Beer of the Bass

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1439710380' post='2845079'] It always says " £ price is a guideline " below the Euro price. This no doubt is to cover the cache issue Mornats mentioned. Exchange rates change by the minute. [/quote] The Euro price was changing too, so it doesn't look like an exchange rate issue.

I think the lack of left-handed violin family instruments is down to attitudes in orchestras more than any other factor. Rightly or wrongly, I'm told that there is a perception that one left-handed violinist/cellist/bassist would stick out visually and potentially mess up their seating plan. In less formalised musical contexts these things are less of an issue, though I do know a right handed bassist who re-learned it left handed for a Beatles tribute!

Yes, the price was different again when I added things to the basket. I'm not sure what's going on there - I guess their product range must be large enough that keeping the website consistent and up to date becomes difficult. Still, I had a 20 Euro voucher for reviewing some strings and a gigbag from my last order, so I was still quite happy with the final price.

Now if they would just do a 100 watter for just a little less in a slightly smaller box, that would be very appealing indeed.

TBH I can only think of a couple of occasions where a GK MB200 has seemed underpowered for me, so my main priorities in choosing an amp would be whether it was solidly built, dependable and had a pleasing voicing with the EQ centres in useful places.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1439494191' post='2843418'] I had a Warmoth neck with CFR's and it was as solid and as stable as could be with no dead spots. My Spector has them too and it's the same story. Think what you like, but I think they're a boon. [/quote] My Fender with the "Posiflex" rods had the classic Fender dead spot on the G-string at the 7th fret, so I wouldn't say that they rule out the possibility of dead spots entirely. Although I gather that the Fender rods are an unusual design intended to be more flexible in the middle, which might not help with that particular spot as much as a simple carbon fibre rod. I wonder if Fender found that too much stiffening changed the tone away from what people expected of a Fender?

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1439479637' post='2843253'] Interesting thoughts from everyone, not everyone seems convinced on how effective these really are...i always kinda suspected they were a load of bullsh1ttery myself especially for a 5'er .... but if XXXXX does it so should I cause in MUST be better etc etc etc Ian [/quote] They are a bit stiffer than the same section of maple would be and don't add much weight, but I guess there is more than one way of acheiving a stiff neck, especially if you take a more modern approach to building necks (laminates, alternative woods etc). I will probably use them in my next build which I'll be starting soon, simply because I can't find a compelling reason not to! Fender are using them in most of their USA 4-strings now and I couldn't detect any difference in tone on the Jazz I owned, so they could either be doing it as a selling point or in the hope of reducing their warranty returns.

I used some in a 5-string neck last year, they were 6mm square solid rods from these guys: [url="http://robotbirds.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=292_123_512"]http://robotbirds.co...ath=292_123_512[/url] I don't know whether they were entirely necessary, but I was building this neck as a replacement for one which was stuck with too much relief beyond the scope of truss rod adjustment, so I think I really used them for reassurance. I chose 6mm square out of convenience, as it meant I could use the same router bit as I used for the truss rod channel. Also, some people suggest that a stiff neck makes for a good B-string and as I wanted my neck to look like a Fender/Musicman style rather than a multi-piece laminate it seemed like a simple way of adding a little extra stiffness.

Sean, if you're feeling confident in your product might be a good idea to offer one to Bass Gear magazine for review and testing, as they regularly publish bench test results alongside their reviews. While their testing is probably not done to certified standards, they are at least consistent and transparent about their process and incorporate burst testing. It would allow prospective buyers to compare the output to other popular amps on a more level playing field and I for one would be quite interested in seeing that. [url="http://www.bassgearmag.com/"]http://www.bassgearmag.com/[/url]

I've heard of people making a single-use screw extractor by notching the end of a piece of thin metal tubing (the hobby shop sort) with a hacksaw blade, using it in a hand drill and taking out just enough wood around the screw to get a grip on the end.

I've used both D'Addario Chromes and Sadowsky Black Label flatwound B-strings and liked them (I've stuck with the Sadowskys). Both are tight and pleasant sounding in the lower range, and I would say it's actually higher up the neck that the sound becomes a bit of an acquired taste. From about the 9th fret upwards the sound gets a lot of thump to it and is a bit less clear in a way that reminds me of how a flatwound E sounds on certain short-scale basses. Depending on your tastes this could actually be a useful extra tonal option on those notes. The only B-string I could not live with at all was on D'Addario black nylon tapewounds, and I ended up using a roundwound DR Black Beauty B-string with those.

I'm looking at some parts on the Thomann website and noticing something odd about their pricing. The prices shown in the list view are different from the prices when I click on individual items. For example; [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/misc_bass_tuning_machines.html"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/misc_bass_tuning_machines.html[/url] Warwick Bass Chrome Tuner Left is 5.90 Euro or £4.18. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_bass_tuner_machine_chrome_left.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_bass_tuner_machine_chrome_left.htm [/url]The same part is now 8.50 Euro or £6.00. It can't be a conversion issue as the Euro prices are different too. Has anyone else come across this? I've no idea which price is the one I'd end up paying! A couple of other items are doing it too, some changing upwards and some downwards when viewing the individual item.

OK, maybe the labelling of power consumption isn't as standardised as I'd thought!

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, I think I'd prefer to hear a musician dabbling on a second instrument in a genre they understand and appreciate than an accomplished instrumentalist playing a genre they don't care for just for the paycheck. So a "bored guitarist" who had a feel for the blues-rock thing and decided to try their hand at the bass might well do a decent job even if there was a bit of a learning curve.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439243904' post='2841317'] If I posted a similar thread about how blues rock was a load of old crap that wasn't proper music it would be locked inside of about three minutes. [/quote] We've got one of those. It seems to be doing OK so far! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/267566-blues-rock-bass-player-wanted-ad-unbelievable/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/267566-blues-rock-bass-player-wanted-ad-unbelievable/[/url]

One positive thing about these gigs is that they tend to put everything through the PA and you may be surprised at just how little amp you can get away with. A few years ago when I was in a similar no-transport situation I used to use a little Ashdown 1x12" tiltback combo and it did the job just fine. More recently I've done a few with my EA Wizzy 10 cab sat on a chair. While feeling the lows from a big rig might have been nice, I could hear myself OK, everything sounded good out front and the gigs went well. Also, if at least one of the band (or even a friend or partner) is a driver and has had their licence for more than a year you may find it cheaper to use a basic rental car or small van rather than owning a vehicle if you're just gigging occasionally.

This is a bit of guesswork, but it came up in a Talkbass thread that the marked power consumption on the back of the BV1001M is 110 watts. I've read that the labelling convention is to quote the power consumption at 1/8 of the rated output, which is supposed to represent typical use. The GK MB800 also quotes a figure of 110 watts for this. Might it be reasonable to presume that the output of the Bugera and GK might be comparable, since they're both Class D designs with solid state preamps and are likely to have similar efficiency?

OK, this is a guitar, but I guess this might pass as funky:

3M Clear Ears are less visible than ER20s as the stem is shorter and they don't have the plastic part. They sound terrible for loud music, but for non-music use they'd be worth trying. They're very cheap too.

The Chromes use a brighter looking metal for the outer wrap, that much is clearly visible. Whether you can feel or hear much difference between them or not, if they use different alloys they are not the same string.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1439036031' post='2839539'] Why don't you buy Chromes singles - they're the same string. [/quote] I don't think they are. While D'Addario have made flatwounds for a couple of different companies including Fender, they seem to have a slightly different recipe for each. The windings don't look the same and people report that they sound different.

And they discontinued the 5-string sets before I could try them, too! Still, I'm happy enough with my Sadowskys at the moment.

[quote name='THE-NIG' timestamp='1438838821' post='2837794'] Thinking the 1st of April myself at those pictures , but isn't there an "e-bow" which has been out for decades and seems more practical if you want to go along those lines , otherwise stick to the conventional D,B , bow .. [/quote] Sure, it's not meant to replace a conventional bow and I think I was quite clear about that when I started this thread. But there are situations where this could be an interesting tool. I was at a free improv gig a while ago where the bassist was using an assortment of implements including drumsticks on the bass. In that sort of context, this doesn't seem all that crazy an idea.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1438706425' post='2836583'] I would imagine that Palmer box uses auxiliary contacts on the jacks sockets to provide some switching. It's probably OK for a low wattage guitar amp but I'm not sure I'd want to put 500-watts of bass through those contacts. Also you couldn't do the same with Speakons as they have no extra switching contacts. You'd need a heavy duty switch.. [/quote] They do make Speakons with switch contacts. They're not airtight though, which would be a pain on a cab back-plate but fine in an external box.