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Obrienp

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Everything posted by Obrienp

  1. Obrienp
    Nice but quite steep for what is not much more than an extra 2” on a G2220 neck and a modified body shape. Good to have another reasonably priced medium scale around though.
  2. Obrienp
    Ahhhh! I decided to take one for the team and just ordered a Hartwood Satellite from G4M. Couldn’t resist the GAS. I’ve gone for the blue (like the one Bass the World tested). They had a nearly new one for £30 off and I wondered if that was the bass that Bass the World tested. I was tempted, because Gregor said the frets were perfect but I decided to take a risk on this being a Hartwood feature (just jinxed myself) and to get the full 3 year warranty, so ordered a new one. I will let you know what I think of it in due course. I suspect I will end up changing some parts: I can’t resist tinkering with cheap basses. The bridge might not be a straightforward upgrade because it looks like it has only got a mounting screw at each corner, rather than the ubiquitous Fender 5 screw mounting. The pickup might just be swapped for a Tone Rider; possibly a Duke.
  3. Obrienp
    This might be the amp: https://www.glockenklang.de/en/products/bass_systems/blue soul.htm? Hope I’m not muddying the waters.
  4. Obrienp
    Thanks for all the advice folks. Really appreciated. I’ll give @Happy Jack’s warm up routine a go next gig. In the meantime I am applying ice and hoping it improves before the gig. I’m used to having an aching left hand, left shoulder blade and back after a long gig but this was a new one on me. Things don’t get easier with age! 😏
  5. Obrienp
    Reviving this topic to ask if anybody has any tips to get rid of fretting arm elbow bursitis? The scenario: yesterday I played for about 5 hours guitar and bass at a jam session the Norfolk Blue Society put on at a local fete. Not a huge number of folks turned up, so I played pretty well non-stop for 5 hours out of the 6 we were there. To show how desperate we were, I actually sang for 30 minutes of the time I wasn’t playing 😱. Anyway, back to the topic: within a couple of hours of finishing, I noticed that my left elbow (I’m right handed) was sensitive to the touch. After another hour or so, a distinct bump had developed just below my elbow and the whole area around my elbow was hot to the touch: classic bursitis symptoms. I didn’t bash it, so I can only assume that the bursitis had been caused by playing for so long. I played guitar for about half of the session, the rest of the time was spent on my very light Greco medium scale bass (ideal for long gigs). I don’t play guitar very much these days and arthritis in the base of my left thumb means that my technique is probably not ideal. Anybody had this; any tips for recovery and is it OK to go on playing in the meantime? I have a gig coming up in 5 days.
  6. Obrienp
    Hi, Just being nosey about the amp but you might want to look again at that link. It didn’t take me to anything specific and I couldn’t see your gear listed in the side bar. Have a look at LFSys cabs for excellent lightweight replacements. There are quite a few reviews on here. GLWTS
  7. Obrienp
    I think I would start with one of the new Squier Broncos as the modding platform though. It seems a shame to be doing this to a genuine old Musicmaster but then, in the 70s and 80s it was probably cheap and unloved.
  8. Obrienp
    At first I thought the pickups were aligned “by eye”, rather than measurement but then I thought, was it to make the pole pieces more centred on the strings, given the narrow string spacing of the standard bridge? In which case, it was entirely successful!
  9. Obrienp
    Yes, exactly and the asking price is so good. I absolutely do not need another bass and I already have 3 medium scale basses but the GAS is strong! Must resist! Somebody buy one and give it a crap review please! 🙄
  10. Obrienp
    New medium scale bass on the block: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Hartwood-Satellite-Bass-Guitar-White/6DVL. The price is very reasonable at £199 and Bass the World think it is good value: Personally I would have preferred a 38mm nut and 19mm bridge spacing to the 40mm and 20mm but at this price the bridge is easily fixed and 40mm is manageable for both P and Jazz bass fans.
  11. Obrienp
    Thank you for the honest response and I did think the conversion from E-C to B-G might be a little problematic, especially with a comparatively narrow nut. However, the financial angle is probably more of an impediment to me at the moment. It’s a lovely looking bass and I know what Maruszczyk quality is like judging by my Elwood medium scale. GLWTS!
  12. Obrienp
    I wish I hadn’t seen this! I’m less than an hour’s drive away. 40mm at the nut: a 5 string I might be able to play despite arthritis in my left thumb. It’s not B to D though and not a good time financially, so GAS resisted. It will make somebody a lovely bass. GLWTS!
  13. Obrienp
    That looks as though it has a lot going for it. It says it is contoured but the body looks pretty slabby to me in the pics. Good modding platform though and a compromise nut width of 40mm might please both the P and J bass communities.
  14. Obrienp
    Looking at the Sire website, I think that is just for the mint paint finish (my least favourite). I think the flamed maple top variants are more attractive and still bound.
  15. Obrienp
    Thanks for stepping in and with a pic. “Contour” was the term I was desperately searching for and just couldn’t retrieve from my age addled memory! Your pic also shows what I was referring to as a belly bulge in that the body is actually a bit thicker right where you would expect a belly cut. It looks a bit odd but it works with the way the bass lies against the body on a strap. For some reason I can’t post pics at the moment, unless the file size is less than 44K! Do we have a personal attachment limit? Sorry for the off-topic question.
  16. Obrienp
    Yes, I had an Aerodyne too and had the same issue. Ditto with the Gretsch Junior Jet and I have it with the Guild Starfire (but I have found a fix for that). I don’t notice it so much with the U5 as it has a bit of an arm chamfer and there is one on the the back opposite it, which makes the bass tilt slightly against the body, making less of an acute angle under the arm. It actually has a belly bulge rather than cut but it works for some reason. Also the body size is reduced proportionately to the scale, which puts the edge in a different place on the arm. That said, I don’t use it for a full gig: I tend to use it for a few songs that require fretless, so I can’t really say whether it would get uncomfortable but I have been rehearsing with some folks where I use it exclusively, so I might be able to comment after a full gig with them. If it is uncomfortable, I will apply the fix I use with the Starfire: stick on foam edging designed to stop toddlers injuring themselves bashing into tables. It works a treat and the adhesive is not meant to damage the finish (we’ll see about that). I wish I had known about it when I had the Aerodyne. I think @Casapete gigs with one and might be able to say how it is over an extended period.
  17. Obrienp
    @fretmeister’s post reminded me of your question. Has anybody mentioned the Sire U5 shortie? It’s a P/J. I have the fretless version, which I really love and I think it sounds really good. The fretted version comes in at just under £400 at Thomann. It has a lovely rolled fretboard and quiet (very little hum) pickups. It is a Jazz style neck (38mm nut) which might not suit all and the headstock shape is a bit odd. I reckon it is very well made for the price and looks good. Whether it sounds like your take on a full scale Fender P bass, only you can tell but I would recommend you check it out. It’s a lot cheaper than Sandberg and Maruszczyks, so less of an expensive mistake.
  18. Obrienp
    Wow! What a rig! Having a Messa as a standby for a Messa is pretty amazing. I aspire to own one.
  19. Obrienp
    I bet! I would love to need that much umph behind me but most of the gigs I play, one LFSys Monza is all I need (11Kg). Occasionally I use the second Monza, when I want a bit more. My back loves me now 😀 and both kidneys are intact.
  20. Obrienp
    @Leonard Smalls wireless is the answer; honest. Forgot it at my last two gigs and trod the cable out twice.
  21. Obrienp
    Yes, you would think they would do a 500, or 600 watt head. They have a Peavey 600 watt head in the same stable.
  22. Obrienp
    In this case it was a pub. Fairly narrow long bar room packed with punters.
  23. Obrienp
    This is a FB comment I got from my local luthier and multi-instrumentalist who attended one of my band’s gigs on Sunday. I really respect his opinion on all things musical. I think it demonstrates how good a single Monza is. “Patrick T R O'Brien. Bass sounded great down the room - really fat in the low end and punchy. Great sound from such a small rig. Sounds much bigger.”
  24. Obrienp
    Two x 2 hour gigs at the Dereham Blues Festival on Sunday. These were the inaugural gigs for the Checkmate Kings new line up and the first the band has done since last year’s festival. The first was outdoors at the George Hotel to a packed beer garden and pub. Despite some significant cock ups it went well and we got plenty of positive feedback, including a possible return match later. It was pretty hot but we were under two gazebos, which gave us the space to spread out. Gear was 2 x LFSys Monzas, Blackstar U700, MB LMIII 500 back-up, Mooer Envelope filter pedal, Boss Tu3, Maruszczyk Elwood 4a 32” and Greco Atomic 32” as spare. Everything was DI’d, so the master didn’t go above 9 o’clock on the U700. One of these days I’ll get the chance to open up the rig! The second gig was early evening at the Red Lion and indoors. Hot, hot! We were squashed into a small space at the end of the bar. It’s a small pub, so pretty tight. However, our keyboard player wasn’t able to attend as he was playing at the Ely folk festival, so at least we were down to 5. Minimal equipment, just vocals, kick and sax into one PA column. I only used one cab and the guitarist used a small combo. Without the keyboard player we had to drop some material and rearrange on the fly, which had mixed success. I had some brain farts, which was embarrassing given some of the people who came to see us. Just as we were starting, I noticed that one side of the bridge saddle on the A string had dropped, which explained why I could hardly hear it (choking off). Fortunately I had my guitar multi-tool with me and I was able to fix it. Ah! I can’t post the pics, I seem to have a 43KB limit! That’s tiny these days!
  25. Obrienp
    Think you are correct regarding what NI pays for. I looked it up on the Gov website once.
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