Bridgehouse

The spacer will affect the break angle out of the nut - it might feel like there's more tension on those two strings. Sounds like the screw is cutting into a new hole if it's holding without the spacer. 

Ideally you want to get it to hold with the spacer.  I would still go for the sliver of wood glued into the hole - it will give the screw something to bite into

4 minutes ago, ped said:

Surely the string tree isn't essential anyway - is it?

I suspect the break angle over the nut will be insufficient and will mean the strings pop out of the slots.

I would:

1. Not panic

2. As suggested, drop a sliver of toothpick in with a bit of glue, leave to dry, cut off So level with the headstock face, make a minor indent in to get the screw in and then re-screw the tree in. 

3. If you have one, I'd use a slightly larger screw (tiny bit longer and tiny bit bigger diameter)

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

Did the Hondo play like butter ?  I cant believe its not Hondo

It played like flora. 

It sounded like mushy peas

1 minute ago, JSB said:

Looking for the elusive do it all compact rig for bass (of course), guitar (sorry) and keys for home practice to small gigs when no FOH available.

It is great for keys (see above) same for guitar - in some ways a Helix would be the perfect front end for you to do guitar and bass. 

4 minutes ago, JSB said:

Never heard the BF Compact, but did hear that amp through a Berg 12"...  I can relate to your This is impressive.

Have you got a chance of trying out the 8.2 and 12.2^  What lead you to pick the 10.2 over the others? 

I know this might appear like a strange question to ask but, how does it perform at VERY low volume?

 

Barefaced Compact - bit of a stalwart round these parts.

I chose the 10's as a compromise between output and size/weight

It's fine at low volumes - obviously you lose a bit of bottom, but it does a good job.

On 14/01/2018 at 00:38, fleabag said:

"  First to see will buy "

" Previously owned by Chaz Fluffer of the band  The Silly Snails - resident at The Dock n Dug , Chipping Sodbury "

Chaz has sold it?? I had dibs on that as well. Goddam it. I've got all of the Silly Snails back catalogue. Well, the EP demo anyway. 

That Hondo bass was a killer.

Might be worth adding - I used to use a LM Mk III with a BF Compact for rehearsing in the same room - with the Preamp into the fx return. 

That would have been set to 50% on gain and just over 70% on Master for a similar volume level. 

The reality is that volume (or at least sound pressure wise) the QSC gives monitoring volume about the same as a decent 500w head into a 15" cab. 

Depth wise it's not as full and rich as a 15" cab, but it gives a much wider and fuller sound - more detailed, and more expansive. 

My original intention was to have this for on stage monitoring and direct to PA for gigging - it does this perfectly and fulfils the brief completely. Oh, and it's one thing to carry and a lot smaller and lighter than a big cab and an amp head...

2 minutes ago, JSB said:

A search on Google for QSC brought me here...  This thread got me to register to BC...  :-) Very interesting stuff.

Where you also mixed in their PA?  What was the other musicians amplification? 

No, small rehearsal room so no need for PA backup.

Vocals and acoustic through the PA in the rehearsal room

Keys also through a QSC K10

Guitar - AC30

Drums - Acoustic - full kit. 

The acoustic swapped out for a second electric for some songs and that went through a Marshall head with a 2x10 cab. 

I tried the Ibanez at rehearsal last night. 

I would say it's the best £400 I've spent on any music gear.

Lovely deep thumpy hollow sound - ranges from having a zing to it with the tone up to borderline big double with it rolled off - the tone rolled off just gives it character rather than making it sound muffled. 

Balances well on the strap, light weight, and easy to play. 

Tried this at rehearsal last night. I was right - it's got a good solid eq section, the compression is good enough and the drive is excellent. 

It has a flavour of GK about it, with a touch of vintage vibe but not overly so. Great pedal.

Right. 

I tried the QSC at rehearsal last night.

Observations:

- 5 piece band: drums, keys, 2 guitars, bass + vocals (Americana/rock)

- Plenty of headroom - more than enough. Lots. Like buckets of it. I was at about half vol on the QSC and controlled volume on the bass or Preamp pedal.

- It plays with Preamp pedals very well - gave a good representation of the sound I was after

- Lots of bass for a 4 string - never felt like the lows were struggling

- No parping out or rattling - nice and smooth. Response was as good as a Barefaced Compact and it was louder. 

- Projection across the room was also good

All in all it worked very well.

Where's the flipping gas emoticon when you need it? 

Using technique alone, you can remove sustain (damping/muting) but you can't add sustain to a bass...

1 hour ago, Misdee said:

 All with the proviso that if you have a nice old vintage bass that works well for you ( like a genuine 64 P Bass! ) don't give it up for scrap.

Hah! It's ok - I like it too much to scrap it

1 hour ago, deepbass5 said:

Phwoarrr!!!

Just look at that butterscotch finish!

@Misdee - I do agree with most of what you say, even as a "vintage" owner.

However, I would say that my 64 Precision is the least problem ridden bass I've owned. The neck seems to be the least susceptible to seasonal temp variations, the tuners the most solid for holding tune, and the output the most consistent. 

Surely..

I also play mandolin with a piezo pickup. It amplifies this beautifully for acoustic style gigs.

2 minutes ago, Bass Culture said:

Contentious observation alert!  I seem to remember a number of decent tilt-back combo options out there.  In this context aren't these FRFR's effectively performing the same function?

Yes, pretty much exactly. 

Except the FRFR could also do a lot more things too..

18 minutes ago, ikay said:

PM'd

Phew!

Cor, that's a corker!

45 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

@deepbass5 I'm not selling, but if you wanted to try a vintage 1973 P (on left) and an AVRI (on right) side-by-side through the same rig(s), you're welcome to pop over to my place in Swindon - offer comes with hot/cold beverages and convivial company of course!

 

And similarly if you want a northern East Midlands ish offer to go with that, I have:

64 P

74 P

09 AVRI P

@Funkfingers - and 1915 was exactly when Gibson were buying massive stockpiles of wood for their growing mandolin business....

40 minutes ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

How can age improve two lumps of wood bolted together? A 1970s 15lb Fender Jazz with a terrible neck pocket will only improve if you take it to a good luthier to have the body chambered and the neck pocket redone. 

Although not a direct answer to the question, age does improve wood for two reasons:

- Age of growth

- Drying

The fabled Honduran mahogany used by Gibson et al in the 60s was old growth (different cell structure) and had been sitting in the stockpile for 50+ years drying out. 

That wood was highly regarded for resonance, but most importantly for light weight. Fender and Gibson ran out of these stocks in the 70s and had to use young growth wood not dried out as much which was much heavier.

13 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

This is my 1991 Gibson Thunderbird, but who knows. I'll never know what the difference is unless I play the Benton.

Blue

I did a HB project once and I was surprised just how good it was for the money. 

If previous experience stacks up I suspect:

- Frets will need a teeny bit of fettling to feel smooth at the edges

- Body and neck fit and finish will be very good

- Tuners might need replacing

- Pickups will be pretty bland

- Electronics will be a bit average

Having said that, for the money, they are one of the better budget buys