Mottlefeeder

[quote name='Oscar South' post='185694' date='Apr 26 2008, 02:01 AM']How hard would it be to make the opposite of one of these (high impedance to low) for use with piezo pickups?[/quote] Fdeck over on Talkbass has one on his web pages - PM sent

My experience with induction loops in our church is that hum-bucking pups are a major advantage, in that they reject any loop signals. On that basis, stay with the P bass unless your other bass is similarly equipped. Also, a passive bass with the volume at 0 will still pick up from the loop because of the way the volume control is wired. If you need to kill the volume between songs, do it with a pedal, or on the pre-amp. Finally, when I have played outdoors using a cheap power generator, I have found that the buzz increased when I took my hands off the strings - all my gear was checked and working - so you may find that you can lose some of the buzz by not putting the bass down between songs.

The Warwick wood sound is one most people either love or hate. However, the cheaper Rockbass series have a couple of fretless 5-stringers, and are conventional alder/maple/rosewood. They might be worth a look. I think there is also a 5-string fretless Dean and an Aria in, or close to, your price range. Another alternative that might be worth considering is to abandon the G-string and buy a 4-string fretless, tuned BEAD. That would give you more choice, and higher quality for the amount you want to spend.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='185906' date='Apr 26 2008, 01:29 PM']Would that have been a NT 5 string Thumb destined for Flo? [/quote] No - a 4-string fretless Bubinga Corvette and a 5-string fretless Swamp-ash Corvette. My orignal post was about the 4-string, which went to a long serving menber of their forum, and the 5-string to a newby who posted in 'wanted'. He lives just down the road from me and paid cash when he collected.

I just sold a bass on the Warwick forum, half the cash up front, by bank transfer, half the cash on delivery, by bank transfer, and about 10 e-mails between us so we both knew what was going on. I would not feel comfortable with that kind of deal on ebay - perhaps I am over-cautious. David

Yesterday I Googled TRB1005F, and started phoning the suppliers whos names came up. Virtually all of the ones I was able to contact had no stock, but would order it in. The exception was the Bass Gallery, who had one in stock, were able to talk knowledgeably about that bass and its competitors, offered the bass at a good price, and got my business.

I phoned Mark at GAK, and they have no stock of TRB5FIIs, nor does he remember them ever having them. He contacted Yamaha UK who confirmed that they were discontinued, and no stock remained for the UK. I had also asked about the TRB1005F, so Mark got the story on that too. The fretted version ships in bulk, and can be found for £500. the fretless version is rare, (Yamaha UK have not seen one for the last 6 months) and Mark could sell me one for £600 (rrp £739). However, the lead time is currently 6 months. Based on the above, it sounds as if I need to find a good 2nd hand 5-string Yamaha, and pay to have it defretted. I could probably even buy a new TRB1005 and have it defretted and not be far over £600 total. And I thought I was sorted...

Thanks for these - its given me lots to think about. My existing RBX 765A is Alder/Maple/Rosewod, and that has never bothered me. The GAK description talks about a 1998 specification change, and the picture is a TRB5F (Mk I), so I think my first job is to contact them and confirm what it is they are selling. I've tried e-mailing them, and got a reply asking me to phone them!

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' post='181037' date='Apr 20 2008, 02:29 PM']Any of you Yamaha enthusiasts may be able to help me - I am looking for a 5-string fretless, and have two Yamahas on my short list. The TRB 5FII is discontinued, but still available from GAK at £650, and the TRB 1005F seems to be its replacement, and is being discounted to £500 at places like Dolphin. Is the TRB 5FII a better bass, and if so, what more do I get for the extra £150?[/quote] We're writing so much this evening that this has already slipped off the radar - bump for comments please.

Any of you Yamaha enthusiasts may be able to help me - I am looking for a 5-string fretless, and have two Yamahas on my short list. The TRB 5FII is discontinued, but still available from GAK at £650, and the TRB 1005F seems to be its replacement, and is being discounted to £500 at places like Dolphin. Is the TRB 5FII a better bass, and if so, what more do I get for the extra £150?

[quote name='jimbartlett' post='174447' date='Apr 11 2008, 11:59 AM']Thanks, I think that is good advice. I have pretty much resigned myself to kicking myself up the @rse to change batteries![/quote] An alternative is a cheap battery tester. It will not tell you the remaining capacity, but if you check the voltage before every gig, you will see how slowly the voltage reading goes down over time. That will tell you whether you have enough capacity to play another gig befoe changing it. Oh yes, you need to carry a spare battery too!

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='172845' date='Apr 9 2008, 08:52 AM']Or... Take the saddle piece out of its mounting block and open it out with a file. I'd like to think that spares are easy to come by, given that they're common to all Warwick designs (except the Triumph, Nobby M and Alien and anything approx pre '91), so you could put a new one in if you go for a lower gauge. Besides, don't they ship with .125" B strings on the 5s and 6s? .005 is quite a tight tolerance. Nut-wise, the old Just-a-nut I would take anything as all the grooves are the same width !? I can't vouch for the Just-a-nut II, though![/quote] Just-a-nut one has differing width string grooves. I asked when I wanted to tune my 4-string BEAD, and Warwick DE sent me a larger A-string screw.

[quote name='loafer' post='171137' date='Apr 7 2008, 08:23 AM']I have a problem that I have not seen discussed in bass forums, but I did eventually find some info. in a cellist's site - this is a fairly common problem for them, I read. At about the seventh fret on my A string I get a very loud, colourless note, with great sustain. It is as if the neck, body, string, pickup, cabinet and driver are on on exactly the same wavelentgh; I cannot hear any harmonics or colour to the note. It repeats to a lesser degree in the higher octaves of this note. By varying my amp EQ settings I can move the wolf howl up a fret or two, with a reduced effect, also different strings can improve this - but - I don't want my strings or EQ settings forced on me by my bass (I assume it is my bass). Cellists use a weight attched to the string between the bridge and 'the end bit', or fix a weight inside their instrument or 'sqeeze between the knees at this note', none of which apply to my solid bass! My bass is a 'Yamaha Attitude Special' (Yamaha p'ups), and a 'Rock' 100w 12" combo amp. I am a hobby player, at home only, so I notice my sound a lot (no competeing drummers/drinkers). I have had this bass for a few years and noticed this for a year or so - I suspect my 'ear' has improved to reveal this effect. Has anyone any advice or understanding of this probelm please? Thanks, Loafer[/quote] I have the same problem on a Yamaha RBX 765, but only with certain types of strings. It happens with Rotosound swingbass 66s, and it happens with Warwick Black label, and it happens with LaBella Deep Talkin, but not with Ernie Ball slinkies, so that's what I now use. If you want to confirm that you have identified the cause, clamp a weight on the headstock, and the resonance should move - that is what a bad-finger is designed to do, but it adds weight to the headstock, which could change the balance of the instrument. Your best option is to find a set of strings that don't do this, and stick with them - the alternative is to sell the bass, because it will annoy you from now on. It is also worth pointing out that my bass tutor could not hear it, and cutting through the mix, it is unlikely that the audience would hear it either, but I know how annoying it is. Good luck.

[quote name='ahpook' post='170219' date='Apr 5 2008, 12:47 PM']i've got an old HH 15" bass cab that i've had sitting around for a while - i never really use it as it's only rated at 150W. i'm thinking of upgrading the speaker to something in the region of 400W. would there be any issues with bunging a much larger speaker in a box only rated for 150W (speaker parameters and box tuning aside)[/quote] It shouldn't be a problem, unless the glue joints have weakened over time.

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' post='165143' date='Mar 28 2008, 12:58 PM']It's called DHL Europlus, and it's on this page - [url="http://www.dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/services/exp_services/day_definite/day_definite_international.high.html"]http://www.dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/service...ional.high.html[/url][/quote] Don't bother with DHL Europlus - the add-on insurance is only available for air freight. Anything sent Europlus has no insurance cover at all.

[quote name='Dillsfretless' post='165083' date='Mar 28 2008, 10:07 AM']I REALLY like the look of the Warmoth Gecko basses. Has anyone here got or played one? I was just wondering what they are like.[/quote] I read a review of one, a 5-string I think, which commented on how neck heavy it was. That worried me.

[quote name='josh3184' post='164898' date='Mar 27 2008, 11:04 PM']I'd also be interested in any info, I believe I've got a bass to ship to Germany soon and everything is really quite expensive! I've looked on the dhl site and I cant see any links to the ground service prices, does anyone know how to find it? I'm a bit thick y'see...[/quote] It's called DHL Europlus, and it's on this page - [url="http://www.dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/services/exp_services/day_definite/day_definite_international.high.html"]http://www.dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/service...ional.high.html[/url]

[quote name='madzombieguy' post='164627' date='Mar 27 2008, 05:11 PM']Hi there! I've had some interest in my warwick thumb, but the only problem is that it is from Norway. Any ideas on which company would ship to Norway?[/quote] Parcelforce are twitchy about instruments, and will only accept valuations up to £150, so you will need to sort out some other insurance. I am in the process of selling a bass to Belgium, and the cheapest deal I found was DHL by road in 48 hrs. One point to watch is that some companies limit the package to 120cm max in any direction, which may mean you have to take the bridge strap button off to maximise the distance between the bass and the cardboard. Also, for large packages, some companies use the size to come up with an equivalent weight, and charge you for the actual weight or the equivalent, whichever is greater. For example, a bass in a gigbag in a box could be 120x45x22cm and weigh about 15kg. The equivalent weight is 120x45x22/6000, which is 20kg.