Lfalex v1.1

Lovely example! I'd like one in Ocean Blue with Silver Hardware. What's the betting It'll cost an arm and a leg? (semi-custom ahoy!) One is next on my hitlist, but I fear it's a long way off. There's a counterpoint to what we call GAS. In Hi-Fi circles, it's called WAF. WIFE ACCEPTANCE FACTOR And normally relates to (stereo) loudspeakers being too large/unsightly. It also seems to occur when you own >10 Bass Guitars! Are they Swamp Ash (apart from the £1200 "Swirly" Bubinga ones)? I've had a gut-full of Ash basses, and need something different. I hope they're lighter than either the Zebrano-bodied Infinities or Maple-bodied Streamers! If it has Warwick Red Labels on it, It deserves better strings, Black Labels, Elixirs or DRs (FatBeams) would be my choices, although the Rotos on my Streamer sound good.

My Zoot uses an SD MMHB into a Jon East E-Pro @ 18v. That gives Monstrous output. It will drive a power amp. Without a(nother) pre in the way. Sounded great through an SWR 2x10 driven by my (deceased) QSC PLX 1202. It IS designed to give greater headroom, but the pick-up shoves out a fair bit, and when you switch it to "series", run away. [i]Very[/i] quickly, and whatever you do, don't slap it...

Never seen a Neck in Hickory or with Hickory laminates. Hickory certainly grows large enough- They make pick-axe and sledgehammer handles out of it, so necks/fretboard should be manageable. It's plenty strong enough. Okay, it's not as pretty as Bird's Eye Maple, Wenge, Ebony, Pau Ferro, Purpleheart, Walnut, Ovangkol and all that sort stuff that can get into that part of a bass. If it's good enough for drummer's sticks, it's good enough for me (or maybe not! ) Anyone else got any suggestions for necks/bodies that they've never seen and wondered why they're not used?

[quote name='BlockInlayMan' post='16270' date='Jun 12 2007, 02:59 PM']Eric Avery (original Jane's Addiction bassist) - a great sense of melody and playing what the songs required. Check out "Three Days," my favourite song of all time. A good ol' P player.[/quote] Spot on! I think he plays on the "Deconstruction" album with Navarro, too. Listen to "The wait for History". More of the same! My 2pence; Andrew Weiss and Melvin Gibbs (both of The Rollins Band) Cass Lewis (Skunk Anansie & Terence Trent D'Arby) Tony Butler (Big Country) Michael Visceglia (Suzanne Vega) Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report, Phil Collins) - Just check out "This Must Be Love" from Collins' "Face Value" album. Stunning.

Unless, of course, your modern bass is a Fender (etc) that uses some Keraaazy imperial fittings like my 2004 MIA. I took it to my local (excellent) tool shop, cracked open the case and said; "I want an allen key to fit that (truss-rod), and those (saddle grub-screws)" They nearly fell over backwards, but then, it [i]is[/i] a nice bass... Beware imperial fixtures and fittings!

Whilst I [i]do[/i] own a router, I don't have the exact answer. However... had you considered sizing it up a bit on the small side, and practising on some old off-cut of MDF? Then offer up the pick-up cover, and see if it fits. If it does, great. If it doesn't, enlarge your template and have another bash. Keep going until it's just right! Don't make the mistakes I have with a router; i) Trying to pull a bit from the collet with your fingers. Never underestimate just how sharp router bits are ii) Hitting a screw which you'd forgotten was beneath the surface being routed. Molten metal in the eye is painful. Please wear eye protection etc.! Hope this helps!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='15106' date='Jun 10 2007, 03:09 PM']I think Tom is infamous on Talkbass as a complete gear whore. He's got pretty much every desirable valve bass amp that's been made in the last 20 years, reviews gear for Bass Guitar Magazine and has even been endorsing Sadowsky amps. Not bad for someone whose day job is an attourney, I can only imagine the kind of space he has to store all of that stuff.[/quote] Two words; [font="Impact"][size=6][color="#FFFF00"]BIG YELLOW[/color][/size][/font]

[quote name='Muppet' post='15055' date='Jun 10 2007, 02:00 PM']Ooops, that's very Gerald Ratner...[/quote] (Says it all! Nice reference)

My Iceni Zoot Chaser. Not made for me, although I am the first owner. It's the prototype. [attachment=585:ZootCustom.jpg]

I have a DTR 1000 (ltd) One of the best pieces of kit I've owned. Fast, accurate, easily visible. and for £10 less than the std. I got blue and white LEDs Best Bass? Best Amp? Not worth a thing if it's out of tune or your intonation's way off. I use mine extensively to tune/adjust/set-up my basses. It also highlights tuning instability and fretting issues in a given instrument The rest of the band use it too, as it's better than theirs. Expensive? Yes. Good? Surely.

I have an elephant-eared unit on my Yamaha. It's a Hipshot-branded one, not made under license. It has worked, and continues to work perfectly with no maintenance and only minute adjustments. I've had it 4 years. I recently checked the tuning with a quality rack-tuner, and was surprised how accurate and stable the tuning was at both the desired pitches (E and D).

[quote name='danbanbass' post='12456' date='Jun 5 2007, 01:22 PM']right, no reply, how would i go about a refund, i paid by switch online. Thanks Dan[/quote] Contact your card issuer (presumably your bank). State what has occurred accurately and fairly. Ask them to retrieve the funds. Don't waste your time dealing with the BC for this, they'll just mess you around again. DO contact the BC out of courtesy and explain what you've done. If they can't be bothered to acknowledge this, then it's their bad. Go via your card issuer. Don't enter into a slanging match yourself, they'll do it for you if necessary. If (on the off-chance) they're wholly disorganised, you may end up with a cab being delivered... Don't sign for it and refuse to accept delivery of it. If it's via Parcelfarce, they'll probably leave an 8x10 on your doorstep in the rain.

How did you pay? With debit cards and credit cards you can have the various agencies recall the funds. I've had to do that before with some companies, some bass-related, and some not. That's a last resort, but if they're passing you around on the 'phone, cancelling your order and threatening that may knock them into line. It's a pity GAK don't do Eden. They know how to process online/ telephone orders/ postal deliveries properly. Never had or heard of a bad experience with them (in terms of delivery)

[quote name='Buzz' post='11429' date='Jun 3 2007, 03:15 PM']Blocks yes......binding sprayed?, doesn't look like it, I'll have to investigate on mine.[/quote] Definitely. Er... And that there "skunk-stripe" on the neck is not all it seems, either. I detect some judicious use of dark woodstain! [i]Still[/i] good basses, though!

I hope your amp set-up doesn't go the way mine did! I have a kranky SVP-pro that mutes if subjected to too much acoustic feedback (vibration). My QSC plx1202 died, too. It NEVER all worked together continuously for an entire gig. It did make it through the odd practice in one piece. Sounded fantastic, but way too unreliable. I can't / won't buy another QSC. Might get one of the Behringer "copies" Meanwhile, my 12 year-old Trace SMX soldiers on regardless! Love the Geddy Lee refinish, and have always had a soft spot for 'Rays/Sterlings.

[quote name='Buzz' post='11429' date='Jun 3 2007, 03:15 PM']Blocks yes......binding sprayed?, doesn't look like it, I'll have to investigate on mine.[/quote] It took me ages to notice, and I only found out whilst outside in strong daylight. I turned through the light whilst cleaning it, and saw the woodgrain through it! Guess it makes sense from an economic point of view and in terms of ease of manufacture. If it's good enough to fool us lot, then it must be pretty well done! Further still, I find it quite pleasing that the physical integrity of the fretboard hasn't been "compromised" by cutting/routing bits out of it. Many people seem to remark on the good "feel" of the necks. Now I think of it, a lot of my basses don't have position markers inserted into the front face of the fretboard; Vigier- none Warwicks- none Yamaha- transfers Squier- Sprayed on Stingray fretless V (unlined)- none They all have top edge markers, though! (phew!)

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='10995' date='Jun 2 2007, 12:28 PM']Another good idea. Actually i just tried that and yes, it works although i need to get a black one as mine is lime green[/quote] I use a green one on my Trace... Goes nicely with the green mouse fur covering and green lettering!

[attachment=413:Squier70VMJ006.jpg] Here's mine. My wife bought it for me Then I added; A BadAss II Black Control knobs (in solid brass) by Schaller DR Fat Beams strings Sounds good relative to the modest outlay. Bridge pick-up is excellent. The neck is a bit murky. Tone control is only okay- the pot's okay, but it comes on strong a bit early. A better quality one might be a good idea. Feel, fit and finish are good at this price. Beware! The block markers AND the binding are both SPRAYED ON! No sign of it wearing off, though!

My Zoot bass is a good example of inordinately high string tension. Even with 35-95s on, it's harder to fret than one of my Warwicks with 45-105s. One major difference is the break angles- The Zoot is thru-body, and the Warwicks are all top-loaders. Furthermore, the Zoot has a severe break angle at the headstock, as ALL the strings pass under a retainer. Warwicks have the angled headstock, and need no string trees. Do you want the basses to sound the same? If you can live with (or want) a different sound, I've found that DR Fat beams run a discernably lower tension at the same gauge on the same instrument than some other brands. I attribute this to their being round -cored, but I could be wrong. The bass is a Squier 70s VMJ with a BadAss II on it. It feels very similar to my thru-body MIA S1 Jazz, but that's got 40-100s on it compared to the VMJs 45-100s. Aren't flatwounds softer for a given gauge, too?

Love the Attitudes. Here's why! They take some getting used to, then there's no looking back... Well made, tonally diverse, noise-free instruments. With bags of character.

My Yamaha Attitude is passive. Soundmen repeatedly ask me to turn it down/cut the bass (assuming it to be active) It's hotter than everything but my Zoot- and that runs a Seymour Duncan MMHB into a Jon East E-pro using 18v. It's a bit much, usually!

[quote name='OldGit' post='8357' date='May 28 2007, 10:27 PM']Well I'd say that none of those are difficult to fix as long as the client doesn't mind paying for a top skilled custom bass builder to spend his time trawling Ebay and t'internet looking for odd things rather than building basses ... A touch of realism is alway helpful ..[/quote] Er... He had 'em IN STOCK. Right there. Right then. Kicking about, like. Bear in mind he has the retail side to consider plus a couple of other people to help him out.

[quote name='presoulnation' post='8499' date='May 29 2007, 10:32 AM']Life would be so much easier if we didn't need batteries![/quote] Agreed, but I don't see the "Trevor Bayliss wind-up bass" catching on! As most gigs (except the outdoor ones) are in the dark, solar power is out, too. Realistically, the EBS idea of "phantom powering" FX pedals and Active EQs from their amps is the only alternative.

That's one nice bass! Hope it makes it, too.

[quote name='OldGit' post='7833' date='May 27 2007, 09:40 PM']Not if they are as good as everyone says (and you have enough money) Sorry if I promote my man Shuker but , hey if you find something good you want to share it with your mates .. That's all. There are many, many other custom bass builders who are, I'm sure, just as good ... I just don't know them personally .[/quote] Mike (Iceni) is already looking uncomfortable from bending over backwards to help people! I periodically pop in "on spec" and he's always had the all of my most bizarre requests to hand; BadAss II Three Solid Brass Schaller Knobs (Black) ONE Schaller Straplock compatible button (Silver) I also own one of his basses, a custom. But it wasn't made for me. It wasn't made for anyone, it's the Chaser prototype.