Mottlefeeder

[quote name='rmorris' post='210049' date='May 31 2008, 11:34 AM']... I guess you had the polarity correct - but any half decent designed piece of kit should be protected against that...[/quote] That was my thought. If the 12 volt power supply was wired the opposite to the 9 volt supply, that might draw enough current to fry a track.

I don't see what the OP is getting at. The item for sale is described, and the small print refers to the image, to avoid confusion with the original packaging, which presumably no longer exists.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='209956' date='May 31 2008, 01:52 AM']Those velcro on aerobics weights round the strap on the bridge end of the strap. Heavier butbetter balanced.[/quote] I've used a similar trick - put something heavy (washers or lead strip if you can find some) int a padded phone case, and thread that onto the strap at the bridge end. It works well, but tends to get in the way when you put the bass on a stand.

A few points that spring to mind as I read this thread. 1) Hopefully the mains input unit has a two pole switch, but only one fuse. If it has two fuses, then a blown neutral fuse will give the appearance that the unit is dead, while parts of it inside are still live. This is not good practice. 2) In one of your pictures, you show a single insulated mains wire bent over the aluminium heatshik of the power supply. It would be better to route that wire somewhere else, or add some more insulation or sleeving to it. Since the other ends of those wires have screw terminations, you could find some space by soldering the wires at the filter end, and using heatshrink sleeving to insulate the joints. I hope this does not come across as being picky, but if you build something for someone, you need to take some responsibility for the safety of the amp tech, hopefully several years down the road.

It may be a gap in my education, but I have never seen the point of noodling around to a drum machine, without having a defined chord structure to play around. Most of the suggestions so far only give you a drum machine. For the same kind of money as a multi-effects unit, you could get a copy of Band in a Box, and install it on your PC. It will enable you to put together a chord sequence, define the style of backing track, mute the bass part and then pick the speed at which you want to jam. Since it generates a bass part within the backing track, if you run dry, you can look at what 'they' did for that style of music. It will also unpack downloaded midi files, so you can select and mute the bass line. It can also take a MP3 or CD track, and work out the chord sequence for you - that's quite impressive. Food for thought?

As someone who would like to play jazz, but does not so far, my take on this is that chord tones will give you a harmonically strong link between notes, but may not be that melodic. Scales will give you a weaker harmonic link, but a stronger melodic link that signposts where you are going. A good bass line will use both, and other techniques, without sounding like an exam answer where you have to shoe-horn everything in, just to show that you know it.

+1 on Newskin. It stings on open wounds, but it does hold the edges together, so they heal faster. It also provides a protective surface as others have said.

Welcome to the forum - here are a few of my thoughts on your questions - Most pop and rock bass parts were written by people who played 4-strings, so if that is what you want to play, you should not have a problem. If you want to play in a band in church, or a band with a horn section (I think), then a 5-string will make it easier to find notes in the keys they tend to play in. If you start with a 5-string, you will be able to do both - eventually. If you do not like the 4+1 headstock of a 5-string Fender, or a Musicman, take a step back and ask yourself how important looks are to you. Some people think that old school looks are the only look for their kind of band. Others don't like the old school look, and prefer natural wood, no scratchplate, small tuner heads etc. It's cheaper to think and then buy than to buy and then think.

You have five choices: 1) Use a non-slip strap - only works for minor neck dive (£30) 2) Lighten the headstock - fit hipshot ultralites or similar (£20 per string) 3) Make the body heavier - take a mobile phone pouch, fill it with washers and hang it on the bridge end of the strap (£5?) 4) Move the balance point - use a longer (and bigger) screw on the horn, and a block or tube to space the button away from the horn. On my Corvette the extension was about 2 inches. (£1) Any combination of the above, or - 5) Sell the bass and find another one that sits better - camoflage it as an upgrade in quality?

[quote name='iain1985' post='202351' date='May 19 2008, 06:18 PM']Im just getting back into playing with bands after taking a year out. Ive replied to a few adds and have been invited along to a couple of auditions. Ive never been in a position where I have had to audition for a band its always been with mates or people i knew already. Does anyone have any advice so I can get the gig. Its all originals and they have stuff recorded. What do I do ? Do i figure it out note for note or work out my own parts for it? If anyone could give me any advice it would be much apprecieated, not just on playing the songs, but on anything else i might come across. cheers.[/quote] Not quite wholly on topic, but may be useful. I've only been ot one audition, which was a farce, but it had some learning points. 1) For every song, find out what key they play it in. If the singer doesn't know, start worrying. 2) At the audition, try and work out who is in charge, and whether they are competent. A band with no musical leader is going to be a lot of effort if you are offered the gig. In my case, an inexperienced singer pulled a group together, but did not have a clue what to do next. The initial get-together was also the last.

[quote name='martthebass' post='202397' date='May 19 2008, 08:27 PM']How long have you had it? I played Jazzes for years and then decided to have a go at Warwick - I also loved the sound but hated the neck profile. I persevered for a few weeks and it got much easier and I had no problem switching backwards and forwards between Jazz and Thumb. 'Fraid I parted with the Thumb tho a few weeks ago - nothing to do with the neck - just hated the neck heavy balance on a long gig. Ended up buying a 'Ray. C'est la vie. In all tho, if you haven't had it long give it a while you will grow acustomed to the neck in the end.[/quote] I had two Corvettes, a 4-string in Bubinga and a 5-string in swamp-ash. The 4-string neck felt very deep for its width, but the 5-string neck felt well proportioned. It was the weight and/or balance that eventually caused me to move on.

I Googled *Eileen Campbell + Bassist, Eileen Campbell + Leith, and Eileen Campbell + Edinburgh*, and got bored with the dross before I found anything that confirmed she is known as a musician in Edinburgh. Can anyone provide a link which confirms she exists? I'm also confused by the room - it looks too tidy to be a teenager's, but it does not look particularly feminine either.

[quote name='crez5150' post='200633' date='May 16 2008, 06:43 PM']Can't see the point of having it built in your bass amp..... there are already a few belt mounted products like that from Beyerdynamic, Radial and also Canford do one too[/quote] I wasn't aware of those - I was mainly thinking of tapping into the signal chain upstream of the instrument volume control, so you could mute the sound to your amp, but still hear the bass while you checked the tuning etc.

[quote name='ped' post='200397' date='May 16 2008, 01:22 PM']...Most of the time I have just myself in my IEMs and I can hear the band clearly albeit a bit quieter because I don't use noise cancelling IEMs. I just adjust my own level to match the outside noise and I am left with a very nice sound which is much quieter on stage and easy on my poor lug'oles. Cheers ped[/quote] This may be a daft question, but if there was room for a headphone amp in your bass' electronics cavity, and you used that as a personal monitor, would that do the same as your current IEM? I've been thinking about making a belt mounted DI box with a built-in headphone amp, so I am interested in your thoughts.

Using the existing preamp, and buying a second-hand stereo PA amp would be more efficient use of your money than buying another instrument amp with a preamp you don't need. It might also get you more power into each speaker if you went for a bigger amp.

[quote name='bremen' post='200398' date='May 16 2008, 01:22 PM']It's a bass amp - it's not double-insulated. It *must* be earthed, and you're quite right to say check the plug![/quote] Depending on how you mount the power transformer, and how you insulate the mains wiring inside, it is quite possible to build a double insulated amp. Some years ago, I saw some PA gear that was double insulated to avoid ground loops through the rack, which is why I suggested checking. Of course, if you know the specific item of gear, then that's a different story. [quote name='bremen' post='200398' date='May 16 2008, 01:22 PM']I'm guessing it came from Thomann in Germany. I got a power amp from them and it came with a EU plug.[/quote] As I understand the European law, the Low Voltage Directive basically says 'make it safe by following these standards', and the standards require a plug to be fitted that is suitable for the country in which it is to be used (not manufactured or sold). So, if Thomann know they are shipping to the UK, they should include a UK power lead. Any trading standards officers out there who can confirm this?

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='199816' date='May 15 2008, 06:47 PM']Sorted! WoT Snr. drilled new holes in the case, and shaped them so the cage nuts fit. I would have done it, but... err... umm.. I was busy doing something really important. Quite smart it looks, too... [/quote] Nice. Neat job, and no spare holes showing.

It might be worth checking whether what you have is just a two pin plug, or actually has three connections, in which case some adaptors would leave your gear unearthed. First, check the spec plate on the amp. If it does not have a square within a square symbol, it is not double insulated, and needs to be earthed. Secondly, look at the plug again. in addition to the two pins, does it have spring strips built into grooves in the sides? If so, those are the earth connections. Thirdly, any gear sold into this country should come with the correct plug, so if you bought it from a retailer, you should be able to get the right cable and plug from them. If they tell you to get lost, talk to your local trading standards office.

[url="http://www.cubase.net"]http://www.cubase.net[/url] is the official forum [url="http://www.cubase.com"]http://www.cubase.com[/url] is an independent forum

I'm not sure how many knobs we are talking about, but here are a few random thoughts - 1 - run a piece of masking tape across the knobs before you bag it. That should help to keep them in place. 2 - take the knobs off: tha shafts are less likely to turn. 3 - make a note of the settings, and include that as part of your load in/load out. E.g. put mains lead in, put speaker lead in, put instrument lead in, set knobs up, switch on. 4 - build a cardboard sleeve/lid and stick that over the knobs before you bag it. I'd be inclined to go for 4. Canibalise a corrugated cardboard carton, and glue it up with a hot-melt glue gun or something like that.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='199351' date='May 15 2008, 10:17 AM']It would be, but then the cage nuts wouldn't fit...[/quote] I'm not sure what you read into that post, but to me it means: drill the amp to match where the cage nuts already are.

A bit of sheet metal bent down at the front and up at the back would hook onto the front of the speaker cab, and the back of the amp. You would need to make sure that the up and down flanges were sized not to obstruct anything they shouldn't.

[quote name='Ant' post='198824' date='May 14 2008, 03:47 PM']would they wash off?[/quote] For some reason I had pictured a varnished Maple fretboard, so the ink would not go into the wood. My mistake. On raw rosewood, you could use a pencil, and it would rub off quickly in the areas you play most (where you already know where to put your fingers), but not rub off so quickly in the dusty areas.

[quote name='Ant' post='198717' date='May 14 2008, 01:42 PM']if only it had lines - i'd be all over that. an unlined fretless is hell can you get them lined?[/quote] It may be a daft idea, but you could put lines on with a felt tipped pen, and then decide whether you still need them a few months down the road.