henry norton

I think alot of people 'hear' what they want to hear when it comes to instrument mods. I also think the change in appearance can make people play differently, more aggressive or maybe more sensitively. Maybe making your instrument look woodier made you play in a more 'woody, mellow, warm way'. Not in a 'wooden' way by the way After all that work you'd want to 'hear' an improvement after all. I'm pretty sure taking off a thick layer of polyester will have some effect on the sound but after the strings, pickups, wood, construction and electronics have all had their say, it'll be tiny fractions.

There was a kit a few years back that converted the P into a 5 string. It had a different bridge & nut of course but the only other mod was a tuning peg in place of the string tree to take care of the extra string. The spacing was fairly narrow but not unplayable. It didn't convert it to 35" scale though!

There's a huge difference between the Epi EB pickup and the original Gibson ones in my experience. The Gibsons are allot bassier and less defined. Difficult to say what to do but you could sell the Gibson pickup and replace it with a DIMarzio Model 1 which will give you the output you want but with more definition. You'll also have some change left over to get the pots looked at.

I've just checked my EB-0 and that's 4mm. I know what you mean when you talk about needing a T handle (presumably on the end of a long shaft).

Bienvenue Lapaju! Welcome to the forum. I am working in France at the moment, (near Limoges) and your English is much better than my French.

A friend of mine recently started on double bass after playing a fretted Precision, (and guitar and mandolin!), for the last 20 odd years. He bought himself one of those clip on tuners with a red/green backlight so he still had to work on positioning by feel and sound but he had the 'green light' in the corner of his eye when his intonation was dead on. It was only about 20 quid from Ebay, and he didn't get reliant on markings.

[quote name='mrcrow' post='610274' date='Sep 27 2009, 08:54 PM']my guess the bridge stuff is low on stress capabilities...compression especially and i mentions precipitiation since that is why aluminium structures have a lifespan...it suffers from fatique so a bridge which needs to fly 30,000 hours with 2 million stress reversals will not be as good as a copper/zinc competitor hence the new airbus is cost a lot of brass to produce..[/quote] Compression won't cause a piece of aluminium too much duress - no more than the zinc most 'chunky' bridges and machine heads seem to be cast from - I really wouldn't worry too much. As for Airbus, these days a fair proportion of a commercial aircraft structure is made from Composites. I'm waiting for the first Carbon Fibre bridges and machines to appear (probably for ridiculous prices on Ebay, just like the Titanium bridge parts discussed on the forum a few months ago....). Oops, I'm just off to the patent office again

Look at the FAQ's on the Hipshot website - it outlines the difference between brass, ali & maybe steel bridges.

[quote name='silddx' post='608084' date='Sep 24 2009, 08:56 PM']Good lord, I had no idea.[/quote] With that kind of neck dive how could it have started out as anyhing else??? Funnily enough - and rather more on topic - don't they just add more weight, or do you counter that by snipping off the excess string once they're locked in place? Sounds incredibly anal but I've recently discovered the delights of lightweight tuners on an erstwhile neck heavy instrument. Lightweight, locking machines, I'm off to the patent office........

Thomann do them (Thomann.de/gb) They're pretty quick getting it to you as well. Not sure they've got the whole range but it would be worth a look.

Greco. Most seasoned (original) Thunderbird players'll tell you the 60's and early 70's T Birds were a world away sound wise to the current crop of copies. Asides from the shape, the original T Birds had very hot, mid biased pickups that made a Precision growl sound like a kitten in comparison. The newer reissues and copies all use far weaker, wider range soapbars so you'll have more or less the look but not the sound. Greco made some very faithful copies in the early 80's, pickups and all, that will normally go for around the £400 mark on Fleabay. If you can stretch to that and are happy buying old and used, it's the closest you'll get to a 'proper' T.bird this side of 3-4 grand

I'm pretty sure that within the relatively narrow range of adjustment most basses have it wouldn't make a huge difference unless you move a magnetically powerful pickup too close to the strings, choking them. Maybe an experiment could be done with a pickup handheld over the bass and run into a compressor to even out the volume. The closer you can get to the strings without choking the better, as it's in the best position to utilise its' frequency response by keeping it closer to the weaker, higher harmonics. I'm Finished! You can wake up now!!!!!

[quote name='alexharvay' post='605600' date='Sep 22 2009, 03:14 PM']It looks like the SG equivalent of a Les Paul Junior. If it's anything like my LP Junior it'll be fantastic.[/quote] Yeah I think the TV was basically a Junior but without the cherry finish, (too reflective for TV studios or something like that, hence the name). SG, LP, LPSG, I'm not too fussy, I'd have either, preferably all....

[quote name='Tait' post='605041' date='Sep 21 2009, 10:43 PM']now i'm looking at SGs, even though i think theyre fugly! however - oh yes! best looking SG i've ever seen! EDIT: crap that pictures MASSIVE! any help resizing it without havig to save it to my pc?[/quote] That's the 'TV' model I think - just about the cheapest one they ever made (in the US of course). I'd have one

I always liked the theory of Alembics - advanced electronics, luthiery(?) etc. but in practice I don't understand why they didn't apply a bit of that thought to making them lighter and better balanced. There again I couldn't ever imagine having a spare 4 grand burning a hole in my pocket so I couldn't say I never would. I'd want alot of other things first though, and not just bass related stuff

[quote name='spongebob' post='603657' date='Sep 20 2009, 05:19 PM']I'm a bit worried abut the MIM Fenders..... I play through a Markbass amp....with a pick, but... after playing a Ged, the general action, bridge, and quality issues have concerned me about about the MIM Fenders![/quote] I'd get a decent second hand Jap Fender (or Squier). The 80's versions are generally regarded as better quality than the US equivalent. I also think the majority of the sound is in the feel and the way you play it. (I use a valve combo by the way, I'm not some Digital fiend). Good taste BTW Spongebob - Isn't the intro to Hanging around one of the best sounds ever?

[quote name='bassmachine2112' post='602710' date='Sep 19 2009, 09:43 AM']hiho,this might sound daft but you seem to be happy with your p-bass and your forever havin to eq your amp. Might I suggest that 300 quid might be better spent on gettin a good amp set up ?.Just a thought ,it can make a serious difference.A good pre amp can be a good investment as well. I,m goin to get shot down in flames here but here goes,try a behringer bdi21 s/h they are cheap and if you don,t like it not much lost but will transform your sound and if you like the direction it,s going then sansamp,hartke bass attack,mxr di80 and others are worth considering and you can use them as a DI box for PA and recording.You also have the option of goin ampless through a PA,no more heavy lifting. I know it will not satisfy the GAS but worth considering.[/quote] +1 on that. I mess around with a Behringer v-bass when I'm playing my EB-0. That gives a pretty big range of sounds if you prefer to forego the finance on a Sansamp. Mine cost 60 quid! I know everyone here hates Behringer but at that price....

If I had 300 quid to spend on a bass for all occasions I'd look for an early Japanese Jazz bass (early 80s Tokai, Squier or mid 80s Fender Japan). You probably won't find one within your budget on Ebay but you can sometimes find them in local ads. Instead of getting suspect wood and electronics made in China you'll be investing the money in an instrument that is (in many peoples opinion), better than the US built Fenders. Just thought, you could spend the money getting a really good preamp, (ACG Filter, Aguilar or suchlike) and/or J or MM pup fitted to the bridge position of your Mex. Precision. Preamps are moderately useful on budget basses but you won't get a huge amount of control on a bass costing less than 300 quid.

3rd string 6th fret, 2nd string 6th fret, 3rd string 4th fret, 3rd string 6th fret, 3rd string 4th fret, 2nd string 4th fret, 3rd string 4th fret, 3rd string 6th fret, 2nd string 4th fret, 2nd string 6th fret. I think... It's difficult because the keyboard is doubling the bassline and mushing it up a bit. Who needs tablature eh?

[quote name='jdstrings' post='599474' date='Sep 15 2009, 07:20 PM']But no, thoughts of Jack Bruce et al quickly dissapated as the headstock slowly sank towards the floor! Hmmm, I thought I won't be playing this on the gig tonight... I guess the lack of balance is at least partly due to the fact that it was originally concieved as a short scale bass and by lengthening the neck by almost 10cm does throw the basic design out of kilter. Now, back to Jack Bruce...[/quote] The long scale EBs were introduced way back in the early 70s. 34.5" scale yet still with no extended upper horn - obviously nobody actually played the prototype before it was OK'd for production! Given that the Thunderbird was introduced in the mid 60s they've had a long run of badly balanced basses, yet people still blame their lack of popularity on the sound. (I've never tried an EB-1 but it looks pretty badly balanced to me). If it's any consolation the short scale EBs dont balance that well either - my Precision feels more comfortable than my EB in spite of weighing about a pound and a half more.

There's no harm in time off. There's also no harm in selling on irrelevant gear (ie. an SVT and 8x10 for practising in your bedroom). Don't let other people tell you how crap they think you are though - they usually do it 'cos they're trying to cover the fact that they're s##te. I contemplated giving up, sold most of my gear and concentrated on the rest of my life, but 10 years on I still pick up my bass and have a play - funnily enough not normally for more than 10 minutes at a time but I find it much more fun than I did when I was a 'serious musician'. Give it some thought and decide what [u][i]you[/i][/u] want, not what the crap guitarist wants.

I never used to care 'til I got into short scales and hollow bodies. Now my relatively light alder bodied Precision feels like a tonne weight. Strangely enough it still feels more comfortable than my SG bodied EB becaust it doesn't drag on my left shoulder due to neck dive.

I meant does the Model 1 sound better than the original Squier pickup????

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='597400' date='Sep 13 2009, 04:05 PM']The poles are too narrow spaced, so it looks wrong, but sounds fine.[/quote] If it's any consolation my EB-0 came [i]new[/i] with the entire pickup 'offset' by nearly 4mm and that still sounds fine. It's probably a feature you wouldn't find on an Alembic but a little offset doesn't seem to do any harm. Has it made much difference to the sound?

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='597565' date='Sep 13 2009, 07:36 PM']Sort of, its [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnico"]AlNiCo[/url].[/quote] Alnico magnets usually have an iron content in them too - maybe 'cheap' alnicos (or cheap magnets in general), have more iron content and less of the more expensive metals, meaning they're more likely to rust. More on topic, I found using felt buds dipped in metal polish on my Dremel worked a treat on rust and didn't wreck any nearby plastic either.... Never tried the axesrus kits before. You could buy all the components you need elsewhere for a few quid less but what with the free postage and lack of hassle it looks like money well spent.