shoulderpet

On 17/12/2022 at 13:54, Paul S said:

My default for the last few years has been to fit TI Flats to all my basses.  I like the feel under my fingers, I particularly like the tension and tone.  However my most recent bass, a '54 single coil P bitsa, came fitted with rounds and I quite liked that extra bite in this instance.  But they were far too high tension to feel comfortable.  I am wondering which rounds would feel similar to TI Flats in tension? Preferably cheap ones  

Rotosound swingbass 90-35 set

The only issue I have with Hofners is that the short scale and super narrow string spacing means that if you play one as your main bass of you switch to a Fender or anything else with standard 19mm spacing (pretty much 99% of current production basses) it will feel huge by comparison, this is the main reason I don't play mine more often.

48 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Brighter Tone... Ceramic rather than Alnico?

They are Ceramic, I think that and that they are wound to around 8k rather than the standard 10-11k probably does it

And have received the Warman p pickup and fitted it, it was between that, a Dimarzio model p and a Dimarzio split p but I chose the Warman over the Dimarzio because the Dimarzio p pickups are known to be a little shy in the treble frequencies.

Anyway, fitted it and I like it a lot so far, this is not a dull,thumpy SPB1 type of pickup(I detest the SPB1 btw) this seems to have a very full range sound, almost like a single coil in a split p format (still not quite as bright as a single coil but the highs don't rapidly drop off like most p pickups), works well with the Ultra jazz in the bridge position too.

Just an update on this, I have ordered a Warman p pickup,

I recently had my p bass routed for a bridge pickup and wanted something that would give that scoopy typical pj tone so I went with an ultra jazz (which sounds great btw),

I was looking at p pickups and wanted something modern sounding as a lot of p pickups have a tonne of bass and low mids and not much top end, the Warman being described as full range, clean and modern sounding and being inexpensive seems like a good choice .

Hi

Anyone here used EMG Phz p pickups?

I am after a p pickup that is less low mid and low end focused and a bit more on the higher treble frequencies

EMG active pickups are known for this kind of tone but there seems to be a shortage of info on there passive Phz line of pickups, wondering how these sound. , Thanks

On 06/11/2022 at 00:07, machinehead said:

The jazz pickup in my US Fender Jaguar has adjustable pole pieces, although I have no reason to adjust them.

Frank.

That's fair enough, if you don't feel you need to then obviously don't

...... That being said I think that most people with jazz bass pickups if they measured the distance between the underside of each set of pole pieces and the corresponding strings would be surprised to see how much different the A and D pole pieces are compared to the E and G. 

I have noticed this on a number of basses with jazz bass pickups and it is due to the fingerboard radius, with P pickups you don't get this issue as you can tilt each half of the P pickup.

Ok so I ended up taking out the bridge pickup (pj bass) and pushing up the pole pieces.

Is a cheap jazz bass pickup (Wilkinson) so I figured if I ruin the pickup it is cheap to replace, pushed the A and D pole pieces up and then wired up the bridge pickup only, all good, sound from each string so I didn't damage the coil, checked distance between the strings and the pole pieces and much, much better.

I could have just brought a model j pickup with the adjustable pole pieces but then you lose that single coil brightness and the slight mid scoop of both pickups on full, the Wilkinson seems to be a nice sounding pickup anyway.

9 minutes ago, polvo said:

I came across this advert, and I'm trying to figure out if it's as good a deal as it sounds, or if the guy is just an amazing salesman.

 

To someone who doesn't know much about bass guitar specs, does the upgrades he's describing sound like they're really that great?

 

Any advice on what I should check for if I go and take a look at it, or any questions I should be asking? (Other than just seeing if I like the way it plays/sounds)

 

The only way to find out is to contact the seller and arrange to go and play it, if it really does play as well and with as low action as he claims then I would say it's worth it(a fret dress is around £120 in my neck of the woods)

I'm seriously considering (very, very carefully) removing the pole pieces of a ceramic pickup and replacing them with these https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/3011374009

I have many times pushed pole pieces up on a pickup to get them closer to the strings so I know it can be done if you are very careful with it

Thanks however I have brought entwistles before and though the pole pieces looked adjustable they were firmly glued in place, I think they are meant to be adjustable but quality control at that price point means it's a crapshoot, still might be worth me trying, at that price if I break it in the process its not really a big deal

4 hours ago, lownote said:

At a blues jam once, I misheard an A key call as E.  Having played like that through the whole number I apologised profusely afterwards.  The singer looked at me and said "That's OK, I just thought you'd decided to play the mixolydian."

I had a similar thing happen, I went to a jam night with a friend and we told the house band what song we were playing which was in the key of A and they started playing it in E, I started playing along and it sounded horrendous, figured it out eventually but those first 30 seconds were rough.

On 25/08/2022 at 18:40, Nail Soup said:

I don't think I've been to a jam night as such... the nearest is a) the occasional open mic where a couple of open micer's get up do do an impromptu song together b) folk sessions where peopel join in with each others songs.

 

But a formal Jjm (especially blues) fills me with dread for the following reasons (some of which may be mis-perceptions)

• Clique-y-ness
• fear of people not getting a fair 'turn'
• I don't read music
• I don't have a good ear for working out chords (but I can improvise to a chord chart)
• fear of too much 'widdling'
• fear of failure
• song selection be too cliched

 

 

 

Some of this is spot on 

Clique-y-ness - yes is often an issue

fear of people not getting a fair 'turn' - yes this is often an issue, the house band often has there "favourite"  jammers that they allow to play for several songs whilst everyone else just gets a couple of songs

fear of too much 'widdling' - Yep

song selection be too cliched - Yep

Hi

Are there any jazz bass pickups with adjustable pole pieces? Other than model j that is, I like that bright, slightly scoopy sound of both pickups on full so don't want to change that with a mid heavy pickup like the model j but am struggling to find any other pickups with adjustable pole pieces, thanks

43 minutes ago, Bassybert said:

Higher tension than LaBella’s, jeez they must be like playing a reinforcement bar 😂 

Yeah Labellas are like bridge cables, I remember a while back somehow someone managed to get tension data for the 760fl set which is meant to be there light tension set and the tension was around 185ibs or so, not exactly light tension, can only imagine how much tension the heavier sets are. 

They are also stiff in addition to being high tension, it is this stiffness imo that causes them to snap if you try and string them through body

Do they feel stiff? If so then they are probably Rotosounds. 

Rotosound swingbass nickel, sounds like a strange suggestion but they start out very bright but I then found within about 2 weeks they practically sounded like flats, people think the stainless steel ones die quickly but the stainless ones last as long as any string for me, the nickel ones die very, very quickly

On 24/10/2022 at 21:58, Bart Funk Bass said:

I was looking at the bass bridges at Thomann and I am wondering how's string stability with a Fender Vintage Bridge like this:

https://www.thomann.de/pl/fender_vintage_bass_bridge.htm

 

Do strings move or pop out of grooves when hard slapping?

 

No idea but I love the look of those threaded saddles

11 hours ago, 40hz said:

One Hot Minute by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

Dark, brooding and psychedelic and coming from a bad place, featuring, IMO, Anthony's best lyrics he's ever written, tackling some really heavy stuff (for once). Along with Uplift Mofo, it's my favourite Chili Peppers album.

 

I think it's s*** on a bit, as unfortunately, there seems to be a bit of the 'cult of Frusciante' around the band, and anything with him not playing on, (in this case Dave Navarro) seems to be derided, completely forgetting dear Hillel was the OG.

I'm with you 100% on this, is a great album.

Loads of good songs on this album- Aeroplane, my friends, coffee shop, walkabout, falling into grace

On 24/08/2022 at 18:02, Combed20 said:

Did you try this pedal? Any good?

No but thanks for reminding me, I must give it a try

3 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

 

Scott does seem to have more than a soft spot for all this jazz fusion widdly diddly shyt3. Sure these guys have technique by the bucketload but i find nothing to enjoy in these solos. Then again I detest jazz, precisely because the 'tunes' are all about the saxist, drummist, bassist, guitarist etc taking turns to widdle out.  At the other end of the spectrum this thread has Michael Anthony and Fieldy clearly off their faces pratting about. The drummer in Korn's good though. And as for Flea's stars and stripes abomination. That might be the worst thing of all in this thread. That said, they're till a tad better than this from Gene Simmons   

 

Wow, doesn't help that they follow it up with the most spinal tap sounding song, Kiss are a strange band, maybe he was inspired by this

https://youtu.be/uN3JKXTj7gw

3 hours ago, Crawford13 said:

I agree. Sorry, reading back my post it possible didn't convey what I actually feel. I really like RHCP and would go as far as to say BSSM is one of my favourite albums. What I mean is that when I was a teenager Flea was my bass hero and I thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. However as I got older I realised I much prefer other bass players and musicians.

The funny thing about Flea for me is that I like the Chilli peppers and I think he is a great bass player, some great bass parts, a great ear for melody and some great melodic parts, he is a better player than I could ever hope to be but for some reason whilst I recognise all of this, for some reason his bass playing just doesn't really do it for me.

On 08/08/2022 at 18:20, Baloney Balderdash said:

I am normally a D'Addario man, I tried several other strings but always settle back with regular nickle plated rounwaound XL strings.

 

Well, that is until recently when I decided to take the chance on Newtone strings, and I am extremely satisfied.

 

They actually sound and feel a lot like D'Addario strings, so it won't be a big change for someone used to D'Addarios, same basic character, just better, like feeling ever so slightly smoother on your fingers, without though being unnaturally smooth or slippery, like for instance Elixir strings, they seem to have just about the same tension in relation to gauge and scale, and then they sound somewhat just slightly more articulate and present, it's subtle though, definitely not enough for them to have a drastically different character from D'Addarios, just somewhat slightly better, and at a more than reasonable price for custom strings, not much price difference from D'Addarios really, but to your exact preferences and measurements that fits perfectly to your specific instrument and application. 

 

I at least can warmly recommend ordering from Newtone, and would think it is absolutely worth a shot, my bet is is that if you like D'Addario strings you by far most likely going to love Newtone strings. 

 

Note that Diamond series hex core strings will be the closest match to regular XL D'Addario strings.

 

Newtone are great strings, much nicer than any of the big players strings that I have used, only downside with them is they dont publish tension specs which is not a big deal to some people but if I have my setup dialed I tend to try and match the tension with whatever strings I use when I change strings so that I dont have to do the whole eighth of a turn on the truss rod, wait, turn some more, repeat etc, especially as my main bass has the truss rod at the heel end so I have to take the whole neck off to adjust it.

I actually prefer Phil Collins era Genesis, I know that probably puts me in the minority here

10 hours ago, casapete said:

not to be a music snob".

This I can agree with

 

 

The Chic co-founder, 69, said " Any song in the top 40 is

a great composition because it speaks to the souls of a million sstrangers

This is bo!!oc!s