pfretrock

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1412770002' post='2571787'] Most of the names come from vintage motorcycles... [/quote] Black Lightning? anyway, please check out Richard Thompson's - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. Think it is on youtube. (sorry to go OT!)

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1412513088' post='2569454'] what for? squashing spiders? [/quote] I think you need more strings to squash spiders. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/182955-interview-with-mo-foster/page__view__findpost__p__1752696"]http://basschat.co.u...ost__p__1752696[/url] "You started out as a pick player and then switched to fingerstyle. What made you switch? Do you ever use a pick these days?" "When I started session work I noticed that the good players were playing mostly with their fingers, and to help me to learn to play this way I designed the Bass Practicer. It consisted of a 6" piece of wood, one string, one tuning peg and a jack plug casing for a bridge held in place by two nails. It fitted perfectly in the pocket of my ex-Swedish army officer's coat, and as I rhythmically plucked the solitary string it definitely helped me to develop hard calluses on my finger tips. I had to be careful though, since the repetitive motion of my hand inside my coat could easily have been misinterpreted! I still use a pick if I’m impersonating players such as Paul McCartney, Anthony Jackson, or Duane Eddy."

Mo Foster made one of these in the early '70s for finger-style practice. Carried it in his pocket, must have found it useful.

[quote name='natjag' timestamp='1409180595' post='2537311'] Looks like this scheme is a victim of it's own success. I wonder what the scrap value of strings are? [/quote] If you are famous.... Go here...... [url="http://wearyourmusic.org/collections/famous-artist-bracelets"]http://wearyourmusic...rtist-bracelets[/url]

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1412166726' post='2566338'] 14.... [/quote] You'll get that Lute someday?

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1412160033' post='2566209'] You, sir, have my deepest respect. Dunno the Fuzz though. Is that a Skoda as well? [/quote] No, the Fuzz is a cheap Golf.

A decent pedal should have: 3 pole switch, 2 poles to give true bypass and 1 to kill the power when OFF. Stereo jack on the input so that the pedal is only powered when plugged in by connecting the ring to the sleeve. If there is a 9V power in socket. it should drop out the 9V battery (if fitted). Sockets usually have a switch contact for this. And possibly a LED to show it is on. I suspect item 1 is only a 2 pole switch and only provides bypass. 3 pole switches are more difficult to find, but are available. But not really necessary if there is no battery. Having said that, my home built Fuzz and Octavia both have a 2 pole switch and run from battery. Doh!

[quote name='HengistPod' timestamp='1411998985' post='2564683'] Interesting that they've finally gone for the bridge change. I'll be looking forward to opinions on how this works out ... never had a huge problem with the 3-pointers, though. (Except all the bits fall out when you have all the strings off at the same time and then you've no idea which one goes back where, and so you end up having to do all your intonation again once you've found all the saddles under the sofa or wherever they went ...). [/quote] Saddles are marked 1,2,3,4 on my Epi. Does the new bridge have the saddles too close to the string ball ends, so the overwind (and silk cover for some brands) sits on the saddle, or does it fix that?

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1411666252' post='2561751'] If the signal is already lost - no settings on any amp in the world can bring it back [/quote] You are correct and logical (I'm not logical sometimes). I was thinking about attenuation.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1406027163' post='2507569'] Instead of a signal generator to create you test tones, could you record a series of notes or tones on phone/walkman/small recording device and use that as a test signal ? Just a thought. You'd still need some kind of probe to inject them into the circuit though. [/quote] For sig gen, I use one of these, rather than build one, then spend more time on effects buildiing (and practice.....): [url="http://www.tolvan.com/index.php?page=/tone/tone.php"]http://www.tolvan.co...=/tone/tone.php[/url]

[quote name='gazgoldstar' timestamp='1411681980' post='2561961'] ...I seldom experience egotism or indifference.... [/quote] Egotism is probably caused by having your strings tuned an octave too high.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1411540501' post='2560402'] Where did the strap button used to be then? [/quote] I think where the upper horn should be, which Leo put there for a reason I take it yours is back of the neck/heel? mahogany bodies would look even better without a pickguard - how do I hide those screw holes. But I do like it, even if the lower frets are hard to reach.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1411489629' post='2559997'] Just a quick update. This has perfect balance. People say Tbirds have terrible neck dive but not on this. Any more love out there [/quote] The neck may be 9 ply? - some of the plys are very thin. Moving the strap button seems to have fixed neck dive. White is a cool colour for any instrument, but I wonder why Gibson/Epiphone put paint on Mahogany? Maybe they don't want to reduce the weight by using a lighter wood (quality seen to be lower, neck dive comes back). Most definitely a Marmite bass. Wish my arms were a bit longer as it sounds great. You got yourself a bargain - enjoy it!

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1411412411' post='2559323'] [b]From Brain Pickings .... [url="http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/22/joni-mitchell-in-her-own-words-malka-marom/"]Joni Mitchell on Freedom, the Source of Creativity, and the Dark Side of Success[/url][/b] [/quote] And no mention of Laura Nyro. Ah well here you go... [url="http://www.furious.com/perfect/lauranyro.html"]http://www.furious.c.../lauranyro.html[/url] I'll never forget the first time I heard 'River' .....

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1399978796' post='2449491'] On a passive circuit there is always a little bit of top-end bleed to earth through the tone potentiometer and capacitor. However changing the values of the components is only going make a slight difference to the sound. Before you go spending money on this try an experiment. Remove the tone control completely from the circuit. This will be as bright as the sound of the bass will get. If that's not enough you'll have to look elsewhere for solutions to your problem. (I'd start with the tone controls on your amp) [/quote] A late post to this old thread but I'm interested as I have an epi T and have just been measuring the pickup inductance (and some spice modelling if anyone is geeky enough to need it). I'd agree with the above, The pickups are a whopping 10 Henries (compared with around 7.8 - 8H for quarter pounders and 4H for cheaper brands.). This will mean a lot of treble cut in a passive system. Removing the tone cap is only going to increase the treble cut point by a few hundred Hertz. Also as stated elsewhere a tone bleed on the volums pots ain't gonna work since the signal is already lost and nothing can get it back (other than amp settings). I'd check your amp lead, try another if possible and adjust the amp. How long is the lead and do you know the brand? But aren't TBs supposted to be dark? I can get all sorts of responses from mine by dialling in the Treble, Mid and Bass controls (on a simple amp).

Worth mentioning (having just removed 2 necks) - make sure you have the correct 'cross point' screwdriver. My Mexican and Indonesians both use Phillips number 2 (Phillips is standard on Fender builds). If you try to use a Pozi-Drive you will scrunch up the screw heads. The driver should be marked PH2 and [u]not[/u] PZ2. Other brands of guitar may differ, so check. A worn (or cheap brand) driver bit can also damage the heads as it will slip. PH1 for pick guard and tuner screws PH2 for neck and bridge screws And if you postman has small elastic bands, mine were difficult to get over the headstock - wrap a strip of paper around the neck and secure with masking tape. Don't put tape directly on the strings, the darn stuff does not come off easily.

Here you go, good news. (hopefully there will be a Bonzo statue nearby one day) [url="http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/11474345.Music_store_going_from_strength_to_strength/"]http://www.redditcha...th_to_strength/[/url]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1410864936' post='2553955'] [b] [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29208540"]Apple releases U2 album removal tool[/url][/b] [/quote] I really think U2 should get an email each time someone removes the album.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1410870902' post='2554075'] I'm sorry to read this. You must be very jealous of me then. The playing part I've got down to a tee, naturally. It's the having contact with a person of the opposite... er... gender! that I have trouble with. [/quote] Oh man, you missed all those hippie chicks at Stonhenge in the 70s.

This guy was doing it for the wrong reason. And he's got no soul. From Today's Guardian: "Forget the bucket list: these are the things you should avoid before you die. #7 Learn to play an instrument. Learning to play an instrument (usually the guitar) is a bucket list staple. It’s also a heinous act of self-deception, because really what we want is to “learn to look cool while playing a musical instrument”. Even if the bucket lister manages to exercise the discipline, patience and flair needed to truly master an instrument, it’s impossible to adult-educate yourself into the swagger of a Kurt Cobain or Janis Joplin. I discovered this the hard way by having the door closed on me repeatedly, both while practising and “performing”, as part of my ambition to jump the chasm from “guitarist whose music people can tolerate” to “guitarist whose music impresses women”. Save yourself the time and money and go to Stonehenge or something instead. - @adambrereton " [url="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/15/forget-the-bucket-list-these-are-the-things-you-should-avoid-before-you-die?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2"]http://www.theguardi...EMCNEWEML6619I2[/url]

And a few forests to keep up with the GAS.

First real gig I went to was Curved Air. They supported Sabbath and were bloody loud! Was a while ago...........

[quote] Keyboard 30% Piano 28% Electric Guitar 13% Bass Guitar 5% [/quote] Ideal ratios for future Lynyrd Sknyrd-Thin Lizzie-Wishbone Ash-Iron Maiden, I'd say. It's those keyboards that worry me! But seroiusly, is it possible to get a reasonably priced good quality short scale bass? Nowt worse to put a beginner off than a bad instrument.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1410695568' post='2551994'] Are they the metal ones ? Odd they've come out - never heard of it before to be honest. [/quote] There is a metal shim, then a plastic shim, then the gear. Plastic looks like cheap PVC. Just checked carefully for rattles (amp off,ear against headstock) there was a faint rattle on A string when played mid-neck . This is the only tuner wiith the plastic still present. Took apart and re-assembled it, OK now.

[quote name='SmallDawg' timestamp='1410630334' post='2551478'] Luckily it's not mounted to a pick guard and the hole is only 8mm diameter on the body of the bass so i haven't had to fill the gap up or anything BUT i shall bare that in mind in future as I am taking the CTS pots out of one of my basses and replacing it with an active pre-amp which i know has much smaller pots so I'll do that on it, thank you very much [/quote] Another comment - I fitted one to my Jag yesterday. The pots have split splined shafts intended for push on knobs. I fitted Fender type knobs with set screws in the side. I decided the screw should bear down on the slot rather than the splined side. Seems a safer option to me, the split may tend to open and hold onto the knob rather than bending inwards and working loose.