Tokalo

Gary has just completed some work on a used Sandberg Electra that came with some issues. It needed bodywork, fretwork and electrics to be sorted, and Gary was great for all of it, with plenty of helpful suggestions and advice thrown in for free!

All the music was upbeat, life-affirming and great for dancing. Definitely NOT what The Blues is all about!!

I loved the film, but I get niggled because it’s all soul music - not blues!

Texas at Nottingham Ice Rink, late 90s. It wasn’t a Texas gig - it was the “Charlene Spiteri is the female Elvis” show. Shame on her. Prefab Sprout at Essex Uni in 1984. They weren’t bad: they were awesome. (Paddy McAloon’s songs are pure genius)They just didn’t have enough numbers ready, so at least two of the encores were further repeats of Don’t Sing.

I bought a MIM Player Jazz in July because it was underpriced on the Bay. I didn’t have the funds so needed to sell another bass if I was going to keep it. I didn’t sell the other bass in time, so the Fender had to go (for a slight profit)x In the month I had it, I learned a lot: I absolutely love the Fender “modern C” neck; I quite like the punch and clarity from a single coil p/u; I hate the variations in volume across and up/down the neck with a single coil p/u; I don’t get on with VVT controls. So it was my best buy because it quietened that little voice telling me I need a J. (And because I soon sold the other bass and got a Sandberg Electra VS4 which - for a relative beginner like me - is light and punchy and feels like it was designed to be gigged, unlike the Fender).

I use the drive setting on my Laney Digbeth preamp, but just to give some warmth and tubey feel. Even with an enthusiastic drummer and overdriven guitarist I’ve never felt comfortable with very much distortion in church: I’m not sure it helps the congregation much. Maybe the TC mojomojo might be right for you - it’s more subtle than most drive pedals?

Re: compressors. I found these sites helpful in explaining what they do, and what would work for me: https://www.studybass.com/gear/bass-effects/bass-compressor-settings/ https://www.compressorpedalreviews.com/all-compressor-reviews

I’ve used Send My Bag twice this year (they mainly do student baggage from home to uni). Transport, collection plus £500 insurance for £30. They use ParcelForce as the carrier, which works fine for me. It’s made clear that it’s a musical instrument being insured, with plenty of upfront advice (“expect your parcel to be chucked around a warehouse and bounced along conveyor belts”). I liked the honesty (and packaged accordingly!) No claims made.

I had a Player jazz for a few months in the summer. It had the best neck profile ever (“modern c”), and sounded really resonant unplugged. What I learned, though, was that buying an entry-level Fender will mean extra layout to upgrade it to the standard of a cheaper bass (eg G&L Tribute or Sire). The tuners in particular were completely unreliable - you wouldn’t have risked gigging with them - while the fretwork and neck finish was as rough as a Squier jag I used to own. And it’s really hard to find a p-bass with a jazz-size neck. Like it’s a rule at Fender that players with smaller hands MUST stick to a jazz. If you want a recognised brand, or if you want to tinker and upgrade, get a Fender. But then why not save a few bob and get a Squier as the base for your project? If you want vastly superior quality for the same price or less, get a Sire, G&L Tribute or Sandberg. Any tonal differences will be minimal compared to the pleasure of playing an instrument that was made with the customer in mind.

711

Update, after a few hours playing with a band. Smooth-feeling: reminded me of GHS Pressurewounds; No string noise at all; No zing or overt brightness; Stay in tune better than any other string I’ve tried; Tone is full and smooth, reminded me of DR Pure Blues (completely subjective I know, and I don’t have the vocabulary - but my BL praised the tone as soon as I started up and without knowing I’d changed strings).They definitely give a good account of the rather excellent MFD pickups on the Kiloton! Carbon-coating seems to work: I washed & only partially-dried my hands and the clamminess seemed short-lived (even more subjective and utterly unscientific, but I “sensed” the difference was noticeable); Couldn't be described as “low tension”, but felt lower than, say, Fender flats.

Yes, I guess so. It feels bad because something useful has been taken away. If it hadn’t been available in the first place, I probably wouldn’t be so grumpy about it!

Do you have Music Unlimited, or has Amazon’s change to playlists on basic Prime being shuffle-only messed up your practice too? So I can load our songs in set order, but can’t practice them in sequence. And Amazon will happily throw in other “related” songs when they feel like it too. I mean, it’s not as if adding songs to a playlist means you actually wanted to listen to those particular tracks, is it?

I couldn’t see any reviews of BlackSmith strings, so I thought I’d start one (it won’t be an expert review; just my amateur impressions). At a recent sweaty 3-hour practice I found my TI Flats got too sticky to play, so I thought I’d look for some smooth roundwounds (I’ve got pressurewounds on another bass and they would be a good solution, but I’m naturally curious…) So I’ve fitted a set of BlackSmith nano carbon coated 45-100 gauge to my Tribute Kiloton. First thing: they may have a carbon coating, but they’re not black! Second: medium tension Third: not exceptionally smooth; similar roughness to EXLs but with less string noise. They’re bright sounding, but then they’re new. I guess the test for strings that claim to give “the perfect balance of tone and playability” will come after a few weeks/months. Other: Tapered at tuning end, but not bridge; Ball-ends are attractive gunmetal; Cost £22.99 from Amazon (shipped from Monaghan in Ireland). I’ll give an update once I’ve tried them in a band situation.

I’ve got an EBS Drive Me Crazy that works amazingly with my Sire M7 in active mode (in series and single coil): full, dirty sound with no loss of low end. When I play my passive G&L SB-2 (split p/u) through it, it loses a lot of bass. But with the pedal off, the SB-2 pickup gives a far grittier, louder, bassier output than the Sire. It makes no sense to me, but Itu’s post helps.

Our student son uses this site to send cases door-to-door between home and Durham at a reasonable price: https://www.sendmybag.com/ They specifically mention guitars, and give a decent description of what you can expect the package to go through. They have insurance upgrades too: GBP: £125 included. Upgrade options: £250 for £4. £500 for £8. £1,000 for £16. £1,500 for £24.

Isn’t it the same preamp and pickups as the M7? … in which case, I would say (based on my M7) in passive mode they give a good account of all the harmonics in a note; but switch to active and they can really pack a punch. OTOH, I was comparing my M7 with a G&L SB-2 Tribute through headphones yesterday, and couldn’t believe how much hotter the G&L pickups are. However, I feel I have more control and a greater range of sounds with the M7. And effects pedals do what they’re sposed to. With the G&L, I was turning gain knobs down throughout my chain to keep it steady.

Back in the early 80s, my French exchange “partner” gave me a home-recorded cassette of Charlie Couture albums. I absolutely loved it, and still play the albums every summer. Im not sure that I was meant to like it so much - he seemed to enjoy this song most of all. I can’t speak French, but I’m sure this was barbed.

I once became a person of interest for a bored Italian intern at work back in the 90s. She said she loved opera, so I organised tickets for a group of us to see La Boheme at The Little Theatre in Leicester. As we were going in, she said “this had better be in Italian.” Needless to say, it was in English (and a pretty dreadful example of an English local opera group, tbh). She never mentioned opera again. OTOH, I once saw The Magic Flute at the ENO. So it was all in English, but I still never understood a word.

Because I’ve got a bass, I was asked to play “I wish I knew How it Feels to be Free” at a charity do two weeks ago - with no time to learn it by heart. (I’m just a one-chord-per-bar kinda guy). So I had to read those dot things on lines across the page. Including such weird outcrops as G#s and D#s. The part is all one speed - crotchets all the way: but because it walks through so many chord changes if you miss a single note, you’re completely adrift. I hung on all the way through, although the singer started a bit late in verse 2 so I beat the pianist to his mini break by two bars (result!). Funny thing is, nobody noticed, it went down really well and the charity got lots of donations. Luckily, I can now return to the AC/DC covers band. And relax.

You are correct. I found a thread with this comment: “It is there on purpose...According to Jeff Beilke from Fender, "That [hole] is indeed a byproduct of the routing machines utilized in our Mexico factory. I believe that's where the CNC machine actually holds the body in place in order to assure the correct cut. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/mystery-hole-under-pickguard.1569035/

It’s still happening… This is on a MIM jazz from 2019

Thanks for all the suggestions. Upgrading will be a fun project to brighten up the dark winter months. The pickguard arrived today. The original wasn’t shielded; I presume that’s normal (because it doesn’t sit over any wiring?). For me, it makes a very satisfying improvement.

I’ve avoided Fenders since I took up bass 7 years ago because the broad opinion here at BC is that you can quite easily get more bass for less money. But this MIM came up at a low enough price that I reckoned I could sell without losing if I didn’t get on with it, so I took a punt. First impressions were: 1 It’s really light (8lb/3.3kg on bathroom scales); 2 Played acoustically, the tone is phenomenal; 3 It’s grimy (yuk) - it’s 3 years old; 4 Through an amp, the alnico 5 pickups might as well have been made of jelly for all their supposed punch. However… I then noticed the neck pickup was set really low - over half an inch from the strings. I guess it hadn’t been setup since it was purchased. So I swapped the full old strings for Pressurewounds and did a full setup (using the Fender Owner’s Manual for measurements), including raising the pickups to their recommended height. Oh boy is it good now! I don’t understand why the pickups are so noiseless (through headphones), but I do now understand how these pickups were pushed as an upgrade to the Standard series. They’re very direct and resonant. And talking of upgrades - that seems to be something smart about a Fender: replacing parts is so easy (there’s a black pickguard on its way already because the white one looks like it’s yellowing - and I think all black will go better with the maple fretboard). I have a couple of questions, if anyone can help: 1 What is the ratio of standard Fender machine heads? These move a bit inconsistently especially compared to the tuners on my G&L Tributes; 2 How do I degrease a gloss maple fretboard- I don’t think water alone will cut through the grime? Several reviews elsewhere mention sharp frets and dead areas on the fretboard, but that’s not the case with this example. And isn’t that the problem with MIMs? You just don’t know if you’ll get a duff one. As for me - I feel very lucky today.