EliasMooseblaster

When I started out on fretless, it was a shoot-out between the Squier VMs (a P and a J) and a s/h Warwick/Rockbass Corvette. The Corvette cost a bit more but was a lovely bass with a Jazz-style pickup configuration; at the time it felt like a bit more bang-per-buck. I really liked the Squiers, mind. The only thing I found a bit off-putting was the ebanol fingerboards. It felt and looked a bit odd for my tastes; having owned a couple more fretless basses since then I might now judge it differently. It may be worth keeping an eye out for a s/h Corvette if you like the Warwick/RB shape - but definitely try the Squier VMs.

Apparently so! I asked a similar question with regards to upgrading my Epiphone SG bass, and one of the best suggestions seems to be to swap out the big mudbucker for a Model One: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/312566-epi-eb-3-varitones-and-other-mods/ If you get round to it before I do, let me know how you get on!

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1506951942' post='3382218'] My 8-string is surprisingly weighty - comes in at around 11lbs. I know this is being comfortably beaten by quite a few other basses on this thread, but then this one's only a 30" scale length! [/quote] Oh yeah: why? Well, it's the only 8-string bass I've ever chanced across in a shop. It would have been remiss of me not to at least go in and try it out.

I've returned to noodling around on one of those things that has little strings and big hole in the middle. Took an interest in some Russian folk music, and whilst some of you may know this as "Korobeiniki," it's probably better known as one of the tunes that used to come out of a Nintendo Gameboy:

[quote name='DJpullchord' timestamp='1506862056' post='3381554'] Robby Krieger. [/quote] Oh, hell yes. I suspect he gets overlooked because (i) The Doors seem to be quite divisive and (ii) the things you notice first tend to be Morrison's voice and Manzarek's electric organ, but I've always loved Krieger's playing.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1506715095' post='3380692'] I'm probably going to be the only person to vote 'other' . [/quote] Nope, one more here! I have an 8-string in my arsenal (4-string double-course rather than a particularly extravagant ERB!) Other than that I am quite boring though - one fretless four-string, and probably more fretted fours than I really need...

My 8-string is surprisingly weighty - comes in at around 11lbs. I know this is being comfortably beaten by quite a few other basses on this thread, but then this one's only a 30" scale length!

Nice one, thanks for posting that! Building the capacitors onto a little PCB looks like a much tidier solution than some of the pictures I've seen of ready-made varitone circuits - I'll might have to take a closer look at the control cavity and see whether I've got space to do something similar. Also, it's funny you mention that Pete has settled on soloing the DiMarzio as his preferred tone. Soloing the stock mudbucker tended to be my go-to when this was my main bass, so perhaps I should try popping a Model One in there first and then seeing what I think of the overall tone.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1506685433' post='3380401'] I know guys that post things on FB about playing here this evening , playing there that evening and I would think " wow , you lucky gits. All these regular gigs.." But after delving deeper its mostly playing for £25.00-30.00 each, in a trio, in some almost empty bar playing mostly to their personal friends group who are there to support and raise the £90.00-100 that pays them. The bar staff would otherwise be bored or the bar itself closed that evening. They do it to help convince themselves they are a struggling self employed musician. They also tend to have some flat share with no real life commitments outside of paying rent which I suspect most of is paid via some sort of hand out. They are however young and free so good luck to them and being free means maybe their ship comes in and they can get onboard. [/quote] Ah, the notorious "look at my amazing life!" filter that Facebook puts on everything. It's quite deceptive, isn't it? I had a similar experience when a band we're quite friendly with went to the US. A certain member of my band who I should probably stop moaning about started kicking off, bleating about how "they're touring the US, why aren't we touring the US? We need to tour the US. When are we going to tour the US?" Of course, when you look at the photos that come back, there are lots of backstage selfies, and the occasional shot of them onstage, but no pictures of any audiences. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that maybe those venues were about a little on the empty side. Through casual conversation with one of them, I did manage to ascertain out that yes, the audiences had been thin on the ground; no, the tour hadn't exactly been a massive success. Obviously I felt bad for them, and I hope that subsequent visits go/have gone better for them - they're an amazing band and deserve to do well. But I did also feel quite vindicated pointing this out to CertainMemberOfBandWhoIMustStopMoaningAbout and explaining that this was why I wasn't prepared to use up all my annual leave to attempt an ill-fated tour of somewhere we've never been just for the glory of it.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1506680683' post='3380356'] AFAICS none of those circuits include the choke which IMO is an essential part of the Gibson Varitone sound. That's the hard bit to do as it seems for the best results you still need to wind your own. [/quote] True, but then I have the dilemma of whether to try and pursue a closer replica of the original Gibson sound, or whether to just take a punt on something different and see what sort of tones it opens up for me! I feel like the bits for a 6-position varitone are probably cheap enough that I won't have poured too much down the drain if I don't like the results.

Cheers, Andy - I won't lie, it was your gorgeous SG build that got me thinking about modding my EB-3 in the first place! I did a quick search on Fleabay after posting, and found a couple of cheap kits for a six-position switch (5 filters plus a bypass), so I'm starting to think I could just take a punt on one of those and hope for the best. Once I've worked out how to connect it to the output from both pickups, at least...! Might have to give that DiMarzio a try. For years I was quite happy with the mudbucker as the huge signal sounded pretty consistent regardless of what cheap amp or toilet-circuit PA I plugged into. Now that I have nice amps, I feel like I need something with a little more definition - the neck's "mud" and bridge's "honk" are proving difficult to blend to a satisfactory conclusion!

I do love my faithful old EB-3, but I'm aware of its limitations, and I catch myself eyeing it up with a soldering iron in one hand with increasing frequency. Are there any mods people would recommend (besides the obvious one about the bridge)? I had a couple in mind... Firstly has anyone else tried this? (And any idea where I could acquire a similar Varitone without spending a fortune importing from the US) http://drchucksgearrants.com/3-easy-mods-make-epiphone-eb3-great-part-1/ Also pickup upgrades - I do often feel like the bridge and neck pickup don't complement each other all that well. Anyone tried swapping them out for alternatives?

Do you think it was an attempt to capture the aesthetic of one of those Parker Fly guitars that, you know, didn't quite go to plan? (http://www.parkerguitars.com/products/fly/Fly%20Mojo%20Flame.html for comparison...!)

[quote name='KingPrawn' timestamp='1506373033' post='3378345'] ...He's a real passive aggressive personality and whilst he gives the external impression he's laid back and believes in majority rule. If he doesn't get his own way regarding song choice, set list etc he struggles to maintain the facade... [/quote] Christ, this sounds horribly familiar. Is this trait unique to drummers?

I suppose the other factor is that at some point, your friends and family might want to hear this band you've been working with. If the rest of the group play about as well as manatees wearing boxing gloves, are you really going to invite your loved ones to the gig? On the other hand, if you're out of your depth but the rest of the band is as tight as a gnat's chuff, at least your nearest and dearest will be distracted and keep talking about how good the guitarist/drummist/saxophonist/bassoonist is.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1505934909' post='3375374'] The best player in a crap band would (usually) have a greater say on the direction of the music and can 'shape' the band how they want it to some extent. They are also unlikely to be replaced. [/quote] My follow-up question would be: how crap? I've been in one or two short-lived bands where the standard of musicianship was abysmal. So bad that I wouldn't consider myself arrogant for saying I was the best musician in the room. So bad, in fact, that they couldn't be "shaped," and the music couldn't be "directed" unless one was prepared to put in a lot more labour than I was willing to. It becomes a thoroughly soul-sucking experience after a short while. So yeah... in short, I'd prefer the challenge of being sub-par in a bunch of very accomplished musicians!

[quote name='LeftyJ' timestamp='1505804801' post='3374353'] I once installed an Audere in my Jazz... That being said, I also have basses with active EQ's I do like and use, subtly. On my Stingray 5 I used it a lot to make adjustments inbetween songs, and I have a bass with an OBP3 that I use a lot too. Usually I only boost some lows and cut highs when I use the onboard EQ. I don't really know what it was about the Audere that I didn't like. [/quote] I can't help but wonder if this is one of the lesser-spoken arguments in the active/passive debate, i,e., a lot of us passive devotees haven't found onboard pre-amps that we've really liked? I'm very happy with the passive basses I own, but that's probably got a lot to do with me also liking the amps I own, and their EQ sections. As a result, I don't often find myself having to reach for the amp's controls during a set, and any minor tweaks can be achieved with the passive tone control. Unfortunately most of my experience of onboard bass EQs has been at the cheaper end of the scale, and they didn't really do much for me. Conversely, I've had a go on a Wal and a Veillette which I thought sounded absolutely wonderful - no feeling of "ooh, this pre-amp sounds a bit synthetic" there, but then they're a fair old way beyond my normal budget for a bass. Is it just possible that we've not found the "right" onboard EQ for us?

Is it just a way to avoid confusion when discussing different models of bass? What passes for a "neck" pickup on a Jazz bass looks much more like a "middle" pickup if you hold it next to a Gibson EB3, where the humbucker is right up against the neck. And before you can then say that they're both the pickups closest to the neck, someone turns up with their Sheehan Attitude bass, where there's one up by the neck, and another in the middle...does that middle-position Precision pickup on the Sheehan count as the "bridge" pickup? Not compared to the "bridge" positions on the first two, by the looks of things. And then some bugger turns up with a Rick. I can see how front/middle/back becomes an easy alternative for describing relative pickup placements [i]in certain contexts.[/i]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1505489421' post='3372349'] Then there's the issue of bands deliberately tuning down a half step because of the belief that to do so enhances 'tone' (SRV) or to suit the singer. [/quote] I always thought SRV tuned down because he insisted on using .12 or .13 gauge strings on his Strat, which would have gone some way to alleviating the massive string tension (I've also heard that he moved down to .11s towards the end of his career so that he'd have some fingertips left by the end of a tour...)

[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1505466310' post='3372071'] Black Sabbath Volume 4 is a perfect example of this,as I've worked out a couple of songs I noticed this very thing. [/quote] You sure it's not just Ozzy's singing?

It was par for the course on previous forums where I've been a regular poster. I must confess that my first name is not Elias, and I have never actually blasted a moose.

[quote name='ZilchWoolham' timestamp='1505325220' post='3371094'] Personally, I think Brian May is a terrific guitar player, but Queen never manages to move me. His tone is great, and his solos are exciting and ear-catching, but the songs they're trapped in always leave me cold. It's almost a bit frustrating! [/quote] I have heard that back in the early days, when Queen were still playing the same circuit as Sparks, the Mael brothers did approach the then still Mr May and asked if he fancied joining their band - "Queen aren't really going anywhere," they supposedly told him.

Just remembered that I very briefly shared an office with the former bass player from Kenickie. (Anyone else remember them?) I think she was leaving her position just as I was starting in mine, so I think we overlapped by literally days. By the time somebody else pointed out who she was, she'd sadly cleared off before I got a chance to have a chat about anything bass-related with her!

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1503661821' post='3360061'] Fender made a five WAAAAY before that. Also a six. Both in the 60s. [/quote] Wasn't their fiver equipped with a high C, though? Not to split hairs, but I think BRX was referring to the first basses with a low B!

[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1503608235' post='3359711'] Just remembered... once worked with a dep drummer who played with Smokey. [/quote] Your neighbour at the time wasn't called Alice, by any chance?