Lfalex v1.1

[quote name='Machines' post='185294' date='Apr 25 2008, 02:01 PM']Ugly atrocity to the bass world. I love BBs - but this is like someone got it wrong in paintshop and put it into production.[/quote] Nope! This is what happens when things go wrong in [i]real[/i] paintshops!!! And it's an Attitude, too...

Presentation style notwithstanding, I like the look of the all-black "Stealth" style Bongo IV H/S. (Can I admit to liking Bongos in public?) Out of curiousity, I Wiki'd Bongo, and uncovered; [b]Operation Bongo II[/b]- [i]a controversial experiment in which 1,253 sonic booms were unleashed on Oklahoma City, Oklahoma over a period of six months in 1964 [/i] Maybe that's why it's called "Bongo"?!

[quote name='FJ1200' post='183487' date='Apr 23 2008, 08:45 AM']I thought IPA was banned by the HSE. We used to use it where I was working years ago and had to change.[/quote] I bought some a while ago from a pharmacy. Told them it was for cleaning tape heads, contacts, pots etc. About £3 for 500ml.

[quote name='Maine' post='183523' date='Apr 23 2008, 09:22 AM']Lovely, good tip thanks! 2 x 17" = 34" for me then. You're right, I was wondering about where exactly to measure at the bridge end.[/quote] Probably at the mid-point of the saddles' fore/aft travel. [i]Probably[/i]

Having been to a few Metal gigs in my time, and played in a Death Metal band, I can safely say that you can use almost anything! For example; Pantera, Biohazard - Stingray V Iron Maiden - Precision w BadAssII and Roto Flats and fingers Deicide - a Rickenbacker (!) RATM - Stingray (1st Album) Modded Jazzes thereafter Stuck Mojo - Precision One Minute Silence - Spectors then Warwicks Snot - G&L SOAD - Thunderbird (dropped BEAD?) I know some of these aren't exactly up-to-the-minute, but it gives you an idea. If you have limited resources, I would strongly recommend buying a bass that'll fit in well, whatever genre of music you may be playing. It gives you more flexibility. Precision? Jazz? Stingray? Corvette? Streamer? Thumb? L2000? ASAT? Various Ibanez- The ATKs in particular. The more versatile the better. Do bear in mind that your string choice/type/gauge can help to tailor the sound and feel of your chosen instrument, too.

Self-taught. Joined a band (good way to gain experience). Thought tuition was the way forward, but my choice of teacher was VERY poor. Yup, he could play. Nope, He couldn't teach. Just destroyed my confidence, cost me lots of money, prolonged the agony, and made me strongly consider ditching the whole thing. A word of warning, then; A good teacher is worth their weight in gold. A bad teacher is worse than none at all. Still playing when I can, and learned more in a few hours watching others' technique than I ever did from tuition. Yes, I'd try that route again, but could barely stretch to a lesson a month between rotating work schedules and bills! They'd have to be pretty damn good, too!

[quote name='bremen' post='182603' date='Apr 22 2008, 10:27 AM']Shipping with USPS is really cheap for thongs. Even huge ones. I've paid less shipping for T shirts from the US than some UK companies charge.[/quote] I prefer to buy my lingerie in the UK, thanks! As for thongs being huge, I thought they were meant to be skimpy! Best typo award 2008 goes to bremen! And it's not even May yet!

An old, padded lap top bag (slightly bigger than a modern one!) It holds duplicates of everything, so I don't have to pack/unpack for gigs and rehearsals. Just take it and go. That said, I like to travel light, and don't use fx so; 2x mains leads strap spare internal fuses for Trace head tools (Screwdrivers, Allen keys, Cable cutters, insulating tape etc.) extension lead Instrument lead (25') spare patch leads various audio leads/ adapters ear plugs The bag's soft, alnd will shove into spare boot space quite readily. A laptop can fit in it, too (if I empty it!)

I used GT85 (WD40, but better!) and a good deal of elbow grease and a soft cloth on both frets and phenolic board. The Vigier came up well, but dull (which is how I wanted it) The Yamaha seems to have some sort of lacquer on it, and it came up sparkling...

Is it a 12AX7 in the pre? Pity it doesn't have a SS gain stage, as you can tell if it's the valve by using the SS side (Trace/Peavey/Hartke etc.) I had a 12AX7 go microphonic in my Trace after about 12 months. The replacement's lasted another 10 years! They should be easy to swap in and out, just do it with the power off and remember to treat valves like Halogen headlamp bulbs - don't touch them with your bare hands.

[quote name='gti1396' post='175099' date='Apr 12 2008, 12:08 PM']cheers guys, string problem sorted just need to get some musicman knobs now![/quote] Schaller ones are similar, not identical. They're solid brass, have slightly more domed tops and little divots to show the control's position. Normally retail at £5 a piece. Available in chrome, gold & black. I've got some on my Squier VMJ. The extra weight over the bakelite / nylon items feels good when you use them.

[quote name='Hutton' post='177156' date='Apr 15 2008, 04:37 PM']Two minutes actually. As burpster says this bass is built in Mexico. However, don't let that put you off. The classic series basses are getting great reviews and are superb value for the money. If it is USA that you want then you're not far off the price of a good used Highway 1.[/quote] Or a second-hand MIA!

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='173740' date='Apr 10 2008, 10:35 AM']...I share an 8mb connection with 5 guys who download copious amounts of HD porn...[/quote] Cool! What basses were they?

Was Boz Burrell's once. No provenance, though. Purchased via the (Wapping) Bass Centre. It's a 1990, and is now tuned CGDAE.

But can yer drummer play the intro..?

Utterly annihilated a (Luthite) Ibanez EDB600. Was practising at home, and after being interrupted six times in six songs, I discarded the bass rather than taking it off carefully. I tossed it at the sofa in disgust... And missed. It hit the floor and made a strange, dull "click". I'd cracked it, and sheared off the whole lower bout, south of the top edge of the control cavity rout. Cracked the EQ board, too. This due to the fact that we've got solid concrete floors, and that the previous incumbent in our house didn't put any underlay beneath the carpet! Now seriously annoyed, I firmly grapsed the tip of the headstock, put a foot on the neck at about the 12th fret... And pulled. PING! 24 frets a-flying. (Yes, they all fell out) Neck broke in half at 12th fret. Headstock broke into 3 strips around the tuners. Truss Rod fell out. Ibanez necks... Slim, fast and fragile. I reckon if the body had been wooden, it would have survived. Forgive me BC'ers, for I have sinned!!! (Sorry guys, no pics!)

It's got to fit in the control cavity, right?? Maplin do ferrite beads for smaller gauges of wiring. Just slide them down the wire and secure it firmly (don't want any annoying rattles!) before you solder it all up. They should perform the same function as a full-on choke. Why do you think you might need them? (apart from the schematic suggesting them) Is the switching likely to be susceptible to RFI?

Don't even go there!!!

Call me a stick-in-the-mud, but... Tone / Playability > Manufacturing Quality > Finish > Colour. Or in other words, buy the best sounding / playing one! All else being equal, then choose a colour you like! This coming from someone who has i) Never purchased a (specific) bass I haven't tried in a shop. ii) The Best-sounding collection of aesthetic disasters known to man.

Tweeters and horns left unattenuated can make the already edgy sound of phenolic boarded basses unduly "brittle" sounding... As for the compression, there wasn't much on there. Just a smidge to round out the sound rather than tame peaks/troughs in my playing (I don't use one myself during practise, so I have to exercise a measure of dynamic control!!)

[quote name='alexclaber' post='174357' date='Apr 11 2008, 09:30 AM']My problem with active basses is that cheap implementations tend to have too much noise, distortion and [u]compression[/u] caused by the preamp, plus 20dB of bass boost on an onboard knob in the hands of a beginners tends to result in tonal disaster (and amplifier distress)... Alex[/quote] Warwick, I find you guilty as charged on all 9v-powered implementations of the MEC circuits. Compression city! Okay, they're electrically quiet, but that's about all! And before all the Warwick owners start a-flaming, I own two!!

Yes, my rig has an HF horn. My 4x10 has an attenuator, but my 2x10 doesn't. In the aforementioned studio episode, I was monitoring via headphones and the sound was 100% DI'ed. The drummer was playing in the same room, and the LF from the cabs was setting his snare a-quivering in the quiet bits. The master volume was zeroed, to silence the cabs, and the input gain was left as was. I still heard an felt the clanging, yet on playback, it wasn't there. We were using Yamaha NS 1000Ms as Mid-field monitors in the control room, so the overall mix didn't lack HF, either... and the engineer hadn't backed-off the top end on my channel!?

Hmmm. I, like many here, own examples of both active and passive basses. I think the appeal of a passive bass lies in its inherrent simplicity, coupled to the fact that the fewer components between pick-ups and loudspeakers gives a more "direct" sound - The opposite to the aforementioned "over-engineered" sound. The advantage of actives is that you can tweak your tone as you go. I think that the reason the on-board EQs produce different results to EQs in pre-amps/FX/heads is that they have fewer bands (2 or 3!) with a much broader f and often a much greater Q +/-20dB isn't unheard of. Not many off-board EQs will go to those extremes. Theoretically the effects of an on-board EQ should be repeatable with an off-board EQ, but it's frequently not the case. Still, both active and passive have their place. I just grab whatever I feel like playing!!!

And another thing... Re-frets would be cheaper on Graphite necks with wooden 'boards! I'm amazed to find anybody else as mental as me, let alone TWO!! Re; Fret noise and clatter on phenolic boarded necks- For years I thought it was my dodgy technique. Obviously not! What does strike you is that only the player really seems to hear it, and primarily from the instrument itself. I have a recording (in a band context, but bass clearly audible) made when my Vigier was clanging away with heavy EQ on the bass just where it would be worst. When it came out of the desk, it just wasn't there at all. No studio jiggery-pokery, just clean and clear!?

[quote name='P-T-P' post='32379' date='Jul 16 2007, 09:56 AM']Adam Clayton is probably more famous for knowing Bono and bumping uglies with Naomi Campbell than he is for being a bass player, does that count?[/quote] Crikey... He did that and survived! He must've kept a B-I-G can of bass kung-fu in reserve for protection from flying fists/phones/saliva (delete as applicable).