Lfalex v1.1

I'm not a great buyer or seller of gear. I've bought one cracking bass here. Sold some stuff, but I've had greater success on E-bay. Or, more precisely, potential buyers making contact directly after the auction had ended! On both occasions the buyers were local, I let them try out the basses, and they paid me the full asking price there and then in cash. In the case of my 'Ray 5, I chopped 20% off of the price on BC, and still it just sat there. BC can be quite fad-prone over mid-priced stuff (Fender/Warwick/Musicman) as there'll be another along later if an initial deal doesn't pan out. Cheaper gear shifts, as it's more immediately affordable, and the ever-desirable boutique items get snapped up quite quickly as long as the price is realistic Long live TIM.

In spite of the pre still drawing current whilst bypassed, I've always got good battery life from my 3 Warwicks. They're all 9v EQs, and do seem to last about 2 years or so. That'd be about right, given that they all get used in rotation, along with the others. I am more cautious with the Fortress Masterman, as it has 2 EQs to run. It doesn't have a bypass, though.

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1329224602' post='1539022'] Doesn't matter about the number of frets though does it? Especially if you're only talking about going down 1 tone... [/quote] Not particularly, but having 26 and then "losing" 2 to the capo still leaves a round double octave fret-board, in spite of the (now) shorter scale, which I thought would be quite familiar. No other reason.

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1329165745' post='1538311'] I think it sounds like a great idea! Might give it a go myself......... Of course, you could buy 4 Hipshot detuners and do a Michael Manring! [/quote] But the infinity has 26 frets, not 36 un-frets like his Zon Hyper bass! Er.... And a capo's a bit cheaper than 4 hipshots!

Thanks for all the input! And there I was thinking it was a fairly original concept..... I shall indeed give it a whirl.

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1329040477' post='1536239'] Tom if you have a car it would be worth your while taking a trip over to Braintree to Peach Guitars..... [/quote] Have they got anything worthwhile these days? My last visit was disappointing. Nothing Peachy, and too many Gui***s

It's one of these... [IMG]http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m248/Evilex1/P1000893.jpg[/IMG] Discontinued nowadays.

That's ok, the SN4 doesn't have f-holes. It's got a chambered Zebrano body, not the semi-hollow of the Neck-thru...

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1328965284' post='1535355'] warwick bridges... make sure you get tapered strings otherwise the fat strings won't work. Otherwise... if I had to stick a bass in DGCF, I'm not sure I would choose that one. [/quote] I was going to keep the current strings on it. They're 40-100 Elixirs. It sounds fine and remains fairly playable down to CFBbEb.... Any reason you'd not use the Infinity?

Dear God - Xtc

I have an ' 02 Infinity SN4. It's a good bass, but I have plenty of others in 4,5, and 6 string formats. All are tuned to their "normal" tunings of EADG, BEADG and BEADGC. The Infinity has 26 frets, so how about if I tune it DGCF and use it that way, and also periodically put a capo on the second fret to give me the equivalent of a 32 inch scale 24 fret bass tuned EADG. The only issue I can see is neck dive ouf I use a hefty capo. Are there any set-up tweaks I need to consider- Or is it just too daft for words in the first place? I'd appreciate your thoughts on the matter... Thanks in advance. Alex.

Thanks for that. I'd have said early was '82. My ' 97 Lx vi isn't even close, I'm afraid!

What year would an "early" Streamer be? Just out of interest....

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1328816220' post='1533219'] Post '61 should be .05microfarad throughout. The tone knob has a punched plate over a punched washer which gives the effect of notched control. I have heard of .03 being used prior to '62 but I cannot confirm this Can I ask where you got your data on the caps from? [/quote] An old diagram I saw once, coupled to the vagaries of my memory....!

[quote name='dub' timestamp='1328812576' post='1533133'] ....but I have been impressed by the sound of basses I,ve tried with maple boards with carbon rods in them (sadowskys / lakland) they have both brightness and woodiness with a more even tone which seems like the best of both worlds to me. Worth checking out. [/quote] If you thought basses with wood necks and graphite reinforcement were good, then check out Vigier Passion/Arpege Series III and Series IV basses. Graphite rods instead of a truss-rod.. [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1328815566' post='1533213] I think you're right, I'm just weighing up all the various options of getting what I want, a secondhand Ray plus the cost of a Status neck is going to probably equal close to the price of ordering a brand new Ray to my spec from MM. [/quote] All too true, I'm afraid. You might be better off seeing if a s/h 'Ray 5 with a Status neck pops up. Unfortunately, you may have to wait forever for that to happen! The cost put me off, too, and I sold my Fretless 'Ray 5 eventually.

IF you have a five-string, there's no law that stops you using it as "just" a four- string for some gigs, ignoring the B string altogether. For me, the biggest caveat is finding a bass which sounds and feels like a five and not like a four-plus-one (if you know what I mean)

Am I right thinking that the capacitor values on the tone controls should be 0.22 pF and 0.47 pF for neck and bridge respectively, and that the tone controls should have notches on them rather than being infinitely adjustable?

They leave them blank in case you want to fit non-standard hardware, such as sealed tuners which are smaller in diameter than the originals (Schaller ABM?) and have fewer retaining screws etc.

Levin is cooler than most of us when he's SLEEPING.... A prodigious talent.

I had a fretless Ray 5, and looked into converting it by going down the Status route. As far as I know, the neck profile replicates the original. In terms of sound, expect a slightly more aggressive but more tonally even sound with a less compressed sound than Maple and colder but clearer than Rosewood. Do be aware that Status aftermarket necks come as fretted blanks- without hardware. If you want the factory to drill out all the holes/set it up, it does cost more than the already considerable expense. (I DO own a Status, Btw..)

At the risk of being flamed to death.... Many of these are the reason(s) that I'm either in an originals band... Or not in a band at all. I understand that these may be as a part of lucrative function/covers band arrangement.... But I'd just stand there and play it like a zombie. For some reason, I only enjoy playing something that I've had some input into, for better or worse. In the last band I was in, we did "All along the Watchtower..." and I hated it. Quite obviously my mileage varies significantly... And limits (severely) my ability to find a band...

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1328634479' post='1530434'] My '78 has screws, my late 80s Japs all have allen keys... I think they're metric too but I might be wrong (plus it's possible my bridges aren't genuine, they were all second hand basses). I know the US Fender bridges I've encountered have needed different sized allen keys.... Basically if your 70s bridge looks like a quality item I'd be suspicious. [/quote] @ the last statement. AFAIK, All MIA basses were (and are still) imperial. My 2004 Jazz is - both Truss rod and saddle grub screws. My Squier VMJ is all metric, as are Fender MIJ / CIJ As for the Mexican variants, I really don't know... though I seem to recall one I tweaked for someone 15+ years ago being metric..

[quote name='Gwilym' timestamp='1328368880' post='1526103'] I guess they might filter out the neighbour-annoying sub-sonics anyway. I'm guessing it would probably be quite good with my ACME cabs, just to optimise the work being done by my amp. The ACME's are tuned to -6db @ 31 HZ (i.e. the low B fundamental), and quite power hungry, is the Thumpinator going to clash with that 31HZ tuning in any way? Thanks! [/quote] It'd surely remove the subsonic components- using the hpf on the QSC stops any unpleasantness when if/when (delete as per playing style) a string touches an open pole-piece. Remember that one of the salient points about cabinet response is the level at which it reproduces the quoted frequency. Presumably, it's referenced against the level produced at 1kHz for the same power input (under anechoic conditions and without boundary reinforcement - so hardly "real world" as we experience it) If it is -6dB @ 31Hz, it'll be about 4 times quieter at that point than at the 1kHz level, leaving aside any issues due to low-frequency insensitivity of the human ear. Using some sort of hpf will help save the driving amp's power by not having it try to reproduce lower frequencies that are; 1) relatively difficult to hear (if not feel!) 2) hard to reproduce at realistic levels compared to (for example) the midrange. 3) taxing for equipment to reproduce At lower levels (as previously stated), it's less of an issue, as the amp has more headroom to spare, and this can be used in lf reproduction without flapping cones or compromising the systems reproduction of other frequencies.

I tried a NOS one in Pmt. I was distinctly unimpressed. Well made and set-up, but ultimately rather dull and bland. They wanted 600 notes for it (as a further disincentive)

My qsc power amp has a built in hpf, selectable on the rear panel. It can be switched off/30hz/50 hz. I leave it on 30hz, and even that improves the sound by conserving power that would otherwise vw wasted in trying to reproduce frequencies the cabs can't handle well.