NancyJohnson

If I can add something here to the above comment. A few months after the Hartke gear arrived, I had a very heated exchange here with a young guy (so much so the thread was deleted); we were in the middle of a mahoosive amount of snow and the country - as is its want - had ground to a halt. The poster was venting off against Hartke simply due to the fact that he hadn't taken delivery of a combo (or whatever it was) which he'd ordered through a third party. The guy didn't even seem to take into account the country was crippled due to the weather.

I was (and still am) fiercely defensive of the Hartke brand and my experiences in 2009. Larry Hartke could just have told me to f-off, but he didn't. He probably dealt with me in the same way he dealt with the guy who wanted to meet him as I was walking out of the store and the guy before me. It's a very true comment that a manufacturer can be painted in a bad light because of the actions of a retailer.
P

[quote name='HartkeUK' timestamp='1393436931' post='2380348']
Name one other owner in this trade who would have this level of interaction, so next time any of you are in New York go and see him. The store is full of toys by the way! (-;

In my experience when Larry does receive emails he will contact the relevant distributors asap and he puts pressure on them to contact their retailers, messages sent to Samson in the USA regarding overseas issues are treated in the same way. That means that a message to Larry may have to go through numerous people to get a resolution.
[/quote]

This is what happened to me in 2009; I went to the Bass Lounge in the old Mannys store and had a loooong chat with Larry in the bass department. We talked the gear I was using then (not saying), he suggested Hydrive cabinets as they were so lightweight (and he quipped that as no one is getting any younger, we bassists need all the help we can get)...he watched some stuff I had up You Tube - I was very active musically back then - and we struck a gentlemans agreement there and then. True to his word, he made the necessary arrangements with Korg (I think Gareth was involved somewhere along the line) and I had emails at home on my return. Sadly the head (LH1000) didn't cut it for me, so it went back and forth, but the 4x10 and 1x15 are still gigged once a fortnight and rehearsed weekly over four years later. They are fantastic and reliable units and as cool as feck.

Mr Hartke was gracious, humourous and very sweet to my wife (which helped cement the deal). He wasn't about last time I visited and I honestly doubt he would have any recollection of me, but I will probably pop in again later this year, just to say hello and thanks.
P

Something like this:

[url="http://jcsthemetalshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/in-line-kill-switch-for-guitar.html"]http://jcsthemetalshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/in-line-kill-switch-for-guitar.html[/url]

...but rather than a manual switch, a jack socket out to a footswitch.

My system chain is bass > Sansamp RBI > (effects return of an) Ashdown EVOIII > cabinet(s). The RBI is also connected to a Korg tuner via one of its other outputs.

I'm looking for a smallish switching unit that I can put inside my rack that can break the signal chain between RBI and the amp so I can tune up silently; ideally this needs to be controlled via a long guitar lead plugged into a footswitch. Anyone got any idea?

And yes, I know the amp has a mute button on it, but there's no facility to mute the amp via a footswitch!

Cheers
P

I think we're all guilty to pimping our gear to a degree, but people don't give a toot that the hardware came from the US. At the end of the day it's still just a bolt on Epiphone.

...sorry, I'm assuming from your signature it's an Epiphone. What's the tuners on it? Website still says 'black die cast 17:1 ratio'.

P

These EBs need big old clover leaf machine heads like the EB3s.
P

OK, here goes. M-Audio BX5s are run in and up and running. I made some stands from some pine 2x2 timber, ply and rubber feet. The stands are solid and lift the speakers around 7" so the tweeters are at ear-level.

Of the speakers, they're plenty loud enough...I've tended to find that with headphones the EQ on final mixes is a tad bassy/boomy, the BX5s are more neutral and you lose that boom, so end mixes essentially sound better through other hardware. All in all, I'm pretty pleased and they will be an asset to the recording process.

They do run a little hot, so as they're doubling as our PC speakers as well, it's just a case of turning them off when they're not being used.#P

P

The Grovers are generally pretty stable and frankly I wouldn't bother with changing them out for Hipshots; I tuned up last night and rehearsed for nearly three hours and my TB stayed in tune the whole evening. Once in a while (irrespective of the age of the bass), it's worth removing the strings from the heads and tightening up the nuts (and screws) that anchor the machine heads to the headstock. Periodic maintenance...they do go slack on all my TBs (but weirdly, none of my other basses).

If loose, the machine head is pretty much free to rotate a few degrees within the it's hole in the headstock...it'll only take a couple of degrees of rotation and the string tension will pull the string flat. Give it a go. Hope this helps.
P

They're supposed to be pretty good facsimiles of the real thing and given it's age and the quality of US builds at that time, it's probably better put together as well! If it was over here the price would be OK, bringing it in from Japan and factoring Mr Cameron's cut to fight the war on terror, you'd be better off shopping around for the real thing. Shame.
P

I saw Guthrie when he played with Phil X & The Drills in Guildford last year. We saw him walking around and had no idea who he was at the time, but he was awesome. This probably isn't the best video that's out there, but audibly it's the best one.
P

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKmMcZmG9zU[/media]

I'm a bit surprised that the guy in that video didn't say anything about slacking off the strings and allowing the neck to settle. I'd never adjust the truss rod with the neck under tension.
P

I have a Pioneer CD receiver system if anyone wants it. It's got a DAB radio, CD, iPod dock. I bought it a couple of years ago for the extension, it didn't get much use and quickly got replaced with a couple of network player units. It's pretty minty, original box. Might do for a kids bedroom.

I don't want anything for it (maybe some beers!), but would request that a) it's collected (I'm in Crowthorne, M3 junction J3 about ten minutes), and, whoever takes it make a small contribution to swell the Basschat coffers.

Cheers
P




Pioneer link:

[url="http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/archive/X-HM20DAB-K/page.html"]http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/archive/X-HM20DAB-K/page.html[/url]

I'd second the John Myung quote. I spent some time with them before and after a gig - Bristol Bierkeller - just Googled it, feck, 1993! He was just lovely. Quiet and humble. I honestly wondered how long he would last when the rest of the band were so extrovert by comparison. I still buy the CDs when they come out, but all the material just seems to blur into one long cacophony of notes now. Haven't seen them in years. Hammersmith, many moons ago. It was like torture.
P

Does he actually say, 'badass bridge' at about the 25 second mark? Faux pas or otherwise, the bridge is a ringer for this Schaller unit here:

If I can add my thoughts here and to clarify. I'm running five Gibson Thunderbirds, all have Hipshot Supertone bridges. These are great pieces of hardware and most importantly, they are drop in replacements, taking minutes to install.

The two piece Badbird bridges are great; by association elsewhere, Neeph and I know the guy who makes them. The major downside is that these units are not drop in and body modifications will be required. New mounting holes will need to be drilled and then you'd be left with three large holes visible in the body.
P

Well, there's my next few minutes sorted!
P

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1392310955' post='2367187']
Somebody did on this Talkbass thread. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/fake-chinese-rickenbackers-820285/index3.html"]http://www.talkbass....285/index3.html[/url]
[/quote]

Has anyone here bought a bass or guitar direct from any far east sellers? You know, like the stuff described as Chibson.
P

I really like this. Not enough to buy one mind, but it's a very cool looking bass.
P

Tongue in cheek or otherwise, the alarming thing here is that I've worked with engineers who have done exactly this, so I will raise your with a ! The main issue is the nuances of dirt/compression ultimately get lost in the final mix...you're just adding another level of dirt behind the already distorted guitar(s). In this example, what you're hearing is the phat bass frequencies, which you can achieve to a degree by tweaking the EQ on the individual track.
P

[quote name='kyboo' timestamp='1391364011' post='2356244']
This video might help [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mol6awk_aDo[/media]
[/quote]

...and ordered! Will report back.
P

I used a variety of D'Addario XLs in different gauge sets for maybe ten years of more (after moving from Rotosounds!!) They're reasonably priced, sound/play great and I never felt that I had a poor string in that time.

On the flipside, I found they went off fairly quickly and over seven or eight basses, I was buying two sets a month. Last year, I decided to try a set of Elixir Nanowebs on one of the basses and it's been eye opening, so much so, I'm transitioning all of them to Elixirs. Much as I love(d) D'Adds, one set of Elixirs has been on my NR TB for pretty much a year now and they still sound great. OK, the Elixirs are two or three times more expensive, but I've actually spent less on strings as they last so long. Give 'em a go and prepare to be astonished again!
P

I'm erring towards the M-Audio BX5 D2s now.
P

Like anything, it's been a steep learning curve (while my Altec Lansings spit and splutter).

Given the size of the room I'm in (small - 6'x'8'), I got it down to three - Presonus Eris E4.5 (£170), M-Audio AV40 or Alesis Elevate 5 (both under £100 - the price point of which surprised me). At the end of the day, I don't need ear-splitting levels of volume for monitoring or the buck$ to throw at high end stuff, especially considering the whole recording aspect of band membership seems to fall squarely on my shoulders. Ultimately, anything is going to sound better than what I'm using at the moment! I guess I will probably end up with either the M-Audios or the Alesis. I'll report back.

P

See? I told you there were bargains to be had if you waited...and waited. Good one!
P