NancyJohnson

[quote name='cetera' post='241787' date='Jul 17 2008, 02:39 PM']Ah mate, you've discovered the 'secret' joys of the Tech21 Landmark! I LOVE this head..... it does every sound I want and especially excels in the grindy/gritty hi-mid classic rock sound.... As Ade says, I had the Landmark 300 and I sold it to him..... but only so I could buy the more powerful Landmark 600!! If you can hold a little while (crazy busy here at the mo) we can maybe get together and you can give my Landmark a trial run.....[/quote] Cool Gary Cheers - I guess if I went with the POD I'm likely to keep it on a kind of gritty sound anyhow...so maybe only one or two patches. I'm looking for that kind of (Ash) Burn Baby Burn kind of sound...dirty Thunderbird/Rickenbacker kind of thing (although I'll be getting the DJ5 soon enough). I have to say I get that tone already, but my Ashdown stuff is getting a little worn out. I got an e-mail from the UK distributors and the amp isn't available here at all. I'd like to go new, but we'll see. P

[quote name='ped' post='241360' date='Jul 16 2008, 11:09 PM']If you already have a guitar pod, how about a rack XT pro instead of the X3 - I can't see any reason to 'upgrade' except for the fact it does guitar too. I really don't know why they made it 3u!![/quote] I think the X3 appealed simply from the perspective that it was a one-unit-hopefully-does-all kind of thing. I own both a bass and guitar Pod. I hear what you say about the 3U thing. At least the Flightcase Warehouse do a 5U rack on wheels! P

I need a bit of advice. Looking to start upgrading gear in the next couple of weeks (yes Gary, the time has come), so here goes. I've been thinking about piggybacking the new POD X3 Pro (due September) onto a stereo poweramp, but in the last couple of days though, the waters have been clouded somewhat - I've been reading up about the Tech 21 Landmark 300 head and have listened to the sound samples on their website. I like what I'm hearing and what I've read so far, but I can find scant info on UK sellers. I'm looking to run either setup into a 4x10 and a 1x15 (both Ashdown MAGs for now). I know the POD isn't available yet, but I'm thinking with the Tech 21 I get a 2U* rack unit (and presumably a very close version of the Geddy/Chris Squire clank which I want) plus no loading backache. The POD/Amp combo will be 5U rack of POD/Amp. At the end of the day I figure if I need to run a guitar, I have a guitar POD, so I'll use that, dispensing with the new POD So who has a Landmark 300? Any good? Does it fit a standard 19" rack? I'm going to be mighty pissed if it can't cut the mustard. P (or confused of Crowthorne) *Edit...make that a 3U rack - I'd have to factor in a tuner as well.

[quote name='tauzero' post='239030' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:37 AM']A chap called Robert Townsend wrote a book called "Up the organization" which includes a bit in this. He was running Avis, and there was a proposal to create a low-priced sister company to try to increase business. The board were asked for their opinions, and one of them said "I don't know what you call it, but we Poles call it pissing in the soup". I can't see how bringing in a 5-string is pissing in the soup for Fender. They've already done that pretty effectively by introducing Squier. NJ does rather highlight a comparison I've made before between Fender and Harley - innovation is despised by a large proportion of the existing customer base, although it has the potential to bring in new custom.[/quote] It would be nice to see Fender bring out something radical and new that isn't based around their Precision or Jazz shaped bodies though, wouldn't it? P

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='237861' date='Jul 12 2008, 11:32 AM']Sorry NJ, I have to disagree. I love the Precision shape, but for me my regular gigging bass HAS to be five strings. With this in mind, and the fact that I don't have the spare cash to fork out on a new Fender or Lakland similie, I have just bought a second hand Squier Precision V. It has Jazz pickups, but for me it's the neck feel (I like cricket bats!) and look of the guitar that gets me. I am just waiting for the postman to deliver my custom build 5 string Wizard 84's for it. One day I might take a chisel to it and fit a proper split coil precision style pick up, but I'm not brave enough just yet! I completely see what you're saying, but it appears there will alway be a niche market for Fender to exploit with traditionalists like me. It's not just us bass players though, I once played in a blues band who kept pressuring me to change my Cort (Ibanez lookalike) because it was "too modern looking".[/quote] First off, I've no problem with fives at all - my primary bass was a Warwick Streamer 5 for a loooong time - I loved it, but as a Precision player for about ten years or so, in my opinion it's good [i]as is[/i], it's a design classic in the true sense...and it certainly doesn't need a rehash to accommodate that extra string. I am to a degree a traditionalist. I think you hit the nail on the head where you said about Fender exploitation. Well put. I just want my instruments to be robust, functional and playable in solid colours...I've posted previously that I don't really dig basses that look like furniture and I'm really not so keen on these redesigns. Anyhow, who am I? Nothing I can do to stop Fender P

I read a review of one in the last issue of US Bass Player and watched a review of it (and the new range) on Bass Player TV about a month ago. I'm sorry, but it just looks wrong...Precisions should be four string. It's how it is. How it [b]should [/b]be. This is the first Precision Fender have made in a five-string version. The company I work for regularly use the expression of 'denigrating the brand'...now I'm all for company products being innovating, using cutting edge tech etc., but the new Precision V is just unnecessary. Fender rehash their models to keep sales going (which is obviously working), so the new fives are clearly the next step. Expect a John Myung supported six string next year. Not really, I made that up. Fender seem to be running out of ideas. Let's face it, on the solid body front, they have traded very well on the back of probably less than ten bass designs (and three or four basic pickup configurations!) in the last fifty-five years, just tweaking here, adding there. Love or hate companies like Ibanez, BC Rich etc., at least they're bringing new shapes etc. to the market. Anyhow, as you gathered, I'm not keen on the new model. P

We played [a support] in Reading last night...very short notice. We'd had one rehearsal in the last month due to band holidays. About thirty people in while we were on...most of whom left after we finished (I like to think they stayed because we were so great, not that we emptied the place after we finished). Main band played to pretty much my band and a few teenagers sitting around a pint of Fosters taking pictures of each other on their phones. Sad. We were blinding BTW P

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='236962' date='Jul 10 2008, 11:16 PM']Yesterday, in HMV, I found a DVD of Ben Folds Five "Live Sessions at West 54th". I think it was recorded mid-late nineties (sorry can't be @rsed to look at the box!). Anyway, I've had it on full blast all night while Mrs HH has been out. I had forgotten how much of an influence Robert Sledge was on me when I was first playing, not that I play anything like him. I'm now even thinking of getting a distortion pedal to blend with clean signal to fatten out our band sound! Classic. For you gearheads, looks like he's playing an Epiphone Les Paul and an upright (on one song). I can see a Marshall head and a Marshall and an Orange cab. Quality! A one for the "Underrated Bass Players" thread if ever I saw one. Just thought I'd share that with you. Cheers![/quote] +1 You know the one thing that did it for me with Mr Sledge is that his playing with BFF had the ability to turn two [normally] clean sounding instruments (piano and bass guitar, obviously) into something that sounded wholly distorted and very rocky. This prompted me to try out stuff with very clean guitar fuzzy bass and it turned into big rock. Quite a nice surprise. P

[quote name='SJA' post='234590' date='Jul 7 2008, 11:08 PM']um, a 24 fret neck going on a T-bird body set up for 20frets...are you planning to move the bridge forward, or rout out the neck pocket to move it into the body?[/quote] I'm going to get the body routed out to set the Spector neck further into the body. Retaining the 34" scale (and keeping the bridge in roughly the same position) will mean a rout of an additional 4cm in the neck pocket. I know a very good chippy with a brace of tools that he's putting at my disposal! I think aesthetically it'll look fine. P

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='234139' date='Jul 7 2008, 01:40 PM']Q parts do a knobs with various black inserts which would look great on the vol pot. Just make it stand out enough so to speak. Thinking about the strap buttons. Where will you put them?? It may balance better on the back of the body rather then on the end by the bridge. Does with my EpiEx and others around here say similar with Tbirds. The shorter Spector head might not cause such an issue though.[/quote] I think I'm going to leave the strap buttons in the same location as they are - they're in the same positions as those on my Waterstone 12-string bass (a loose Les Paul-ish shape) and this baby has some awful neck dive issues which have pretty much been resolved by using something as simple as a Levy's wide strap. The body and neck on this project weigh about 50% of the Waterstone, so hopefully not an issue! P

Chaps! For some time I've been harbouring a dream to build something (nay, screwing a load of parts together) to emulate the Spectorbird that Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx used in the mid-90s. I've always loved the Thunderbird body shape, but have a real dislike of the Gibson headstock - it has always looked wrong to me. For me, the offset Spector headstock design is a thing of wondorous beauty...you could pretty much put this onto any bass and it would look peachy. So anyhow, cut to the chase, I've acquired a T-bird body (thanks 211 of 500!) and a loaded Spector neck (cetera!) and while I've been [on holiday] in Italy a BadassII bridge, Dunlop strap locks and some other odds and sods have arrived. I'm just waiting for a Spector truss rod cover. The plan is to fill the body dings and prep it for paint. A paint shop near my work have said they'll paint it for £40.00 (which is great) - I want it black hi-gloss without a scratchplate. They're insisting it doesn't need to be stripped to bare wood as long as there's a key for the paint to stick to. The neck pocket on the body is a tad small, so I'll need to make it a touch wider. Electrics wise, I've not really done any homework on replacement pickups right now, so I'll check BassLines (et al), but I just want a single volume control and a pickup switch (like one on a Les Paul). Photo's attached including a mocked-up Photoshopped version of the general design vision. Wish me luck! I'll post updates! P

[quote name='cetera' post='233162' date='Jul 5 2008, 02:47 PM']It's taken me a while but I've finally got around to getting all my Spectors in one place and taking some photos of them.....[/quote] I think I've just messed my pants. P

I actually like that Mott The Hoople track, but then I really like Mott The Hoople. It think it's this one that if you You Tube it there's a clip of them on TOTP and the actress who plays Marlene in Only Fools And Horses is 'singing' backing vocals. Insofar as a track ruined, while I'm not particularly a big fan, No Doubts' [i]Underneath It All [/i]is a great until this frankly ridiculous West Indian gurning comes in. Ruins an otherwise good song. Even ruins the video. P

Arbiter SG bass. White. £35.00 in about 1978. Long gone. P

Morning everyone. I know there's a plethora of information out there about refinishing/respraying guitars. Here's my story... I'm sourcing a body for a project that will need a bit of workl it's presently finished in a vintage sunburst colour and I'm looking to do a little work on the body - filling holes (ie one tone control hole/screws etc) and fixing any major dings. I might move the jack socket. I'll probably use a two-part epoxy for any repairs to said holes and finish it in solid black gloss. Insofar as finishing goes, I've read many, many accounts suggesting sanding back to bare-wood, priming, painting, buffing OR just simply rubbing down the body with 350+ grit wet and dry to give something paint can key into. From experience with spray [car] paint, it just about sticks to anything without much problem (I sprayed a Gibson G3 with two coats of Datsun Sunny red on a whim one time and that never came off...so sorry if you own that bass now). I'm after a reasonably decent, long-lasting and nice-looking finish, and I guess it doesn't bother me [i]that [/i]much if the end result isn't showroom finish. To quote someone who posted here, so long as it looks good from a few feet away, I'll be 100% happy. So what's best? Cheers P

In answer to the header on your post, yes. P

[quote name='Buzz' post='219778' date='Jun 16 2008, 12:33 PM']This week: Weezer! Ordered the Blue Album (delux), Pinkerton, Green and Red. All but the Green Album have appeared so far, finally glad I've made the effort to get into them, they've always been around during my teenage years and I've always been interested in their singles, never actually bought anything though.[/quote] You want a CD of a ton of other Weezer stuff? P

Third Eye Blind and Butch Walker this weekend. New Man-Raze/ManRaze/Man Raze album in the car this morning. P

[quote name='stu_g' post='219343' date='Jun 15 2008, 06:38 PM']my little flock of fenders fender geddy lee with emgs japan fender deluxe series fat strat mexico fender hot rod precision usa [attachment=9655:DSC00160.JPG][/quote] I love the basses, but sorry, I don't recognise what that instrument is in the middle. The little one with the six strings. P

to me it looks like the bastard son of three manufacturers. Bridge looks like a Thunderbird, body is distinctly similar to those old Kramer aluminium/wood necked basses...headstock give a subtle nod to early Aria Pro II models. P

Do you not think that the body apes the Warwick Katana? I'm not a fan of models where a chunk of the body has been cut away behind the bridge. Sorry! Each to their own. P

I'd be happy to join the party. I'm half-way between Reading and Guildford, so either would be OK with me. What's the form then? Aside from my 12, right now I don't have anything particularly outstanding to to bring to the party...I mean, everyone knows Ashdown stuff, everyone knows Fender... P