bloke_zero

On 15/07/2023 at 16:00, BassBunny said:

If you plan to go passive it might mean new pickups as those EMG's could be active.

That said the pickups plus the preamp are pretty saleable to offset the cost.

Agreed - those early EMG's have a very distinct and good sound - there is the famous Lee Sklar bass with them assuming they are early: https://scottsbasslessons.com/blog/the-most-recorded-bass-in-music-history-yep-probably-bass-tales-ep-9#!

On 01/02/2023 at 15:08, shug said:

are they like a P bas pickup in size and layout?

I thought that too, just from the orientation - got quite excited for a minute!

Sweet looking bass! Reminds nme of those Joe Dart Stingrays, but with a funkier grain. If I didn't already have 5 p-basses including a medium scale...

Beautiful bass. I was looking at the Larry Graham white jazz the other day. That pink is perfect! I bet it's a hell of  a bass - GLWTS!

48 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Using a single three conductor cable for both MIDI in and MIDI out means that you dispense with both screening isolation, and opt-isloation of the data signal.

To be fair - they don't suggest doing this - they suggest buying their box that has the isolation stuff in it.  Which seems weird to me. 2 x 3.5mm trs (for in and out - this is a MIDI 'standard') or mini USB with MIDI seems like a more user friendly solution.

Sounds weird. All the midi trs I have require a connector for both in and out as there needs to be a connection for the optocoupler (yeah - I only vaguely know what I'm talking about!). Out of interest I googled
 

"Transmit MIDI on the ring and receive MIDI on the tip of the TRS cable" and got:

https://www.midi.org/midi/forum/8439-receiving-midi-on-trs-ring

Which I *think* answers your question - you need the box otherwise it might well not work as the external MIDI device needs the additional connection - which in this case is provided by the box.

Interesting! I'm on 0.015. I'll try higher to see what happens. The problem is the oscillation between too much relief and too little. I don't think it's the best neck. The 2mm difference in fingerboard makes me think the attention to detail was not great.

I'm just going for a standard Fender set up with 2.5 - 3mm at the 12th. It's a chunky 50's style jazz neck with an inch depth pretty much the length of the neck. I did shave a mm or so off about a month ago so maybe it's all still settling.

Yes, having to adjust the truss rod, measuring with feeler guage. After a while it gets very buzzy around the e-string frets 1-5 and I re-adjust.

Ok - thanks! I guess I'm just going to have to live with it! I guess it may get more stable  over time. It's still pretty new.

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

And that 25% should be applied to the combined price of the bass and the cost of the shipping.

This is right. The shipping can be £100 + so makes a difference.

I need to leave this here:

I've a neck I put on a body I hade made and it seems pretty unstable. I set it up Fender style and then if I move it to a different environment, say studio (pretty stable temp) to home it needs setting up again after a day or so.

As I understand it the type of woods involved can make a difference? In this case it's maple with rosewood fingerboard. The weird thing about this neck is that the fingerboard tapers from 6mm at the headstock to 4mm at the body. Could that be part of the problem? None of my other basses really need constant setups.

Lovely looking thing. I bet the tone is great with the 51 and Jazz pickups. I can't help but notice there is a lovely knurl on the knobs as well. GLWTS!

9 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Some people take a bass week after a week to a gig, keep it in a case, take it out when they need it, play it, wipe it down afterwards, put it back in the case, take it home and store it. It has value to them and they want to look after it.

Absolutely - my dad was that kind - I inherited an 80's telecaster from him in just that kind of shape. Fingerboard clean, finish good - kept really carefully. I try and keep it the same way.

15 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I have NO IDEA what it actually sounds like - but I want to make one 

 

https://aionfx.com/project/l4-bass-preamp/

 

Bob Moog and Dan Pearce designed. Might be worth checking some youtube for the sound. FWIW I have a mate who had a lab amp back in the day (I think BB King had one or something?) and wasn't enamoured. But what would he know? He's a guitarist!

There is a 74 jazz bass in the studio. Everyone hates it. There is also a 74 p bass - everyone loves that - regularly wins in the blind listening shoot out against all sorts of other basses (not all - it lost out against a new squire jazz the other week). I think modern quality control is often much better than it used to be. 4K is crazy money!

4 hours ago, Cestrian said:

 

I’ve got one. All original as far as I’m aware. Don’t play it as often as I’d like because I tend to use my Mustang. Really fond of it though. Affectionately known as Martian Cricket Bats in some quarters. 

Cool! What do the knobs and switches do?

These are great - one of the bits of kits you reguarly see on stage at Galstonbury etc. We had one in the band  - bullet proof solution.

I thought it was Larry Graham! :hangs head in shame:

People might not be able to articulate or specifically notice what the bass player does, but surely a bass player that has thought about and sought for their tone, feels good and sits in the mix is going to make an objective difference to how the whole band sounds and feels? I couldn't tell you one thing about water colour painting, but I'd be suprised if brush selection had nothing to do with me thinking "oh that's kind of cool" when I see a nice daub. Passion never goes out of fashion.

On 29/06/2023 at 08:00, Bart Funk Bass said:

Actually, RHCP's first major influence was Defunkt. The bassist Kim Clarke played all natural StingRay.

Thanks - didn't know them - enjoying the listen - great bass work!

This finish has always excersised an unhealthy fascination for me. I have a bit of a thing about orange basses. DOn't worry about what you're wearing - no one will be looking at you!

Thanks - fascinating - always interesting to read about different electronic schemes and ting!

Parametric eq! https://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.com/2010/07/peter-cook-custom-builder-where-are-you.html

Lovely looking bass! For me this is the nicest p-bass combo.

On 14/06/2023 at 22:20, lee650 said:

I think they just used much nicer woods I those days

Probably true! And at the risk of starting a wood flame war (see what I did there?!) I wonder if the age of the wood is a factor? We know that as the wood ages it dries out becomes stiffer and vibrates differently: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1296207412000404

With these 80's basses they have had 40 odd years to dry and age.

Anyway! Congratulations on the bass - looks stellar!

On 13/06/2023 at 18:41, tegs07 said:

Had both, kept the East. Just more refined.

Not had both, had a diy version of the original. I agree - the East is a more modern refined powerful full range sounding beast.   You are paying for much higher quality components that sound more present and clearer.

I can imagine situations where you might want the reduced bandwidth and grittier original though! Depends what you're after!

15 hours ago, disssa said:

I used the original factory schematics 1:1, also for the switching.

I compared the copy with the original. They sound the same to my ears.

Nice - I just meant that the foot switches look very usable in a pedal context.  The one in the studio is pretty smashed up and needs a service (channel 1 freq knob can trigger a cascade of brutal feedback at it's frequency setting and needs careful wiggling to stop), and has been hacked about so the limiter is no longer available.