SpondonBassed

This is undoubtedly common knowledge for a lot of forum members but I thought I'd share it for those who, like myself, have not been exposed to as wide a variety of musical styles in their lives as perhaps they'd have liked. I was looking up YT clips for [i]She Caught the Katy[/i]. If someone had asked me who released it I might have given the Blues Brothers credit but I had an inkling that it was a standard like the other songs from the film. I am glad that I looked it up because of the entertainment I got watching some of the clips along the way. Just before, last week in fact, I discovered an artist called Taj Mahal that I had previously been unaware of. I had seen him perform from a mule drawn cart in the Bloody Sunday Sessions clips on YT doing [i]Queen Bee[/i] and [i]Good Morning Ms Brown[/i]. I looked out some of his earlier performances and collaborations on the back of that. I enjoyed some cracking recordings. After a couple of days I decided to find out the origin of the lyric “S[i]he caught the Katy[/i]”. Taj Mahal's name popped up. He is credited as one of the writers of the song released in 1968. The clip on YT is a good 'un. Taj Mahal; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_mcvifJ5N0[/media] Then I noticed a clip by Big Joe Williams. Again, the artist is one who I had not previously been aware of. He did a song which has a train and a mule in it as well. It is interesting because the clip is claimed to be from 1966. Big Joe Williams; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-ebiCuVpo[/media] I am looking forward to having some quality time going through some of Big Joe Williams' YT clips over the next few days. The Katy? Well, I had an idea that it was a train as the lyric hints that way. It was. The [i]KT[/i] is a contraction of MKT, the abbreviation for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railway. I feel like I have finally got at an out-of-reach itch between my shoulders now that I know that! Sad innit?

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1508850596' post='3394844'] I use a 5p piece. They vary in thickness slightly but I've found one that is as near as makes no difference, 2mm thick [/quote] [quote name='nilebodgers' timestamp='1508854506' post='3394881'] A standard 2p coin is 2.03mm when new - pretty much ideal for a quick action check. (a hair over 5/64) [/quote] [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1508865310' post='3394984'] That's a good one. I also use a £1 coin for the distance from strings to pickup. [/quote] [quote name='steantval' timestamp='1508868124' post='3395015'] Is that the old or new £1 coin ? [/quote] [quote name='nilebodgers' timestamp='1508876205' post='3395114'] They probably need some degree of fret levelling, but having that done commercially will cost more than a brand new Encore given they are under £100 new! [/quote] If you add it all up, it's an expensive pursuit this bass lark.

I have every confidence in you. It's of no help to you to say it but I keep thinking of how bones bleach in string sunlight. I have a twisted sensibility sometimes. Shimming or reworking the neck pocket are on the cards for my kit build. The as-supplied machining could do with a tweak even though I now use it exclusively for practising.

Welcome Bigguy.

Again, I am not a fan of metal but neither do I have a blinkered view of music. I like the sound of graphite so "[i]Status in action[/i]" was the hook. Good one! That worked for me. Your band has all the component parts assembled into a functioning unit. It's impressive even though I don't listen to metal by choice. I agree with what's already been said in that you have material sufficient for a very good promotional video clip. The three minute edit-down from that would work really well in YT. The longer version might work well in a domain that you have selected for customers to contact you for bookings.

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1508825621' post='3394593'] It amazes me, when you see videos like this, that people are surprised that girls can play instruments to a high level of skill. "Girl street performer slams like a pro"? What about the other player in the vid, or is it just because a girl can play bass? Sorry, I'm not a fan of slap bass, but I'm not a fan of sexism either. [/quote] That's clickbait for ya.

I like slappers[size=5]*[/size]. Am I a sexist caveman? Probably... but I'm happy with it. The clip is good. They don't look like starving musicians so it's a jam in the street rather than a busk in my humble 19th century opinion. It fell apart improv-wise near the end but I am sure lots of us do that when working on our chops. [size=3]*This term used in the context of the topic "[i]Anti-slappists will despise this[/i]" has nothing to do with sex, sexuality, race, religion nor dietary preference. If you still have an axe to grind try another topic on another forum far faraway please.[/size]

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1508791976' post='3394517'] I have now lowered my action and can now only just slip a thinly sliced piece of ham between pick ups and strings. [/quote] Meh! I once adjusted a sea bass with a kipper. So there.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1508775843' post='3394337'] Not terribly sure I'd get a banana either For what it's worth, I use a fine flat needlenose and also a triangular one where I've ground one of the apexes smooth. With the flat blade I round it from the fret through 90 deg to the fretboard edge and then with the triangular one, with the smooth edge in the corner between the fret-end and the fretboard wood first take off the sharp edge on one side and then round to the fret apex, then the same on the other side. If any of that makes any sense! [/quote] Yes, me too with one additional needle file that has an inside curve. That should have been the business but its lickle teeth were knackered to the point where it took an age to make any visible metal dust. By that time the fretboard had taken more accidental knocks than simple masking tape could withstand so I got it as good as I could with the flat needle files. I think the last time I used that inside curve was to modify the ports on a fizzy (FS1E) for the lads next door. Serves me right for being a tight git and expecting stuff from my apprenticeship to be in good condition! There ought to be a Dremel cutter with a tiny cupped tip to get the shape close to spherical before finishing. Never saw one though.

The Mr Kipling of basses. Exceedingly good.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1508769682' post='3394283'] And the frets are in The fret-ends were pre-dressed on the bass side and now trimmed on the treble side ready for those to be rounded too. I'm going for spherical ends to give maximum usable playing width. Tuners are on order - I won't drill for them until I have them physically in my sticky mitts! After that there are just two or three small jobs to do before I can start the final sand and finishing process. Probably be able to start that on Wednesday [/quote] I'd love to see what files etc you are using to get fully-rounded ends on your frets. My attempt to make the Pitbull feel like my B2A in that regard was close but no banana.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1508751860' post='3394107'] ...or your pickups too low or your bananas too small [/quote] Busy wiping tears of laughter out my eyes. I'm afraid I'm going to have to abandon this topic for a comfort break darn you!

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1508757707' post='3394156'] But those are so thing and pointy that they're sort of pointless. [/quote] Being pointy and, er, thing never put bassists off using the Flying Vee so what's [i]your[/i] point? Heeheehee [size=3]Pointy an ting - iry[/size]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1508753753' post='3394118'] Are they eu standard bananas ? What if they don't have enough relief to align with the neck ? Fitting the banana with a truss rod could work - twin rods shared with the neck perhaps a la Rick ? [/quote] And so, the Rickenana was born. Just don't file your saddles too low because you can't put them back up again.

[quote name='Elfrasho' timestamp='1508740821' post='3394031'] ...I know there's more to setting up your bass than raising the saddles but it works for me. [/quote] I bet you didn't know you could use a banana as a gauge though. If you like root vegetables I'd suggest a prize-winning parsnip. [attachment=256056:PrizeWinningParsnips.png]

[quote name='BobVbass' timestamp='1508655374' post='3393511'] No we haven't got anything on you tube and our websites is about 4 years out of date - I really must update it as its a bit crap not to really - we should get some decent recordings and videos as well - but we're already booked out until this time next year so it's hard to convince the other two that we need to when we haven't got any spare slots if it generates any new business. [/quote] Yes. I saw the site you list in your sig file. Being fully booked out for a year is not the worst complaint to have. I would side with your band mates but then I do [i]not[/i] like social media. I need a secretary. I'm at the stage where I am going to have to work up a couple of songs for bass and vox only. I might need to practice stomping too. I like [i]Queen Bee[/i] but it might be ambitious and meaningless to an audience without blues guitar.

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1508716788' post='3394014'] I can slip a banana between my pick ups and strings, do you think my action is to high ? [/quote] No but if you progress to a grapefruit I'd say you ought to write to an agony aunt.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1508707436' post='3393970'] Cheers bud, you saved the day there. And they were jeans converted to west coast flares with a paisley V to make them bell bottoms. [/quote] You're quite sure there wasn't a tartan cuff on those I suppose? Still, flares flapping wildly over enormous plastic platform shoes would cause a similar effect amongst onlookers. Heeheehee. I never tried flares.

[attachment=256037:Action17thFret.JPG] My Pitbull. If you squint, you should be able to make out the lower edge of the B at 4.5mm on the 17th fret. It was more but I made a crude shim for the neck. Even now I am running with the outer saddles sat right down on the bridge plate. Oddly for me, I was getting on okay with the higher action too. It will probably get another rework at some point but it plays and the neck is faster than I've ever had on a bass. If I levelled the frets properly and actually had skills playing I'd be dangerous. Not bad for an inexpensive kit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJQd65aFvo

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1508636468' post='3393498'] Cos they don't pass the BBC's 'trendy' test. [/quote] How very [i]seventies[/i] of you was it using that adjective? Were you wearing tartan turn-ups as you typed it?

...and Disco Ducks absolutely do not [b][color=#800080]SUCK!*[/color][/b] *[size=3](Oi Steve Dahl! Have you [i]ever[/i] seen duck-lips? They've got beaks for gawd's sake. Go start a bowel movement instead.)[/size]

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1508609595' post='3393345'] Zombie Thread time - blame Huey Morgan for playing this on 6 Music this morning - what a corker! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fd0dbn27cY[/media] [/quote] Good old fun-lovin' Huey! It's a while since I've had time to listen at that time. I know there are streaming options but I still like to think of today's so-called radio as [i]in the moment[/i].

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1508612078' post='3393370'] I was joking, hence the grin. OMs can be a lot of fun. Please ignore me, I'm having a weird day. [/quote] It's okay my friend. The only thing I will ever ignore is the smilies because I find them hard to understand. Then that's just me having a weird life compared to the "normals". Keep the quips coming mate. They can't do yer for it.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1508607298' post='3393318'] Must be a new definition of 'enrichment' I'm not familiar with. [/quote] Please bear in mind that as a musician, I have led an overly sheltered life. I stand by my definition because life has been a bit difficult until recently and I hadn't been getting out much at all. What do you say about OM?