HowieBass

Just used an online calculator and that gauge F# will be just about the same tension as the low B on my 34" scale 5 string - very usable!

I'm still trying to get my head around the low F# and how fat it'll be!

Another Tanglewood Curbow for sale here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tanglewood-Curbow-Bass-Guitar-/131183698310?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e8b286186

A Tanglewood Curbow available here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tanglewood-Curbow-Bass-Guitar-/131183698310?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e8b286186

That Peter Belt's a new [s]David Icke[/s] name to me; but just reading a few words of his not-even-pseudo-science babble is enough to make me steer clear of anything bearing his name, though I reckon the free sound improving techniques http://pwbelectronics.co.uk/Free_Techniques/Free_Techniques.html might constitute a fun party game for the next time I'm pissed with friends...

Review here of the TC BG250 combos http://youtu.be/Uc4rj6EhB7M

I'm close to having a go at replacing the smoothing caps in an old WEM valve combo - one of those big twin 50uF + 50uF 500V radial electrolytic capacitor jobs...

Here we are http://basschat.co.uk/topic/236314-tanglewoodcort-curbow-5/

The Tanglewood Curbow 5 is a Luthite bodied bass identical in every respect to the better known Cort model of the same era, the only visible difference being a curlicue 'T' denoting Tanglewood on the headstock. This particular instrument dates from 2000 and was made in Cort's Korean factory. The 5 string versions have the same scale length (34") as the other Curbows which are found as 4, 5 and 6 string fretted and and fretless instruments; all have Ebonol fingerboards. Luthite and Ebonol are man-made materials and the only piece of wood in this bass is the bolt-on Canadian hard maple neck (unusually, the neck pocket extends all the way up to the pickup cavity). The bass has volume, and treble, mid and bass tone controls (tone knobs have a centre detente). Early Curbows, such as this, have a Mighty Mite soapbar pickup and a Bartolini Mk-1 EQ circuit that remains fully active when the slap switch is engaged. Later Curbows have Bartolini pickups and a preset EQ when the slap switch is on (the tone controls are defeated). The slap switch, for those unfamiliar with the idea, is intended to change the overall EQ, mids are cut and bass and treble are boosted (my Squier Deluxe Jazz Active also employs a slap switch but I find the EQ shift better implemented on the Tanglewood). The Curbow features two micro potentiometers that are accessible via small holes in the rear control cavity cover. One micro pot controls slap depth (amount of cut/boost applied), the other controls gain (which has only a minor effect with my bass). This is an active instrument and a separate cover hides the 9v battery compartment. I've read that the reason for the two micro pots is a result of a misunderstanding between instrument designer Greg Curbow and Cort. A prototype Curbow had been put together and Greg was using micro pots to experiment with settings for the EQ's slap mode. Curbow had intended the micro pots to be replaced with fixed resistors but Cort technicians replicated his configuration exactly and that's why the production instrument appears the way it does. As might be expected from the choice of materials and electronics this is a modern sounding bass. The pickup is in near enough the same place as a Stingray (at 30.3" or 77cm from the nut to the middle of the pickup) so I imagine it presents a similar tone... but only a Stingray sounds like a Stingray, right? It's a slim neck for a 5 string, the width at nut and bridge are 44mm and 68mm respectively giving a 17mm string spacing at the bridge but I've had no problem swapping over to it from playing a conventional 4 string bass; in fact a tighter string spacing can help when muting adjacent strings with your fretting hand and though I've not bothered developing much of a slap technique I've found it's no problem with this width neck. The fingerboard's also fairly flat with a radius of 15.75". So, why did I get this bass? I bought it secondhand off eBay and it needed a decent clean and setting up properly; the 'platinum' finish hardware was quite badly corroded in places but I've managed to remove most of that leaving some minor residual pitting. I'll admit this Tanglewood is nothing like a proper Greg Curbow bass (and since Greg's no longer with us and his long-time lutherie partner Doug Somervell stopped making them there's a limited supply of those superbly assembled instruments) but in shape it resembles an International Exotic Petite model and the Tanglewood/Cort version was developed and authorised by Greg so it carries his design DNA. The body shape isn't to everyone's taste with a long upper horn and deep lower cutaway but it does mean you can get full access to the double octave neck (in fact the low B has 27 frets, the E has 26 frets and there are 25 frets for the other strings). Some people have these basses strung as EADGC but mine's in a BEADG tuning. I found that I had to shim the neck and raise it by 1/16" in order to get the action where I wanted it (the B and G saddles were bottoming out and the action was still too high for my tastes). I've used two thicknesses of some plastic sheet material I had handy; cut exactly to the shape of the neck pocket and drilled with 5 holes for the neck screws. I also struggled to get the B string intonating properly. The chunky high mass bridge sits in a moulded recess and cannot be moved so I've simply shortened the intonation adjustment screw by a couple of millimetres and the B is fine now (intonation screws disappear into, not through the bridge saddles). I've read that some people have thought the Luthite body and/or early necks were unstable and have had problems with these basses but other than the two issues I've already mentioned there's really nothing else wrong with mine and I'm quite fond of it. I've read that some people prefer the Mighty Mite over the Bartolini design pickups; they're reputed to be less trebly/clanky and I've no complaints with mine... the bass puts out plenty of low end grunt and all three tone controls have useful ranges... my tone setting preference is a 1/4 treble boost, mid cut of a 1/4 and bass set flat. I have instruments with maple, rosewood and Ebonol boards and I've no particular preference for one over another; the Curbow's fingerboard feels little different to me and on the plus side it doesn't suffer from wear under roundwounds (which is why it's sometimes used for fretless basses). The small body means that this is a reasonably light bass on the strap but the prominent sound and unusual look mean it won't be suited to every genre of music... Photos available here on my Tumblr blog http://h4photos.tumblr.com/post/85025633895/my-tanglewood-cort-curbow-5-serial-number-dates

Right, I'll get something sorted soon!

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1399104553' post='2440996'] Hi HowieBass. Have you posted a full review of your Curbow? [/quote] Ummm, no. Think I should?

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1399385674' post='2443697'] That's a very nice wee rig. Maybe have a look at MarkBass. I've been very pleased with my rig. [/quote] If you do try MarkBass you'll at least know you're doing your bit for the Italian economy!

I've recently had a few Virgin cable engineers trying to sort out problems I'd been seeing with data errors causing bad picture interference and what flummoxed me was some channels experienced high pre and post RS errors yet others were completely error free (more info about RS errors here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed%E2%80%93Solomon_error_correction if you're so inclined). In the end it turned out it was a problem with the cable between the internal wall plate/splitter and the decoder - they put a new cable in and the error rate dropped dramatically - it would seem that the old cable wasn't passing certain frequencies particularly well (for the channels affected). So yes, in this case, the cable really did matter.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1399389403' post='2443739'] Are these the ones apparently based on the Genz-Benz tech they acquired? [/quote] This is supposed to be the case, which is why Fender 'killed' Genz Benz and presumably why the new Rumble range is so well received.

There's a tension and gauge calculator here http://www.stringbusters.com/stringfaqs.asp so you can work out how the load on the neck will change from an EADG to a BEAD tuning. If the online calculator is right then you'll actually see a net [u]decrease[/u] in load (where for steel strings it indicates that a 130 tuned to B pulls 31.47 lbs and a 45 tuned to G pulls 42.43 lbs). Obviously the actual load experienced depends on the string type and manufacturer but overall I think from tables I've seen elsewhere that a G often pulls more than an E and the highest tensions are usually found with the A and D strings.

As noted above your combo isn't designed to have any additional speakers added. If it isn't loud enough you'll need another combo/amp+cab and take the signal from the line out.

Surely the only difference (cable wise) between the combo and the head and cab is a speaker cable (obviously both have mains cables, which I'd imagine are equally chewable as each other). How long does it take to plug a speaker cable in? I accept that if you have the rig hard up against a wall then wrestling with the head and cab might be a little awkward (but there again if that's the case a speaker cable would be out of the way?).

Happy NBD!

I'm having visions of the neck developing quite a bow if you try tuning everything up that far...

Whilst idly browsing YouTube I came across this 'home stereo' video tour... http://youtu.be/NPazywXrqJo

My hearing's somewhat buggered anyway; I needed myringoplasty operations for both ears after repeated infections (from my earlier years) gave me perforated eardrums and I have tinnitus in the right ear. I haven't a clue what the highest frequency is I'm able to reliably perceive but I suspect it's maybe only up to around 12 KHz these days (additionally, it's already well known that men lose more high frequencies than women as they age). So, I benefit from now having a tweeter in my bass combo but swapping the standard mains lead for one costing hundreds of pounds is very likely going to be wasted on me (and on many other listeners with senses dulled by age or by drink/drugs).

Asking for £2,275 BIN but not even prepared to fit a set of new strings?!

Now you see, if that were me, I'd pretty much enjoy breathing new life into an instrument, bringing it back from a perhaps unloved past into a decent cosmetic and good playing condition. Like restoring an old piece of furniture say...

I would think that if you're compressing the signal you'll be evening out the volume and by boosting the lows you'll be consistently that bit louder?

How Does The "PRO" Deliver More? The PRO is heavier equivalent gauge (14-gauge) versus the standard MusicCord (16-gauge). This allows [b][i]more current flow faster[/i][/b] to your component power supply. But Captain, ye cannae change the laws o' physics!