Heket

Ezbass - I watched that video several times because I love the P-bass tone! I preferred the 77 for fingerstyle and the US98 for pick. I don't slap (yet?) so that's less of a concern. I'm not stretching all the way up to an American standard though. It'd be nice, but I have only been playing a year after all. Darren - thanks for the input, I didn't know the necks were "special", as it were. Walbassist - In my searches on the subject I've come across your bass several times! It sure is a beauty, and if I could find one that looked like that there would be no hesitation.

My current bass needs a rehaul of its faulty electronics and, after a year of playing with it, I have decided that it's not the tone for me and I'm not too keen on the active part either. I went to test some basses and decided almost as soon as I plugged it in - I want a P-bass. That tone just speaks to me, it's how I think bass should sound (totally personal opinion!). I have only been playing a year with no look to gigging particularly, but it was recently my 30th birthday and I want to treat myself to a nice bass. I originally intended to get a high end Squier or MIM Standard as I put my budget at around £300-500. I tried Standard and Classic 50s, for some reason no one had any Squier P-basses. The Classic 50's had an edge on tone for me, but I didn't like the extra width in the neck and tiny frets. Then I spotted an American Special. It was a Jazz but I got an idea of the difference in aesthetics and build. I'm a sucker for nice wood so I would always go for sunburst, and the wood underneath the finish looked a lot nicer in the Special. It felt a tad better balanced too, and the fret edges were nice and smooth. But would I pay over £300 more for it? It looks like I'm not going to find an American Special P-bass to play before ordering so I wondered if you fine people can tell me a little about them? Are they good value, how do they compare to the MiMs? Are they just to "fill the gap" between the MiM and the American Standards or do they have their own merit? Thanks!

Oh I see. I can look at different strings, I've only ever had the factory ones and these Ernies on. Actually I think a higher tension would be better, wouldn't that make it easier to coax out a sound than something floppier? I'm not an engineer, just using my gut I don't particularly want to look at higher gauges because that'll start taxing my left hand, but I'll definitely look into strings a bit more. My technique is ok as my tutor points out whenever I'm plucking too hard or at the wrong angle, I just don't have the strength. I do have a nice pick for bass, thick and soft plasticy stuff that doesn't click too much. It's a bit small though.

Hmm, what do you mean by that? Do you mean trying flat wounds or something else? Sorry, still a bit clueless with bassy things. I currently use Ernie Ball super slinkies.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone, it really means a lot. I did a google search which came up with a few forum posts from sites such as talkbass, ultimate guitar and even a thread on this site which generally showed a distaste for fingernails. I don't always like the bright sound, but it is true I haven't done as EssentialTension has mentioned yet, different positions and rolling off treble. I like fingerstyle because I like the feel and tone of it. If in using my nails I lose the tone but still have the feel then it's still one step better than using a pick! My nails are industrial strength, so no worries about them breaking, not with the small amounts that I'll play. I'll probably never be in a band, not seriously, so I doubt my play style will gather too many comments.

Hi all, I have a problem in that my hands and wrists are riddled with arthritis and my tendons are damaged, causing deformities in the fingers and wrists. However, I am determined to learn the bass. I have been playing for nearly a year now and I enjoy fingerstyle for the feel and tone, but find it exhausting for my right hand. Playing like this I can barely manage 15 minutes of solid play time. Recently I went on holiday and grew my nails out and upon my return forgot to trim them before playing. I found that with the added volume and accuracy of my nails hitting the string I could play for much longer! The only problem with this is that it just sounds like I'm playing with a pick On brief research it seems that fingerstyle with nails is just not "done". Should I just resign myself to playing with a pick? Does anyone else here suffer from arthritis (any type, mine is rheumatoid), if so how do you play?

Update - oddly enough, following another storm today my bass is back to normal I could have competed with the thunder when I started playing! Obviously this doesn't fix the problem but at least I didn't get to a tech yet and try and demonstrate a now symptomless problem. The whole storm thing is probably a coincidence, but it sure is an odd one.

I just want to say that I voted because I saw threads in this subforum about it, so good job! I often overlook that part of the forums.

I'm in Billericay, which is near Wickford, Basildon, Brentwood, Chelmsford. I saw a tech in Chelmsford for my electric guitar before and didn't like what he did and didn't have much luck finding more online. I do have an update, at my lesson today my tutor noticed something amiss! Silly sausage that I am, I completely forgot to mention to the tech that he should try a guitar in the same amp and check the difference in volume, then again he didn't have any electrics up there anyway. My tutor did that with a passive/single coil Strat and noticed instantly that my bass wasn't packing the punch it should be. You could hear the guitar ring out probably across all the teaching rooms but the sound from my bass wouldn't have carried beyond the door. So there it is, completely different area, power supply etc etc. When I can spare it for a few days I'll hand it to the proper tech and now I know exactly what to say for him to test it.

I saw the "tech" today, he turned out to be more of a luthier with an interest in acoustic instruments. He said he could pass on my bass to his friend who deals in electrical parts but it could take up to week to get it back so I declined for now. He plugged it in an played and declared it as "working as intended". Well yeah, when taken out of context I suppose it does work fine, but [i]I[/i] know that there's been a significant drop in volume. When I told him this he turned up the amp and the bass and proceeded to make the walls shake but... that's not the point. He said the humbucker is probably fine, in his words "pickups either work or they don't". He said it certainly sounded powerful enough to be an active humbucker. He told me to clean the contacts which I'll do once I source some fluid. At least I didn't have to pay for this short consultation, but I'm left feeling a little.. deflated? I don't know, maybe I'm just being picky and/or a bass hyperchondriac. I'll probably leave it for now, especially considering I don't play with others, but I think it'll have to be seen to at some point, otherwise I'm going to find my amp is too quiet should I ever want to start playing in a band. Then I will send it to the guy who deals in electrics. Is there any way I can easily test the humbucker coils? I can buy a multimeter if needed.

Thanks for the suggesions, but I think I'm going to leave this one in the hands of the tech. I have an appointment with him tomorrow.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1401480470' post='2464147'] ...You did good, I think. Show your tech what you were doing; I think it'll save him a lot of time. There's probably a 'dry' solder joint on that board, maybe where the pot is soldered. You can't fix it yourself (I assume you've not got soldering equipment..?), but a tech will make short work of a repair if he/she can confirm your findings... [/quote] Thanks I do have equipment but it's a pretty rubbish iron from Wilkinsons which probably doesn't get hot enough and my solder has quite a thick diameter. I've soldered a couple of pickup swaps and pot changes in other instruments but I've nowhere near the level of skill or precision to work on a circuit board. Many balls of solder fly about before I can get anything to stick! Shouldn't have given up electronics at school.

Today I tried the "tapping components with a chopstick" thing and didn't really get very far. The only thing that made a bit of difference was a bit on the side of the bass pot which has the active circuit attached and gave an effect like tapping on a microphone would. Sorry for the lack of technical description, I searched for a picture of "bass active circuit" and this one shows the part I mean: The three grey, flat pins attached to the pot. I have no idea if that would produce this effect anyway. Tomorrow I'll call the music shop and see if the doctor is in this weekend. I have a lesson on Monday though and don't want to be bassless as they had their lesson bass stolen and don't have one for teaching any more.

Hey, I didn't get time to try the tapping today, but the local tech won't be around until next weekend so I have time before then. I'm also a bit reluctant as I've already scratched the control plate trying to get the darned nuts off the pots so I wanted to wait until my other half was home to help me. The volume is still the same so it looks like it's not going to "pop" back. Thanks for the suggestion of additional tests to do I've made a note of that pre-amp, should I need one. Hopefully all I need is a bit of re-soldering somewhere.

Interesting about the humbucker coil failing idea. Would that just mean that I'm technically playing a single coil bass if that were true? Would I then hear hum? I didn't notice any particular change in tone although admittedly I've never heard the difference between a single and humbucking bass. Funny story - I went to buy a multimeter today, wandered all day and was on my way home before I realised I'd forgot the multimeter. Damned shopping centres! I'm going to try and get out to see the tech tomorrow, but it may have to wait until next week. Davebassics - the popping was temporary, now I'm stuck with permanent volume loss. Could that mean a capacitor has been discharged and doesn't recharge any more or would it not work at all then? When it was happening the volume came back instantly like you were snapping your fingers. Where are the caps anyway? I didn't see them attached to the pots, I'm guessing they're on the circuit board which I didn't looks too closely at (nuts on the pot shaft were too tight to free them from the plate!) I'll let you know what happens when I do see the tech.

Blimey, that's a lot of dough for a guitar that cost £270! Then again, I know nothing about active circuity and it would be easier for me to replace the whole thing. I've replaced pickups in electric guitars but my soldering skills are not really that hot, especially not to work on a circuit board. Ray, yours might have been a fault but it was quite a fun one! I'm not picking up any weird sounds, just feeling a bit flat that my bass seems to have myseteriously lost a big chunk of volume. It's a shame because I think it's a top quality instrument otherwise.

Hi, I hope you good folk can help a newbie out with a problem. I have a Sterling by Musicman SUB Ray, which has an active humbucker and Vol/Bass/Treb controls playing through a Fender Rumble V3 40W. Yesterday when I was playing at home (admittedly on a stormy day although the nearest storm was far away by then) I experienced a popping sound and within each "pop" the volume decreased by about 50% then went back to normal before the next "pop". I went through a couple of the steps below when the popping stopped but there seemed to be a permanent decrease in volume ie the volume was now the same was it was within the "pops" before. Here are the following troubleshooting steps I went through: * Fiddled with controls on bass - didn't do much * Tried a different amp (Yamaha THR5) - still popped * Turn the Rumble on and off again - popping gone but now the volume change is permanent * Replace the battery - no change from the previous step * Tried THR5 again - definitely quieter than before, had to turn the volume up about 50% more to get the same loudness and the same goes for the Rumble * Put old battery just in to see if the pops come back, but nothing new happens. * Tested different cable - no change * Unplugged the Rumble and left it for an hour or so - no change * Check under the hood for any suspect looking solder joints - all looks fine on a cursory inspection although I have no experience with bass or active circuits. Further observations of note: * The pots still act as I would expect. * When plugging an electric guitar into the THR5 the amp behaved normally albeit louder because I had to turn it up to hear the bass. Ditto with the Rumble. * From the above I believe it is a problem with the bass and not the amps or cables. * The only playing I do at the moment is practicing for lessons so the amp was at low volume and my gear does not see any kind of heavy usage. * I put the new battery back in. * I do not have a multimeter All in all it's not a *huge* deal because I can just turn stuff up, but I can imagine if it "pops" back to place and I blow my windows out It's also just annoying - my instrument isn't working properly and I want to know why! Thank you for any ideas and opinions. I'm at a loss!

I like it! So if I wanted to explore this sort of genre further, what would I look for? Electronica is a big umbrella. How do you describe your band?

I am lucky to live near 2 PMTs, always had a good experience there. I also have a tiny local music shop called Rainbow music which I enjoy going to. Very limited stock, but if you want anything Fender/Fender family of brands they will order it for you in a heartbeat. I'm now taking bass lessons there. I don't think bass is as well covered as other instruments, but it's a great place to get bits and bobs from. Bad experience - as a beginner, anywhere that makes me feel intimidated to be there. Rock Stop on Charing Cross Road was one of those.

I enjoy hearing orchestral music. Perhaps not quite the same, but I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean "live" at the Royal Albert Hall last weekend. The film is projected onto a screen and the music is done with a live orchestra. It adds that extra dimension hearing the music live, as the composer would have done. I was in the circle so could barely see the orchestra, but boy could you hear them. I also saw Fellowship of the Ring like this too although sadly missed the other LOTR films. If anyone's interested check out the site - they are doing Gladiator, one of the Star Trek films and Titanic.

Definitely not restricted to instruments. I suffer from art supplies GAS and notebook (the paper kind) GAS. Can never have enough paints/pencils/sketchbooks. As far as music goes I have most problem with amp GAS, although lately I seem to be going the opposite way - once I found a guitar amp I clicked with I now want to sell my others. Which is good, becuase I need to make way/funds for a bass amp, because I don't have one yet! I just use my Yamaha THR guitar amp (suitable for bass too) lined-out to a speaker system with a subwoofer.

That is very different to a rock covers band and so many bands do end up that way. I like your new song! It's fresh and dreamy. Good luck and I hope things work better for you this time.

I have one! However, it is my first bass and I don't even have a proper amp yet so I'll leave the tone considerations to others. It is hot though, I could tell that easy enough. I can say that it's pretty well built, a few flaws in the finish that you wouldn't pick up if it you weren't looking super hard. The neck is narrow. It's lightweight for a bass, you may or may not like that. Weight is fairly balanced with a slight edge of being neck heavy because of the lightweight body. Don't know what material the nut is made from but it doesn't look very pretty. Stock strings are rough. Are they EB strings? I got mine when Chappells of Bond Street were selling off all their gear before they became the Yamaha store. You can see it in my avatar.

Hey! I'm from Essex, which is not so far from London. Your music sounds interesting!

Until the age of about 7 or so I grew up listening to 80s hard rock and heavy metal courtesy of my big brother. GnR, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Metallica etc. I didn't really think about music at that time but it obviously got under my skin. When he left home I entered a musical wasteland of not knowing what I liked; nothing satisfied me and I never guessed that my musical tastes had already formed. My mum liked 60s pop and Motwon, my dad only listened to MW radio for the Indian stations and I was growing up in the perilous 90s when the radio only played Spice Girls and boy bands. I never thought to look in the metal section of HMV (lol) and why would I? It was hardly the done thing for a wee girl. One day, aged 14, I did though. I'd heard a band I liked being described as "pop metal" and I thought "what the heck is metal?". I picked up a Metallica CD (because that sounded metal!) and once the distorted guitars hit me I never looked back. Nowadays I'll listen to just about anything, but with a heavy bias towards rock and metal.