Beer of the Bass

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1425759355' post='2710517'] From reading reviews, I think the TE-80 may be the Harley Benton telecaster to go for. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_te80_nt_deluxe_series.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...luxe_series.htm[/url] It's a copy of an original MIJ then MIK Hohner, as used by Prince. There's a fair amount of discussion online, and the general opinion is that they are very good. Some people have claimed that the playability and sound wouldn't be out of place on a £1000 guitar. It is true that this guitar is £112 versus £63 for the basic model. But, it's not that much extra money to get what appears to be a much better guitar. [/quote] They do look good, but it's worth noting that they use two strat pickups so will be a step away from the classic tele sound if that's what you're looking for, particularly on the bridge pickup.

I've seen a few threads on Talkbass about the BP100 recommending supergluing it to the flat side of the bridge rather than using the clips. Some say the sound is improved this way. You'd want to be fairly sure of the positioning and use a very small drop of thick superglue on each element. I've mounted piezo elements inside other instruments this way, and though it's semi-permanent you can usually prise it off with a single-edged razor blade without damage if you wanted to try something else later. If superglue seems like a little too much commitment, a thin double-sided adhesive tape is the best thing to use, like the stuff that K&K supply with these. But with a Markbass amp you may want to try a preamp too. IIRC they have around 500K ohms input impedance, while ideally you want an input impedance of 1M ohm or higher for most piezos. Too low an input impedance will tend towards sounding harsh and scratchy.

I'm trying to view my gigging on bass as paused rather than stopped. I left my most active band last year, and have had all sorts of family things going on since then. My acoustic project with the double bass is also on hold for the moment as people are variously building houses, having babies and working long hours. I'm moving house at the moment and I have a couple of guitar gigs in the calendar in April and May but nothing on bass at the moment. Once I've finished moving, I'll start looking around for people to play bass with again. By now I'm building up a fairly clear idea of how I want that to work, though I'm not set on one particular style.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426232835' post='2715826'] If you are getting paid to be in a band then IMO it's perfectly reasonable to have to follow your employers dress code. And wearing a tea-cosy on your head has never been acceptable. Not back in the 70s and certainly not now. [/quote] Tea cosies as headwear were acceptable if you were in Gong, and I can think of few bands more psychedelic!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1426166798' post='2715136'] It was me that administered the ban, for different reasons than this thread though [/quote] Ah, OK. Thanks for clearing that up.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1426164459' post='2715086'] I've just re-read the entire thread and I am struggling to find any examples of misogyny. Misplaced and mis-judged attempts at humour, yes - and apologies for some of that... Would you care to elaborate on your rather brief but condemnatory comment? [/quote] jfinkle would appear to have been banned since posting that comment, so you may not get that elaboration. I'm hoping that the ban is due to some behaviour that's not obvious via their posts, otherwise it would seem a rather heavy-handed reaction from the mods!

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1426162233' post='2715049'] Home build is Ok up to 18W, gets expensive and scary high voltages beyond that. [/quote] I would never suggest starting out with a higher powered amp, but personally I'm no less cautious working with 200v than with 500v, as I do not want to be shocked by either! I guess it's a question of assessing what you feel competent to work with. For me, something of SVT size and complexity would seem overly ambitious, but I'm confident I could safely and successfully build a simpler, classic 30-100 watt fixed bias design, not deviating too far from established layouts.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1426156262' post='2714951'] John Hall seems to threaten legal action at the drop of a hat here but you can find dozens of Ric copies for sale on Talkbass. Why can he act the bully boy over here but not in the US? [/quote] I'm going to guess that he has to go after [i]somebody[/i] in order to demonstrate that he is protecting his trademarks, but turns a blind eye towards the ones that might have a bigger lawyer than he does!

It's a European (likely Czech or German) plywood bass, mid 20th century. They tend to be sturdily built, decent working instruments, assuming this one doesn't have any issues that they haven't mentioned. I'd say that the price of this one is on the high side, especially as this one doesn't have an ebony fingerboard. I'd expect that you would pay a fair bit less than £1000 for a similar instrument on the basschat classifieds.

It's hard to keep costs from rocketing on DIY builds, admittedly! I built a guitar combo a couple of years ago which was based on a Fender Princeton Reverb. The total cost was less than buying the Fender reissue, but there are a few similar powered valve combos which I could have picked up for the same amount or less. I've been thinking about building a smallish valve bass amp along loosely B15-esque lines once I've got my current house move sorted out (funds allowing), so I've been looking around at transformer options. These guys have a range of transformers made by Danbury in England which are well priced, though the range isn't huge. [url="http://livinginthepast-audioweb.co.uk/index.php?p=messages&sw=none"]http://livinginthepast-audioweb.co.uk/index.php?p=messages&sw=none[/url] The toroidal mains transformers from TubeTown in Germany look like good value and would help keep the weight down too. [url="http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/index.php?cat=545&sort=3&MODsid=3h1dg232ltdautadajuah9e8k5&sort=7"]http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/index.php?cat=545&sort=3&MODsid=3h1dg232ltdautadajuah9e8k5&sort=7[/url]

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1426076766' post='2714054'] it seems drum beats as well, i remember all the hass over the drum break in the Winstons song "Amen Brother" when it was sampled then became an iconic break " The Aman Break" used by just about everyone, then zero G, stating it was theirs and you have to pay to use it, a very intresting insight into the corp big wigs stealing your stuff and you not having enough money to fight it, found it... watch this, its worth it and really opens your eyes.... [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac"]https://www.youtube....h?v=5SaFTm2bcac[/url] [/quote] Yeah, the Amen Break thing is fascinating. What interests me is that I've know a few drummers who've used high-tuned piccolo snares to emulate that drum n' bass sound, purely because the break was sped up from the record it was sampled from. When the sampling culture starts feeding back into what instrumentalists do, it all gets a little circular!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426083414' post='2714156'] You'll be fine so long as your parcel isn't over the maximum shipping size. If it's a bass it might well be. [/quote] It's quite a bit smaller than a bass, and usefully already described as "for parts or not working", so there should be few grounds for a return provided I pack it competently.

Oh dear, I didn't really pay attention to having been enrolled. I'm selling an item ending on Saturday and the current high bidder turns out to be in Italy. I didn't specify international postage when I listed the item, but I guess eBay does that automatically now. I hope this goes OK, as there's not much I can do once bids have been placed.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1426078565' post='2714092'] Hmmm... The Trinity Trip Top chassis-only kit is $1600. Add shipping from Canada and import duty, plus a cab, and you might be better spending your money on an actual B15. And that's if they do UK-voltage mains transformers (must admit I haven't checked). [/quote] Yes the kit doesn't look like great value once imported to the UK, I was more appreciating the design.

[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1425745239' post='2710299'] Here's a promising looking one based on the B-15: [url="http://www.trinityamps.com/Product_Kits_Triptop.htm"]http://www.trinityam...its_Triptop.htm[/url] Maybe you can get your guy interested in doing something similar? [/quote] I've been looking at their schematic and layout for this on their forum, and their concept of a B15n with uprated transformers to handle KT88s seems like a great idea, as a sort of middle ground between smaller studio amps and huge high-powered beasts. It would be interesting to find out what the measured output is with KT88s - they estimate around 60 watts in fixed bias. I appreciate it when companies like Trinity put their documentation online, as I find poring over this sort of thing educational.

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1426053539' post='2713769'] Hot on the heels of the decision in favour of Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty, re Sam Smith's track, another expensive day out in court, but this time for Pharell and Robin Thicke over similarities between their hit 'Blurred Lines' and Marvin Gaye's 'Got to give it up'. $7.3m dollars to be precise. It raises an interesting point about whether this is merely unfortunate, and an almost subconscious act - based on listening to years of music, or conscious and deliberate. [/quote] I think there's no question of whether this one was conscious or not. In a May 2013 interview Thicke said: [quote] "Pharrell and I were in the studio and I told him that one of my favorite songs of all time was Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up." I was like, "Damn, we should make something like that, something with that groove." Then he started playing a little something and we literally wrote the song in about a half hour and recorded it. The whole thing was done in a couple hours—normally, those are the best ones." [/quote] [url="http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/05/robin-thicke-interview-blurred-lines-music-video-collaborating-with-2-chainz-and-kendrick-lamar-mercy.html"]http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/05/robin-thicke-interview-blurred-lines-music-video-collaborating-with-2-chainz-and-kendrick-lamar-mercy.html[/url] No coincidence there!

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1425996714' post='2713200'] They were on of the few copies that could get the body thickness and headstock pitch angle about right. [/quote] Yes, while the pickups were fairly ropey I think they got the proportions and feel down pretty well and they used decent looking maple too. Mind you, on mine the truss rod was buggered and it suffered a major structural failure where the neck joined the body, so perhaps I shouldn't be [i]too[/i] enthusiastic about it's quality!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1425994469' post='2713168'] TBH the vast majority of people who claim to want a Rickenbacker bass don't want anything of the sort. What they want is something that sounds and feels like a Fender P or J with the Rickenbacker shape holographically projected over the top. [/quote] I may not be one of those, I reckon. I started out on an Ibanez Ric copy, and I still have a bit of a soft spot for the narrow string spacing at the bridge end, shallow body depth and the way the neck feels about the same shape all the way up. I find that pickups up by the end of the neck have their own sound too. I'm not mad about the pickup cover or the way that bridge design hampers palm-muting, but this is why aftermarket parts (or indeed the 4004) exist. So I think that if the funds are there at some point, I could really enjoy a Ric.

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1425986190' post='2713010'] I've heard a disturbing amount of horror stories about them. [/quote] Was that definitely Jimmy Moon? I've heard those stories about a different Glasgow luthier named Jimmy, probably best not to name him here but it shouldn't be too hard to figure it out! Of course, I don't know how reliable those stories are, they're not my first-hand experiences.

I think that if you're building for yourself and the instrument will not be sold you can do what you like, as trademarks apply to trade.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1425946021' post='2712734'] Is MIDI over USB simply a question of making up a suitable lead, or does it require an interface to get actual MIDI protocol data? Every time you have to convert data you introduce latency which is the last thing you want in a performance instrument. [/quote] AFAIK it requires some sort of host device, usually a PC or Mac, though some people have setup things like the Raspberry Pi to do this job. I'm still a little wary of anything which would require me to run a computer as part of a live setup, as every time I've had bandmates using laptops with MIDI devices there are the occasional glitches or even two-minute silences when it crashes and has to be restarted. Perhaps this is me being a little behind the times though.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1425894896' post='2711804'] But do you see them on the 'best' gigs..? [/quote] I would say that you do, but it depends what you mean by "the best gigs". While there are plenty of top players who will insist on their specific Class AB amps and ceramic speakers, there are also guys like Lee Sklar using high-end Class-D and neo gear, and surely he's one of the top working bassists around.

This suggestion may get something of a mixed reaction, but the new Bugera Veyron amps have a very similar feature set to the Streamliners, so might be worth having a look at. I've no idea what the quality is like or whether the sound is close, but if they're up to scratch they could be an option.

[quote name='VTypeV4' timestamp='1425861023' post='2711667'] I'd love to build my own one day... 100 - 200w Class A/B output stage (4 x KT88) SS rectifier User adjustable bias 4 and 8 ohm operation All valve pre-stages ( a number of ECC81 and 83) Passive EQ (Fender style) Input gain and Master volume FX loop Compressor w / threshold + ratio Balanced DI out Muteable output stage with no-load-safe studio operation It'll never happen but the V4 has most of the above. [/quote] That's quite a list! For my needs I'd be quite happy with <100 watts with just three big knobs and a bright switch on the front. A post power amp DI out would be cool, but I'd lean towards keeping that outboard for the soundguy acceptance factor (as a rule they seem happier dealing with a DI box than taking a line out from the back of an unknown amp).

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1425841628' post='2711363'] Another sexist comment, you need to use a word that covers witch and warlock really. [/quote] Try telling that to Kev Carlyon, self-proclaimed "High Priest of British White Witches", seen here resplendent in his trademark orange bathrobe! Mind you, if he leans any closer to that candle there is a real risk of witch-burning.