lemmywinks

Great build and write up!

3 hours ago, BigJHW said:

I hadn't considered getting a powered sub as a solution because we use a power amp and passive PA cabs.

As someone who has "zero" clue when it comes to PA's

how would i go about connecting a powered sub to passive PA cabs.. Can i just use the "line Output" from the back of the passive cab? Or will that also take power from the PowerAmp and try to power the already powered sub?

Sorry TOTAL PA noob here

Starting to think just getting a 4x10 and 1x15 to make my bass sound awesome might be the plan haha

Ah right, I also don't know much about PA but you'd have to take the XLR feed from the desk, plug that into the sub then take another two XLR from the sub's output and feed that to the power amp for your tops. The sub will have a built in crossover so does all the work for you.

Powered cabs are the way to go really, much easier to set up and transport.

Just get a single powered sub to start with, that's all we use now and we do some pretty big rooms. I also have the full mixer app on a tablet instead of using the simplified monitoring one, partly as a backup in case our big tablet fails and also partly so I can quickly check any weird eq stuff going on with the bass!

Warwick have released a 600w version of the Gnome

https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_gnome_i_pro_600w.htm

Well someone got a bargain!

I gigged one of these once (borrowed bass for a late gig) and didn't rate it much but a tenner is a tenner!

As it says, worth checking out if you're local

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1255625872490379/

Valerie and I Predict a Riot are two I absolutely hated hearing and playing. Thankfully the latter had a relatively short lifespan in the set but Valerie - eurgh.

Also Does Your Mother Know, one of the weaker and less well known Abba songs but guitarists always seem to pick it. Hated playing it years ago and our new guitarist is trying to get it into the set, why would you pick that over all the great Abba songs that fill a dancefloor?

31 minutes ago, Mediocre Polymath said:

Yeah, I made a headless bass a few years ago, and being able to stick in a guitar gig bag is liberating. A glimpse of how the other half live. Unfortunately it's my fretless, and I don't often get called on to play that outside my attic.

Need pics of the fretless you made btw, forum rules!

I use the Gator Pro Go and Transit models, they can sit pretty far down but I still have to bend my knees to get through doors. I'm 6'6" so it's unavoidable, the problem was solved when I knackered my left collarbone and bought a lightweight headless bass that fits in a guitar gigbag!

The Warwick Gnome i and iPro feature a USB audio interface on the back, could just plug it straight into a PC to do quick recording:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_gnome_i.htm

4 hours ago, Rodders said:

Been on the look out for a piezo bridge too, so it would be handy to know, cheers!

I have one of the Powerbridge ones knocking around I don't use any more, basically the Fishman ones but without the branding. Have a 4 string in black and possibly a 5 string in silver as well.

Also have a Bartolini buffer pre, think it's the 2 channel one.

Bargain that.

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

Sounds right - DiMarzios are imperial, anything MIJ/MIK & hex-poled will be metric, them's the rules! If you pop it out the wiring should be black/white/red/green - I don't think any Japanese units used that.

 

If you're lucky it might even have PAF stickers...

From memory it doesn't have the PAF stickers but there was definitely a green wire in there, thanks! I'd always assumed MIJ + cream pickup covers + hex key pole pieces would be Dimarzio but only realised there were in house lookalikes the other day when reading the Samick Wikia, bit of a relief although regardless it's a great sounding pickup. Just shows a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous!

Was getting a bit paranoid about the pickup in this as apparently it was also available with an in house Dimarzio clone which has cream coloured covers, the pole pieces take a 0.9" (translates to 3/32") or 2.3mm hex key, I take it these are legit pickups?

@Bassassin prob best just tagging you to save time really!

39 minutes ago, Bassybert said:

According to the listing it sounds like this bass.

What's that bass in the background? Thought it was an SD Curlee but I'm not sure the neck pickup orientation is correct.

Poundland do a 2m x 1.5m tarpaulin for £1.50.

What strings are people using on 32" scale basses btw? Have a lightly used set of long scale Elite steels on there at the moment but I don't like how the thick the windings are around the E string post, also not keen on how Elites sound these days. Unfortunately I binned all my used strings last year so have nothing to experiment with.

4 minutes ago, Jackroadkill said:

Yeah, man - what a great way to spend sixty nicker!  I'll bet you're well chuffed!

Yeah really happy with it, technically £64 as I ordered some new knobs and bought some white vinegar!

All clean and shiny now, might not look much different but I can promise my bin is half full of absolutely disgusting paper towels. Still need to sort a shim for the neck as the reason the pickup casing cracked was because the previous owner screwed them down as far as they'd go so they weren't too close to the strings, bridge is bottomed out so it needs the neck angle sorting. Touched up some of the headstock chips and found some screws for the truss rod cover which had been glued on.

Think I'll get away with the stock bridge unless it gets any worse in which case I'll get the AliExpress one

.

Eeuurrgh, this bass is pretty minging!

Everything came out easily enough aside from the pickup screws which I had to Dremel a slot in as they were rounded and well past saving. Everything is having a soak tbh, years of bassist cheese and corrosion on this thing.

Can see how bad the wear is on the neck and board here.

39 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

The bendy bridge is another thing that points to Matsumoku - loads of Mats basses from that late 70s/early 80s era had these & they all seem to be made of cheese. This is the one that was on my Westy Track 2 when I got it:

 

 

 

The one on mine is nowhere near that bad, just a gentle curve that could be mistaken for the bridge following the fingerboard radius. It still looks like it's affecting how low the action can go though as like that photo the hooks around the posts are warped a little bit and won't sit flush with the body.

Went to move the truss rod before and it seems like that's fully working which is a relief (pun intended)

Think there's been at least two threads on this already!

The body was originally a Tiger Music branded Amazon cheapy, was looking at them briefly for a potential project as they're kinda like a Warwick Fortress which is the best bass shape. EDIT: The bass with a mini practice amp, cable and strap was £112 delivered brand new.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Red-Electric-Bass-Guitar/dp/B0096CJJ2S

MDP bought the body from an eBay seller who was parting one out, can't remember how much he paid (it's on one of the other threads) but it wasn't much. Then he did this to it.

7 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

 I'd ov haggled to £50!

Similar 3 point bridges on AliExp cheap...

Aye I've found one for around £11, looks exactly like the Epi one right down to the circular points where it was cut from the mould but with a blank rectangle instead of the Epiphone logo.

Weirdly that same charity shop often gets music gear in, been Trace Boxer and Commando combos there last year. I always have a look in the window when I'm going past and got lucky!

12 minutes ago, SurroundedByManatees said:

I've owned one like this. 

 

It was a medium scale with a great even sound across the fretboard. Also it was a heavy f%cker with poor balance. 

 

IIRC I had to replace the 3 point bridge as it had warped and cracked like you'll see on many Japanse basses with this type bridge.

 

Definite bargain here, it's a lot of quality for little cash.

This one is 10lb 6oz or 4.7kg in new money, definitely heavy for a small bodied medium scale bass. Balances fine though, can sit it on my right knee and it stays in the same position without any hand support. There's a fair bit of wear to the lacquer and on the edges of the board, looks like it may have seen some moisture at some point but the frets have plenty of life left in them and overall it just looks like a heavily used 40+ year old bass. Lots of little dings and dents all over, don't think it's ever had the luxury of a decent gigbag or a guitar stand!

The bridge is also bowing slightly, will replace it if I end up playing the bass a fair bit, which bridge did you buy out of interest?

Will be giving everything a proper clean tomorrow evening and putting it back together.

1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

Nice... Twin Cut, Maple...

I wouldn't of left it.

I originally did have a quick look, then walked on to do my shopping. While stood at the checkout I realised I was being an idiot so went back and bought it.