mybass

[quote name='Zach' post='235882' date='Jul 9 2008, 04:57 PM']I dont bother with proper bass magazines, I do read www.bass-musician-magazine.com though[/quote] Thanks for putting this link in, I'd never seen this site before.

Yes to USA Bass Player magazine for their mature style of writing and straight forward way of thinking. Slightly indifferent to some of the UK's "matey, jokey and clever" style of writing. Both mags provide us with a wealth of info. (We'd always like more pics though). In the UK mag, bass and gear reviews are followed with a plus or minus box. Giving a "minus" to a £199 acoustic bass because it had "no frills" I thought was stating the obvious. (It cost me £350+ for parts for building a bass!) Another bass was given a "plus" and then also a "minus" because at £1800, it was deemed to be "expensive". Really? It would be good if the UK mag did a bumper edition for new gear from the trade fairs. I seem to remember a fairly sparce review from one fair, no mention of Mark Bass even, a top world bass gear manufacturer these days.

A few more bits to add........ I was charging £20 in S.W. London 8/10 years ago. I had to, I was trying to make a living and those prices then were definitely lower than many other pro players were charging. I'd had 20 years playing experience by then so there was a lot of experience on offer from sessions, touring, depping, school teaching seminars etc. I did travel to some students houses but added £5. I drove through rush hour for longer than the lesson took! I was told that classical players paid a heck of a lot more for much shorter lesson times. My first lesson was with a hopeless teacher. I didn't learn anything at all over three useless lessons. He finally gave in and told me he couldn't teach me anymore than I already knew! People like him "dabble" at teaching and often because they aren't good enough to hold down a band gig(s) or cut it live. I was on a session once and the sax player was not hesitant to tell me that he did a lot of teaching. The more experienced of us that day sat back and waited for this "not so pro player" to do his thing. Sure enough he was hopeless, fluffing even the most basic stabs and eventually a real sax man (Derrick Nash) was called in. I think Steve's rates are very good AND he will travel to your house, across London! Man, that is an offer to take.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='227971' date='Jun 27 2008, 12:57 PM']ABM were closed down for awhile but are now back in business. The link I posted is their new web site.[/quote] Thanks again. I missed that ABM link first time around didn't I. UPDATE....just had a look at their site. It appears to be a lot more user friendly than I thought it would be. Coulkd be just the job now. cheers for that.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='226909' date='Jun 25 2008, 08:25 PM'][url="http://www.abm-mueller.com/index2.html"]ABM[/url]? You could also try [url="http://www.kingbass.com/index.html"]David King[/url] who makes his own headless hardware. Or alternatively check out some of the builders on [url="http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/"]Building the Ergonomic Guitar[/url] to see what they are using.[/quote] Thanks for replying. I will look at these two sites, neither of which I new about.

[quote name='SJA' post='227869' date='Jun 27 2008, 10:43 AM']Status do monorail headless tuner units, that you'd be able to space as you wish, and presumably are lighter than most one-piece bridges- [url="http://www.status-graphite.com"]http://www.status-graphite.com[/url] ...they're "temporarily unavailable" though.[/quote] Thanks for replying. It may be that ABM made Status parts and I heard ABM have closed down.

Would anyone have ideas or contact for headless bass hardware. Ideally a system that allows side placement and uses standard strings. I have used hardware off a "Riverside" bass. It does the job, stamped with "licensed" etc. Very heavy unit. Puts a lot of weight on my newly designed headless which is not what I wanted. It also has no sideway adjustment. Also, the string retainer doesn't accept the E (105) or A (85) string widths very well. Are all headless tuners this weighty I wonder. ETS form Germany looks nice but their so called dealer in the UK ISN'T dealing at all (no VAT in place! hmmm) and it was a bit strange that ETS even gave me this UK number. A lovely mahogany/walnut designed bass needed that bit of a better hardware system.

[quote name='g1hsg' post='205618' date='May 24 2008, 05:18 PM']I need to replace the 1/4" socket on a 1989 FNA as years of abuse have finally bu**ered it. The nice people at Warwick want about £17.00 for one delivered. Maplin have a long reach chassis socket [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223988&doy=24m5&C=SO&U=strat15"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Module...O&U=strat15[/url] but before I invest my hard earned £1.79 can anyone tell me if I'm missing a trick here. Does the Warwick version have non-standard dimensions ?[/quote] Switchcraft seem to have the best "fit" barrel sockets for jack plugs. Dimensions do vary from different manufacturers. I always use the Switchcraft, I think about £6/8 each. I tried others but the jack plug was ever so slightly loose and as the battery is connected as well, the signal was cutting in and out. I always use Neutrik jack plugs too.

[quote name='gafbass02' post='203316' date='May 20 2008, 10:27 PM']Today for some reason all the knuckles on my right (plucking) hand ached from the minute i woke up, despite me not playing any more than usual lately (few hours a day). Just now i was playing and started to get shooting pains down my first finger on the same hand and now the knuckles on my other hand ache. Am i broken? ..and do we have a sticky anywhere on bass health issues like posture etc?, couldn't spot one? I play pretty tight back to the bridge, here is a of pic of me which shows my right hand position pretty well. Am i just getting old? [/quote] Hey, we are all gittin' older! You MAY just have a back or shoulder problem related to playing/posture. I now see a specialist/osteopath who has dealt with quite a few musicians and I get a check up every so often. A couple of years ago my wrist was in terrible pain. I could play but not lift gear or drive comfortably. I tried a physio who only worked on the actual outside wrist area over 4 visits and that was hopeless, more pain and NO gain. I visited this specialist and he immediately went to my back and shoulder areas. The problem was 80% healthier straight away. All those muscles connect all the way down to the hands.

[quote name='lushuk' post='163171' date='Mar 25 2008, 02:39 PM']Hi folks I read with interest you guys changing the pups in p basses does it make lots of difference that would be unobtainable through eq? Is the any good sound clips to compare the sound? I have a 98 mia p bass to play classic rock and would like to keep it original looking at least is this possible? And is it easy to change the pups, I would like a bit more thump/thud! Thanks for reading Eddy[/quote] Yes, changing to a better make of pickup will help get a better sound. You just have to hope you make the right decision when buying a new make of pickup. I would look at EQ on the amplifier as helping to shape the bass sound for the room you are in. If you have bad/mediocre pickups to start with, EQ'ing can make them sound worse!

[quote name='rayfw' post='139093' date='Feb 12 2008, 09:13 PM']I have an EBS Multicomp that seems to eat batteries for fun. I reckon it goes through an alkaline 9V in about 8 hours. I know I can solve the problem by using an AC adaptor but I was wondering whether anyone else experiences this or is my unit faulty?[/quote] My early chorus and octave pedals from EBS ate battery power. My later Black label ones are better but there is a much better and constant signal from using mains power. Seems as soon as the battery is slightly under power, the chorus or octave effect suffers. I often use a Boss pedal board or a cheapo stand alone power supply.

[quote name='BassDad' post='136021' date='Feb 7 2008, 07:56 PM']Hi guy's looking for some advice here hopefuly. My lad Alex (Bassboy115) has just got the Hartke 4.5XL cab. Great sounding cab no worries there, however as everyone knows it weighs a ton My question is, if I fit castors to the base how will it affect the sound of the cab. I'm thinking of some low 50mm dia. Would it be ok to leave them on or should I fit removable type. If removeable are prefferential is there enough space inside the cab to accept the obligatory spiggot which I presume would be present with removable castors, without coming into contact with the speakers or any wiring? Sorry just noticed more than one question Any help/advice greatfully received. Frank[/quote] You can get heavy duty rubber wheels that have brakes on them. Usually used on a cab as two with brakes and two without so any sloping/eneven stages won't see your cab wheeling itself off the stage. Sometimes it does help to have a cabinet raised off the stage floor IF the stage itself is a crap one and reverberates bass frequencies. Sure I've seen wheels for sale in Homebase megastores or maybe try Studiospares or the like.

[quote name='robert43' post='134177' date='Feb 5 2008, 11:07 AM']Hi can any 1 tell me if acoustic bass stringsare the same as electric bass strings ? as my son has been offered at the right price a s/hand samick acoustic bass but the strings have seen better days. Or is it like acoustic / electric guitars the strings are diffrent steel acoustic I am takling about thanks[/quote] I have Guild phosphor bronze on my Washburn acoustic bass. Sound much better than a set of nickel wound electric bass strings. I think Fender make a set too. Make sure you get the right scale lenght as some acoustic basses are short scale necks, ie. 32" short scale and 34" long scale.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='134000' date='Feb 4 2008, 11:32 PM']I've just changed the neck pickup in my Yamaha Fretless for a Seymour Duncan quarter pounder, and it's the first time I've messed with my bass's electronics. Everything seemed to go ok but I have a small problem. The central pot is a pickup blend, fully clockwise selects the neck pup, fully anti-clockwise solos the bridge. If I have it fully on the neck pup then back it off a tiny bit, I get a crackle and the sound drops out; turn it back a bit more and the sound comes back. It's like there's a small dead zone in the pot. I'm hoping it doesn't get worse and start kicking in when the neck pickup is soloed, otherwise I'm in trouble! Has anyone experienced this before? I'm thinking maybe heat damage could've caused it? I might have to replace the pot, although I'm gonna have to buy a cheap backup bass first! Any help or advice appreciated...[/quote] Passive or active bass? WD Music do blend pots, about £7/8 for the pot. phone 01233 820082. Posting is usually a day or two. Maybe heat has kernackered the pot but I think these "double gang" pots can be a bit more prone to problems seeing as they are two pots in one. I have just put in a new blend pot for a bass and it didn't let the signal through from the bridge pickup. I am sure the least amount of heat was used to make a good solder point but I have had occasional pots that misbehave.

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='132876' date='Feb 3 2008, 08:13 AM']OK, after getting back from Sheffield with a nice bubinga bodied bass in my clutches... I'm wondering how to clean it. It appears to be a natural finish as there are open pores. Can I get away with using Mr Sheen or Pledge on it? or have I got to use something fancy? PS. Yes I did use the search function and nothing came up... [/quote] Similar subject matter from Basschat member "pyrolator" on Jan 4th about this. Warwick make their own brand of wax finish that I'm sure contains Carnuba wax which, if they make it must be the right ingredient for natural finish basses. I think they sell it on their own web site (www.warwickbass.com ?) The rest of "pyrolator's" chat has more info.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='124640' date='Jan 21 2008, 02:22 PM']Yup active for deffo. Maybe I didn't word it correctly but I had it wired as an active circuit (battery in circuit) and as a passive (different/simpler configuration, minus the battery) and I was just checking the diff in the inputs on my amp. I wasn't expecting magic just experimenting - and I think that the different resultant outputs are interesting/relevant. Believe me Matt and I spent hours on this and I can now solder and de-solder this thing with my eyes shut - but I'd prolly burn myself. Maybe if I get a minute I'll up the active diagram and someone can check it for me.[/quote] Thats good, and set me right too as I didn't quite get the gist of what you wrote. Your wiring looks correct but, I'm looking at the green output from the pre amp going to a tag on the tone pot that is then earthed out? Just checking with/for you that it is correct.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='123527' date='Jan 19 2008, 08:25 PM']I swapped my J Reflex Reds over from my old fretless into my new home-build project but they no longer work - it may have been something to do with the new pots I got off fleabay being utter crap and actually carrying voltage on the shaft and my guess is that the Reflex pre-amp module is now fubared*. Seeing as I specifically wanted to give the bass a dress rehearsal at this wee intimate pub gig we did last night I opted to wire them up passively for the time being, which was fine except the guitar is extremely extremely quiet (I had both the input and output knobs on my Evo500 round to 11 and both pups turned up to max on the bass just to get something close to being loud enough - ended up going through the PA) bearing in mind the pots are only 10k. * while wired as active - put through the passive input in my amp you get barely audible sound, put through the active input you get lovely clear nice sounding bass but only in 3 second intervals - I guessing the amp is cutting out because the signal is bad. Presuming that the pre-amp IS blown, rather than shelling out for new pups I was thinking of fitting one of [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130170324364&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003"]these[/url] but I'm worried that as they are probably designed to convert ordinary passive pups to active that they will be woefully under powered by my uber quiet Reflex Reds. Wadaya think?[/quote] Are these actives? I'm sure I tried some many many years ago. They used 10k pots. If they are active and I may be stating the obvious, they will need a battery, NOT just plugging into the "active" input on your amp. The passive/active input on an amplifier generally acts as a level input control for low/high volumes FROM the particular passive or active bass guitar. I wouldn't think that using a pre amp designed for passive p/ups would help IF you have active p/ups in your bass. Do check the wiring again, making sure the battery connections (if any) are wired correctly. My experience of any type of signal loss, (basses, guitars, mikes, cabinets) has very often been faulty or broken wiring. Brrrr, could be new p/ups! Good luck.

[quote name='steve-norris' post='113207' date='Jan 3 2008, 09:21 PM']Like many of us here i am no expert but i have owned quiet a few basses and recently built one up from parts. The one i built had a solid rose wood neck(ziricote board), a walnut body, the electronics consisted of two darkstar pickups and an audare preamp. I could get a whole bunch of different tones out of it but fundamentally it sounded deep full and woody. My gut feeling is this came mainly from the neck construction. I might be talking out of my bomber Harris but i also reckon my current Warwick dolphin will sound like a Warwick dolphin even with different pickups and preamp, it might amplify whats there in a slightly different way but i think the fundamental sound will still be there. so for what its worth i think the neck construction and wood makes more difference.[/quote] The Warwick Bass I had did have a bubinga/wenge thru neck and I agree that the neck wood plays its part with the overall sound. Same as for the fingerboards too.

I had one of the earliest bubinga/ FRETTED Warwicks in the country and I found it lacked bottom end on stage but was a great recording bass, probably because the mid range was well defined. My rantings about this to Melvyn Hiscox (guitar building author) when he worked at Roger Giffin's shop some years ago, prompted him telling me to make my own basses, which I now do. ( Okay, he more or less dared me to try and make one! My basses are FRETLESS and often UK ash, with maple neck and macassar ebony fingerboards). My ears told me that bubinga has a strong mid range and was quite bright. However, I consider that ash does give a better low end with the wood matching I use. I was at the Frankfurt music fair years ago and tried Mike Tobias's basses. Not happy with the sound from several of his lovely "exoctic" wood basses, he eventually brought out a FRETTED ash body bass and that was the one I liked. Strange stuff wood. I do feel that the over exposure to all the more exoctic woods (as I call them) and the fashion of several layers of differing types to make a body/neck may have sometimes blinded us away from the fundamentals. I used to have hilarious chats with Sid Poole (R.I.P.) a top notch guitar builder about all this and his remarks are too "colourful" to write here! He was a straight mahogany/maple man. Our 6 string band mates still largely use the woods that have been used since the first Gibson or Strat was made. Bass player preferences changed alongside our attempt to get the bass to stand out more clearly in the track and on stage, the result being that we now have super duper pre-amps, speaker systems and active eq. Coupled with all the new woods available now, the sound of the bass has evolved quite a bit.

[quote name='mcgraham' post='105062' date='Dec 16 2007, 09:25 PM']Hi there, The neck on my main bass seems to need a truss rod adjustment maybe once every one or two months, although that's the average, sometimes in weird weather I've adjusted it up to 6 times in a month. I'm not sure if anything can be done or if that is perhaps normal in response to changing weather throughout the year, or at least on the 'needs more adjustment' end of the spectrum. Points to note, I like my action lower than most, and I like my board only fractionally away from zero relief; it also has a paper/card shim that has been in since I received the bass. It doesn't help that I need to take the neck off to adjust the rod either. Any thoughts or experience on how best to deal with this? Mark[/quote] Sounds a bit drastic all that adjustments per month stuff. I would check it into a repairer for analysis.