4-string-thing

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1446301550' post='2898463'] Some better live shots for the gallery is all that I'd add to the above. Otherwise, looks fine to me. [/quote] Yes, I'm hoping my photographer mate, who did the photoshoot with us a few weeks ago, will come to our gig next week and take some better on stage stuff!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1446293513' post='2898387'] If a cab has 100dB/1w sensitivity it only takes 100w to reach 120dB. Google 'gain structure'. The position of the knob has no relationship with the output. If you were to change the volume pot value and/or taper you would change at what knob position full gain is achieved. [/quote] This is why I find it fascinating, even though I don't really understand it.... If only it went up to 11.....

[quote name='mingsta' timestamp='1446297241' post='2898423'] What's your main purpose for the site? Is it just to give you your own spot on the net and more for your own satisfaction,or a shop front for promoting the band and getting more bookings etc? [/quote] Once the band is up to speed, it is a shop window, so I guess probably some audio/video would be useful?

I am also thinking lately that my playing could be a lot better and am regretting not working at it harder over the years. I heard someone at work mention that he gives guitar lessons the other day so I asked him if he does bass lessons too. He said no, but could put me in touch with someone if I wanted. He asked what level I was at and I said that I felt I'd hit a wall and wanted to get over it. He said "have you ever played in a band"? I said yes, he said "join another" I told him I was in a band and I'd been playing for almost 40 years. He said "go and play some gigs" I told him I'd played hundreds. He said "you don't need lessons then" I probably don't need lessons to play the songs I play, in the band I'm in, but that doesn't stop me feeling that I could do better....

I've spent a few hours this week, revamping my bands website (after realisng that the previous version done by our guitarist was hideous, bless him) I'm no expert but by using Wix and some templates, I think I've done an ok job. Anyway, if you fancied having a look and giving me your opinions, I'd be very grateful. I'd also be happy to receive criticism and for you to point out any grammatical errors... It's [url="http://www.gastricband.tk"]http://www.gastricband.tk[/url] Thanks in advance.... Oh and in case anyone thinks that the tk bit is odd, it's some island nation somewhere that has more domain names than the population and because it's a Buddhist country, they give them away for free.... (so I was told)

I find this quite fascinating, my old Acoustic 220 is only rated at 180w at 2 ohms and only 125 through my 4ohm 2x15 cab. Yet, it as "loud" as my (modern) 575w Ashdown head through the same cab. The cab, which is also a 40 year old Acoustic 402 has a label on the back warning that sound levels may exceed 120 decibels. 120 db from a 125w amp..... Maybe thats just marketing hype too? All I know is, that amp has always been loud enough to cope with most bands I've ever been in (except one who were just ridiculous when it came to levels) And that it got no louder after about 3 on the volume pot! With regard to Phils comments about lumens per watt etc, when I worked for an electrical wholesaler selling LED lamps, people always thought cool white lamps were brighter than warm white, despite the same output. They may "look" brighter, in the same way that some amps may "sound" louder despite the wattages being the same?

Finally got round to connecting the pup to the existing wiring, fitted the control plate, swapped the screws on both plates for c/s rather than raised head, simply because I was a few short and my local hardware shop only had c/s. They look ok, but not as good as the originals, but for the vintage vibe I'm after, I will probably get some slotted, rather than cross head, raised head screws eventually. The control plate isn't quite as thick as the pickguard, which irritates me a bit, so that's got to come off and have the back covered with a piece of sticky back plastic (Fablon) to thicken it up a bit and to sit more flush, again, a 5 minute job. The hole where the old pickguard was screwed down near the end of the control plate, didn't fill very well with the wooden skewer and after several goes at touching up the paint, sanding, polishing etc, I've decided it's as good as it gets.... The whole thing could do with another sanding and buffing using a polishing wheel I guess. It's very hard by hand to get the shine back, so at some time in the future, the whole thing will be stripped down and the front flatted and buffed up using a buffing pad. It's not really noticable from a few feet away so I can live with it for now. My other option is to mildly relic the thing and not worry too much... [attachment=203925:broncolatest2.jpg] Anyway, today I restrung using the old rusty strings that were on it when I bought it and had a go.... Through my Markbass CMD121P it sounds great! Quite powerful, clean and very "sixties" Just what I was after! The volume control works ok, and the tone, whilst not being over dramatic, gives just enough variation from a bit of twang to a bit of plumminess! The intonation is fine, even with a 2 saddle bridge, so I'll probably be keeping that for now, although I've found a nice 4 saddle on ebay that looks a little bit more like a Mustang bridge, for a very good price, so who knows? I also decided that I wasn't happy with the vinyl Fender logo, so I took a razorblade and hacked the F about and turned it into a T.... [attachment=203927:broncolatest.jpg] I'm thinking it might maybe benefit from a bridge cover for looks and definitely a thumbrest for playability. Any suggestions for the bridge cover? And the position of the thumbrest? I tend to rest my thumb on the pup, so maybe just above it and nearer the bridge? I know on real Mustangs it's below the strings, near the neck but that just seems pointless to me... Anyway, I'm really pleased with the way it's gone. It's a really nice, simple, lightweight, easy to play bass that (I think) looks cool and suits the image of my band really well (50's,60's and 70's RnB) I've spent more on parts than the cost of the original bass, and tbh, if I ever sell, I'll never see that money back, but hey ho it suits me for now. Now, if only I could find a rosewood neck.....

I can only echo the sentiments of everybody else, well done and good luck!

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1445624237' post='2892974'] Nice work! I would definitely want a 4-way bridge though... [/quote] Thank you, I like the vintage vibe of the 2 way, but I guess a 4 way would be better for intonation, though it was ok with the existing bridge before I moved the neck closer. I think a Fender Musicmaster has a 4 way bridge with a similar shaped baseplate so maybe a swap could be in order. I also think that bridge is for through-body stringing though and that would open up a whole new can of worms for me....

I wasn't very keen on the Squier tuners and did a bit of looking around and found that WD Music do a set of small enclosed tuners with "elephant ears" which seemed an ideal swap. There was a little bit more work involved than I expected, due to the bush sizes being slightly different (bigger outside diameter, smaller inside) and the posts being in a different position on the baseplate, but it didn't take long to fit the new ones. I had to fill a few holes, 2 per tuner, I did this with wooden skewers, carefully filed and sanded flat. I'll tint them with tea later and give the whole rear of the headstock a coat of wax, they will be virtually impossible to see. I've also added a cheeky Fender logo, though it's a vinyl sticker rather than a waterslide decal, and will fool nobody. I may even remove it, as it's not great quality and if I ever sell the bass, I'd remove it anyway. Front view: [attachment=203429:WP_20151023_002.jpg] Rear view: [attachment=203430:WP_20151023_001.jpg] The only other thing I've done today is fill the one screw hole from the original pickguard that the new one doesn't cover, using another bit of skewer (by the end of the control plate) and fit a couple of wooden blocks under the control plate to accept the plates fixing screws. I made these from the baseplate of a mouse trap I found in the garage, cut and filed to size/shape and glued in place. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have time to do the wiring (again, I'm planning to just use the original pots and wiring, so it's just a simple swap over) and touch up the filled screw hole and polish the finish back.

So, I've recently been had GAS for a Mustang, but don't really like the Pawnshop thing, so after spotting a couple of threads on here and TB I thought I'd grab a Squier Bronco and have a go at modding. So, I managed to find a black Bronco on Ebay and got it for £80. Turns out to be in good shape, no real damage and plays quite nicely despite old strings. It even sounded good through the bobbins Trace combo in our rehearsal room. All good so far. Ordered some Mustang parts from The States and after a bit of delay due to Royal Mail, I finally got started on it yesterday.... Starting point: [attachment=203270:WP_20151020_002.jpg] Trial fit: [attachment=203271:WP_20151020_003.jpg] The thing I'd read about this conversion is that the standard Mustang pickguard doesn't cover the old screwholes if you fit it right up to the neck. As I don't want to refinish the bass, I moved the guard around til it covered the screwholes, which it just about does, but it leaves an ugly 6 mm gap at the end of the neck. I didn't like the look of that, so my solution was to cut a "step" in the end of the neck, allowing the fingerboard to extend over the body, closing the gap to a couple of mm. I must admit I was pretty nervous taking a router to a perfectly good bass neck. But it seems to have worked, and although there is a bit of a gap, it's nowhere near as big and barely noticable now. I'm thinking of filing the scratchplate along the sides of the neck too, to make the gap the same all the way round. [attachment=203272:WP_20151021_005.jpg] [attachment=203273:WP_20151021_004.jpg] There seems to be plenty of adjustment on the bridge saddles to allow me to move the saddles back a few mm to compensate for moving the neck 4 or 5 mm nearer to it, if not I may in the future source a Mustang bridge, or at least a 4 saddle item and move the whole thing back a bit. Last thing I did yesterday was refit the neck and bridge and fit the pup onto the scratchplate so at the minute it looks like this: [attachment=203274:WP_20151021_010.jpg]

Wonder if it was DavidMckay?

Well, I finally got through to a real person at Royal Mail, who was happy to check their tracking system (I had tried this on their website already) and it seems it has been sat in a sorting office a few miles away since october 7th. They should have sent me a card saying it was waiting because there was duty to pay, but I never received any such card so they just left it sitting in a basket. I dashed over there, arriving at 2:50 pm to find that the office opened at 4:15.... Anyway, I decided to wait and after paying £17.25 I have finally got my Mustang pickguard, control plate and pup and can finally turn my Squier Bronco, into a Squier/Fender Mustang (lookalike) [attachment=203145:bronco.jpg] to this:[attachment=203146:Black bass2.jpg]

[quote name='Slipperydick' timestamp='1445345785' post='2890712'] If the tracking info says it was delivered. Surely the carrier will consider it delivered unless you tell em different. Delivered means just that. Or am I missing something ? [/quote] I'm guessing it means delivered too, but not to me.... Or maybe it just means delivered to the UK? I really have no idea where to start!

Hmmm, I'll give it til the end of the month then ask ebay/paypal to get my money back, or to get them to send the parts again.

Any super bands carrying their bass player? Yeah, mine! The other two are brilliant and provide the talent. I provide the glamour....

I have asked them to check and he says it will take up to 14 days, but as it already says delivered, as far as he and the USPS are concerned, it is!

Ordered some bass parts from Arkansas Music Works, via Ebay on September 27th and am still waiting for them despite the fact that tracking tells me they were delivered on October 7th. I've told the sender that I don't have them and he tells me to call my local customs office.... Do I have a local customs office? I've tried Royal Mail and Parcelforce, as I assume it will be them who will deliver it? But neither of them recognise the tracking number. So, am I right in guessing that it's held up in a customs shed somewhere? If so, how do I find out? Or has it just vanished and I should claim my money back? How long have you had to wait for stuff from The USA? I've bought stuff before and it's always been pretty quick....

Didn't Shergold build a bass (or guitar) with interchangable effects units built in?

Corby trouser press? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZFiGBX2CA

I change mine once every 15 or 20 years, whether they need it or not..... One string at a time, I never take all 4 off at once, though I don't really know why as I doubt it makes any difference.

[quote name='MrDaveTheBass' timestamp='1444723669' post='2885264'] That's not the band that I've recently left, but if it's the band that I think it is, then I was bass-player #1! [/quote] Haha..... And why did you leave?

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1444680563' post='2885091'] That's because bassists have no imagination. [/quote] Really? To me, bassists have way more imagination than guitarists when it comes to technology. You don't see many guitarists playing anything innovative, just the usual Strat, Tele or Les Paul through a valve amp designed 60 years ago!

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1444669690' post='2884961'] Were they all drunks in their 50s and from atherstone way by any chance ? [/quote] Not when I was with them, we used to rehearse in Coventry....

[quote name='MrDaveTheBass' timestamp='1444660528' post='2884856'] Hmm, I'm staring to suspect that I may have been bass player #37! [/quote] No names, no pack drill but if it's a "folk-rock" band led by a bodrhan player, it's the same one!