solo4652

I'm sure this question's been asked umpteen times. Sorry in advance.

I need an XLR cable to run between the balanced out socket on my amp to the mixing desk. I'm finding "instrument" cables and "microphone cables". Are they the same? What do I need, please?

Steve

I'm shortly to go and have a look at a used Vintage V940 unlined fretless - bubinga body, Wilkinson hardware, new Hiscox case. Like this:

[url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Vintage-V940-Fretless-Bass-Guitar-Natural/5CT"]http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/...tar-Natural/5CT[/url]

This would be a back-up for my fretless Stingray.

Harmony Central reviews are pretty good. Anybody got one and can offer some honest comments, please?

Thanks,

Steve

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='662603' date='Nov 23 2009, 01:08 PM']I'd keep an eye out for a Squier/Vintage/Aria etc. bass cheap on eBay, you can pick these up for around the £50 mark.

If you want to sell the neck, tuners and pickups on they'll have a higher value than Johnny Brook parts, Squier for the Fender shaped headstock alone

Squier Affinity P-Bass for £50 + p&p here:
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ180435663664QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2a02cdbb30"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar_W0QQitem...=item2a02cdbb30[/url]

I bought an Aria Jazz for £45 and it sounded heaps better than the usual budget stuff. I've played a very nice Stagg natural Jazz too[/quote]

Blast it! That Squier on Ebay was about 10 miles from my house. Looked a bit too bashed-about though. I'll keep looking...

Ah - well there's a clear consensus emerging here. I'll not be getting a Johhny Brook or a Jay Turser or anything else like that. I'll look out for a Squier. Thank you to everybody for your thoughts.

How about an OLP body with a an unlined fretless neck? Do/did OLP make such necks?

Steve

You can buy one of these new for £50

[url="http://www.johnnybrook.com/product.aspx?prod=jb100"]http://www.johnnybrook.com/product.aspx?prod=jb100[/url]

I'm considering one as the start point for a fretless bass. Buy this, drop in a Mighty Mite unlined fretless neck, add some Tokai pups I have. Any thoughts? Waste of money? Get-what-you-pay-for? Bargain start-point?

Steve

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='661233' date='Nov 21 2009, 06:37 PM']If you amp has a DI out already, then I'd simply use that. The bass amp could then be run at lower level for backline monitoring for yourself and the drummer, letting the PA do all the volume work.[/quote]


Does my combo have a DI out? Here's a picture of the back of the combo:

[attachment=36785:002.JPG]

Reading the combo's manual suggests that I could use the Line Out socket to connect to a mixer. It also seems that I could use the Balanced Out jack to connect to an external PA, using the Select Switch to dictate whether the output from the combo is changed by the combo's switches/knobs ("Line out") or not ("DI out"). Apparently.

So, please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that I could take a lead from the Balanced Out jack, with the Select Switch set at "Line out" and that will enable me to put a signal into the mixer that I can control in the usual way with the combo's switches and knobs. Does that sound right, please?

Don't laugh - I'm learning.

Steve

The band I've just joined is tooling up with a sw***y PA system. It has been suggested that we could place a mic in front of the bass and guitar amps and than feed the signal into the desk.

Now, I know nothing about PA systems, mics, signal processing etc, but it occured to me that a DI box might be a neater solution. But I don't know what I'm talking about.

So, instead of micing the guitar amps with free-standing mics, could a bass or a guitar be fed into a DI box which then splits the signal into amp-feed and also desk-feed?

Don't laugh, I'm learning....

Steve

Really, I'm looking for an unlined fretless with position dots where the frets would have been - that's the sort of neck I'm used to. So, I'm stepping aside from the queue for this Yamaha. I've already PM'd Vanessa.

So, anybody got something I might want at all? I might even consider a half-decent P-clone to which I could add a Mighty Mite fretless neck.

Steve

You have PM.

[quote name='ianrunci' post='656816' date='Nov 17 2009, 11:37 AM']I did my own. Plastic wood, some wet and dry and a tin of stain. Turned out a treat. Although it was soon showing signs of wear as I was using roundwounds on it[/quote]


I'd never trust myself to do that - I'd make a total mess of it!

I asked a local guitar tech. for a quote for de-fretting my G&L (maple f/board). The reply was:

"Hi Steve,

I'm not sure it's a good idea to have a fretless with a lacquered (or even
unlacquered) maple board. I think it would soon be marked by the strings."

Oh. That's plan D scuppered, then. So, it's either buy a Mighty Mite fretless neck for the G&L and hope it can be made to fit, or give up and simply buy a fretless bass.

Or just play my fretless 'Ray to death.

Steve

[quote name='Beedster' post='656203' date='Nov 16 2009, 06:30 PM']Hey Steve

If Howard (Bass Doc) will do it for £65, I'd have a chat with him. I was inferring above that you get what you pay for with this type of job. From what I've heard on here about Howard's work he sounds like the rare exception.

Right, that was clear as mud, what I mean is that £65 is bloody good for quality work which is no doubt what you'd get

Chris[/quote]

All clear now! Just a thought - Since I'd really like to end up with an unlined fingerboard, would it be any easier/quicker to replace the existing fretted maple 'board with a new unlined 'board? Anybody know of the likely costs of that?

Steve

[quote name='Beedster' post='656168' date='Nov 16 2009, 05:53 PM']I was quoted £175 by a highly respected luthier (price included getting the board flat also) but have heard of it being done for as little as £40. I think the amount you spend is a function of how much the bass is worth and how important it is to get the job done perfectly.

Chris[/quote]

Hi Chris,

As usual, you have come up with the information I need in double-quick time. Thanks.

Steve

Hi,

I'm considering having a de-fret done on my G&L Tribute. Anybody have any idea how much this is likely to cost, please? Ball park figure...

Cheers,

Steve

Good tight feel there already. Well done to you and your bandmates.

I approached this from the opposite direction. I started with a music stand and then added a mic holder to it, like this:

[url="http://www.millennium-music.co.uk/products/categories/subcategories/Superlux%20Drum%20Mic%20Clamp%20(12cm%20Gooseneck)/brands/detail/key/p/ppp/"]http://www.millennium-music.co.uk/products...tail/key/p/ppp/[/url]


The mic holder clamps to the top edge of the music stand. You could use the music stand to hold lots of different things, with the mic clamped to the top.

Steve

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='631466' date='Oct 20 2009, 03:13 PM']Hmmm... For the type of playing you're suggesting, I'd say the Sterling just pips the G&L, but then again I always played mine on parallel. Put it into series mode and you're really shattering the Earth's core! Again, both will do the job admirably. Whack up the bass control on the basses and you're away. Women's underwear will automatically vapourize as you play, LOL!

Another to consider for that sort of sound is a Warwick Corvette $$. Same sort of concept. I loved the original one I had. Amazing sounding bass![/quote]


Wow! I have a G&L and also a Stingray. Does this mean I'll be able to undress women at a distance!?

[quote name='Shaggy' post='650029' date='Nov 9 2009, 08:12 PM']Buy this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-style-carbon-graphite-fretless-bass-neck_W0QQitemZ280417758642QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item414a336db2"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-style-carbon-...=item414a336db2[/url] - put your own dots on, fit it on a donor Squier (have to be black), and you've got the coolest fretless around for norra lorra cash! [/quote]

Yes, I saw that and it did get me thinking. Then I remembered how I drilled through some wires in the kitchen wall, how I recently managed to wire a plug incorrectly and how my "plastering" in the shed fell down after 1 week. To me, "DIY" = Destroy It Yourself. I need to buy my basses completely built and ready to go.

Steve

[quote name='Shaggy' post='648897' date='Nov 8 2009, 04:35 PM']Got exactly the same on my Ovation Magnum 1. TBH it throws me a bit, as my preference is for 1/3/5/7/9/12 dot markers [b]on[/b] the "virtual" fret-lines, whereas with this system they're of course in the usual "between the fret" positions, but after a couple of minutes I'm fine. [/quote]


Aha! That's what I'm looking for - only cheaper. My unlined fretless 'Ray has side dots where the 3/5/7/9/12 "frets" would be - i.e. where the notes are, unlike where they are on a normal fretted fingerboard. This means I struggle to switch between fretted and fretless boards, so I'm looking for a back-up for the 'Ray that ticks all these boxes - fretless, unlined, side dots where the "frets" would be (unlike many unlined fingerboards that have position dots in the same places as fretted boards), wide P-style neck, costs no more than £350. All suggestions gratefully received.

Steve

Blast! Just missed it.

Anybody else got one spare?

Here's my current favourite bass:

[attachment=35332:Stingray_1.JPG]

I'm pretty much a novice with fretted and fretless but here are my thoughts, for what they are worth:

I like the feel of a fretless fingerboard strung with halfwounds - smoooooth and quiet

I prefer the fretless tone - smoooooth, quiet, rounded

I played the fretted last night at rehearsal and the band complained - "Where's that rich-sounding bass of yours, Steve?"

I find it difficult to switch between fretted and fretless - after the fretless, the fretted fingerboard seems visually and physically cluttered and confusing

I tend to learn a new song on the fretted (don't have to concentrate on left-hand positioning so much, while learning tempo/rythym), then switch to fretless

Personally, I'm not hugely convinced that playing a fretless will automatically make you a better fretted palyer (or, indeed vice versa), other than general practice is generally good (see Beester's comments)

Have both, enjoy both for their differences

Steve

And I thought it was just me - phew! I can really understand Beedster's rant.

Having intonation problems with my fretless, I measured the distances from the nut to the frets on my fretted G&L to see if they were the same as the nut-to-dot distances on the fretless. They weren't, and I was instantly confused. Not knowing whether the dots on the fretless coincided with frets or notes, I used the electronic tuner to check what the dot positions corresponded to. The answer was - notes. Well, at least I then knew I should press the strings onto the dots rather than into the spaces between the dots.

This is the main thing that makes it so hard to switch between fretted and fretless, I reckon.

Steve