Doctor J

I started my last band and decided to play guitar simply because I didn't want to be in a band with a real guitarist ever again. We searched for a real bassist for about three years and ended up with a guitarist playing bass Now I've been asked to sub for another band for a while... on guitar For me, playing bass is always #1 Guitar #2 Drums #3 Drums are the only acoustic instrument I play. Electricity rules!!!

Cheers gents, this is one of the all maple neck and body jobbies, no paduak in sight, so I'll breathe that dust in without a care Ah I have to put the bell-brass frets back in, steel would clash with the gold hardware.

I've come into possession of a 91 Streamer Stage1 NT which needs a refret. Never refretted a wenge board before, do I need to treat wenge any differently from rosewood? And, yes, I've ordered brass frets, I'm not a criminal

Nice. It's going to be a long weekend, but not in the good way

Sony have been putting out 5 CD packs under the title Original Album Classics priced the same as a single CD which covers a lot of this era. I'm working my way through them, discovering the likes of Kansas, Spirit, Mountain, Little Feat, Argent and more - some amazing tunes and really wonderful bass playing.

Aren't ERBs of 7 strings or more being called "fretted piano"?

I've never gone to see a cover band, specifically, though I have for originals. The only people I know who've made an effort to see a specific cover band are friends and family of said band.

Criteria? Which 65 basses do we get money to advertise on a regular basis?

The Godin Shifter is a fairly tasteful looking instrument, it must be said.

[quote name='watchman' post='1182069' date='Mar 30 2011, 12:30 PM']Not a Spector expert, but in most active basses there either is or is not a switch to bypass the preamp and go passive. Without such a switch, there's not a hope that you'll get anything if the battery is dead. Even with a switch, I would hesitate to guarantee that it'll route the signal passively - the bass would need to be wird for what in effects pedal terms would be called true bypass. Carry a spare battery [/quote] The fool proof test is to engage the bypass switch (if there is one) with the battery removed. If it will truly run in passive mode, you will still get output. If there isn't a bypass switch at all, then forget it.

You'd find big differences even if you were to compare just Fenders throughout the years. I've had an ESP J4, a couple of Fender J4s and a Sadowsky J4 over the years. While they all were J basses in theory they didn't really feel or sound anything like each other in practice and I sold all but the ESP. By the same token, I've got a Bacchus J5 and a Hotwire J5 and, again, while they're unmistakably rooted in the classic Jazz template, they feel and sound remarkably different. It takes more than just a basic body shape and two J pickups for the instrument to feel the same.

I thank fussy people like you who leave the mildly blemished bargains for people like me

[quote name='ern500evo' post='1180959' date='Mar 29 2011, 04:04 PM']Cool, so if i went for actives would i nedd another battery in the bass?[/quote] No, you should be able to power them both off a single 9v.

Search for Badass II rather than Badass 11

You can keep the tonepump, you just need to make sure the EMGs are linked to the battery too.

The truss rod system on the 4001 is archaic - you're supposed to manually set the neck into the position you want and you use the truss rods to lock it into place. The 4003 has a redesigned truss rod system which works in the contemporary way you'd expect. As mentioned, the neck of the 4001 wasn't designed to handle roundwounds. I used to own a 1991 4003 and, above everything, it was the tone I loved - aggressive, growly and fat, almost too punchy, a wonderful experience. I had a guy with a 4001 in the studio a few years back and it was heartbreaking- thin, weedy, lifeless tone out of the thing was such a disappointment.

I put an Aria MB dual coil pickup into the neck position of a fretless Aria PJ wired it as 3 Vols & 1 Tone. It was fun, never noticed any problem with magnetic pull, but I don't put my pickups too close to the strings anyway. There was lots of different tone on tap, it was definitely worth doing at the time. However, I just installed an ACG filter pre last night and can honestly say there's inifinitely more tonal variety in that than a passive 3 pickup system.

Any bassist picking up a guitar for the first time is going to be just as shambolic as a guitarist first picking up the bass. Given time, either can adapt to the physics and technique of playing the other. The main difference, in my experience, is the mindset. More often than not, a guitarist playing bass will look to fill up the sound, to avoid leaving spaces, whereas experienced bassists tend to see the value in leaving space for other instruments and rhythmic effect and, of course, the ability to instinctively tune into what the bass drum is doing.

Just bought an ACG EQ-02 off Pete, very sound fella and a hassle free transaction. Thumbs up from me!

That natural one is stunning. The SR neck really is a joy to behold. Do you have any details on the new pre-amp in them?

Tune up one note to C.

You're more likely to have to pay someone to take it away, they're utter junk.

Do it. Deeper lows but greater highs, all part of the originals path.

Can I ask a question of the no-debt campaigners? Do any of you have mortgages?

Spend now, as one day we'll all be dead