Mottlefeeder

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.

I just posted this on your previous thread - may save Dave some time. If you have just bought it, the best option would be to take it back and get the Cube 30, or whatever, as others have said. If that is not an option for you, looking at the amplifier block diagram, the headphone jack mutes the feed to the main amp, so an amp tech might be able to convert the headphone jack into an insert jack, giving you send, return and earth on a three pole jack. That assumes that the headphone amp is a standard op-amp, with enough current drive to power the headphones, in which case the block diagram probably mimics the circuit, and the mute switch is contained within the jack socket. It also assumes that the electronics are modular and some are common to the whole family of amplifiers, so the headphone socket is not embedded on the main motherboard. If it isn't modular, all bets are off. Incidentally, if you were planning to use it with an extension speaker, that may not provide you with any increase in volume. The amp is bridged, and when you plug in an extension speaker, it becomes un-bridged, so each speaker gets its own amp. In other words, if you start with 100 w into 8 ohms, and add another 8 ohm speaker, you get less power out of it, because each amplifier will then see 8 ohms whereas before, each amp saw 4 ohms (half of the single 8 ohms speaker).

If you have just bought it, the best option would be to take it back and get the Cube 30, or whatever, as others have said. If that is not an option for you, looking at the amplifier block diagram, the headphone jack mutes the feed to the main amp, so an amp tech might be able to convert the headphone jack into an insert jack, giving you send, return and earth on a three pole jack. That assumes that the headphone amp is a standard op-amp, with enough current drive to power the headphones, in which case the block diagram probably mimics the circuit, and the mute switch is contained within the jack socket. It also assumes that the electronics are modular and some are common to the whole family of amplifiers, so the headphone socket is not embedded on the main motherboard. If it isn't modular, all bets are off. Incidentally, if you were planning to use it with an extension speaker, that may not provide you with any increase in volume. The amp is bridged, and when you plug in an extension speaker, it becomes un-bridged, so each speaker gets its own amp. In other words, if you start with 100 w into 8 ohms, and add another 8 ohm speaker, you get less power out of it, because each amplifier will then see 8 ohms whereas before, each amp saw 4 ohms (half of the single 8 ohms speaker).

[quote name='BassInMyFace' post='197820' date='May 13 2008, 11:21 AM']i have just checked, the 30 does indeed have an aux in but guess what, the 100 doesnt. this is a giant ballache, anyone got any solutions?????????????????????[/quote] I'm not quite sure I understand what you want to do, but one possibility might be to use a small mixer instead of the 100 preamp, do your fx looping around that, and feed that into the 100 preanp/amp as the last element of the chain. Basic mixer or pedal preamp about £30?

[quote name='chardbass' post='196275' date='May 10 2008, 11:50 PM']Second Hand Pandora PXB? It might seem silly to spend the money but its a very good practice aid as it has rhythm patterns, a tuner and effects etc so it will be much more than a short cut to just hearing your bass.[/quote] A second hand Zoom 708 would give you all of that, but in a larger footpedal style, and it would be cheaper. Another alternative would be the Pocket Rock-it headphone amplifier - built into a box on the end of the jack-plug.

[quote name='jono b' post='196312' date='May 11 2008, 01:43 AM']I'm thinking about getting my gear covered against theft, breakdown etc. and I want to know what my options are. I'm currently looking at the Musicguard website and for the total amount of my gear (£1200-ish) I'm looking at £6.59 a month via Direct Debit, or £70 in one go. Clearly at that price it's pretty much a no-brainer, and that's including my gear being covered away from the 'insured location' (my house), in-vehicle and breakdown cover. Does anyone else use Musicguard, or what alternatives are there?[/quote] I don't play for money, so my gear is covered on my house contents all risks section, and on my car insurance during transport providing I list 'musician' as a second occupation. Obviously that won't suit everyone, but it's a cheap option for those it does suit.