Stylon Pilson

Nice concept, shame about the execution. S.P.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='314881' date='Oct 26 2008, 09:30 AM']I have a pupil who has an EB0 & the build quality is lovely. The sound is pretty clear, but bear in mind that these basses only do "that 60's sound." I've played the EB3 in a couple of stores & it's a nice enough thing, but I ask the same question as I do of Hofners... Why would you limit yourself to only one sound like that? Rich.[/quote] My Sinsinodo only has one sound, but it's a good one. I can see why you might not want a one-trick pony as your only bass, but if you've got more than one instrument, then flexibility is barely a concern. I've always thought that the SG-style basses look cool but I've never seriously considered purchasing one, despite owning a cherry red Epiphone SG 6-string and thinking it's the dog's danglies. S.P.

[quote name='Gamble' post='314815' date='Oct 26 2008, 12:37 AM']Gotcha, cheers! I knew it would be logical. ROFPMSL![/quote] Why are you Rankling Otters For Providing Miserable Stippled Laminates? I mean, there's a time and a place, but this isn't it. S.P.

On Wednesday afternoon I went into the studio with my band's songwriter / guitarist / vocalist / leader / frontman to put bass down on a few songs. Over the course of 2.5 hours we managed to do four songs. For the most part, this consisted of 5 minutes for me to record my take, and then half an hour of the producer drag-dropping each note in his DAW so that it lined up perfectly with the existing tracks, and muting all the string noise between notes. At one point, while he was dragging a note, I said "so, how many milliseconds out would you say that one was?" He paused, checked the screen, and said "I say about 1/24th of a beat". The reason that I had asked him at this point was that, from looking at the waveforms, this note seemed to be at the very top end of the range - most of them required far, far less dragging than this one. I appreciate that this method is probably standard operating procedure. As the producer said, it makes the song sound tighter. The aforementioned band leader wants a tight sound, so I'm going to go along with his wishes without kicking up a stink. But my personal preference would be for a more natural, honest sound. There's one particular string of three notes which has been so perfectified that I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to it without cringing. To most people, it will sound great. To me, it will sound like a con. Top priority is that the end recording sounds great. But I wanted to vent. And to find out what opinions and related experiences other basschatterians might have. S.P.

I've put it in my diary. S.P.

In a nutshell, you need to mix it so that it sounds good. A more specific tip, which might help you, is to use fairly heavy equalisation so that each instrument has its own space in the spectrum. So for the vocals, roll off the bass and boost the treble. For the bass, roll off the treble and boost the bass. For the guitars, roll off the bass and treble and boost the mids. Remember that the Foo Fighters have a great deal of resources at their disposal, so don't be disappointed if it takes you a few years until your mixes sound as good as theirs. S.P.

[quote name='HeavyJay' post='309625' date='Oct 19 2008, 01:20 AM']Does anyone know of a car that fits a bass (in hard case) in the boot?[/quote] I have a 2001 Vauxhall Astra. The boot is wider at the top than at the bottom (thanks to wheel arches). The hard case won't fit in the bottom, but it will fit in the top. Works out quite nicely for me, because my bass amp occupies the bottom half. Edit: My case is bass-shaped - I'm not sure if a rectangular case would fit. S.P.

Unless you have a reason to be rushing off, I'd say hang around as long as necessary. Offer to help them interview your replacement. If, after a few weeks, you think that they are dragging their heels, then you can toughen your stance a bit. Once the new guy is in place, you're free to go. S.P.

Scary stuff. Glad you're okay. S.P.

There's another thread on these [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28979"]here[/url].

Three is exactly the right number of basses to have. Anybody with three basses is clearly awesome. S.P.

Your band is in a pretty bad state. You need to find a singer who can sing, and shift your current singer into some other role (does he play guitar?) If you can't find a singer who is competent and enthusiastic, then you're always going to be banging your head against a brick wall. S.P.

I've just placed my order! S.P.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='305617' date='Oct 13 2008, 04:56 PM']Tortoise Pickguard??[/quote] Seems a waste of a good tortoise, especially if you're going to cover it with a white pearloid covering anyway. S.P.

[quote name='Pissman' post='305616' date='Oct 13 2008, 04:55 PM']Just wondering how often strings should be changed, and how do you tell when they need it? I only realy play in my room, not in any serious band right now, so would restringing make a noticable difference to me? Thanks [/quote] It might be worth changing them once after about six months, so that you can appreciate the difference between new strings and old. And it might also be worth trying a few different gauges and types, so that you can get an idea of what works for you. But on the whole, I'd be tempted to say: don't bother. Save your money. S.P.

[quote name='tauzero' post='305468' date='Oct 13 2008, 01:32 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320310081381"]Item 320310081381[/url] - a rather interesting take on making a headless. From what I can see of it, it uses normal tuners in a novel fashion, rather more attractively than the Warwick Nobby Wossname. Seller also offers plans for sale for his travel guitar of the same family.[/quote] Heh, didn't even see those tuners there at first. Recessed to stop them being knocked accidentally - I'm impressed. My only concern would be that you might end up accidentally muting your D and G strings while trying to tune them. S.P.

[quote name='Toasted' post='305417' date='Oct 13 2008, 12:43 PM']. . . on the plus side: [url="http://www.josephpurcell.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rawbody2.jpg"]http://www.josephpurcell.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rawbody2.jpg[/url] Looks beautiful.[/quote] My first thought was: gingham. S.P.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='304193' date='Oct 10 2008, 09:53 PM']By rear contour I think you mean not the entire back, but the "beergut" cutout is all black.[/quote] That's right. It's funny how different people interpret the phrase "rear contour", isn't it? Seemed unambiguous to me, but apparently I was wrong. [quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='304193' date='Oct 10 2008, 09:53 PM']Cheapo copies have this to disguise a body made from more than one laminate of wood or even ply though. Early mexican fenders I have seen also had this. Not sure if current ones do or what they were trying to hide - my guess is that laminates of more attractivly grained wood is stuck to the top & bottom of plainer wood, so it doesn't always mean it can't be a real fender.[/quote] Thanks. This is the kind of information that I was looking for. S.P.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='303734' date='Oct 10 2008, 11:49 AM']Yes unfortunately I fear that might be the case. It's fairly safe to say though that it is probably not alder.[/quote] You're almost certainly right. Genuine Alder is generally found on the high end basses of this style. This one's probably just unknown Tone Wood, Solid Body or Basswood. S.P.

If a sunburst Fender Precision bass has black finish covering the entirety of the rear contour, does this indicate that the bass is actually made of plywood and hence not a genuine Fender? S.P.

Played The Cellar Bar at Bracknell last night. The drummer had to stay home, through no fault of his own, so we had to go ahead without him. It turned out pretty well, but we definitely missed him. Not a flawless performance on our part, but we engaged the crowd, and the sound man made us sound really good. If every gig could be as good as that, I'd be a happy man. We had a slight technical hitch early on in one of the songs in our encore, which resulted in our frontman's acoustic guitar being totally lost. Took us a few minutes to get it back online, and we restarted the song. Slightly awkward, but we had a forgiving audience. S.P.

It's kinda funky, but could there be a neck dive problem here? My Sinsonido is headless, and has good balance as a consequence. S.P.

I'd buy that if it was made of alder. S.P.