Musky

If you've tried a different driver I'm assuming you've checked the the driver mounting bolts are tight - likewise the rear baffle. Failing that, see if you can figure out where the rattle is coming from by firmly pressing on the sides (the rear baffle being the most likely). Fixing an extra batten could sort out the problem once you have figured out where the rattle is coming from.

+1 on the DHA. Another pedal you might like to try is the Nobels bass overdrive. I really rate the sound of these things - goes from warm valve type sounds to full on overdriven fuzziness (I had the same criticisms of the ODB-3 as you). The downside is they're really flimsy - I've had one for 10 years without a problem, but only because I treated it with kid gloves from day one.

As Jon points out, Westone was just a brand name so they don't actually make the basses. A manufacturer would just be contracted to make them. Until sometime in 1987 that would have been Matsumoku, after which production shifted to Korea and the production of more nondescript copies. The brand seems to have disappeared for most of the nineties before being revived. The reputation for quality was established when they were made by Matsumoku, who knew a thing or two about making good instruments, and these are the ones to watch out for. There's nothing to suggest that the instruments made under the Westone brand now has anything to do with these pre '87 instruments - the Matsumoku factory was destroyed in 1987, and the brand name has probably been sold on. Doubtless the factory that is making these copies also produces identical instruments with other brand names slapped on the headstock. It's really a case that it's manufacturer you have to keep an eye out for rather than the brand name.

As soon as I saw the thread title I guessed which bass you were talking about - I saw this ad stuck on the noticeboard at my rehearsal studio last night. Although he was 'only' asking £300 for it there. ugh The words 'having a laugh' spring to mind.

You can always make your own, rather like Jon's own Rickenbugger. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=6431&view=findpost&p=68966"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...ost&p=68966[/url]

Bearing in mind that it's a shop that's selling, that's probably the kind of price I'd expect them to ask. Still ridiculous though.

I don't doubt SX make decent basses that may well be worthy of a bit of pimping. But I do think there's a certain herd mentality that we all subscribe to, and not just here on basschat. You only have to look at the way various pieces of kit comes and goes out of fashion to realise that. Jazzes were far more popular in the nineties, Ricks made a resurgence a few years ago and judging by recent comments Precisions are getting more kudos (on these boards anyway). And there's nothing wrong with that - we all pick up tips and opinions from somewhere, and they're bound to affect our own judgment (and GAS ). SX appear to be making decent instruments with decent quality control, something hard to find at this price, so it's to be expected that they'll be a good option. But there is an element of 'going with the crowd' to all this as well. These basses are coming from a factory that will be producing near identical basses that are more readily available in the UK, though perhaps with a less fashionable name on the headstock. If our introduction (well, mine anyway) to Jim Deacon basses hadn't been via cheapo sales on ebay, perhaps we wouldn't have them filed away in the 'cheap and nasty' category?

Actually I'm very surprised Jon - I've not seen that many rickalikes with maple boards. But obviously I'm not looking hard enough! I was trying to work out whether that CMI had binding below the bridge - something you commented on about the Giannini if I remember correctly?

My understanding (largely gained from Alex's posts) was that the amount of air shifted contributed to the overall volume. The 3db figure when doubling the number of woofers was something Alex mentioned, though there may well be some kind of caveat to that. Though of course, like bass ferret points out, you're not necessarily adding any greater displacement by doubling up on the number of cabs. Didn't think of that one!

[quote name='Bassassin' post='161319' date='Mar 21 2008, 10:53 AM']Very nice through-neck Jetglo, CMI branded: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300208944075"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=300208944075[/url] Still trying to get the seller to tell me whether it has twin rods & stereo outs, so I can guess who made it. J.[/quote] Can't help with either the TR or outputs, but I've seen a CMI rick with a maple neck. I don't think too many rickenfakers had maple necks, so it might narrow things down a little.

[quote name='Harrythebassdawg' post='162589' date='Mar 24 2008, 12:21 PM']If you relace an 4 ohm cab, with two 8 ohm cabs, would the two cabs together be louder, even though the impedance is the same? I'm just wondering as im deciding what cab(s) to buy[/quote] I simple terms, if your replacement cabs were comparable, then yes. In general, doubling the number of woofers adds 3db of volume, but any volume increase would be dependent on both the efficiency of the drivers and the cab. So it is quite possible to use a pair of new cabs that are less efficient than your existing one and actually get a volume drop. Since joining up to these forums I've been discovering just how complicated speaker design is, so maybe someone else would like to jump in here.

About 10.5k I believe.

I had something a bit similar, where I plugged my bass in one day and found the bottom end seemed to have disappeared over night. After the sort of checks you seem to have made it turned out that there was a thin layer of a hard lacquer like substance on the jack socket. I've still no idea of what it was, but it took something a lot more abrasive than switch cleaner to shift it.

You'll need an 8 ohm cab to match your trace. When you add an extension speaker the total impedance is halved, giving you your amps minimum impedance of 4 ohms - i.e. 8 ohm internal speakers + 8 ohm extension = 4 ohms. If you add a 4ohm cab to your combo you'll get a total impedance of about 2.6 ohms, which will blow your amp! The wattage will be shared equally between two 8 ohm cabs, so you'll need a cab capable of handling at least 150W. There's a sticky on this at the top of this forum, which probably explains all this a bit better than I can.

[quote name='Longmayyourun' post='161684' date='Mar 22 2008, 09:28 AM']Thanks guys for your thoughts. It has also been pointed out to me that the original Quo bassist (Alan Lancaster?) did alright with a Mustang[/quote] Andy Frazer and Jack Bruce did ok with EB3's as well. Short scale basses may lose a few inches off the neck, but they don't lose anything in tone. If you decide you don't like the bit of 'flap' they add you can always use a heavier gauge of strings.

Welcome back Bargy! I'd wondered what had happened to you. Still using the same strings?

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='160758' date='Mar 20 2008, 12:42 PM']My Sound City 120 is a Mk4 and does allow switching to 4. 8 and 16 ohms on the output transformer. It's been a little noisy (when I'm not playing) in an annoying way in the house. I tried swiching from 4 to 8 ohm and it makes no difference. It sounds great when I'm paying and I have no concerns about anything else. I'm led to believe that the capacitors may need some attention/replacement. Does anyone know of a good repair person in the NW (I'm in kendal)? Peter[/quote] Hi Peter. Using a valve amp set to 8 ohms into a 4 ohm cab is a pretty quick way to destroy it. If you've got away with it so far, all well and good, but I wouldn't recommend you carry on doing it even for a second. Valve amps shouldn't even be fired up unless they're under the correct load. Oxblood made a useful post about using valve amps into too high a load, and though not as bad as using it into too low a load, it will burn out your valves much quicker and can take the OT with it when they go. Take a look at [url="http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=34986776f7f9070d4713c0acc74c1611"]the PlexiPalace Sound City boards[/url]. Sound City amps have a reputation for being noisy, but there are mods that can be made that will quieten them down.

I'm sure there's some documented phenonomen that explains this, but I think peopel just enjoy some kind of consensus. There was a spate of people buying the Harley Benton Beat Bass in the dying days of Bass World, but they're never mentioned anymore. I can understand why the SX's are so popular in the US, but when you factor in shipping charges they're not so competitive over here. I'm sure the SX's are coming from the same factory as a lot of other Chinese budget brands which are available over here for the same kind of cash (or less).

It rather depends how close you want to get to the Fender look. Aria Cats (Matsumoku era basses) are a kind of 80's take on a P/J bass and go pretty cheaply on ebay for some reason. But unless you get very lucky, the Cat aside, you're unlikely to pick up vintage japcrap of any quality for under £100 from ebay.

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='159849' date='Mar 18 2008, 07:21 PM']I think I need a diagram... I always coil my cables by holding the end in one hand, pulling my other hand down the cable then rolling it a hole turn between my fingers and thumb, then bring my hands together, making a loop. Then lather, rinse, repeat. But this BBC method sounds intriguing![/quote] I think I wind cables the same as you, but I'm curious if we're doing the same as Clive suggests. I always thought the idea was to never twist a cable unnaturally, but I'm rather curious what this 'reverse coiling' is about.

You're fairly limited with a single pickup, but a push/pull pot for series/parallel and a dual concentric pot offering treble and bass cut would give you some more tonal variation without messing with the look of the bass.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='157882' date='Mar 15 2008, 10:43 AM']Chancellor, James, Zender, Myung were all 90s (Mike Dirnt's technically 80s!) - and I saw Muse supporting Skunk Anansie in 1999... Tricky decade so far, there have been some great new bands, but no bassist has yet made much of an impression on me. I was going to say Martin Mendez from Opeth - but he first recorded with them in '99. /Gives up. Jon.[/quote] Exactly what I was thinking Jon. There don't really seem to have been any real bass heroes this decade - plenty of well regarded players that play in successful bands, but no-one that Joe Public would recognise as a stand out member of the band in the way Burnell or Flea were. Maybe it accounts why bass players seem to be a bit thinner on the ground now, judging by the ammount of 'bass player wanted' ads in the classifieds.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='157687' date='Mar 14 2008, 08:10 PM']Really pleased to see Jim Lea get several mentions as without Slade entering in to my teenage life I don't know where my musical direction would have gone. Always remember the story ( after they had fallen from favour ) when they turned up as a late replacement at Reading to play low down the bill carrying their own guitars from the car park and went on to win over the sceptical rock audience and blew all the "top" bands of the day of the stage. Anybody there that day ??[/quote] I was at that one! I remember everyone expecting them to be bottled off stage - instead they went down really, really well. That gig was probably responsible for their 80's comeback.

[quote name='OldGit' post='156391' date='Mar 12 2008, 11:05 PM']ha ha I'll tell Burke next time I see him. He'll be tickled I think [/quote] Please do! I loved basss players that really kicked along the song with great lines and took a leading role (Andy Fraser made the list for the only bass solo I've ever heard that really works on a purely musical level). I spent many, many hours trying to work out his bass lines when I started out. Great pass player IMO, and sadly overlooked.

PM Geejay - he has (or had) a BBT 500H.