hubrad

[quote name='Pkomor' post='475294' date='Apr 29 2009, 05:30 PM']I thought it was about time to get some shots of most of my basses up here, enjoy! My first bass was an encore pk40 sunburst p copy, which I sadly, have no pictures of Next came the Cort GB74, a lovely active bass for around £250 - Bargain! [attachment=24542:IMG_3503.JPG] Next up was the Stingray, got this about a year ago, and still loving it! - Awsome [attachment=24541:Stingray...in_light.jpg] I also have a cheapy acoustic bass (£25!) but no photos of that! Finally (for now) is the bass i've been working on for the last 8 or 9 months, 5 string, fretless, through-neck - built completley from scratch! [attachment=24543:IMG_7830.jpg] [attachment=24544:IMG_7838.jpg] All these go through my trusty hartke VX2515[/quote] Oh yes! Cort tends to be good, then MM are just really good. As for your own, nicely done! The head ain't to my own taste, but the neck access looks pretty unbeatable. 5 string fretless [u]is[/u] to my taste!

[quote name='Lifer' post='475127' date='Apr 29 2009, 02:37 PM']What strings does everyone use on their fretless? I've got these bad boys on at the mo: Galli Black Nylon Taperwound - plenty of 'Mwah' and a nice thump, kind to the fingerboard and lovely to slide on too![/quote] I get these made up in Wales.. I like the feel, and others seem to appreciate the sound. [attachment=24532:picato.5str.DB.FW.jpg] [url="http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/3542"]http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/produ...roducts_id/3542[/url] Can be heard on 'The Gift' at www.myspace.com/hughbass

[quote name='leschirons' post='465639' date='Apr 17 2009, 11:16 PM']Take a back up fretted.[/quote] Leave the backup - no safety net really makes you concentrate. [quote name='blamelouis' post='474574' date='Apr 28 2009, 08:51 PM']Well i did it ! The guitarist/singer decides to leave his acoustic at home and bring his les paul and distortion pedals!!! So we had crossroads and sunshine of your love along with Hendrix and Thin lizzy ....and fretless . Couldnt hear myself or compete with this and drums !! Oh well Back to the Warwick next week and i am gonna SLAP till their ears are ringing !![/quote] Just play the fretless louder! Once you get your sound together it'll still cut through all the noise. [quote name='bilbo230763' post='474774' date='Apr 29 2009, 08:28 AM']Haven't done more than a handful of gigs on fretted bass since 1986 (and they weren't by choice!). People are right; you have to be able to hear yourself or your intonation will be impossible to guage accurately.[/quote] With you there. [quote name='Faithless' post='474968' date='Apr 29 2009, 12:29 PM']And, what do you mean by that, Bilbo? You won't prove me it any-way, that fretless suits all situations in life... [/quote] Works for me and Bilbo! Actually I even like slapped fretless.. more organic sounding than twangy. If you want twangy, though, Bilbo's right - that's the one sound you can't quite get, although I did have a brass fingerboard one a few years ago. Graunch supreme!

Good point.. no tube either. It's the front end of the better combos before the tube/ss SMX series came out. Good luck with the Ebay one!

I have the 250W head version.. brilliant to this day from new! As to value, if it doesn't go much higher it has to be worth a punt surely? If not I still have, somewhere, the previous model GP12 preamp i.e. no compressor. This has been on loan to friends for a while but it should be getting used - probably available.

Yes, we sell quite a few violin mutes, and I've never been too impressed with even the tone of the rubber ones. That metal thing makes an acoustic violin sound more like an unamplified electric by absorbing most of the vibration at the bridge. My bass mute is MDF/foam/MDF/foam/MDF sandwiched together, so similar in effect. I suppose to make a bass version of the pictured violin one you'd need something the size of a cat food tin full of lead shot - don't fancy the weight of that.

[quote name='bumfrog' post='471723' date='Apr 24 2009, 05:10 PM']whereas at the other end of the scale, these cheaper rays seems have popped up, looks lovely too - £689... [url="http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~name~Music-Man-Ray-34,-Honeyburst~ID~11410.asp"]http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~name~M...st~ID~11410.asp[/url][/quote] Sounds rather tempting.. wonder where they have it made?

Could be because so far Sounds Live are doing UK list price whereas Guitar Center are alredy discounting madly in desperation to sell something they don't even appear to have in stock!

Hi there, Inspired by the weight of this: [url="http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/2845"]http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/produ...roducts_id/2845[/url] I made myself a bass mute of MDF offcuts and draughtproofing foam(!) Rather than fitting on the top of the bridge like a standard mute, it goes on the upper face using a rubber band (again(!)) to hold it still, hence no major stresses on the bridge. Cuts the volume dramatically so no need to switch instruments for practice. I'll try to get a decent pic of mine for you.

[quote name='ped' post='469853' date='Apr 22 2009, 06:45 PM']I was waiting for this!! A valve amp would win this no problem, it could just fall on the pod!! I reckon I could beat you up though ARGH. Easy as pie. [/quote] Mmm.. someone mention PIE? Inbetween the possible falling out and making up, isn't this just the [u]fun[/u] of gear? If there really was one perfect setup we'd all be after it and unhappy 'til we got it. As it is each one of us has something slightly different we either like or are striving for. I LOVE IT!

To get the dynamics for arco, hollow body EUBs seem to work rather better. Sadly not as cheaply available(!) I know someone who may be selling one.. I'll try to find out more.

[quote name='Hamster' post='469659' date='Apr 22 2009, 03:08 PM']Hi 7. Go to jam nights in your local pub and get involved. 8. Don't give up! - just making music with some mates in a rented out scout hut might be enough to sate your musical expression as long as the chemistry is right. Hope this helps - not all of it might apply to you![/quote] 'Networking', as it's called these days, is not to be underestimated. Jam sessions are a brill way of playing with others without the pressure of 'being in a band' If someone says nice things about your playing, don't be afraid to tell them you're available even for odd stand-in gigs.

[quote name='Clarky' post='469621' date='Apr 22 2009, 02:20 PM']TBH band chemistry is WAY more important than skills.[/quote] + another.. some of the bands I dep with that get the most re-bookings are not the ones with tecnical prowess. Hey.. look at Oasis! [quote name='dlloyd' post='469623' date='Apr 22 2009, 02:24 PM']It might be an idea to put your own advert up, saying you're looking for musicians for a new project. Be fairly specific, but realistic about what you can expect. If you put up an advert asking for blues guitarists aged between 30 and 50 (or beyond), you should get loads of responses... some will be from people who can actually play.[/quote] Fine idea.. Carpe Diem! Don't be downhearted; as someone said years ago - if you're a bassist and can play in time you'll always find a gig.

Double has a right old rep for hurting the unwary, so I'd stick with the tried and tested 1st, 2nd, 4th backed up by 3rd in the lower positions at least to start with. I do find myself going to that on electric sometimes. Similarly I sometimes use all 4 in the middle positions on the double. Above 12 forget the 4th finger.. the angle goes all wrong and you can damage yourself!

[quote name='bassman2790' post='467086' date='Apr 19 2009, 11:06 PM']My dilemma is that I don't have any spare cash at the moment. The guitarist in our band has got his sound well and truly sorted. He runs his Gibson Explorer through a Hughes and Kettner Switchblade amp into a matching 4 x 12 H&K cabinet. The sound he gets is incredible. By comparison, my poor Trace 2x10 combo pales into insignificance. It's not like we're into a volume war as we have known each other for a long time and work well together for the good of the band. I often have to tell him to turn it up . I just feel that my tone lets the side down a bit at the moment. I've only just got back into work after being made redundant in October. I can't even afford a car and travel everywhere by bus so the chances of me taking home an Ampeg SVT and 8x10 cabinet are zero. Maybe I should just keep puttin my gig money to one side until I can afford a big valve head and quality cabinet.[/quote] I run a 15-ish years old Trace 250w head into a 210.. used to carry two but don't seem to need the volume tbh. Never had a complaint about tone, although did get raised eyebrows when, at a festival, following a Rock Band with an 810 bass cab. Huh.. carry that yourself, thought I! Tone is personal.. between the gear and my own playing, it took me years to get to where I was happy, and after many changes I decided that simple just sounded better for me.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='467829' date='Apr 20 2009, 08:42 PM']An old-school bassist friend once said he thought a Precision sounded 'woody' and a Jazz sounded 'fruity' - however you have to have owned them to get the idea.[/quote] [attachment=24173:jillygoolden.jpg] Give me intense fruit! [quote name='LukeFRC' post='467856' date='Apr 20 2009, 09:14 PM']Like a status is a M16 and the P bass is a flintlock. They both do the same thing, just differently.[/quote] You can kill at half a mile with a Status but will likely lose your eyebrows or nose with a Precision?

British Racing or else Oak Leaf Green!

Nice one! Or two!

[quote name='sgt-pluck' post='457776' date='Apr 8 2009, 08:18 PM']Ibanez in that era put their name to some genuinely great basses. Pluck[/quote] +1.. I have what used to be one! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44673&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44673&hl=[/url] [quote name='The Burpster' post='457801' date='Apr 8 2009, 08:45 PM']...... and guitars......! It was an era when they were trying Sooooo hard to be accepted as luthiers in their own right as opposed to 'copiers'...... they used some stonking bits of wood and were (and still are!) very good at what they do..... Their QC is loads better than the big 2 US makers.....[/quote] It was those stonking bits of wood that kept me going all this time. Keep hold of that bass, JMS, and enjoy it.. That's my ha'penn'orth.

Nice bit of ebony and a boatload of sandpaper should see it right.

[quote name='elom' post='454921' date='Apr 5 2009, 09:17 PM']Please tell me that you are going to re-apply the "Ideal with Custard" sticker.[/quote] Best advice yet - I was wondering about that and the 'Keep Mucus Vile' one. Live and loud wind doesn't bother me so much these days.. Had to destroy them to strip down.. I'll have to see what I can find! The truss rod is the right length to be unaffected and is now accessed through a hole in the string anchor. I'll try to photograph that. More pics asap. Got it fully playable now, so in for a practice tonight!

Dammit! I was hoping you all meant Valerie by Richard Thompson!