pfretrock

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.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1350315826' post='1837187'] i fixed this problem on one of my basses with a small shims of plasticard under the exposed worm gear. [/quote] Over the past 2 months plastic shims have come out of my Mex P bass tuners. Does this usually happen? Does not seem to be causing a problem. Photo shows one on the way out and the other which came out yesterday.

There is a photo of a 1966 candy apple red V in The Bass Book (Backbeat/Hal Leonard books) similar to OP's photo but dot inlays and missing ash tray - mount holes visible.

These switch pots are usually 8mm thread mount, so if you want to replace an existing 10mm pot get some 0.8mm solid wire (if you can find it), form into a circular ring and drop into the gap in the pickguard, before putting the nut on. Perfectly centered up control. Or just screw it down anyway if you're not bothered about alignment.

Gasp, that was some Lesson 1. Pete had problems also. Hendrix did not like them for ripping off blues songs and not giving credit. Here's Pete: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTJywZoG_bw[/media]

Just got one of those switch pots from Axetec.co.uk, about a fiver each. There is also a long collar version to go through wood. They have detailed dimensioned drawings so you can check if the pot-switch will fit in the panel and the route before you buy.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1410440110' post='2549453'] Great marketing move from U2... wonder how much that cost them..??? [/quote] It cost Apple. It's all your faults for giving Apple too much money.

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1410339016' post='2548206'] My other half teaches and her school do this and every year they buy expensive instruments (clarinets last year and flutes this) which the children proceed to wreck and never touch again. [/quote] Now't wrong with Recorders. Cheap, easy to play simple tunes and challenging on difficult pieces. Or maybe a few indestructable Squire Mustangs! Or are those kids really rough?

I get petitions in my mailbox almost every day. Don't usually pass them on but this one I will. It's equally important as the three R's and PE. [url="https://www.change.org/p/nicky-morgan-deliver-the-government-s-promise-to-give-every-child-opportunity-to-learn-an-instrument"]https://www.change.o...n-an-instrument[/url]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1410109847' post='2546211'] And D'Addario are one of the few manufacturers who consistently quote tension figures. [/quote] They also quote mass per unit length, I wish others would do this. It was useful for stringing a short scale. Starting with a light set, I raised the string pitch to get an rough idea of tension, then worked out a similar tension for a heavier string at correct tuning. [url="http://www.daddario.com/DAstringtensionguide.Page?sid=78c369c1-fdb7-44ed-9af2-d1724874466b"]http://www.daddario....f2-d1724874466b[/url] Note: Do the calculation, I found some errors in their columns, some figures were in the wrong column.

Might give it a go but usually lose the will to live after a couple of crates!

Got a set of D'Addario XL Chromes from Amazon for my P, cheaper than most. You may get free shipping. Delivery was quick.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1409571680' post='2540938'] Just out of interest - I have the ways & means of measuring these parameters so here you go! I had a Fender Gold Bass 12' Cable in front of me, (a bass dedicated, directional 'highest quality cable'), so I used that. If their claims are to be believed - there must be a 'lot worse' cables out there I suspect these reading would be hard to improve on Tip to Tip = 0.2 Ohms / 2.24 nF Screen to Screen = 0.1 Ohms / 0.18 nF Tip to Screen Open ended = Open Circuit (Infinity) / 1.79 nF Tip to Screen Shorted = 0.2 Ohms / 3.08nF Cheerz, John [/quote] here is the cable chart I found: [url="http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/cablechoice.shtml"]http://www.ovnilab.c...blechoice.shtml[/url] What's interesting is his comment that the lowest capacitance should give the brightest sound, whereas my (simple) model shows there is an optimum capacitance for best response. I suppose that's the danger of taking a component in isolation, you can only really gauge its performance when in circuit where in inter-reacts with all the other stuff. And ears are always the best final test.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1409566226' post='2540847'] What threw me, as mentioned, was the fact the cable was giving me what I expected with my active basses so I'd no reason to think it was defective... of course now I know, my cables are the first thing to check for any sound/tone issues. As for the inherent capacitance, I'd say that would be associated more with poor contact between the jack plug and the conductors in the cable. [/quote] That would make sense as the active circuit could drive almost any cable effectivly but in passive mode the inductance and resistance of the pickup would come into play. I'd previously done some Spice modelling of my amp and have just added a pickup model (guestimated inductance of 7.5H, resistance 7.5K, capacitance 70p) If I change the cable capacitance, the tone cut 3dB frequency is (this is with the pot flat out at 250k): Nothing added: 3.8kHz 100p: 6.1kHz 220p: 5.68kHz 470p: 4.6kHz Cables seem to be 16 - 50pf per foot, depending on brand. A lot of guesswork in my model, but it shows cable can have an effect with a passive circuit. However it's probably best to use what sounds good and not worry too much about numbers! [quote] Tip to Tip = 0.2 Ohms / 2.24 nF [/quote] John, Just found a chart of cable capacitance, this Fender cable seems to be one of the highest Don't think resistance will be much of an issue.

Had a similar experience. Got my first bass 9 months ago (Fender MIM P) Was using a cheap £5 cable from a local shop. There was very little change on the tone pot, I thought this was normal as I'd heard this problem mentioned a few times. Fender combo and Laney practice amp both the same result. After a few months the signal started to break up. I unscrewed the connector and noted the braid earth connection was fraying so decided to re-make the joint. After a few snips with the side cutters I decided the cable was useless, braid falling out as I stripped it. Quick dash to a local shop before closing time to buy a decent low noise cable and now the P tone control works! Goes from almost muddy to fairly bright. Wish I'd measured the old cable capacitance before I threw it out. Both were 3m length. A puzzle as to what was going on as I'd expect the cable capacitance to be rather high to make the tone pot inoperable, but the output was fairly bright, it just did not change much either way with the pot.

What's the incubation period for this dreadfull disease called GAS? Got my first bass 9 months ago and am now fighting off number four. Is there any hope?

Short scale string tension was a problem for me (perhaps being a very inexperienced player, I found it hard to adapt?). I put the fattest flats I could fit on my Squire. It helped a bit. What about medium scale? not many around. I found this interesting article a few weeks back, I think the author is a BCer. Interesting read. [url="http://www.innertainment.net/medium.html"]http://www.innertain...net/medium.html[/url]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1408292766' post='2528703'] Ouch! He'll be fearing you now! Anyway, enjoy BC! bert [/quote] No worries, just found him. It was awesome, so he won't need to kill me. Thanks for the welcome.

[quote name='mikebass84' timestamp='1408274384' post='2528470'] Played a local music festival in two different bands... [/quote] Hi, (just joined) Only found out about the festival on Friday from something you posted on BC - lost the post (search won't find it). Anyhow spotted this post and found you! Awesome playing on that 5 - Thanks, enjoyed it. Was a poor show when you were taken off, lots of booing at the compare. Bit daft really only one song away. Got there about 8.30 so saw the reunion also , sounded pretty good too. Two excellent sets. Thanks!

Hi, Been lurking a few months, learnt a lot, so decided to join. Not sure what I can contribute back though? I have a Fender MiM P and have only been p̶l̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ practicing the f*** out of it for 9 months. Just fun, no ambitions to gig! Saw a BCer at a gig last night, if I can find him, will tell him what I think of his playing! Thanks for letting me join!