TrevorR

[quote name='HengistPod' timestamp='1480598438' post='3185723'] P.S. Usually just the one bass, sometimes two if a short pause in the set while I re-string wouldn't be cool. Depends on venue. [/quote] I've always subscribed to the view... Not cool at Wembley, not cool at the Hammersmith Odeon (I'm old) but equally not cool at Bob and Mary's wedding or at the Dog & Ferret.

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1480705134' post='3186649'] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Not sure about those 3-bolt neck joints from Fender and others [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]And who said shimming in this day and age of super-flexible bridge and nut adjustment.[/font][/color] [/quote] It amuses me that I grew up with the perceived wisdom that 70s Fenders, esp 3 bolt ones, were shoddy rubbish and to be avoided at all costs. But now they're old enough to be considered "vintage" and are therefore desirable and commanding a premium price... How times change.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1480689782' post='3186453'] It'd be interesting to compare a neck through bass, with an instrument with exactly the same hardware, electronics, strings and wood etc, but with a bolt on neck. [/quote] My thru neck Aria SB700 always seemed to have a touch more punch and a much longer sustain than my chum's set neck SB600. Think they were identical other than thru vs glued. Of course a gazillion other factors may have caused this. But I just put it out there anyway.

One of the Sansamp Character Series overdrive pedals could be your friend here as it will give more of a guitar amp/speaker vibe to the sound and take the clinical full range edge off the overdrive/distortion sounds. Or similarly a small multi-effects unit with a speaker-sim function...

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1479659858' post='3178208'] I found that they are more more stable from a tuning perspective if I stretch them when putting them on. If I don't stretch them they take a lot longer to get to the point where they settle down & don't need frequent tuning. [/quote] [quote name='stuckinthepod' timestamp='1479730986' post='3178756'] I've always give the string a stretch of about an inch at the twelfth fret and then fretted and bent the strings (heavy finger virato style) at three fret intervals up the length of the neck. I did this on Saturday morning with a pack of D'addario EXP and played them that night with no issues. [/quote] [quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1479732514' post='3178773'] I lift the new strings away from the fretboard a couple of inches after restringing and tuning to pitch, then re-tune and that's it. I did that Saturday with my new-to-me Precision and it stayed in tune for th whole of that evening's gig. [/quote] Me too. Once at pitch just give them a few little pulls up. If I'm in a cheeky mood I might let them "splang" back down onto the fretboard. It seems to seat them in nicely and help them settle down quicker. Surely the "detaching the windings from the core and killing the strings thing must be pure bunkum, otherwise every slapper and plucker would have to change their strings after every... well, every song, let alone after every gig. Any set of Mark King's strings get a darned sight more abuse through a single rendition of Lessons in Love than I give my strings during a string change and tuning up session. How does he ever manage to get to the end of a whole gig with strings that have completely died by the end of the intro of the first song?

[quote name='vinorange' timestamp='1480410981' post='3184066'] I was considering a gentle trim of the socket collar to allow the jack to go in slightly deeper. It may be [i][b]all I need to do to avoid any change of cable[/b][/i] / socket.............I wonder if I should try that first with my dremel or a hack saw. [/quote] Risking hundreds of dollars damage to an expensive amp to avoid spending ten or twenty dollars on a new cable really shouldn't be plan A, or B or any letter higher than Z!!!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1480414123' post='3184106'] Nooooooooooo. . . . have you tried other cables yet? If the socket is soldered directly on to the board you might break the joint and cause more damage. Identify the actual cause of the problem before you start hacking away at this fantastic and expensive amp! [/quote] This, this , THIS!!!! SO VERY VERY THIS!!!!!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1480329777' post='3183325'] Well, I'd reply that those are quite extremes of the spectrum, just the same. My snares are a Camco 14x5.5 maple, a Tama 14x6.5 Maple and a Tame 14x6.5 steel. To me, they're very different; to most, in a band context, I doubt if they could be distinguished, as I'd be adjusting the playing to suit the song. A different 'ring', different dynamiques, different 'voices', but just a snare in the mix, especially if mic'ed. [/quote] Agreed, and that's where I reckon the endless debates on ash vs alder Jazz basses or the difference between maple and walnut veneers on a Wal or a Ken Smith reside... And the original example of a maple vs a birch shell on otherwise similar snares probably gets us into Badass II vs Hipshot vs Babictz (or however they're spelled) bridge debates.

You could also try an angled Neutrik if it will fit around the front of the jack and knobs etc the new loop it through the rack/amp handle for double redundancy. Oh, and like HHH said above, get Dave (obbm) to make you up some nice new cables. You won't regret it.

This is a well trodden topic here but the OP does raise an interesting new twist. On the main issue, my main reason for taking two basses to gigs is, like many others, insurance and as a back up. But then again, I do have two lovely Wals (both bought second hand fifteen or twenty years ago and scrimped and saved for - so hopefully I can avoid the All The Gear And No Idea accusations) both of which have subtly different sounds and quite different necks. I could happily do a gig on either, of course, but on the basis that it gives me a bit of extra pleasure why not use different basses on parts of the set where for me the sound and feel of a particular bass seems particularly apt. Will the average audience member be able to consciously identify the difference? No, of course not but I can and that's all that matters when it comes down to it. Dad's drum comment was interesting but I'd ask a counter question. Could you differentiate a Yamaha foldaway kick from one of those big 25 inch 1920s jazz band kick drums? A 14 inch birch piccolo snare from a 16 inch deep stainless steel snare? That's much more in the ball park for a P vs J, EB3 vs MM debate. Then there is the question about the showoff factor which I don't recall seeing in this debate before. I think that you'd need to be a particularly self-deluded breed of bassist to presume that an average audience could determine the exclusivity of your bass collection. They'd be more likely to look at your Carl Thompson, Alembic and Dingwall and think, "Oooh, that one's a funny shape, that one looks a bit like a scorpion's bitey bits and why has that one had the little bits of metal put on all crooked?" If they thought anything at all. Or even noticed the basses at all. In about 10 or 15 years of playing in a function band I only once had someone come up and say, "Ooh, a couple of Wals, nice!" Once. That's about the show off hit rate I'd expect. A few times I had teenage boys come up and ask what effects I was using to get all those different sounds out of the bass. I was using a Boss TU2 and a Lehle 3@1 line switcher! A discussion then ensued about the versatility of the Wal tones but that most of the difference (even on a simple passive bass) came from varying where I plucked the string, the level of aggression in the plucking and plucking with different parts of the finger or thumb. I tell a lie. I did have several people complementing me on my basses. What did they say? On my Mk 1 Wal... "That wood looks very pretty." and on my Pro IIE... "Ooh, that's a lovely red colour." They weren't bass players so, so much for exhibitionism. It is a really lovely shade of red, though.

Andy "Wal" Coughlan on bass on the Shaky track. Top bloke, top player!

Yeah, Neil Murray can occupy a terminus/connection station on the Blues/Rock and Metallists lines. And I'll nominate Davey Paton for an interchange between pop and session greats.

I also think that it's great news. But, let's just ground the numbers in a bit of reality rather than throwing around meaningless numbers like £300m which are hard to actually visualise. What does that announcement actually mean? It's £300m [i][b]over four years[/b][/i], so it's actually[b] £75m per year[/b]. There are about 24,000 schools in the UK and 8m pupils. So each year that's actually [b]£3000 per school [/b](we'll ignore the fact that maybe some funds might go to community music projects too) and [b]£9 per pupil[/b]. Let's presume that only one pupil in every class of about 30 pupils takes the benefit of the additional money (because the rest are plugged into their X-Boxes). So that's [b]£270 for the single pupil in the class taking up a musical instrument[/b], singing in a choir etc. Which is [b]about enough to part subsidise their music lessons[/b]. Whether or not you like the rhetoric of the government their aims is that "[i]Opportunities are open to all not just the privileged few to... learn to play an instrument, sing in a choir, join a band..[/i]." The educational benefits which some form of a musical education can bring to those who are inclined and motivated are well documented. The discipline and application involved in learning an instrument are useful life lessons. The social, confidence building and developmental aspects of belonging to a group like a band, a choir or an orchestra are immeasurable - I know that singing in the school choir and in a local youth choir were absolutely formative and influential parts of my teenage years. If in every classroom one more child gets to have that sort of musical exposure and experience than would otherwise have done that seems to me to be £9 per pupil well spent. My little boy loves singing in the local community youth choir of which he is a member. It's cemented friendships, grown his confidence in his abilities and, I am sure, will over the years open the door for experiences he would not otherwise have had. The same goes for all the other members of the junior, middle and senior choirs - from 4 years old to 18 plus. That choir only exists because of the dedication and vision of our two choir mistresses, the enthusiasm of the children and the fund raising which the parents do. If a little bit of the £300m ends up supporting that sort of community initiative too then that can only be a good thing and will be some of the better cash that Government distributes for the rest of this Parliament.

Another cracking podcast this week on improvisation.

One of these sold a while back... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264792-price-drop-aria-spirit-pe-les-paul-bass-l110-ono-sold/ The body shape is based on the longstanding Aria Les Paul variant, the PE series. Looks really cool.

Yes, I know that we've done this in many ways and in many places but this is really just a good exucse to draw everyone's attention to the new podcast from the brilliant Radio 3 programme "The Listening Service". This one explores what might constitute a cover, where covering stops and interpreting or arranging starts. As always with this programme it's never anything less than fascinating, engaging and entertaining... Here's the link. [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081t4vp"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/b081t4vp[/url]

Love my Morley Dual Bass Wah and my EHX Pulsar Tremolo And my Tech 21 VTDI but in not counting that as an effect, I'm counting it as an amp AS most of my playing is amp free at the mo.

Lee Pomeroy. Top bass player and a bit of a progger. Currently touring with ARW (Anderson Rabin Wakeman) but also a member of Headspace and This Oceanic Feeling. Factoid... for the new ELO line up Jeff Lynne basically took all of Take That's touring band and added strings. http://www.leepomeroy.co.uk/wp/

Group hug!

I think that there are a number of things here... yes, the settings on the Plek machine will optimise to a particular set of parameters, including string tension and gauge and neck relief. But just to remember, that just because it is optimised to that set up it doesn't mean that it will be unplayable with other set ups such as differences in string brand, gauge and tension. The chances are that it will be a perfectly good, perfectly playable (in fact probably still really really nice) set up which would feel much the same to any player. It just isn't "optimised" to that particular set of parameters. The tolerances which are being considered under the Plek system are tens and hundreds of thousands of an inch so I would question how much that level of optimisation actually matters. The F1 analogy above kinda speaks to this. Yes, Lewis' engine and suspension are built and set up to that kind of engineering tolerance. His suspension settings are tweaked by 100ths of a mm. But that is to obtain a 0.001s advantage over a distance of 2 - 3 miles. In the real world on my car it would be impossible to tell the difference. If the settings on my suspension are 1mm different today compared to yesterday it is still a perfectly good, perfectly fit for purpose driving experience. I suspect that we are talking the same thing with a Plek adjustment. And then there is the question of consumer decisions. Let's look at my string buying habits... 1982-1986 Dean Markley 40-100s, 1986-1988 Albion Strings 40-100, 1988-2006 Bass Centre Stadium Elites 40-100, 2006-2012 Bass Centre Stadium Elites 45-105, 2012-2015 Picato 45-105, 2016-? LA Bella Deep Talkin' Bass flats 760FL 43-104... I think I can safely walk into Charlie Chandlers and get my bass Plek'd without worrying that in six months time I'm going to have moved three different string types away from the optimised set up and that £120 spend on the Pleking will be a lasting investment. If someone is the sort who chops and changes their gauges and brands all the time then they can choose[list=1] [*]not to go for a neck dress that bases the settings around a particular string and gauge or [*]to go for a Plek on their current/new string choice in the full knowledge that if they change to another, a quick truss rod tweak to take account of string tensions will still give then a really nice playing neck even if it's not still "optimised" for those strings. [/list] It's a choice and a pretty benign one when it comes down to it. One of both of my Wals have (I think) been Plek'd in a set up once and (if they were) it was a really nice set up. Or it might have just been a hand stoning and polishing - I can't remember and, frankly in a blind test I doubt I would have noticed a huge difference between the two in a blind test. Add to that, I'm sure that the Plek descriptions (see here for the description at Charlie Chandlers' [url="http://www.guitarexperience.co.uk/plek-setup"]http://www.guitarexp...o.uk/plek-setup[/url] ) also contain a good deal of marketing guff about how much difference the "optimisation" process makes over a traditional set up. Doubly so since changes in where you pluck the string along its length (over fingerboard joint, neck or bridge pickup, close to the bridge) will make much bigger differences to the shape of the waveform created in the strings than swapping to a different gauge. Meaning that every time you shift right hand technique (or change from fingerstyle to pick or slap) you alter or undo the level of optimisation anyway. In summary, I suspect that there may be a bit of over-thinking and unnecessary worrying going on...!

[quote name='Surrpaul' timestamp='1478855005' post='3172092'] Speaking of Jolene, have you heard Dolly's version at 33rpm? YouTube it if you haven't. [/quote] Or even better... listen to The Little Willies' version. Norah Jones on lead vocals and a sleazy, greasy, downbeat feel... stunning! http://youtu.be/M3d8KobWVwk

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1478802924' post='3171814'] One of the best performances I have heard of Elgars Cello Concerto. Yo-Yo Ma, Conductor and Orchestra are so much on the same wavelength. Top, top playing. http://youtu.be/7rVW4Z70TfE [/quote] Wow, the tone and vib on the opening are stunning! I love the Julian Lloyd Webber recording with Sir Yehudi Menuin conducting the LSO. However, in going to need to find some quality time to spend with that Yo Yo Ma recording!!!

Am I missing something? But surely if you have a bass strung with say 90s with a relief at the 12th fret of 0.XX mm and then you switch to 105s or 110s causing your neck to become banana shaped you'd adjust the truss rod to straighten the neck to bring the relief back into the regioin of 0.XX mm. In which case the Plek profiling of the frets still stands? No? Plus what Dad says about how much difference under the fingers a small change in operating tolerances. Just because something is set up to be "ideal" in one configuration it doesn't mean it's utter rubbish the moment that configuration changes at all. It may still be perfectly acceptable at other quite different settings/set ups.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1478634747' post='3170527'] Surely within the inherent limitations and qualities of the instrument itself..? Castanets..? Difficult to imagine a symphony with only those, no..? Possible, too, I don't doubt, but not as rich a potential as a grand piano. Yes, solo (or orchestras of...) bass is all very well, and feasible, but it has to be admitted that the range is less than some other instruments. Melody..? Fine.Lead..? Why not..? An ideal choice..? Not so often, I'd say. Limited scope, by the very nature of the beast (similarly with many other instruments, of course...). Just sayin'. [/quote] That said, there is a rather splendid Concerto by Carl Nielsen whose two solo instruments are violin and snare drum!!