Lfalex v1.1

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='242362' date='Jul 18 2008, 08:26 AM']your main point of concern should probably be to check if there are any brass bridge bolt anchor ferrules inserted in the body and check whether any of the screw holes in the badass are likely to line up with them. Digging those suckers out will be a very difficult job.[/quote] These are the big cylindrical boys either side of the saddles, right? I'd never realised that there were ferrules beneath them, though in retrospect, it makes sense as they have Allen heads, and these are seldom seen on self-tapping woodscrew threads. Looking at the OLP pic that Hamster posted, you MIGHT be able to get the middle 3 screw holes of a BadAss II to align with those on the body, then mark and drill the outer pair. I don't think that the BadAss mounting screws would clash with any ferrules, but I would query whether or not the backplate would cover any holes the bolt anchors might leave. As for the aesthetic angle, everyone's going to have a different opinion! Personally, I prefer Leo's later effort with the locking saddle G&L unit. Locked saddles=less energy diverted away from the string in making things rattle about! BadAsses aren't very pretty, but they do perform their function well. I Reckon I'd quite like a Ray4 with a replacement pickup, a 2-band EQ and a Status Graphite Neck (with an Ebony fretboard, Kiwi!!) and A BadAss III strung through-body. The only other modification I'd embrace would be a Series/Parallel switch... Uh-oh. Food for [s]thought[/s] GAS!

Looks similar to their Hardpuncher model... That's a (very good) P copy. Try looking that up, too!

It [i]does[/i] look like a G&L... I was reflecting just yesterday on the number of basses that the MMHB seems to have inspired / brought into being; Stingray, Sterling and Ray5 SUBs and OLPs G&L ASAT, L1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 Modulus Flea signature Warwick Jazzman, FNA, Corvette $$, Streamer $$ Ibanez ### SRX (insert number between 300 and 705!) Numerous Sandbergs... You can complete the list! As for the 'Ray in question, not for me, I think! I'm not sure about HB/HB. I like the scratchplate! 'Rays look better plain to me. The only specials I've liked are the Bluebursts and that Coppertop doing the rounds recently. And then there's the price... Both of these together cost less! Second one isn't a 'Ray, but it's definitely along the same lines.

That Blueburst Passion S3 V is exactly like the second fiver I played (Serial #191 for the Anoraks!) The fretless Passion S3 IV was #1144. I like low-volume production instruments. You can keep track much more easily than the truly mass-produced instruments...! [i]Edit- I've seen that purple flamed Passion before, too. 'Twas a custom order for a lady in America IIRC...[/i]

Count me in. Had it for about 11 years. Marvelous instrument. I've played several; Mine, Luke's Passion S3 V, Ped's Passion S2 IV string and the good Doctor's Arpege S2 IV Plus An S3 Arpege IV, a fretless Passion S3 IV and another Passion S3 V All were excellent instruments. All a bit eccentric, but excellent nonetheless. The Maple "Customs" seem to sound a bit deeper than the Alder "Standards", which are a bit growlier...

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='239305' date='Jul 14 2008, 04:59 PM']The honey violin is a nice colour in the flesh, as it were. Same stain colour as on my Triumph upright in my avatar. (See left!)[/quote] Here's a Honey Violin Streamer LX. Should give you a good idea...

Didn't Sting record a lot of The Police's fretless stuff with a 924 (Ibanez. Not Porsche...)

[quote name='Geek99' post='239027' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:34 AM']I take your point about Pots, I have read about people changing the capacitors and so on. What did you put in place of the existing 500k pots? Would good quality ones from Maplin do, or are there particular spec for instrument pots? Did you also change the capacitor? ( i did read somewhere that changing the pot value also implied a change of capacitor to maintain or improve the tone). It seems to me that a Squier VMJ may be the way to go. Can I presume that "they're all a bit different and some are better than others" or are they fairly consistent.? It sounds like the higher end ones (ie the fenders) are a bit variable.I'll look out for the two piece body though.[/quote] My pots, capacitor and pick-ups are still stock at the mo'. Pot-wise, check out CTS or the Fender "GreaseBucket" model (used on the Highway 1 models). If you change your pick-ups to something less dark sounding than the Duncan Designed ones, you're likely to want to change the Pot values to the usual 250k. Cap-wise, "Orange drops" seem to be highly regarded. Values? I think stock for most basses is 0.47 micro Farads. It might be worthwhile experimenting with strings/pick-ups/electrics to get the best sound for you. Ask around on here. Lots of people know more about it than I do!

[quote name='gilmour' post='236687' date='Jul 10 2008, 04:57 PM']I've used the Marcus Miller ones and they are great strings. DR's are my 1st choice of strings apart from the cost, sound great, play nicely and last for ages. Unfortunatley the cost (in this country) is prohibitive so I usually wind up with Rotosounds. [/quote] Ditto, except I use Elixirs on some basses. I dislike Rotos as I kill them too quickly.

[quote name='ahpook' post='230725' date='Jul 1 2008, 05:47 PM']i got a small phonic mixer a month or so back and it's great for the kind of thing you're describing - i use it for the same myself.[/quote] I have one, too. It's an 8 track and also has Phantom power. I feed it from any of the following; Ampeg SVP Pro Peavey Bass Max Hartke VXL Bass Attack MXR M-80 Mix in backing from a CD player or iPod, And monitor through a pair of Sennheiser HD 215 headphones. Sounds great, whichever way you use it. Phantom runs the MXR and Hartke, so no PSUs needed, either.

Sorry! A Squier 70's VMJ is indeed a 70's Vintage Modified Jazz Bass. It's just too much typing under normal circumstances! I've fitted a BadAss II Bridge to mine, and swapped the control knobs for some solid brass Schaller ones. String-wise, I'm using DR Marcus Miller FatBeams and I usually put a FatFinger on the headstock. All these conspire to give an aggressive but balanced tone. With a different set of modifications, I'm sure the tone could be steered in a different direction. The weak spots after the changes are the pick-ups (to an extent) and the Volume pots, which are 500k and a bit "all or nothing". The tuners are [i]okay[/i] (it holds tune!), but aren't the finest ever. The backplates are relatively small, so I reckon changing them for better ones could involve a lot of drilling, filling and re-drilling etc. etc. and it's really not worth the effort. $279 USD seems a good price. You'd pay around £230 Sterling for one here, which is quite a bit more. Definitely try before you buy, but QC seems consistently good. Have a look at the bodies. Some are 2 piece, and these look nicer than the 3 piece ones. If you buy via the Net, you'll not be able to specify what you get. As a bass for playing around at home with, they're an ideal choice for the cost-conscious.

[quote name='JonnyB' post='238778' date='Jul 13 2008, 09:50 PM']...What [u]I don't[/u] like is when composers rip off Aaron Copland's work (and never credit him with it) which seems to be mainstream practise - **cough**James Horner**cough**[/quote] Or Emerson, Lake & Palmer! Having said that, some of John Williams' material is [i]heavily[/i] influenced by Mahler, Holst, Wagner and Strauss... It's unavoidable to an extent, I suppose.

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7504086.stm"]Crikey! That's unsual...[/url] If it's that rare, they'll not be able to sell it on easily, either.

I quite fancy a short-scale Gibson EB type item. Might be pretty good into the Ampeg..

I don't know much, but I DO know this. Don't get an Xbox for your dog. Get A Wii and Wii fit... [fetches coat]

[quote name='molan' post='238124' date='Jul 12 2008, 06:55 PM']Do you mean the background music on the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)? If so then te easy option is just to turn it off: Services - System Setup - Sound Settings - Background Music Off - Save New Settings ^_^[/quote] As I did from day one. But I do rib anyone that leaves it "on"!!

[quote name='cheddatom' post='236701' date='Jul 10 2008, 05:16 PM']They may not give a sh*t, but they may well be able to tell subconsciously or something....... My point being, I and quite a few bassists will use effects and their "tone" to try and fill the gap in frequency content of their 3 piece band, compared to a 4 piece. Take their sound away and you have 1 clean bass, 1 guitar, and it all sounds miles thinner. Loads of music-lamens have complimented me on my bass sound over the years.[/quote] Which is an interesting point. I've never played in a 3 piece! (Worse luck!) I've always had 2 noisy (and usually good) guitarists to get around. I generally have what most of you would describe as mid-forward. All my graphic EQs seem to run an upside-down smile! Not that it doesn't work in the context of what I'm doing. And it's not all mid. There's just a smidge of upper bass and lower mid lift, plus a dip around 2k then a mild boost through the presence region. I can make it sing in a penetrating way that seems to leave guitars unscathed yet has enough bottom end to underpin proceedings. Works best with the Vigier and MIA Jazz. The Warwick Infinity is better for more aggressive stuff, and The Attitude yells more than it sings!!

I wrote a list, then read the thread! But I'm largely going to reiterate what others have said... Gattaca - Michael Nyman The Empire Strikes Back - John Williams Dirty Harry - Lalo Schifrin (esp. the beginning) is awesome. +1 to Stingray5 for reminding me of "Dune" and also for Fifth Element, particularly the multi-voiced cyan opera-alien! But I'll add; Restless Natives - Big Country Last Man Standing - Ry Cooder's guitar work on this is outstanding! Platoon - Particularly "Adagio for strings" by Samuel Barber And for those of you who like it "dirty"; Judgement Night - especially; Faith No More/Boo ya tribe - Another body murdered Helmet/ House of pain - Just another Victim

That's quite odd! The Victory is the one with the slanted pick-ups, right? Could it be a duff string behaving strangely? I'm no expert on plectrum technique (as a fingerstyle player) but I'd have expected the downstroke to be stronger if it were a technique issue. So... Could it be a string / polepiece alignment issue? That would cause a stronger output in one direction than the other... Otherwise, I Dunno! I'm clutching at straws, but I hope this helps, even if only a bit! Alex

[quote name='stinson' post='237865' date='Jul 12 2008, 11:38 AM']...but you've really got to go and play for yourself, every guitar is diferent.[/quote] Which is Fender's beauty and curse. As the Jazz has changed this way and that, so has its sound. It hasn't even evolved in a direct line from the original. It's just meandered to and fro! Not only that, but the manufacturing and QC has hardly been consistent over the years (although it does seem to be right at the moment) Those Squier 70's VMJs do punch well above their weight! Here's my two. Chalk and Cheese. I bought the MIA (Red) when going to try a Variax bass... I disliked all the Variax renditions of a Jazz, and said to the shop assistant "Let's try it against a [i]real[/i] one..." So we did, and it continued to slay all comers including an active Warwick Corvette and a MM Stingray (which wasn't the best I've played by a long way)

Irrespective various peoples' interpretations of the cause, we're definitely on the brink of a major economic slow-down. As levels of debt rise, people will try to sell off all the expensive items that they've been persuaded to buy in better times, only to discover that everyone's in (more or less) the same boat. Result? The second-hand market is flooded with the Mk.1 version of everything just as the manufacturers conveniently release the Mk.2 This greatly deflates the perceived value of peoples' goods, compelling them to sell MORE of their belongings at silly prices to get enough money to get by. Congrats on the new bass, CHRISDABASS. I hope you never find yourself in a position such that you have to sell on some of your belongings just to feed your family or put a roof over their heads...

[quote name='Machines' post='237524' date='Jul 11 2008, 06:55 PM']...And as for the last bass you'll ever buy ? No chance, you'll be lured in and tempted by us lot to buy more .[/quote] I [i]nearly[/i] bought one as my second bass back in... 96. But I'd saved up too much and bought a Vigier instead! Many others have followed, and I bought my first Jazz (an MIA) in 2006. It's still one of my favourites. S1, old, dull Fender 7150 Nickels, and it sings in a lovely muted voice. I love it. It's my comfort blanket...

It is a shame that the original deal's off. The MM3 I've got is great. Needed a better set-up / intonation job, but once that was done it's fine. I tried a MM22 (4string, 2xHB, 3 Band EQ) in a shop, and that was superb. Needed a good set-up again- the G & D strings were laying on the fretboard, but the underlying quality was there. I can't help but think that the MM2 and MM3 (if you can get a good 'un) are a good bet for hot-rodding Primarily in terms of a better set of controls- series / parallel and or active EQ...

Is it accessed from the body end or the headstock end of the neck? If it's the neck, can you use a 1/4" drive with an extension bar and get a socket that'll fit? (likely to be metric on a Japanese/Korean Instrument) I can't see how you'd access a normal hex nut/bolt from the body end without a super-duper special tool... If it will take a socket as described above, don't use a long-handled ratchet, or you risk exerting too much torque on the truss rod. A "T" handled drive would be ideal.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='232150' date='Jul 3 2008, 04:51 PM']Will anyone pay for a bottle that's already been drunk? Alex[/quote] ...And [i]refilled[/i]