Al Heeley

get yerself to a good music shop and try out some higher spec basses for yourself. If you can feel a difference in tone and playability then I think you have your answer.

Does anyone have any recommendations for setting EHX Bass Microsynth for the bassline to Thriller?

y'know it can sometimes only come to light if you have dirty electricity on the ring mains the amp's plugged into? By dirty I mean dimmer switches on lights, fluorescent tubes or proximity to fridge - these can really give rise to bad earth hum problems. May be worth Having him recheck it with amp plugged in, in a different room of the house away from the said culprits.

i know of no better replacements, i've not had any problems with switchcraft toggles over 3 or 4 guitar builds and 5 or 6 years.

I'm interested in why relic'ing is such an emotive subject, it does polarise and excite opinions. I don't get it myself but it doesn't really bother me. It's a bit like someone's dad trying to be hip at a school disco and ending up a bit embarassing and self-conscious. It's worked well for Fender who have managed to reinvent another 75 different models of the same guitars by rubbbing off different bits of paint from the instruments. All kudos to their creative marketing departments, who needs technology advancements and performance benefits?

Our band insists on doing 2 Sham 69 numbers in the classic punk tribute section of the gig. I bloody hate those songs - "kids r united" and "We're all going down the pub." They seem to be real drunk lads anthems.

Depends how hard the lacquer is of course. Tru-oil is easier to get a good finish with as it's just rubbing on lots of very thin layers. I'f be nervous about doing 2-part PU unless I knew it was a really hard one and had access to proper coating / spray equipment.

I'd definitely opt for 'Roadworn' if you value it, to refinish it and put your own very good copy of the decal on would make it open to speculation about originality. It's only a little chip and it adds character.

[quote name='3below' post='1001736' date='Oct 26 2010, 09:05 PM']Octaver on Peavey Tour. Power ratings that just don't seem to translate to loudness / headroom - I know it is about cabinets as well - but some amps do the business better irrespective of the alleged numbers.[/quote] I have to agree - I like my Tour 450 head but the sub octave on it is never used. It also does not seem to be particularly loud for a 450, when I hear these threads about people playing in loud rock bands and never needing to turn their 300W amps up beyond half, I'm normally well up to 75% on the tour 450 with a hartke 4 x 10 and a 1 x 15 cab attached.

Been using 3M imperial hand glaze for the plast 5 years - marvellous stuff, no silicones, no residue, just a gentle clean and a great polish finish. They use theis stuff on vintage cars I am told and Patrick Eggle told me to use it as the best thing for guitar bodies - acoustic & electric. I'd stay clear of lemon oil as you never really know what you're getting - most are naphtha based (lighter fluid) plus lemon fragrance and can take the surface off a paint and remove the natural oil from the wood unless you use really sparingly, when it makes a great degreaser. I'd certainly stay clear of t-cut as you will leave a load of tiny scratches in the surface.

Hello!

I had a new Marshall 4210 combo and 115 extn cab. I never had to wait for pre-amp valve warm up but after a few gigs I had horrible problems with popping and farting. I traced it back to the crossover board in the combo's cab which is where the frequencies get split for the tweeter and the main cones. There is a ceramic power resistor on legs (for heat dissipation) which is prone to vibration damage. Mine had been shaken loose by the vibrations of the cabinet. i guess it was badly soldered. This vibration was llike a kill switch rattling on and off and created a lot of the sounds you are describing. Marshall sent me a replacement card. Then a month later the crossover in the 115 cab went on me as well, this time it was the inductor coil on the board, it had literally shaken itself loose and caused same problem again. Poor QC in the Indian factory or a bit of poor design? Marshall sent me another replacement card. You could get round it by disabling the tweeter but I didn't want to have paid for an amp and cab with tweeter only to find I couldn't then use the tweeter. The new cards were ok for another 6 months then exactly the same problem occurred again in both cards. I had not been gigging these hard or throwing them around in a car or van, they had been treated gently and handled well. I decided enough was enough and sent them back for a refund. I still have one of the spare cards that Marshall sent me (actually they sent me the wrong one first time round). If it's any use to you, pm me your address and I will post it out to you. It's gathering dust here. Disappointed to have had such bad luck with marshall gear - it was a great value amp for the options, power and flexibility of tone for not very much money, but live gigs really need 100% reliability. Happy to see I am in the minority for this. Marshall did their best to assist at all stages.

I managed to pick up a bargain line6 toneport DI from a clearance sale at the local Dolphin music. THis is a single input usb interface with DI and 2 analog outs plus headphone and after a weekends playing I think i got the hang of how to use it and configure the audio. I must say just using one of the fairly minimal garageband presets for bass i get a really nice sound out of the musicman, its a steep learning curve for me but I can see the next few months of late nights experimenting with tracks and tunes. The toneport is now a few years old and i guess largely redundant though I don't know what the new versions of same thing do any different. It automatically updates with all the pod and pod2 software and sound patches as well as the original gearbox stuff, so you have access to a really wide range of settings, amp models, effects, cabs, on-line patches and setups, you name it. Quite bewildering for me, trading off all the garageband presets with the line 6 ones, as well as the ability to mix both lots together and create chaos. Loving the simple entry level into garageband- it's helped rekindle my daughter's interest in piano too, which is brilliant.

Much appreciated - good karma will always make its way back to you...

[quote name='Tuco' post='990719' date='Oct 16 2010, 10:41 PM']ive got a few spares of those "little metal brackets" with screws.. probably enough for 3 or 4 pedals..? your welcome to them if you like m8 [/quote] Thats very decent of you - thanks very much! 3 or 4 pedals is perfect. I'll pm you, and let me know if i can repay the favour in some way or paypal you something for your trouble

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='990681' date='Oct 16 2010, 10:01 PM'][url="http://www.johnnyshredfreak.com/"]http://www.johnnyshredfreak.com/[/url]?[/quote] Heh, spot on, thanks mate, tube of smarties in the post.

Looking for the online shop that sells all the pedal bits - boards, cases, daisy chain power leads, connects and more importantly those little metal brackets that let you screw down a loose pedal to a board when velcro doesn't do the job. Can't for the life of me remember the name of the outlet, only I think it has a sort of fat freddy surf shack type feel to it. You know the one? Please help my memory.

You know, I read this thread title and thought "This will be amusing, some recommeded chat-up lines, and a few amusing anecdotes." Not happy with the EMG and fretless thing, that's like your Gran going around in biker gear.

You can get a big box of springs from ebay or Maplins, or use old ballpens or drop me a pm since I have a big box of them (from Maplins)

+1 for Rustins Danish, it's top stuff. Not so sure about teak oil, like danish but with red pigment added to it. I use it on the garden bench but would not use it on a bass. I've used Rustins Danish for a few projects and its second only to Tru-Oil

I see there are cheap usb/audio interfaces u can get, then there are the basic Edirol-type interfacecs which are a lot of money - from £120 up to £3000!If I were to go straight into the back of the imac, I have the option of putting the signal thru a mosfet boost pedal, thats a basic clean preamp, if that would help, or would it be better to spend £30 on a cheap little behringer type or griffin imic connector to convert signal to usb?

As a new imac owner I want to have a go at using GarageBand to record some simple compositions. Am I wasting my time trying to plug in directly to the sound input on the back of the imac? I'm not convinced I can justify another 300 quid on a firewire audio interface for what I want to use it for, is there a low cost alternative that works reasonably well?

In my experience of doing business with China there is a different culture of pride in turning out cost-effective equivalents; some of the watches mimicking the big western brands are very good quality with tremendous attention to detail which makes you wonder why the 'real things' (most likely many components coming from same factories) attract such a bloated premium. Is the price a true reflection of the cost of an item? Of course not, people are just buying into a brand for elitism, the dearer the better. I don't think they are hiding the origins of these products, the price alone tells us its not a real one. If someone sells one for $1600 and tries to pass it off as real then a crime is committed, but for people coveting the shape/look of a ricky or a les paul type or a telecaster type, these are a viable alternative. A lot of western patent laws are very hard to enforce in china, I have to admire their skill and tenacity turning out some of these 'knock off' products.

I've got a non-latching stomp switch in my box of bits, but I'd be wary of this scheme as he'd have to keep good even pressure on it whilst soloing else the boost would cut out again. Still you're welcome to have the switch for what I paid for it, its new, unused, and not likely to find its way into a project in the near future. Easy enough to source off ebay or the usual electronics outlets like Maplin, etc.

[quote name='JTUK' post='949310' date='Sep 8 2010, 12:05 PM']Yes..also agree about such a generic term such as 'top end'...I recently did a stage gig and the backline was 'hired' in. I asked what it was as my backline load is not long at all..and I was told it was top end and I should go with it for the sake of ease. I went with it and found out the amp was a GK 700 thingey. It was ok, but top-end it isn't, IMO. Way too complicated on the front panel and core sounds are lacking. I got an ok stage sound out of it and the DI bypassed it anyway, thankfully. And I might add that all the other acts struggled with it as well. I prefer good core sounds which require the minimum of chasing to find.. that defines the amp pretty much for me. So set the controls flat or centred, although not assuming this is FLAT flat and go from there...if it doesn't work with your bass, then you are going to forever chasing your tail a lot of the time. IME/IMO...!! It didn't help that the cab was a slow 15" with a top horn which I tend to hate, anyway. Punchy it was not..!![/quote] Your posts are entirely distracting, I can see all those words there but all I can focus on is the picture.