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Obrienp

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Everything posted by Obrienp

  1. Obrienp
    Posted in wrong thread, sorry!
  2. Obrienp
    I have noted that their stock goes very quickly. I dithered about pulling the trigger on a Guild Starfire 1 for a few days. When I pulled the trigger the price went up £14 during the transaction! I looked it up again an hour later to see if they were advertising it for the price I paid and they had none in stock, so I must have got the last they had. I had previously been looking at the Warwick Star Bass semi and that went out of stock while I was reading the spec. I suspect they only order one or two of the more expensive short and medium scale basses at a time. I guess in terms of their overall sales they are pretty niche. They probably churn out masses of Harley-Benton models but I doubt they sell many Lionels.
  3. Obrienp
    Here’s mine with my cure for the binding digging into my forearm: foam edge protector. It looks a bit odd but it works. I got through a 2 1/2 hour gig on Sunday evening without appreciable discomfort.
  4. Obrienp
    That’s a very pretty bass. Love the finish! Unfortunately, the Obeche on mine does not have an interesting enough grain to warrant a proper natural, or transparent finish.
  5. Obrienp
    Thanks; I’m going to use that 🤣 I can just see the advert if I ever decide to sell it: “ this unique multi-role custom bass in satin turdburst “.
  6. Obrienp
    Third year for covers band playing at a village event. Due to funding from a green energy company in compensation for disruption, they have a fund to put on an annual event. It involves a free bar for about 4 hours prior to us playing and a paying bar thereafter (which had record takings yesterday evening). This is a good formula for us getting plenty of dancing but thankfully not too many drunks tripping over cables! One very enthusiastic dancer kept going for both of our sets bless her but was asleep on a table when we were packing up. Concerned organisers had the mop bucket out and were trying to get her home. Her fella was staggering around in the road outside, falling over our kit as we tried to load up. More amusing than annoying but I did feel a bit worried for the dancer (not so tiny as it happens), who looked like a candidate for a stomach pump. The gig went very well for us, except for the rhythm guitarist’s DI dropping out in the second set. We really haven’t got to grips with the Soundcraft digital desk yet. We have issues every time we use it. I was using my LFSys Monza with Blackstar U700 and Guild Starfire 1, plus a custom P/J shorty. I am very happy with this set up DI into the PA but I did find the Starfire was causing the amp to clip a bit when I was digging in and I had to turn down the input gain a bit. The Starfire’s pickup is very responsive to playing dynamics. I must learn to let the amp do the work, as I have blisters on my picking fingers this morning: 2 1/2 hours of playing north of 140 BPM (a lot North of 160).
  7. Obrienp
    Thanks. Top right hand corner is a full scale bitsa I put together on a ‘51 Precision theme. Got bored during lockdown and started to try to create another Swiss Army knife type bass. It’s now got a Jazz bass neck on a ‘51 body (Obeche), DiMarzio Relentless mudbucker (not so muddy really), Seymour Duncan quarter pounder ‘51 Precision and Warman MM humbucker, plus a no-name high mass bridge (with string through option). I enlarged the control cavity and fitted a Tele control plate with a 5 way strat switch, vol and tone controls. Vol is push/pull to switch the Warman MM pickup between series and parallel. The whole thing weighs about 8.5 lbs because the Obeche body is so light. The pic shows it with the original Allparts ‘51 licensed neck I had on it, before changing to the jazz neck. I just sold that neck attached to another Precision bitsa. World’s worst attempt at a sort of sunburst finish using wipe on stains, as can be seen in the pic below. I know I can leave this unattended at a pub gig and nobody is going to pinch it 🤣.
  8. Obrienp
    WRT the new Sterling Stingray SS: I like the look of the blue one 👍. What I don’t understand though, is that a quick Google search suggests the US Sterling website has it priced at 599.99 USD and over here it is retailing for around £730! They must be shipped directly from the Far East to the various regional distributors (USA, UK, Europe), so what justification is there for the UK price? Is it just that we get gouged in the UK for everything, which explains why European retailers can undercut UK dealers’ prices?
  9. Obrienp
    I eventually decided on a Guild Newark Street Starfire 1, having discounted the Epi Rumblekat (because of the nut width). I am sure the Rumblekat is an excellent bass but I am really happy with the Starfire. The Precision type pickup may not seem the obvious choice for a bass of this type but it does give a bit more tonal variation than the more typical mudbucker. I am finding it is a Swiss Army Knife bass for the covers bands I play in. You can get that 60s Brit Invasion style tone, as well as a Precision with depth. I am not sure that the parallel setting adds much but I might find a use for it. I love the neck but then I’m a Jazz bass fan boy. I also think it looks the business and is well made. In common with most large semis, there are a few drawbacks: strap button on the heel of the neck. Not so much neck dive as wanting to hang horizontal to the floor (possibly because of the strap button location). The binding on the top edge starts to dig into the forearm on a long gig. I have cured this with some foam edge protector. It might look a bit strange but it works.
  10. Obrienp
    Love a bit of pedalsteel guitar too. I have memories of seeing BJ Cole playing in Cochise when I was a teenager and Jimmy Page did some interesting stuff with Zeppelin. It doesn’t have to be corny. Finding a pedal steel player for a pub band is not easy though. Hold onto him!
  11. Obrienp
    Thank you very much. I will look out for that.
  12. Obrienp
    Well it does show that you can’t tell the difference between Monaco and Monza in a pic, unless you see them side by side. Good looking cabs IMO and in this case, you can judge the book by its cover.
  13. Obrienp
    Thanks for the offer. That would be useful, if you have a spare moment. Thanks.
  14. Obrienp
    Are those guitar cases, or specifically for the bass variants? I did a search on Rivoli cases and it just comes up with guitar cases.
  15. Obrienp
    You might find a Glockenlang does that and it has the passive option (pull up on the volume) with passive tone control. With the eq at equality, you can’t tell the difference between active and passive. However, I can’t pretend to be a preamp expert. I keep my active basses in passive mode Lol.
  16. Obrienp
    My local luthier just uses bits of credit card. I got the tip from him. His view is that it is more likely that the shim will make an impression in the neck and/or neck pocket over time, which will lead to the need to shim again. I guess if the body is made out of a softer wood like basswood, or obeche this could be an issue. I can’t really see it happening with a maple neck, or an ash body but I guess the neck screws are exerting a lot of pressure.
  17. Obrienp
    Change the preamp to one that has a passive option?
  18. Obrienp
    Did you post it from an iPad? I have had the same issue posting from an iPad and inserting, rather than dragging the pics. I got round it by making a thumbnail sized copy of the photo you want to have on the listing and then uploading it from my Mac (can’t remember the exact procedure though. It might just be easier to delete the post and do a new one remembering to drag the photos onto the listing (easier done on a laptop/desktop than a tablet).
  19. Obrienp
    I did this recently too. I would stick with your series/parallel/single coil idea. There is plenty of tonal difference IMO to make it worth doing. My preference is for the front coil but it’s all personal choice. I tried 500k pots first and it was a very loud bright and not particularly pleasant sound. I swapped out for 250k pots and in a moment of madness a 0.1uf oil in paper cap. That cap was probably a bit too dark and I changed it for .047 that rolled off enough top end without going too dark and muddy. The 250k plus .047 gave a much more pleasant, less brittle sound than the 500ks at the expense of a little volume but still plenty loud enough. I tired both a Kent Armstrong and a Warman pickup. Both were powerful enough to use in a passive circuit. The Kent Armstrong had more finesse to my ears and the added bonus of covered pole pieces, meaning you couldn’t inadvertently touch a pole piece and get that horrible buzz.
  20. Obrienp

    Semi hollows

    Obrienp replied to isteen's topic in Bass Guitars

    Plus one for Guild NS Starfire 1. I just got one and I am seriously impressed with it. It seems to cover both vintage semi boom/thump and P Bass. So far I just have the original 45-105 D’Addario roundwounds on it, which I think gives it more tonal range than putting flats on. There does seem to be a noticeable jump in the transfer between A and D string, which I put down to the Light/Medium strings, as the split pickup is set fine. I might just put a set of D’Addario 45-100 roundwounds on. Build quality on these Starfires is excellent. I honestly can’t see any imperfections and the set up was pretty good straight out of the box. The split P bass style pickup might seem out of place on a semi but it really works. I think a conventional humbucker would remove some of the tonal flexibility and make it a bit muddier. I love the Jazz bass style neck too and the short scale length, plus light weight make this an easy bass to play for extended periods. Downsides: it does seem sensitive to electrical interference; E.g. if you have your mobile in your trouser pocket. I might try spraying some graphite paint onto the inside of the back through the sound holes. I can’t get perfect intonation on the E string. It could do with a bit more travel in the saddles on the tune-o-matic style bridge but I am using the original strings. The binding can dig into your forearm, where it rests on the edge, after a while of playing. I have cured this by sticking some of that foam edge protector stuff (to stop toddlers braining themselves on tables) on the front top edge where my arm rests. It may look a bit odd but it pays off. I would prefer the strap button to be on the top horn, rather than on the neck heel. This is pretty common on semis though. It doesn’t so much want to neck dive as to swivel to the horizontal when you let go of the neck. I am wondering whether to just screw a strap button onto the horn but I am a bit worried the ply isn’t strong enough. It would be better if it had a reinforcing block there. It may do, or at least kerfing: I haven’t tried putting a mirror inside yet to have a look.
  21. Obrienp
    I have the same question. I have seen a Guild hard case advertised, I think it was on DV247 but I have heard some stories about buying from them.
  22. Obrienp
    I use bits of credit card as shims but I have to admit, I have never accounted for the effects of inflation.
  23. Obrienp
    I think they were more likely to be SAE sizes. There is a lot of common sizing between SAE and AF Imperial inch based sizes.
  24. Obrienp
    @Kevdbass OK. Shipping: I have now got hold of a very nice Squier shipping box and have over- boxed it with one I had from Thoman. UK mainland by Parcel force would be £20 for Express 48 and £22 for Express 24. Full transparency: this includes the cost of the box (£5).
  25. Obrienp
    Can do but I need to source an appropriate shipping box. If you are interested I can ask my local PMT if they can give me one they were going to throw out.
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