Twincam

I have a affinity p bass that i had a nightmare with. I cut the nut too low then when going to put in a shim i snapped the nut in two places. Glued it and melted it back together looks horrible proper temp bodge job although it works and is at nearly the perfect height. Ive ordered a new slotted graphtech nut, and i want to get it right the first time so any helpful adivce would be very welcome.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1415285519' post='2598778'] I like this one! [/quote] Lmao that is funny . I come into this thread thinking how much i dislike U2. But actually i do like many of there songs. Also i believe basslines can be very simple and very effective. Good on anyone who plays bass effectively in whatever manner. However Fender really need to stop doing uncool signature models. Actually signature models are ok long as there's no signature on them, least then you don't have to explain anything. Or you could change your name and use the same sig thats on your bass hahaha.

Really is a great series. Much appreciation to the op for the heads up. So if you've not seen it and are interested in music these really are worth a watch.

Bought a guitar for a friend who has had a crap time of late. Obviously es355 inspired. Was worried it would be a bit cheap, but is actually really nice for the price. Well put together. Does have some minor flaws in the finish. The pickup switch is junk but works, pots feel really smooth have a good feel to them, machine heads are ok tuned fine and held tune. Pickups seem ok im not a guitar player but they certainly are very usable, tested through a bass amp so hard to judge. Strings seemed a bit cheap or could be just me thinking that. Only real flaw was the pickguard is cut a bit rough. The rosewood harley benton use on both basses and guitars always seems a bit odd and in need of a little oil. Frets are cheap metal but are even. Binding to body and neck done surprisingly well. The set neck is nice too and unlike there basses (which seem wide and flat) has a nice shape. Guitar was setup well out the box too. Overall very nice. As said i was worried it would be a real cheapo. Some quality strings,tuners and pickup selector and better cut pickguard and i would of happily paid alot more. Flaws in the finish were very minor. My friend who does play guitar was very pleased and said it plays very well. Mileage will vary on the qc of these i imagine. Some quick pics. [url="http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/IMG_20141104_110056937_zps179b5d3f.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/IMG_20141104_110117483_HDR_zpsb8f76c75.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s330.photobucket.com/user/Twincam2008/media/IMG_20141104_110403837_zpscad0cc7c.jpg.html"][/url]

I bought a very good condition affinity p a few months ago for 67 pounds. They seem to go between 60 and 100 and should be in good nik. Scruffy ones should be under 50 really. Cash generator often have them in. postage tends to be 5 pound. When looking for one get a older model. In the last couple of years they cheapened them further in construction of the neck and the smaller cheapo enclosed tuners.

Very cool. Although would of liked it if included the stock affinity pickups as well.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1414749234' post='2592822'] Nylon tapes tend to be low tension and big gauges, so they could be worth a try. [/quote] Been thinking of giving them a try however im slightly worried they will be too dull sounding.

Need some strings that suite high action. So probably lower tension im guessing would be better, however i don't like light gauge strings. So any recommendations for rounds and flats, would be appreciated.

I seen a video on youtube a while back the tc polytune wasn't as accurate as others if i remember right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5VvRTTmgE

Very cool that you got chance to have a good chat and drink with him too. I'm a big fan of 80s music. And when i was 17 i was visiting my dad in London, him and his wife went shopping and gave me some cash so i wandered about and found this pub with music on. I wandered in unnoticed, and the place was full!. But for a table near the band, having managed to get served for a pint and feeling good and cocky. I then sat down at what was i now know a table clearly reserved for the band and it had there drinks on etc. The lead singer and bass player noticed me, and started asking me who was i?, was i comfortable etc. And even mentioned did i even know who he was, in a humorous manner as he was playing. Cue laughing from the whole pub at me, as i shrugged my shoulders etc. After his set he come over and i was at the bar buying a drink, which he then paid for seemed like a cool guy and there was all these women trying to chat with him etc. Cue a month or so later im at my friends who lived on the grounds of a old long closed down all girls boarding school, which we used to explore the grounds of and inside. When i one of the old dorm rooms there's this poster of the guy in the pub albeit a younger looking version. Thats when it clicked it was Martin Kemp of spandau ballet fame. Really cool guy that i just brushed off as some pub geezer.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1414539881' post='2590576'] I think the 'more on this story' link was pretty much spot on . . . . [url="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/28/old-musicians-kids-the-who-roger-daltrey-one-direction-generation"]http://www.theguardi...tion-generation[/url] [/quote] I really think this could be argued either way. As someone in my early 30s i feel we are losing good things that the past had. But i can also say we are gaining other good things too. In terms of music there was plenty of crap in the past and there will be more in the future "same as it ever was". I do fear the decline of instrument playing however.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1414407151' post='2588906'] But surely even 'sparkly junk' requires a fair amount of talent? I suspect that when people berate the likes of Simon Cowell for 'ruining music' it's mainly just because they don't like the results of what he does - which is fair enough. But I reckon to get where he has got requires a hell of a lot of 'talent' in the broadest sense, otherwise there would be loads of people doing the same thing and reaping millions as a reward. Talent, to me, means a lot more than 'I could do that'. We know that loads of people have the ability to write and play music - youtube is full of them - but how many have the 'talent' to actually make a big success of their ability. All those purveyors of 'sparkly junk' on the radio must have something to have got where they are. After all, there aren't many people on here getting their stuff played on the radio are there, so it can't actually be quite so easy as it might seem. [/quote] Well i did say talent comes in many forms. One of them could be maybe be having the right look or image or being in the right place at the right time. And there are millions of others who if in the right place could do a whole lot better. As for Mr Cowell he has some talent however i see him is more a cog in the machine. Its takes writers, produces, a whole host of various management and marketing to come with the rubbish they will and be able to flog it so well. But i think you could swap out many of there singers or various other "artists" with millions of others and get the same result. The culture of modern celebrity has made it possible now for people who wouldn't of got anywhere in life to get to the top.

I am admittedly a music snob. However i will give any genre of music a chance but it must have some form of talent in it. Which comes in many forms. I was trying to give an example but my taste and relationship with music is complicated. In general i hate music that has no story or any talent. I hear a song song on the radio and its just sparkly junk written purely to make money. Which is not a new phenomenon. And i don't like fake music, people singing about stuff they have no business singing about, because they have have little or no experience in it. Or when certain singers put on a more common accent and sing about having a hard life. And while im thinking about it "talent shows" that now make everyone think they can sing, no you sound like a million other people and wannabes, try being unique. I seen a video on facebook and everyone was like wow that lass can sing, so i clicked on it and yes she could sing but she sang in that "talent show" way the same bloody voice as millions of others. Now i would much rather she came up with her own original material and sang it well that would impress me. Most people would say Billy Bragg isn't a good singer but he can play and writes really good lyrics that talks to people and really says something. That's talent. Anyhow rant over. [color=#000000] [/color]

Ok sounds good the 50-100s it is then. Thank you for the reply.

Not sure what flats to go for. The fender 9050L's are 45. 60. 80. 100. The 9050LM's are 50. 65. 85. 100. gauge. Im looking at these as there cheap and they seem to have a decent tone apparently. I'm not sure other than tension how different they will be however. And the Mediums are apparently super high tension so counted those out. Opinions please.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1414084587' post='2585700'] I'm out [/quote] Yeah but just think you would have more wiring to play with and you wouldn't have to mess about with all those horrible pots lol

It really fascinates. How people vary in what they go for. An extreme would be James Jamersons high action and clean tone and say flea's very low action fret buzz style. Both work very well. I seem to be on the clean tone, higher action side. But i really admire low action players who can really make it work and get the fret buzz to really work for them. Or even low action players who can play clean.

I appreciate not everyone looks at exact figures, and go on feel. Im fine with that and im still interested to hear in general how your playing style affects what action you have. Just released my own measurements are wrong anyhow. There measurements for low tension tapewounds i was using. For roundwounds i normally use, my go to action measurments are at the 17th fret and its 3mm to just about 2mm bass to treble at the 12th these read a little lower. For flats i can go a little lower. I dont have a problem playing low as such and i have no problem playing softly most of the time, but i do find i get alot of clank during fast parts.. And the reason i have different measurements written down is just for constancy and some sort of ocd problem haha. If i felt i had a bass that was better lower or higher then would tweak it. But in general i now know what im looking for when i set a bass up.

Because im nosy and genuinely curious. Would like to know how your main bass is set up or what is your go to setup and why?. I know there loads of variables for this such as string type/tension, fret level and wear and even pickup configuration and so on. But in general whats your preferred setup?. I really do want to know why you like that set up to. mine is 0.12 relief Height at twelfth fret 3mm to 2.5mm bass to treble. pickup height will vary for different basses but in general anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 mm I like a clean sound and I find this setup is the right combination for me to play most things and feel comfortable, it's not too high and not to low. Low action i feel like im holding back, too high and it feels awkward to play. Also my fretting technique is very heavy so a slightly higher action seems to suit me better there's less noise when fretting for some reason, and i like a bit of bounce in the string. And the pickup height isn't for tone its so my attack can stay constant so i can feel how much im digging in. In a ideal world i would have multiply models of the same bass with varying setups with various strings.

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1413833254' post='2582587'] Hmmmn right.... ribbon cabling aside. You'r proposing the tech of 23 mobile phones for a dwindling audience of conservative 30 plus-year olds who comprise the core market. (I include myself in that demographic unfortunately...) for an instrument that you'd be hard pushed to find in the top-20 singles. The same audience that has whole discussion threads on the merits of Fender changing from 3-bolt to 4-bolt neck joints.. Not gonna happen... nice discussion topic though.. [/quote] Well i wouldn't buy one either lol. My idea was to get more younger people interested in bass playing, and i think the learning tech would appeal to new players. In fact any instrument that has been unchanged in the last half a century and longer, you could modernize to a degree. My title should of maybe been ways to get a younger generation to play instruments. And 4 bolt or more is superior but 3 bolt necks look better lol.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1413796946' post='2581874'] A 24 fret fingerboard is going to need 23 separate touchscreens - that's an awful lot of ribbon cabling to run somewhere down inside the neck. But before you even manage that there's the fact that your fingers and the strings aren't really making contact with the fingerboard; when you fret a string it doesn't come into contact with the fingerboard; that's assuming that the frets haven't been levelled and dressed several times in previous years so there's no point in having any touch sensitivity there. There's another solution to your touchscreen thing anyway, at least for determining/recording which fret/note someone's playing - the Industrial Radio MIDI bass system, where each fret becomes a 4 section electrical contact (assuming it's a 4 string bass) so the bass becomes a MIDI controller where you can effectively play/record anything you like. The guy from Little Dragon sometimes uses one. The optical pickups already exist with the LightWave infrared systems used on basses like the Saber bass. I don't know how well these compare to piezos or conventional pickups, however we do know that magnetic pickups can and do add character to the sound, depending on how they're constructed, with single coils, humbuckers, coil taps, pickup location along the speaking string length, in/out of phase pairs; which AFAIK you can't achieve with either optical or piezo pickups (which are always in the bridge area). As you've already pointed out a system like the Variax bass offers instrument emulation... it didn't conquer the world and is no longer made. Who knows why... GAS? I did wonder about electronics modularity being utilised more and flexible pickup location being employed with a modern instrument but we've also seen those tried in the past and they didn't catch on (eg Shergold Modulator system and the Gibson Grabber). Looks like conventional basses are going to be around for quite a while longer. [/quote] Modern touchscreens are very sensitive but i did say the frets would have pressure sensors, however i did think of the electrical contact thing too. I don't think wires would be a problem. And i think Led's instead of screens could work to. As to the pickup adding character all that could easily emulated. You just copy the exact signature of a setup then put that into the basses memory bank. Modeling amps and other programmable pedals are getting better and better, why not just have that technology inside the bass, like a more advanced variax. In the future im pretty sure this bass like this will be made. As pointed out many ideas are being used now. Will it be a success i don't know in the future maybe today probably not. As for gas this is not to replace any bass people have lots of basses this is just another bass i have just tried to make it more appealing to a younger generation and to be up to date with todays technology.

I got thinking after reading and commenting on the fender in trouble thread. About what a truly modern bass would be So ive got some ideas how to bring the bass up to date. And would like to hear your views on my ideas, i also welcome people adding there own ideas too. Smart fret board. The fret board, is replaced by a series of high quality, smartphone like capacitive touchscreen. The frets are still there as normal in between the screens. The idea is a teaching and recording aid. The screens will show you where notes are, Where to fret notes for songs (Tabs would be downloaded from online direct to the bass). The screens could also teach other theory like the scales etc. As a recording aid it would record your fretting movements which you could then transfer online and if you wanted allow others to learn your songs, they could be then be downloaded onto there bass like a onscreen tab on there fretboard. Also allow you to look over your songs and easy pick up where you left off, instead of using your memory. You have just played a brilliant ad lib piece but in the heat of the moment your not sure exactly what you did well the bass would automatically record all your movement and performance. How would this recording work, well the touchscreen would pick up alot of your fretting but also the frets would record pressure. Later on like sky plus you can play back all your movements on the bass or download to computer. The bass having various ways to connect to a pc/mac or smartphone etc such as wifi or directly online itself. Optical pickups, which can also record which string and how hard you pluck. This is related to the above this is for self analysis and for other to play your songs closely how you play them. You might not want to play like someone exactly and no two people will sound exactly the same but i still think its a cool idea to have say the stats on your fav player and get a idea of just what exactly there doing while playing how hard they strike the strings the exact fret timing. The optical pickups are also part of a variax bass style system. Like a variax the bass will have emulations of all the famous bass guitars, and string emulations. Also including pedal emulations, amp and cab modeling. However these will be used with a touchscreen which will also allow full customisation of pickup modelling and placement as well as your normal tone options. Which of course you would be able to then save your presets and quickly change them with a finger on the screen no messing about the knobs or the need for changing to a different set up bass. Would also emulate drop tuning and be able through software to keep your bass within tuning for longer. Other things a bass could have, inbuilt camera could record your self or audience, this might be more a novelty than of real use. But in today's selfie world why not. The bass could then use its internet connection to upload the pics onto whatever social media site and all that stuff. Oh not forgetting any screen can also have wallpapers and choose different fret markers. In fact really the whole bass could technically be mostly screen, then you could change the colour of the bass at will, have pics on and even video playing while your playing. However that is getting away from the fact its an instrument first and foremost. So anyhow if you read all that thank you, and hopefully its not all rubbish. Just my take on a totally modern bass built for todays generation.

I think chris b made a good point about the bottom end falling out of many instruments. And in some ways i think there is a natural progression in the world and while i don't have the stats etc. I could say instrument playing in general has declined since, cinema arrived on the scene then radio, tv, personal computers, games consoles, internet, mobile phones, smart phones. And of course music software. I believe sports has also been affected by these things too. There's just more stuff to do in life. And i have been thinking this for a while but lots of instruments still look like something from the 50s which to every generation is going to look more and more out of date. If i was a manufacturing company i would think im going to make my new instruments look modern with modern materials, and not just like the model you can buy 50 years ago. I should add i love old designs and instruments but having a range based on frankly ancient designs is not good business, you wouldn't get that in other business models. In 2003 i owned a triumph herald but would i buy a brand new one today no. Also as many have mentioned the fact that the quality is much closer between bottom end and top end is a big factor. Fender really has tried to make the newer affinity range cheaper and cheaper but i think there struggling to make a cheap instrument significantly different from there top end models. Especially for first time buyers were you can now get a good instrument that will last many years for under 200 pound and cheaper.

For the record i didn't say anyone couldn't be an L42 fan at any age. I was born in 83 and most music i listen to is before that time. I'm just saying if a young person especially a young women on her own tried to tell me her reason was because L42 was her fav band, as an immigration officer i would be very suspicious. Which would prompt me to really have a look into things carefully. Especially considering i would of thought there's a lot of pressure by us public to stop illegal immigration.

I say buy a better bass. You will treasure it more and give you more motivation to pick it up. And if your like me if i have money if i don't spend it it vanishes on other life stuff. Then you end up wishing you had just bought the better bass in the first place.