Prosebass

[quote name='Deep Thought' post='245124' date='Jul 22 2008, 10:18 AM']Anybody see Dragon's Den last night? I didn't myself but I gather from GMTV this morning that one of them has 'invested' in a band. They were on this morning, seemed OK, but nothing special I thought. Lead singer plays bass (Yamaha RBX-shape job). Virtually inaudible brass section. Lyrically pretty good. Wonder if this will do them some good or be the kiss of death. Thoughts?[/quote] Looks like it had the desired effect we are all discussing it !

[quote name='chris_b' post='245175' date='Jul 22 2008, 10:55 AM']but, like all antiques, they really don't stack up against their modern equivalent.[/quote] 1960 Fender Jazz anyone.......?

[quote name='chris_b' post='245175' date='Jul 22 2008, 10:55 AM']Curley leads weren't even any good in the 70's, they used very cheap wire and plugs, but, like all antiques, they really don't stack up against their modern equivalent. Back then, I remember that speaker leads were made of bell wire! Leads are so much better these days![/quote] Try and solder a curly lead its nigh on impossible I think the shield wire was made from sugar !!! Nothing wrong with bell wire is there ?.....I found explosive firing cable makes good speaker wire...?

[quote name='rayfw' post='243804' date='Jul 20 2008, 02:39 PM']Looks like they have some other "homages" here: [url="http://www.amplificadoresmeteoro.com.br/site_english/"]http://www.amplificadoresmeteoro.com.br/site_english/[/url] I wonder if they're any good?[/quote] "boutros boutros Gali......schorchio"

[quote name='bassjamm' post='243739' date='Jul 20 2008, 12:37 PM']Yeah, i thought the process of fretting it would be simple enough. I originally thought about getting a new neck made, but i'd be looking at a lot of money to get that done, and i'm no tech so swapping the necks would not be done!!! Plus it won't add any value to it...simply having the neck fretted would hardly detract from it's value. Hmmmm...it's all a bit confusing![/quote] Don't do it ........ Good basses are usually designed from the inception as either fretted or fretless and some can be ruined by changing them. Its a very specialist job and needs a proper fret jig plus what if you don't like it or regret it in the future ? Other things like the nut, action and intonation will also be affected . I would leave it fretless and buy an inexpensive fretted bass, if you are not gigging. Its not the same as de-fretting a fretted bass as these can always be returned to fretted quite easily. pm'd

[quote]Thinking back this morning I just thought what a waste of money, might as well buy an X box 360 for my dog[/quote] Maybe your dog would prefer a Wii ? Seriously what pretentiousness, I call them Imeldas (Marcos) doesn't matter what item it is collecting things like that is a sign of madness, I used to do it myself, but now I am OK , I just collect therapists....

[quote]this "credit crunch" bullshit must really be gettin to everyone! coz prices of secondhand gear seems to have plumetted lately! is everyone really that skint and desperate for cash at the moment?[/quote] A pawnbrokers / secondhand shop in town has a Dark Red Yamaha RBX 374 with a Gator ABS hard case for £110.00 ! He was asking £170 a week ago.....I may be cheeky and offer £80.00 would that be a fair price ?

[quote name='nick' post='237457' date='Jul 11 2008, 05:04 PM']It's not 'bullshit' & it's more than just due to the 'credit crunch'. With spiralling food,fuel costs, plummeting house values > re-emergance negative equity - most (levelheaded) people are just realising where their priorities should be. Food,home,fuel OR spare instruments knocking around which can be sold - not difficult to understand why it's a buyers' market at the moment.[/quote] +1 on all that Looks like the good times are over for some, mind you I read an interview with a property tycoon who offloaded £700 million of assets in January that he had made £200 million on in 3 years and will probably buy the lot back when the market bottoms out for about £500 million then watch the market recover whilst enjoying his £400 million profit. Lots of people are making a fortune out of this "credit crunch" and a lot of those people created it in the first place, especially the sub-prime mortgage lot. Who cops for it ? Joe Public as usual.......and I've just started a Bass business...I must be completely mad.....

We all know whats gonna happen and I'm as guilty as anyone. Its very easy to open up trade links with the far east and import good inexpensive spares. As more do it the competition increases and the margins are squeezed. Lower margins means bigger economies of scale are needed and that means only the big guys can operate as they will get credit and sell parts alongside everything else, a good example is Thoman. The profit on the "fender" style bridges will be about £3-£4.00 so imagine how many you need to sell everyday to make a living from it. I have a friend who has a successful ebay guitar and bass parts store and he holds approx £50,000 in stock..... and has 30 years experience in the industry. For these type of enterprises to be viable you need large capitalization and you may not see a return for a year or so. On the other hand if they are able to get it running without it needing to pay the bills for a few months then good luck to them and they should be supported as the service and personal touch is generally better from smaller enterprises. Long term few survive, as for me personally I'll be sticking to building basses and I am leaving selling parts to others. At those prices I may even get some parts for my own builds.

[quote name='L1zz1e' post='236494' date='Jul 10 2008, 01:27 PM']Hey Im Lizzie, just found out about this forum and thought id give it a go! Been playing for about 4 years ish so I guess that makes me a noob! hehe Im playing two fretted 5 strings, one Warwick Streamer Stage2 and one customised Squier Jazz with Quarter pounder pickups, one Squier Vintage Modified Jazz 4 string and my (nearly complete) custom build Precision that Im making to look mid-60s period (inc chrome covers et al!) Bartolini 8s - which is my baby at the moment! Its got a birds eye maple neck to die for!! Currently playing an Ashdown MAG 250 1x15 combo with an mxr M188 envelope and TRex Tube Squeezer! Enough about the geeky stuff but Im a totally anal about everything bass - groove, pocket, feel everything! But enough about me... =0) x[/quote] Hi Lizzie and welcome from me........ You will love it in here they are all anal except me. Would love to see Precision ......sounds nice

Forgot to mention.....the Peavey looks excellent , similar to the spirit but with digital output (the effects put me off as I would rather pay for sound quality not gimmicks) But, if your soundcard in your PC is a generic unit ,or as is common these days a Dolby 5.1 chip on the motherboard no matter what the input is the results won't be good. You need a dedicated soundcard / interface to work direct with your software.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='236161' date='Jul 9 2008, 11:04 PM']I'm currently on a music tech course at college and i'd quite like a small setup at home just to play about with and to record/mix my band with, i know all the practice and stuff, but nobody really told us what we'd need and how to do it if we were to make our own little home studio. I have a computer with cubase on it, if i bought a smallish mixer with a USB output on it, such as [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/peavey-pv-14-usb/70304"]this[/url] maybe, would i be able to plug that straight into my computer and have it communicate with cubase, or would i need some sort of audio interface? I'm also planning on getting a pair of cheapish active studio monitors, i'm assuming i can just plug them straight into the desk or something? I'll get some mics for it later (anybody know if the shure sm48s or PG58s and 57s are any good as a cheap alternative to the SM58s and 57s?) as at the moment i can DI my bass amp, or borrow some mics off friends, but mainly at the moment i'll concentrate on mixing. thanks in advance for any advice, and sorry if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it.[/quote] A few years ago I had time on my hands and set up a home studio for mainly dance music using loops with guitar bass and keyboards. For plugging in all the hardware ,instruments ,mikes ,samplers , keyboards I used a small Spirit Folio 8 into 2 mixer. The stereo output from the Spirit was sent to a Creative Soundblaster PCI card. That was back then , now you have many options , I would look at the Edirol 24bit USB 2 units or M-Audio stand alone units as these can be picked up for about £50 secondhand and you can bypass the mixer if you like with direct input. I was never a fan of Cubase and used Acid which I found better for direct recording and because I used a lot of loops. I also found Cool Edit Pro to be an invaluable tool not just for making loops but for setting levels and Eq before putting them into the mix. A lot depends on what your aims are ? If you are recording live performance of guitar bass and drums then a mixer is essential with phantom power for some decent mikes. If you are adding bass to backing tracks I would still use a mixer as they are easier for monitoring (you are not reliant on using the PC to hear what you are playing as you can use a monitor output into your amp) When I was recording my bass I would go through the mixer / soundcard / Acid / Sony Amp / Speakers but also listen to what I was playing via monitor out on the mixer through my bass amp. That way you can listen to youself at high volume without having to mess up the input levels to Cubase or whatever software you are using. You also learn more as to whats actually going on using at least some analogue equipment. For monitoring I have always used the stereo out from the soundcard / interface straght into an old Sony F440E Hi-Fi amp. Sony did a range of these with no tone controls just a volume so very little colouration of the sound. I think they are one of the most underrated amps ever. (I have one on my hi-fi and 2 in the attic as spares) As for speakers I used a pair of Castle Pembrokes. They are huge but the clarity of sound is amazing and the youngest ones are about 15 years old. Good active bookshelf monitors start at about £400 !!!! much less expensive to go down the amp and speaker route. Please don't buy cheap active monitors they are designed for DJ monitoring and suck. Price for the mixer £50 usb interface £50 Sony amp and Castles £80 a couple of good Shure mikes £100 and you would have an excellent setup to use and learn with. Sorry to babble on but I just love value for money gear. Hope this gives you food for thought...

When I used to buy and sell antiques and collectibles I once bought a pair of Tannoy triangular shaped hi-fi speakers with Tannoy 12" dual concentric speakers in them.The cabs were huge more like items of furniture. I plugged them into my HH100 head and they sounded absolutely divine, and I have not heard anything as good since.They actually made my bass sound so much more lively and clear. They would be no use for gigging as they were only 30 watt each. It shows the quality of the speakers as I sold them to a guy for £300 in 1993.... class..... Maybe we all go down the wrong route with basses, should we be spending a higher proportion on our speakers for a better sound ? Here we go just found 2 x 15" ones on ebay...[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/15-Tannoy-Monitor-Gold-Duel-Concentric-Speakers_W0QQitemZ380044702851QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380044702851&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318"]Tannoy[/url] mind you only for a practice amp

My brother who is a classical pianist calls Jazz "musical w******g" can't say I agree , but he has a point with some stuff, I think thats what the Fast Show picked up on. I've listened to plenty Miles Davis and thought "what the f*** is that about" and some Jaco live solos come to that. What pigeon hole do we put George Melly in ? he once kissed my hand at a gig.... To my mind Brand X are the epitome of modern Jazz ..........I'll get me coat.........

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='235403' date='Jul 9 2008, 12:07 AM']Yeah, totally agree, Bass player is far better than BGM.[/quote] I think some of the articles / interviews are good in Bass Player but don't like it's "Americaness" compared with the very British attitude of BGM Maybe I just have an anti USA attitude......to most things.....except Jaco and the Fender Jazz, V8 engines, Saturn 5 ...... no must be the mag...

Pm'd

Paid on the nose as agreed for my Artec Vintage Precision Pups.....cheers Wayne. plenty more for sale if anyone is interested

[quote name='BigRedX' post='232647' date='Jul 4 2008, 01:06 PM']IMO on an unlined fretless the dots should correspond with where the fretlines would be. Anything different is wrong and is laziness on the part of the manufacturer or luthier. I've only ever come across one other unlined fretless bass with the dots like this, and if I'd known the situation in advance I might have waited until Lace had sorted the problem out. Alternatively I do have fretless bass serial number 2![/quote] I disagree with you on this one for the reasons I cited earlier. Its just as easy to argue the point the other way in respect of a fretted or fretless having the same side markings so as not to confuse. I am sure laziness does not come into it at all its just a different interpretation. Anyway who needs any markings on a fretless at all if you can play it properly ? Ok then , I struggle with complex basslines on an unlined fretless... we can't all be Jaco

[quote name='david_l_perry' post='232707' date='Jul 4 2008, 02:27 PM']Sounds like its going to be a quality Bass I find the bass acoustics come alive if you fill the plastic box with a couple of sandwiches, the choice of filling is all important. Better yet is to add a chocy biscuit or two and a bag of cheesy Watsits (not the cheap Tesco branded variant, real Watsits....) Luthiers should take note of this thread....[/quote] I must disagree with you on this point. Bread dough tends to muffle the sound and sandwiches, chocy biscuit and Cheesy Wotsits is a bit too much filling. Maybe oatcakes (Stockens obviously) or a cheaper option would be Morrison's own brand tortilla chips ,lightly salted are best and should bring out the "highs" better and give it a crisper sound

[quote name='BigRedX' post='232278' date='Jul 3 2008, 08:47 PM']If you've been reading the bass reviews you'll know that I recently bought a Lace Helix 5-string fretless which is a fine bass except that the side dots are where they would be on a fretted bass rather than on the 'fretlines'. If this was my only fretless it wouldn't bother me too much, but all my others have the dots in the 'correct' place so I want to move them to match. My plan is to drill out the existing dots (1mm or so) and drill new holes for the dots in the correct place and hopefully use the sawdust generated by this, mixed with glue, to fill where the old dots were. Then using either [url="http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bindings,_trim/Trim:_Side_dots/Plastic_Side_Dot_Materials.html"]this[/url] or [url="http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Inlay,_pearl/Pre-cut_inlays/Pre-cut_Side_Dots.html"]this[/url] for my new side dots. What I need to know is what sort of glue I should use to mix with the sawdust and how do I finish of the edge to blend it in with the existing glossy finish? Alternatively is there a better way to achieve what I want to do?[/quote] The best method is to use a piece of the original wood. Try to contact Lace and ask them for some then cut inserts. If this is not feasible then I would use a clear epoxy to mix with the sawdust.If the neck is a bolt on I would "rob" a minute amount of wood / sawdust from the rear of the neck joint and practice / test your method first. On the subject in general I have a lined fretless and the ones I make have just side dots in the same position as a fretted. I find no problem with either as I play fretted also and as I glance at the side dots on the fretless I automatically adjust my fingering forward of the dots as you would with a fretted....hope that made sense.

Nice bass and a lovely restoration, love the speed knobs, my Hofner S7B has them fitted. I remember lusting after a Kramer many years ago. Basses from that era had a certain look. A zeitgeist thing I suppose, along with early Wals , Guilds and Shergolds they all look from that era, where as Fenders have always looked modern ! Now theres an idea , I wonder how a modern interpretation of a Shergold would go down ?