cameltoe

I don't really understand the preamp thing either, I'm happy with my sound but I wanted a decent DI signal and a bit more EQ control (OBT owner!) so I went for the DHA DI EQ, which does both those things well. No idea if it could be considered a preamp, but it does what I want.

Beta just bought from the for sale section! Looking forward to trying. Thanks for the help all.

Interesting! Was never the biggest Blink182 fan, I was into the punk scene in the late 90's but Blink were always a little childish for my tastes. My brother was a huge fan though. Went to see them at the Eden sessions in Cornwall a couple of years back, yes Tom's playing was not great, but the sound of his guitar was shocking as well. It sounded like someone had mic'ed a solid-state 30w practice amp. Guitars should sound huge live. I've seen other bands at Eden and they didn't have this problem!

Ha! Is it even worth as much as the eBay listing fee?

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1426891233' post='2723282'] Errrm no. If your straightening the neck you risk then getting fret buzz all over the place and raising the bridge will create a low action in the lower frets and a huge action in the higher ones if you want to compensate for the straight neck. If you have fret buzz from frets 1 to 7 when fretting then you need more relief, loosen the truss rod. The actual conventional approach is. Buzz in lower 1 to 7 frets needs more relief loosen truss rod. Buzz in higher frets from 7th onwards needs bridge raised and a lower relief tighten truss rod. You need to find a balance, if you can't get a good action then you may have high frets, a wrongly cut nut, uneven fret board/warped neck. Or even just your playing too hard. [/quote] Yes he had that the wrong way round! Buzz in lower frets (1-5 or so) usually means the neck is too straight, discounting any problems with fret levels or loose frets. Didn't Jamerson play with an action you could park a bus under? Tone, yes definitely better with a higher action, no question. Comfort… not for me.. needs to be low. I read a lot on here about action and I don't know if i'm mistaken, but it seems like pick players prefer a higher action than finger players?

I've had the frets levelled on on every bass I've had to get the action as low as possible. I also like minimal relief, almost a straight neck, so the action is close to the same across the whole neck. There is nothing I hate more than a bass with increasing action the closer you get to the bridge- as soon as you get up to fret 10 or so the action is double what it was on fret 3 or 4. I usually try and set the relief up to around business card thickness on the 8th fret when fretting 1st and last, slightly less on the 6th fret when fretting on the first and 12th, (maybe paper width gap) and then set the action as low as it will go without buzzing, tested by playing chromatically from 12th fret up across all strings. This works for me with the pressure I apply when playing finger style, and with the low action I feel I can control dynamics much better- ghosting, muting, etc comes much easier. I love playing ricks for this reason, but don't get on with how they sound!

[quote name='jensenmann' timestamp='1426878408' post='2723111'] Being a microphone nerd and having app 150 microphones at my disposal it really hurts to read people seriously recommending cheaparse mics. There´s a german saying: if you buy cheap you´ll buy twice. Anyway, your shop is right to not recommend the PG series. These have nothing common with all the attributes of a SM58 except the brand name. Get another used 58 or a SM57 which gives you another sound option if necessary. In case you want to go more versatile then have a look at a Beyerdynamic M88. These are the very best bang for the buck most versatile dynamic microphones ever. Besides being a great vocal mike it´s fantastic for drums (yes, kick, too), bass guitars, guitar, brass, etc. That mic would be my desert island dynamic microphone. [/quote] But he's looking for a back-up mic, in case his sm58 breaks down. Hence budget is king. We use a JTS NX7 (SM57 clone) to mic lead guitar and it's pretty good, can't really hear much of a difference over a standard 57, also heard good things about the 58 clone, the NX8. Worth a look.

That logo looks odd to me. Anyone else? Especially the 's/n' before the serial number. I've only seen that on Chinese Squier neck plates before and certainly not MIJ headstocks. But then I've never researched it so I'm likely wrong.

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1426689303' post='2720818'] I can only just about play bass so i hope not. [/quote] Don't worry, it's exactly the same just two extra strings.

I'm not a great player, my theory isn't great- I can bang out scales and modes ok, but I find applying this knowledge when I'm playing to be difficult. The problem I have, if it is a problem at all, is I have a good ear. Although this is great for beginning to learn and when I was a nipper, and means I can get a tune out of almost anything, it also means I've never really bothered to learn any theory- so, if I do decide to 'go for a wander' in a song, I don't have the knowledge to get back where I was! I'm a pub player, and what interests me the most about technique is actually the right hand style and the deft touches/ghost notes that can create a groove. This is what I practice most, and have most fun playing. As a for instance, I check out some of marlowedk's stuff on YouTube- it's one thing playing what he's playing, but another entirely to make it [i]sound[/i] like that.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1426602913' post='2719742'] That's where the problem is. Stop it. You are playing bass. [/quote] Ha!! The dusty end.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1426594843' post='2719600'] Where do you position your thumb when you're playing ? There are a couple of older guys that I'm teaching at the moment. Both were holding the bass like it was a baseball bat, almost like they were afraid to let it go. The one guy was playing with just one finger too, sliding up and down the neck. I apologise if you're already using good playing technique, but an awful lot of people assume that because they've been playing a particular way for ages, then it's fine. Your thumb should be around the middle of then neck, maybe running along the stripe that you get on Fender type basses. You should just pivot off that. [attachment=186731:Photo on 17-03-2015 at 12.11.jpg] [/quote] That's kind of how I do it. I keep my hand very flat to the board, don't twist my wrist like some players do. Just find it a struggle.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1426549442' post='2719322'] Is it maybe a technique issue ? Lighter gauge strings ? Lower action ? [/quote] It's more of a short fingers issue.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1426537705' post='2719130'] To the OP. You might want to look at the Japan crafted Fender Ps and Js, the necks are thinner than those made in the USA and certainly thinner than those huge necks on the MIM models. Blue [/quote] Have had a couple of MIJ's, and they did feel good to begin with, however now even they feel too chunky. Sold a pretty good USA a few years back, couldn't understand why I didn't like it at the time, looking back it may have been the neck.

Well, it happened to me last week. After years of playing P basses, even ones with 1.75" nut width, the lightbulb moment came. I knew it was there, lingering, but I had so far refused to give in. Playing P basses has become more and more of a struggle in the last couple of years, coupled with a bit of pain if I'm honest. This led to me having the neck of my Roadworn P bass slightly slimmed to standard P width (1.625"), which helped a bit, but the neck still felt wide up around the 5th fret and onwards. My JV precision neck, which I went to the ends of the earth (slight exaggeration, but it felt like it) to repair once the truss rod snapped, feels chunkier than the RW, more 'meat' front to back, and as such has sat in a case for the last couple of months unplayed. It's a fantastic bass. When the RW still had the standard neck profile, I used to exercise my hands everyday- scales scales scales, finger exercise machine, all sorts. I could just about live with it then, although I had the time to pick up the bass for an hour everyday, which helped. It still felt tough to play certain baselines, especially live. Now I've admitted defeat, I have to say, I'm relieved. I'd always convinced myself Jazz necks felt too skinny for me. They don't anymore. They feel soooo much easier. Everything is coming easier, even my right hand technique, which is weird. I had wondered whether a neck in between a P and a J would be the way to go, like my old Silver Series (40mm nut) but now I've had a bit of time with a J neck, I think I need to go the whole hog. I am still a P bass man through and through, so it looks like it will be frankenfenders from now on, until I can afford that custom shop…..

One just like this in my local music shop for £350 at the moment

I did the mod with some Philips ECC81's, but the amp didn't have the same punch or presence, even with the gain cranked. Kept it like that for well over a year, but always felt there was something lacking so have gone back to ECC83's. I've fitted EHX valves and they sound great! Very grindy, a lot clearer sounding than stock. The stock valves are very woolly. I also tried Tung Sol which are very dark and not the clearest. Very happy with the EHX this far however.

MIM for £700??? Wow.