dave_bass5

Well ive given up with my P34. Love the tone, love the feel, but when i stand up to play it i find its awkward. Set up is fine for me, but i have a feeling its the depth of the neck. Tried all sorts of strap heights etc. it plays ok but i feel slower on it. I had a rehearsal last night and i kept fluffing the lines. Im going to go back to my Fender for now, or maybe give the 425 an outing.

Sorry to hear that but i think its for the best. It might put the band back for a while but less stress for you and maybe a more harmonious band going forward. My guitarist turned up to rehearsals last night carrying a guitar without a case. 'guess what i forgot' he says.....'your guitar case' i replied....'nope, my guitar, just had to hire this one from the studio' 😂 He only lives about 15mins away, drives, and has at least 8 guitars. The mind boggles.

You are right, but as someone who spent almost 2 years trying to find a capable guitarist it’s easier said than done, especially if you have gigs booked and need to honour them. Another attitude I’ve come across is to just tell the agents we are busy when they call up. Ok, that’s fine with the agents, but ive not invested all that time and money to pretend I’m out gigging and to be sitting at home on a Saturday evening.

I have one of the hanging stands but dont really use it.

Dan, you arent getting me to spend more money this time 🙂 I love Sires, especially the Gen 2 V7 and P7's, and i have tried a M7. Lovely neck, as expected with all the Sires, feels nice to play and with quite a nice meaty tone (coming from a mainly P and Jazz background). I too was very happy to find the Sire preamp to have a sweepable mid, and yes, that magic 80hz is in all the Sires, BUT......it bugger to rest against an amp. it just falls over lol.

Totally get this. Ive been agonising over getting the action just right on my Yamaha P34. I can get 2mm on my Fender P, but only 2.25mm on the P34. Nothing in it at all in the real world, and yet it feels difference, or at least i think it does. In my case its probably two things. I Shim all my necks, the the strings run parallel to the fret board. I haven't done this with the P34 so visually it looks 'wrong', and the necks feel different anyway, so that too will contribute to my string OCD.

Been rehearsing for too long, couldn’t face starting again with a new guitarist. We are at the stage where we can gig, but getting someone new in could put us right back to the start. Until we have done a few gigs and have gigs to offer it’s not easy finding someone that is both good and committed.

Yes, very frustrating. I look on musicians in bands as being in one of two categories. Playing in a band, where you put the effort in, realise you are part of a team and have an obligation to deliver what’s needed. The second is playing at playing in a band. This latter category pretty much includes all my band other than me. Likes the idea of being in a band, likes occasionally rehearsing so they can play extra loud, but on the commitment scale the band is nowhere near the top so will fit in when it suits.

I’m having issues with my guitarist. Joined last Nov as he wants to gig etc. Away with his wife almost 3 weekends out of 4 every month over the past 6 months. Just keeps booking weekends away. Not flexible at all, and yet keeps asking when the gigs are coming in. Ive turned down 7 since June because he isn’t available and it’s really hard to get motivation to try and get gigs knowing I’ll probably have to turn them down. Now I know it’s not the same thing, if we had a gig he would hopefully honour it, and I’m not going to book anything where he says he isn’t free, but he randomly adds these weekends to the Callander and must realise it doesn’t leave us much room to gig.

Sorry, can’t talk about them 😂

Totally agree. If you have a gig booked you are booked and not free to do anything else, within reason.

My Sire bass has the original batteries in it, and I got it when they first came out. I got in to the habit of always unplugging it when not actually playing it, even at gigs. As I use a wireless system it made it a bit easier as the lead would just hang from the strap.

Ok

It only takes one slightly high fret to cause a string to buzz.

Yeah, my 425 sounds a bit more aggressive compared to my P34. Aggression can easily be added but its a bit harder to take out IME. Either works fine for me, and to be honest in the recordings ive got from rehearsal with both i cant tell what bass was used unless im playing the low B-D, but i can appreciate the smoother tone will work much better for some. If i was to sell my P34 id definitely be looking at a 435. Blast, i want to get my 425 out now lol.

Ive always hated the sliver surround that Yamaha used. Although only cosmetic Yamaha were a brand i wouldn't really consider when looking for new basses because of this (although i did have a TRBX which loos great). Now i have one i cant say it bothers me, but i do prefer the more mainstream look of the newer basses.

Same as mine. I would have no hesitation taking just that to a gig. In fact i will at some point. Lovely bass to play, and with a bit more 'edge' than my P34.

We used to do similar for wedding gigs. We used to have print outs of our 100+ song play list and leave them at the front of the stage. Worked well most of the time.

Had a gig a few years ago ni a pub. Guy came up to us mid first set and asked for a Rolling Stones song (cant remember which one). Singer told him we had already played it. Guy said he was out having a fag, so can we do it again? Singer said maybe, in the last set. Guy says he isnt staying till then, can we do it now. Singer says No. Guy shrugs and says that song is s$$$ anyway and walks off. He was still they as we were packing up. Other times we get asked 'are you doing any more songs?' as we are curling leads up and drummer has mostly dismantled his kit.

Just had my first rehearsal with my Stomp. Running it to the front of my BH800 amp (no effects loop). Sounded great, although the studio cab is crap and very boomy. Mainly used the B7k sim, both with and without Distortion I also had 70’s chorus on a few times, along with a phaser, but I need to tweak those as the effect is too strong. So far it’s all been on headphones at home so understandable. What I was surprised at, as were the band, was how well the Octave down worked. Just here and there, but it made a big difference to the overall mix. It was nice having that low D back for the end of songs, without needing a 5 string.

You tell us. We all tolerate different things in different ways.

Well if you have a ruler that is accurate enough then yes, you can. No need to be too specific, its all about how it feels rather absolute numbers. Once you get the E and maybe G in place just adjust to what feels comfortable. I do find one of these cheap string action gauges very useful though. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Durable-String-Action-Measuring-Luthier/dp/B07CNY6HF2/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=string+set+up+tools&qid=1567524751&s=gateway&sr=8-9 After all the years ive been setting up my basses i recently got a set of cheap radius tools and found i have no need for them. Acton is a personal thing but as it happens i was already 95% there so left things alone.

Ideally the height of each string follows the fingerboard radius.

Yeah, its medium low rather than low IMO. I know a few players who play with a lighter touch and can get 2mm or just under.

Ive been having a bit of trouble setting my Yamaha bass up to how i like it. Nothing wrong with it as such, just not comfortable. I read as many set up guides as i could, and i have been setting my own basses up for years. What i found strange was that the more relief i had, and going by most of the guides say more is better for harder playing, the more fret buzz i would get abve the 6th fret. I play with a pick so fret buzz can be a bit more obvious, and although dont dig in to hard i can get a bit heavy handed. Against my better judgment, i was going for .012 - .015 at he 8th fret, while trying to get the action down to 2.25(ish) at the 12th on the E. Most of the guides were saying this is needed if you play herder. In the past ive gone for .008 -.010 like in the Lakland video. In fact that video as been my reference point for years. Now i have the perfect set up for me, and its at the Lakland settings of .008, with just over 2.25mm action. My point of this long winded post, is that i was getting quite a bit of buzz when i was using the higher relief measurements, and although i dont go over the 12th most of the time it was in the upper part of the neck. I can now dig in a bit more and have a relatively low action. So yeah, tighten the truss rod beyond what you have it now and if the frets are fine i think its going to work. You have nothing to lose. I found this PDF to be quite interesting, although as i said, i went against the advice and used a tighter relief. https://www.dropbox.com/s/kos2qqse8q1vdj2/Truss_Rods_Made_Easy.pdf?dl=0