GreeneKing

'Vintage basses sound better'? I always thought basses sounded like the amplified output of a string vibrating over a pickup. Oh well, you learn something every day

If you fancy a day out in the far NW seaside Promenade Music in Morecambe are well worth a bassists day.

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1393179747' post='2377045'] I may be wrong but I think the newer Rockbasses don't have a Warwick W on the headstock anyway [/quote] I think you may be correct.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1393150205' post='2376595'] WD. complete indistinct mush. [/quote] Thanks. I suspect that WD sell nitro cellulose and parchment tort and even within those catagories there is variation. I suspect that SIMS don't actually make it and I wouldn't be surprised if their supplier was next door. I believe that nitro cellulose plates can no longer be air freighted. Making it more expensive and elusive in the UK? Peter

Great news. A happy ending

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1393088340' post='2376102'] ...that reminds me - I have your white guard for it. PM me your address... [/quote] The Roscoe beck is in good hands Michael. Pm'd you. Peter

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1393094031' post='2376186'] I had a tort plate fitted a while back and WD and Sims are next door to each other. One did a plate for £20-30 and the other cost £70. There is a WORLD of difference between the 2 and you should see the plate in person as catalogues just don't show it... As good as one was, the other was digustingly awfully IMV. [/quote] ?? So which one was awful?

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1393062586' post='2375691'] Here's a (very complicated!) tort guard the Doc created for my Rosoce Beck. It's light-years better than the super-sharp pepperoni you usually get. [/quote] I hate to quibble here WoT but isn't that my Roscoe Beck?

My 2014 has Grovers Matt

It looks nice. Is it a neck through Epiphone I wonder? Could be worth a go. Probably better than the modern 'real' thing?

Matt's influence is casting it's shadow here too. Here is my EB2014. [url=http://peterb4407.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/20297576_MJZnTm#!i=3086238076&k=vxLQXXh&lb=1&s=A][/url] [url=http://peterb4407.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/20297576_MJZnTm#!i=3086238072&k=rbpgt9b&lb=1&s=A][/url] I tried to pull the knobs off to take the pickguard film off and the pull switchable spindle came away. With the help of John (Kiogon) I fitted new electrics with 3 pull switchable pots. Now the pickups are switchable series/parallel as opposed to series/coil tap and there's a global parallel/series switch on the tone pot. The finish is a little 'grungy' and the bass is clearly made to be a little more affordable for a full US spec bass but I like it and it has real tonal authority. It does neck dive a little but a Comfort Strapp sorted that completely. I've done a clip that goes: Both pups parallel Both pups series Neck pup series Bridge pup series Both pups series and global series too. Tone max and D'Addario Chromes. Finally there a fender Jazz for a reference tone, Roscoe Beck, single coil, both pups tone max. https://soundcloud.com/peter-burridge-1/ebvsrbiv Peter

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1392978706' post='2374801'] I thought all tort was pretty much the same shows how much I know [/quote] Nope some is pure tort and other pure torture

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1392939759' post='2374612'] Me too. [/quote] And me

[quote name='sk8' timestamp='1392834619' post='2373307'] Didn't have you down as a Harris fan Peter [/quote] Our drummer is the Iron Maiden nut and I've been listening to a bit. I really wanted a P bass with low mids innate. This seems to give it. I jury rigged the harness today and was mightily impressed. Peter

The Seymour Duncan SPB-4 Steve Harris sig pup might do the business fairly well methinks. I fitted one yesterday and played it straight to the jack as I don't have a scratch plate at the moment (it's away as a pattern for a tort replacement). It sounded quite 'low middy' which is exactly what I expected. It sounded rather nice too Peter

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1392804461' post='2372845'] They are fine as starter instruments and, yes, an upgrade on bridge and strings would be a good idea. Alternatives include Gedo Musik's basses which are similarly priced (I started on one priced at around £1400 but they are perfectly credible at lower prices). If you want to hear my cheap, nasty bass (irony, it's lovely), check out 'Calypso Zoom', 'Speak Now', 'Estate', 'Wee' or 'Caravan' on my Soundccloud page. There is a lot of what I call hysteria about cheap basses but, in my opinion, getting one looked at by a luthier and getting to the act of playing the damn thing will be more use to you than agonising over whether to spend £700 this year or wait another six months until you have £1500. The difference between the two will be irrelevant for a few years until you really get a handle on the instrument. My 'cheap' bass sounds four times better now than it did when I got it. Not because it has been modified but because I have been playing it for four years now and am much better than I was when I bought it! I cannot see how a marginally 'better' (i.e. different) bass would improve my 'thing' as convincingly. My advice in one sentence: Just start your journey and enjoy it. [/quote] Nice post.

Discussed and ordered new P bass electrics one day and they arrived the next. Pretty impressive Peter

[quote name='Colonel36' timestamp='1392729290' post='2371999'] One of the points is Peter that there was no caffeine in the jar he thought was caffeine and he reacted to it. So, no "chemical" but folk react as if there is because it's in the mind. [/quote] Yes but when I got palpitations from coffee the 1st time I didn't expect it. I didn't even know that coffee could do this. Likewise, I suffered pins and needles recently and it was likely due to too much sugar (I've a serious sugar problem). I didn't expect it and now I've cut down the problem has gone away. I think the whole point is that the body can influence the mind and the mind can then influence the body. But this path isn't without influence Peter

I have 12 basses (now how did that happen?) My band is presently 'ticking over' - no singer. I look to which basses I should sell and can easily justify all of them. When I practice I get the taste for something different and it's there. So not one for me then Peter

[quote name='Colonel36' timestamp='1392728652' post='2371986'] It's all in the mind. Caffeine for example...when people think it gives them a buzz in the morning with their coffee they believe it. I've done it with a mate of mine and other people where this mate said he gets severe palpitations with coffee/caffeine, so when he's at my house, I give him the coffee with caffeine in it and he's o.k but....I replaced it in the jar with decaff ! and he sees this as I brew it. Another time I gave him a decaff one but I'd put the decaff in the ordinary coffee jar and he said he had palpitations because of the caffeine. Sugar rush...that's another one whereby it's all in the mind. People do get rather aggressive about this though as they like to believe in stuff. [/quote] If you use chemicals to upset the body chemistry and this leads to various manifestations I think it's a little brave to say it's all imagined. It is indeed all in the mind though, literally Not at all angry or aggressive, just saying. Peter

I really enjoyed that. A diverse exploration of 'the placebo effect'. I do think that 'The Placebo Effect' is a bit of a misnomer. Surely a placebo is just a tool, one of many, used to stimulate the mind's control of the body. The effect is more the conditioning of the mind to enhance, reduce, ignore, minimise or focus the physical controls, coordination, senses and feelings? As an ex elite runner (yes, a long time ago) and more recently a club cyclist I am very aware of the difference in performance when the mind is attuned to ignoring suffering. A placebo may be one way of achieving this but it's not the only way. Peter

[quote name='skelf' timestamp='1392663781' post='2371328'] Jazzy you need to try the latest version of the pre-amp the 03 which has been further refined to produce much more control over the all important mids. The push/pull low mid and hid mid controls make a big difference as does the reduced range on the lowpass filters. Having spent years trying to be all things to all men I have had a rethink in order to produce a more focused pre-amp to use with the MC Series of pickups. If you get to London please drop by to hear the new pre-amp. This obviously applies to anyone interested and down at the show. [/quote] I was about to say something similar in relation to the hi and lo mid boosts but Alan beat me to it. Owning a newer ACG filter pre and having owned the earlier model I can appreciate how Alan has improved on an already good filter pre amp. Peter

Quite an old thread eh:) What I find interesting is that, aurally at least, if someone thinks for whatever reason that A will sound better than B then the brain actually hears differently e.g. There's a theory that says that thoughts can actually change our senses in a sort of positive feedback way. There's a video of an experiment that attempts to prove this. I'll see if I can find it. This will link in with the placebo I suspect. Otherwise I'd go with a lot of what's said here. Also if I learn some good bass lines with a certain bass and play them well in a band setting the bass earns my love. Peter

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1392557886' post='2369977'] The harmonic frequencies, not sub harmonics, there are a whole load of harmonic frequencies which change the characterisation of the sound, so a smooth tone would have a lot more even harmonics like a flute, whereas something like a brass instrument would have more odd harmonics. Although there is a difference by different woods it is much smaller than you would think, and absolutely dwarfed by the perceived tone change achieved by spending a lot more money on the bass! [/quote] Absolutely. I did mean harmonics not sub harmonics. It's been a lot of years since I explored waves at Uni Peter