Eight

Ugh... this is another pet peeve of mine. There's not really any need for it with standard notation (weirdly transposing instruments aside). Why can't they just write what the frickin' note is... Grrr..

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='809480' date='Apr 17 2010, 03:16 PM']It sounds like a security thing. He probably knows he mucked up, but doesn't feel secure enough to admit it.[/quote] I think there was definitely an element of that. Red face and nervous beads of sweat. He's a nice guy, and in a way I do feel bad about saying negative things about him. He certainly plays the fancier stuff a lot better than I ever did as a kid on guitar... But I'm frustrated - and mainly because I don't want to be that guy everyone hates who stands there telling everyone else what to do... especially when they don't want to listen. I didn't argue much, but came away, re-checked everything and researched the guitar parts to prove (to myself) that I was right and I did an ok job. And I guess that's left me feeling a bit resentful.

[quote name='the_skezz' post='809372' date='Apr 17 2010, 01:12 PM'](This is only in my experience, anyway, I am aware that there are guitarists who can play bass well).[/quote] Right now, I'd settle for a guitarist who can play the guitar. Not even well... just the same song as everyone else.

[quote name='D-L-B' post='808854' date='Apr 16 2010, 08:09 PM']We do our utmost to get our drummer involved and keep his attention at every rehearsal. We've got colouring-in books, dot-to-dots, felt-tip pens and crayons, building blocks, Disney videos... [/quote] Hahahahahahaha. I love that.

After a fairly disasterous practice session with a new band, where the guitarist was a mess (but of course 100% confident he was right), I got my Warlock out of it's bag for the first time in about six years this morning. Now I was never any good on the guitar. That's important. A quick glance at the tab sites revealed some tabs for the guitar parts of two of the songs in question. They also looked correct in so far as they match the record more or less. Plug guitar in, play. In time... in the right key. With the right number of bars in each section. Ain't that f**kin' difficult!!!! (Disclaimer to avoid sounding like an arrogant prick: 1) my bass playing and knowledge of music is limited, I know I'm not 'all that'. 2) you wouldn't have wanted to record my guitar playing and put it out on a CD, but hey....)

I think they recommend lighter gauges if you're using flatwounds - but hopefully someone else will confirm or contradict that. Geezer plays DR Handmade strings. If that helps. I have DR Black Beauties on my Damien, which I really like. Except maybe the G is a little zingy - not sure. I also run Warwick Red Labels (a nice cheap set) on the Vampyre. But that's in a thicker gauge, downtuned. "Standard" gauge would be 45-105 so you probably have choices close to that without having to worry about your action/nut too much. Edit: I'm a mook. 105 not 125.

[quote name='daz' post='806403' date='Apr 14 2010, 07:24 PM']Sorry Eight not meaning to hijack your thread or anything. [/quote] Not a problem - go for it. I have nothing to add yet on my restoration project anyway - still sanding. Bit puzzled by your Milestone there. Unless it's just had a later (precision) pickguard put on it... if you took the guard off (not that I'm saying you should go to that effort) then if it was a Milestone I body (and assuming it hasn't been refinished) then I'd think you find some unused screw holes around the area where the control cavity is. If not, then presumably it's either not a I body; or has been well refinished; or perhaps (most excitingly) came from the factory like that. Which would be coooool! Re: serial numbers. My understanding goes that the Milestone Is were made in Indonesia or Korea, but the serial numbers aren't marked for date or location. Peavey didn't reply to my e-mail about mine. On the Milestone I, the number would have been on the little sticker on the heel of the neck. And would probably have looked something like 00807030 (which is mine). I wonder if that number stamped on the neck bolt plate is the clue to this bass's strange construction??? Edit: Have you plugged it in yet? How does it play?

This is why I won't do backing vocals... That, and I sing like a cat in a dishwasher.

[quote name='backwater' post='804034' date='Apr 12 2010, 07:31 PM']It's listed as a milestone one but I suspect it's a milestone 3 as it has a precision style scratchplate and 2 jazz pickups.[/quote] Yeah, I don't think it's a 1... with all the Googling etc. I did, I'm pretty sure both the precision and jazz models had the same Fender jazz pickguards (with the chrome bit). But as for what it is... I wouldn't like to guess. I haven't seen any IIs, IIIs or IVs which have the precision scratchplate on the jazz bass... but that doesn't mean much. I'm not exactly an expert. Daz, make sure you let us know exactly what it is when you get your hands on it. You lucky bugger - I likes a bit of mystery. Especially at that price.

[quote name='daz' post='803970' date='Apr 12 2010, 06:14 PM']I have just won one of these on ebay for £31, so im interested to see how it goes.[/quote] Slowly The more work I put into this, the more I'm becoming attached to the Peavey Milestone I model... though it's a bit like stockholm syndrome. Have you got the link to the auction? Just curious. I'm happy to see black is winning the vote so far - tells me my first instincts might have been correct. But I'm interested to see how the vote progresses. Thanks for all the comments guys.

Slow day at work so I decided to whip into Photoshop. I'm not sure now whether I want a black pickguard, or just to get a replacement white one. What do you think? If I can work out how to do it, I might set this up as a poll.

The Damien in my signature has become the bass I play every day. The EMGs give it a surprisingly fat low end, it's comfortable, and in my mind is one of the coolest looking basses I've seen. Proof that cheap(er) woods etc. can still deliver the results you're after. If it broke, I'd get another. Which I'm not sure I could say about any other items of gear - even the Vampyre I'd be tempted to try something different when the insurance money came in.

Note to self: sanding through multiple layers of primer, paint and nitroceluose is hard graft. Not the relaxing passtime I was expecting.

Ok cool. The other copy is heading to AndyMartin.

I'm an OU student (when not playing too much bass)... so can I go?

Looks absolutely sick!!! I didn't get the Metallica similarity either (and have been a metal fan for twenty years now) so you'll probably get away with it unless surrounded by guitarists or Metallica faithful. Even if people do see the similarity, when it looks that good who cares!?!

Doh. The mystery earth wire extended about an inch into the body, with about 5mm of stripped wire at the end. I hadn't wanted to pull it incase something broke before solving the mystery, but it just now fell out when I moved the body. No sign that anything is wrong with it, must just be the way Peavey built the thing. On we go...

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='799329' date='Apr 7 2010, 11:07 PM']The earth wire from the cavity should re-appear under the bridge - maybe corroded away judging by the state of the bridge?[/quote] Hmmm... I didn't notice anything when I removed the bridge but then I wasn't looking. Will take another peek this evening. Cheers H, you're a star.

Ok, got a question. I've severed the pickups from their pot connections without too much hassle. But it looks like the whole circuit is grounded to a thin blue wire that disappears through the wall of the control cavity but doesn't go anywhere (unless there's another hidden cavity under all the paint somewhere). Is it just fixed into the wall rather than leave a loose ground in with the pots? Can I safely snip it and fix it back in somehow later when the body has been resprayed? I know a little bit of electronics but would rather not get this wrong and have to rewire the entire thing. Cheers guys.

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='798698' date='Apr 7 2010, 01:58 PM']I wonder if they're uglier underneath the masks [/quote] They are. I think there's photos etc. kicking around if you google "lordi unmasked" - especially the frontman. There was a bit of a to-do after a magazine in Finland published pics of him without the costume.

My treble clef reading is next to useless these days. But thought I'd post and mention that there's a pretty good app for bass players with iPods/iPhones called "Play This Note... Bass Edition". Shows you a note on the staff and you have to hit the corresponding fret on a virtual fretboard. Apparently, it can also use the mic to let you play the notes on a real guitar but I've never tried that. Edit: It's a nice way of improving the overall score->bass link instead of just seeing a dot and selecting C, D, F# etc.

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='798614' date='Apr 7 2010, 12:51 PM']He looks like he fell through the backdoor of a costume shop. lol[/quote] Hahahaha. Ok... you [b]might[/b] have a point. But I still loves 'em

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='798535' date='Apr 7 2010, 11:32 AM']That's lush The bass... not the crazy dressed up Ox dude.[/quote] Hush you! If Steve Harris is God (Harris is still God, right?) then Ox is the golden calf!

Right... everything is heading in the right direction so far. But I'm a bit unsure what to do with the neck. With the machine heads etc. removed, you can see it was once a nice wood colour and is now not only very dirty, but has also discoloured. Debating whether it's worth sanding it, replicating the headstock decals and refinishing. Or whether just to clean it as best I can and leave it at that... I don't like the idea of cutting corners on the neck, but if I re-do everything on the bass then I'm just throwing money and time away. Just using this thread as a bit of a diary so I can look back one day and re-live the project.