synthaside

Hi folks

I'm borrowing a bass from a colleague at work with a view to buying it, I've fancied one of these for a while , i was quite excited to try it .

IT'S FILTHY ... when I say filthy I don't mean damage , i'm sure it will clean up fine . I mean it feels unclean, and smells a bit , the gig bag reek's of damp.
I'm not sure I can play it in this state, I don't think I'm particularly clean or precious over my instruments, they get a rub down when they are bit dusty ... and I think I've oiled a fretboard once ....

Is it acceptable to clean it ? ..... especially if I don't get on with it? I think it needs a serious strip down .... the bridge looks rank and the strings feel greasy .

Opinions please folks

I know It's VERY tempting to go for a second-hand amp, but I stress you head down to somewhere with reasonable stock and try a few out first I'm so glad I did. I'd gone into the store dead set on buying one thing and left with something completely different I'd taken my bass and spent 20 mins with the amp in question unable to find usable tones , then tried my markbass found my sound immediately and left with a grin the size of a house, skipping back to the carry carrying the stupidly light combo in one hand .

Sound is very subjective, and amps definitely colour your tone, That being said for cost effective powerful rock tones, I'm surprised no-one's suggested one of the fender rumbles * [url="https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/2370606900/bass-combos/fender-rumble-500-v3-bass-amp"]https://www.anderton...500-v3-bass-amp[/url] *

I doubt you will need more than the 350 watts that the combo produces right off the bat but it leaves room for finding that second cab if you do need 500 watts.

Also before you go ahead and buy a gigantic 8x10 yourself what size venues do this band play? Will there be PA support, hell you may not even require an amp until you know the date of the first gig. I know its exciting to think about but I've found rehearsal room amps are getting better and better, one i'm going to in Clapham next week has my choice of markbass or GK :-S .

I've Gotta admit I'm very surprised that you find an epi t-bird " small " , I find its one of the longer scale basses I own it feels significantly longer in scale than my fenders , my aria's or my status .
This is one of the factors that i enjoy I'm built like a Viking , and standard 6 string scale guitars look like toy's in my paws.

I would say the neck profile on the bolt on Epiphone tbird is in between a jazz width and precision width ( Jazz's tend to be more narrow across the nut than Precision )

What t-birds do it does do is sit very differently from any other bass I own when played seated , the body shape when resting on the rear knee pushes the bass forward .
HOWEVER changes big time when you sit it on a strap ... before you part with your cash on an epi tbird , grab a strap and play it stood up .

Also where are you based ? have you thought about asking a nearby basschatter with a large stable of basses to let you try a few .

No , no I didn't specifically ask for a action setup from status , It went to visit them for an electronics issue and came back after a few months working correctly.
It's no fault of Rob / Dawn or anyone at Status I'm trying to find out if I'm apparently a ham-fisted Buffoon , who's bad technique is totally hidden when playing a wooden necked bass or If
something can be changed to hide minimise it.

REGARDLESS the bass is back from the store , who have done their best and it plays much much better now , you can use the E below 5th without touching so lightly you'd get a harmonic.

I know you said , No Jazz profile necks but what about a wider jazz , Would you consider a trade for this ?

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/synthaside/CD70D8BCB2D1A0B39A99514E343FB61FEFCA1121497FDD8503pimgpsh_fullsize_distr_zpsadslkmpg.png"]http://img.photobuck...zpsadslkmpg.png[/url]

70's classic jazz .... the profile is different to a modern C its more of a handful , just back from Charlie Chandlers and strung with rounds at the moment , Actual measurement wise the Modern C is about " 2mm narrower front to back to this 70's profile.

Bass is more a supporting instrument in part its like drums its only sometimes used on its own .... there's loads of inspiration out there , for stuff to play usually if you hear a song and feel motivated to move the rhythm section is doing that for you , I'd say bass is the glue of music without it you have guitar doing stuff and drums doing stuff its not connected.

That being said It can be tricky If your not ready for a band situation but want to get better at playing stuff, with other instruments, heres a few tips to get over this hump

My first suggestion would be , Songster ... it's a service for learning songs, and playing along with the tab , its great for getting your basic chops in time https://www.songsterr.com/ , I'm still guilty of using it when i don't know a cover which I need to learn quickly .

My next would be a cheeky one, some helpful people have uploaded to youtube's of all the Rocksmith stuff https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJWWEgzjNfHixUSpnUGcixc3ZgG1CArOD

good luck

Not the right song but .... capturing Pete Wenz bass playing spin seems rather hard . https://youtu.be/C6MOKXm8x50?t=158

Great one.

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, Sugar We're Going Down, Dance Dance - Fall Out Boy .[/font][/color]

You've gotta nail the spin though ;-)

Hah hah , Brightlinsea .... what a Small world . I've family there, spent ever summer there and was down the sailing club a few weeks back ,for a family thing , My uncle even sings in a local covers band .

The middle / Sweetness jimmy eat world [i]classics they both go down a treat.[/i]
Bubbles Biffy clyro , [i]Almost a modern classic and you get to break out the fuzz.[/i]
Steady as she goes The Raconteurs ,[i] some nice palm muting for you and a good crowd pleaser .[/i]
Helicoptor Block Party , i[i]mpossible to play the without a big grinning face[/i]
Hounds of love The Futureheads , [i]WOOF with luck you have more than one person willing to shout.[/i]
Hard to beat Hard-fi. [i]dirty driving bass .[/i]
She will be loved / moves like jagger maroon 5
gives you Hell All American Rejects
Hey there Delilah Plain White t's


Oddballs ..

Hey ya , Outkast , Break out that Autowah / synth from your multi-effects .
Welcome to the black parade , My chemical Romance , One for the more rocky venues
How to save a life The fray , If you have access to keys or someone who can fire a off the sample

Good luck , let me know when you're playing the community centre ;-)

So an update , after taking as much info in , I took the bass on Friday to a different store , explained the whole situation, and the guy played the bass ... who joked ..." well you can use the G string so get yourself an octiave pedal and you'll be fine ".

its gone off to be looked at again , i've asked for a " higher action " lets hope its sorted this time.

I did specifically buy some sets of hot wires for it and changed to another set of those when I swapped strings , perhaps a new set of d'addario's ...I've a set in my spares box , I do think the truss rod needs looking at , perhaps ill try a different guitar store apparently there is one not far from my office ... but they seem to send out rather than do in store.

The buzz is very bad when you fret at first or second on E , It seems to be making contract around 5th fret on the E and a little lower on the other strings If you play very cautiously on the A ,D or G you can get away with it but if you relax or get into it.... it wants to buzz and because the bass has an F hole you notice it .

( I imagine with a set of rounds it would be much much worse)

I didn't think I liked a Super high action , but perhaps a little higher than average I like to feel like I'm fretting with some positivity .

It has a truss rod as its the current headed type Neck but the access is VERY tight to the truss as its recessed deep inside, the bridge saddles are a bit of game too .

It's a full standard headed " status neck" , with no zero Fret shown here http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html It's the Bottom one.

I would say I vary my aggressiveness I can play softly and still generate buzz , but I don't attack it with a pick by any means The service with status was more for the electronics which did need looking at as it was discharging its pair of 9 volts even when not plugged in and by this I mean a pair in 3-4 days, they sorted this and did a setup for me with some factory strings I doubt I have a leg to stand on there I am happy with the work / service from status .

Really I'm after another local basschatter who knows about setups to play it and tell me not mental ...

Hi folks , I'm looking for a little help from a local someone , I'm in Kingston upon Thames but will travel half an hour or so and bring the thing if anyone can help me out .

So here's my situation.

I have a status graphite bass bought a year or so ago by my other half from this very forum for a landmark birthday.
no matter what I do I can't play the thing without fret buzz . I've tried to adjust the saddles and truss rod to get the right relief , I've paid to have it professionally set up at Charlie Chandlers in Hampton wick , It came back with an action so low it was even worse , so I raised the saddles AGAIN to stop the E fretting out at the 4th when you played any note above it.

I even sent it back to status UK for a service thinking that would sort it ... and it came back nice and shiny with new electronics ... and a set of flats which apparently are the strings that it came out of Rob's workshop wearing at birth. YET still unplayable by me to a satisfactory nature.

I'd never say I was a phenomenal player, but over the years I've had and played jazz basses , P basses , a thunderbird a nice acoustic bass , flats and rounds from all the usual suspects. but this is my " expensive" supposed forever bass but still I'm far more comfortable using my sub 150 quid ki0gon equipped Jazz.

So ..... HELP before I break mine and my partner's hearts and list it for sale

1. Is it me , all my other necks are wood ? I'm wondering if I just don't get on with graphite necks .
Am I too hamfisted , perhaps another status or status neck owner could fill me in.

2. Does it need setting up Higher and I'm incapable of doing it correctly ?
Would another player who's used to a low action have no problems

Any advice , perhaps any local person be willing to take a look / play and perhaps tweak the setup for me would be very appreciated .

There's always Charlie chandlers in Hampton wick which is still running , I knew the two guys fell out years back and that ended the link between the two shops .

Stuff that' we've done that sounded really ace , stealthy crowd pleasers ... From our female vocalist ... and these can really be rocked / punked up to taste

Thorn in my side Eurythmics , complete with Sax part's played with a wah

Jungle Book I wanna be like you , Punked up

Bryan Adams and Mel C , this one is actually a reasonable tune .... and Everyone sings it back at you.

Nancy , that's brilliant ...... It's like the darkness doing another Christmas song without quite all the Camp .. and double entendre .

I'd try somthing like this for getting your music up on the various platforms .. https://distrokid.com/

Then you just have to focus on getting the word out.

Any chance on shipping this , to the big smoke ?
its pretty much exactly what I'm after A , P to match my 70's Jazz , with extra toys.

To quote an old noir game from the late 90's .... I don't know about angels, but it's fear that gives men wings.

Use this as your motivator , to improve , the very worst thing that can happen to you is they ask you to step out practice hard ... devote some time to your reading and hopefully enjoy it .

While I've been on the receiving end of of plenty of bad guitar shop employee's advice and general haughtiness none of them stick in my mind like the one bit of great advice I received from a small guitar shop miles away from home .

We were at a store which my dad had driven me to because they were one of the few places with what i wanted in stock and i refused to buy it without trying it
I was after an Epiphone explorer bass , in my defence I was 15 obsessed with rock and spikey guitars , i'd been playing a hand me down basses of a neighbour and had also saved enough to buy a pile of junk bass from paper round money from the local classifieds. This was to be my first new instrument a gift from my parents for by upcoming 16th birthday and to be used for our Upcoming gig at the "Rifleman .... ( local Dog n Duck " . )

The explorer hung on its strap like an elephants trunk , but I really wanted it over anything else in the shop , Until the member of staff said who was maybe 22 or so said ....
"Its a great guitar for when your posing in your next music video , but wear it for 4 hours or turn up at a rehearsal for a slightly differnt band and you'll be wishing for something more comfortable and understated "

He suggested I try an Epi T bird which was " Different enough to be what I wanted " He also popped out back and put a strap button on underneath the bolt for the neck-plate which sorted the balance issues .

By the time i was 20 i'd have never been see dead with an explorer, but was still gigging my Tbird.

I'd had good luck using a Q tip ( cotton bud) and methylated spirits .... go very very slowly and sparingly anything gentler doesnt seem to shift the adhesive work around the sides util you have eaten away at a corner and try to remove .

This was on a NON nitro bass though ... i'd not suggest it on nitro .

The one i used did not have such prominent decal's so that's either custom or like you say from a trade show or some such.

It was at a gig in Kingston , We were the warm up act for a considerably well above our station band they were touring and we were pretty much at our first gig placed by the rehearsal studio , to fill the bill.

We were all stuck in the venue 3 hours or so before hand, as this place liked to do a soundcheck before the pub part of the bar fills up. It belonged to a nice chap who had a very nice Warwick rack mount setup but was actually quite impressed by the sound coming out of my old Trace SMX and Epi tbird. We swapped gear for a muck around before the gig and ended up with them dragging us on stage for an loud shouty encore of ... Sabotage by the beastie boys , much to the chagrin of the middle act who hadnt turned up until just before the start of the gig a riot grrl act using what was at the time very new daisy rock gear >.<

Its funny the nights you remember clear as day , This bass thundered out the bass line to sabotage with a nice gritty bit of overdrive ....

I played one of those in a 34 ten or so years ago , it was defiantly full scale it played well but a little thin for my taste but back then i was wooden humbucker's with the tone on zero played with a pick or nothing.

Enjoy it ... I hope to see a full review .

Honestly for a 113 ,quid on amazon prime if you like it buy it and give it a whirl open it carefully and you can return any item with amazon within the first 30 days , I've never had them say sorry you opened it.

if the neck is fine and body is solid . Swap those Stagg pickups out for some nice cheap Entwistles or try picking up some nice ones used on here .
I'd also suggest some used tuners from a squire vintage mod or similar which would be far better than those you could be onto a winner beater bass.

I would actually get it checked out i had it happen on one of my jazzes , turns out the truss road was pushing the skunk stripe right out the back of the neck.

The bass played fine ... but apparently the last owner ( facebook purchase ) had been " mucking with it"

lyle