above... I was not really into these guys back in the day, I discovered then a little too late, but I guess I'd always hoped that Scott and the rest of the band (stp or velvet revolver) would be able to sort out there differences and tour again. Seeing that clip an knowing Scott is no longer with us is heartbraking

I've been struggling with this today, we play a lot of his stuff in our set, think it's 5 songs all in. It will take on a different feeling when we play on the 20th. As many have said, he had some problems, and most unfortunately burned a lot of his bridges with the guys he made amazing music with. As has been said, there is no other words that sum it up like "waste"... That band up there just keeps getting better...

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1448017442' post='2912276'] Have to disagree with you. Currently Nate Mendels, new, selling for around £770. Mine is 1 year old, new strings, properly set up, all the extras you would get with a new one. It's out at £525. I think a 32% saving on one that is frankly indistinguisable from new is a very good saving. If people are looking for more of a saving than that, no wonder the market is slow. Oh, I did have some EXCELLENT trade offers but they all involved rosewood fretboards, which I'm trying to get away from. [/quote] I don't think this is a bad deal either Karl, if it were me, id put it on at that and be expecting offers somewhere near (+/- £50ish). And I am surprised that it's hung around, they are VERY good basses, and as I've said to you before, they are the only precision I've picked up and like the feel of due to the slim neck. However, I find the reference to the new price a little irrelevant. Sure, it has some influence, but when you are talking £250 quid extra for a brand new bass with a warranty, I'd personally be on the fence as to whether or not that represents great value by buying used and taking your chances. I wouldn't hesitate to deal with YOU on a bass, but peace of mind for me is a big thing. For me, even though I dont gig excessively, I want to know my gear is going to work out if the bag, and while I have good equipment, I've bought it used and have suffered reliability issues at times. I saw a Spector euro on here not too long ago for literally £100 quid cheaper that what bass direct had it on for brand new... Now spectroscopy are amazing basses, but there is NO way I'd pay anywhere near new price for a used one, they come with a lifetime warranty to the new owner. Now while I know spector's customer service is amazing, and they would always try to help you out, I wouldn't risk that kind of cash without SOME level of warranty. In your case also Karl, as fickle as it seems, signature models can be harder to shift, especially "rock" bassists models. My mike dirnt fender took an age to go and had to trade in the end, and why?? It's a 51 body with a tele neck, it's not like it's some angry pointy thing... The Nate Mendel is an amazing bass, nothing overly signature about it other than the "FF" neck plate but yet it's "rock".

Just out of curiosity to be honest. Personally I'd say my tone is probably a little more predictable with a passive bass, just wondered if those who use compression were moe likely to be playing an active bass?

just to muddy the waters a little, of those that do use compression, are you running active or passive basses?