EssentialTension

[quote name='AdrianRose1988' timestamp='1411069157' post='2556258'] Cool, is there any way of finding out the year? [/quote] They were made from about 1963 into the 70s, I had one 40 years ago ... but Happy Jack will be along soon with all the Hofner details.

There was a thread on Gustafson's death already but I can't find it either.

By the way, it's a very common error to think that tension is straightforwardly dependent on string gauge alone. It is mass per unit length of string that matters and therefore the tension is affected by the materials used and the nature of the construction of the string. Gauge is merely [i]one[/i] aspect of string construction.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1411066664' post='2556207'] Different manufacturer and nickel as opposed to stainless steel. What do I do? [/quote] You need to do a setup. It sounds like you have lower tension strings so you'll need to slightly loosen (anti-clockwise) the truss rod and adjust the bridge height accordingly plus check the intonation. If you aren't familiar with this there are lots of guides on YouTube e.g. http://youtu.be/cIzV9462xeE http://youtu.be/D4MdWzN_100

The Hofner is a 185 Artist but those are not the original pickups or pickguard.

When you say identical gauge, do you mean identical gauge and also identical in every other way too, i.e. same manufacturer and model etc? Because if not then the tension will likely be different.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1410980686' post='2555328'] ... PS He's 6'-4" [/quote] Thanks for clearing that up, I was worrying that Miles Davis was only 4'10".

Lovely but I am tempted by the question 'how tall is Ron Carter?'.

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1410031009' post='2545593'] Just need the first user discount applied i.e. find one on BC at sane money. [/quote] See here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/245448-takamine-tb10/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/245448-takamine-tb10/[/url]

Maybe Brighton is different to Suffolk, but my experience is that there are more people able to play a musical instrument than ever before, more people in bands than ever before, and a greater variety of instruments and genres of music than ever before - it's a very rich scene.

McCartney also does it sometimes. http://youtu.be/obFcsEtFIKA

If you haven't got coloured balls or any silk at all around your balls then you might want to know that La Bella 760FM Deep Talkin' Flats have dark blue silk but only at the nut end.

That's a bad day for me with family stuff in day and gig later too.

I think this is more common that you might expect. It's the other way around for me. Index finger has a marginally duller/thumpier sound, due to even if my nail is growing a little long it misses the string so I'm only playing with flesh/callous. However, middle finger unless i cut my nail extremely short it will catch the string and so more attack and slightly treblier. For greater evenness of tone, especially on slower 1/8ths or 1/4ths, I do play with one finger.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1410191220' post='2546963'] Wouldn't it be natural for "Rock Music" as Gene knows it to take a back seat after this long? I mean, Music Hall, Big Band Swing, Rockabilly and any number of other styles aren't in the mainstream any more either. [/quote] I work with young people and also have a 20 year old musician son. In my experience, a lot do listen to rock but only as one genre among many. I rarely listen to it myself.

Original packaging is fine. Store in a dry place. But if you wait long enough they will eventually corrode.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1410104451' post='2546135'] You're quite right. D'Addario are quite consistent - they have one construction, and many variations, like the EXLs, which go from a set of .008 on a guitar, to a set of somewhere around .155 for a 5 string bass. They're all round-wound, nickel plated, on a steel hex core. If you want to use a set of EXLs, but with a lower tension, simply get the next set down. [/quote] And D'Addario are one of the few manufacturers who consistently quote tension figures.

[quote name='TheSiberian' timestamp='1409641992' post='2541694'] If I remember well; the longer the bass'scale the higher the tension. (this means a lighter gauge of strings 130 -40 will have a lower tension compared of your actual 135 -45 set.) ... [/quote] Yes, the longer the string then, for a particular pitch, the higher the tension. However, that is a separate issue to the gauge of the string. [url="http://liutaiomottola.com/formulae/tension.htm"]Tension is dependent on three things only[/url]: (1) Pitch of note (2) Length of string (3) Mass per unit length of string Mass per unit length is dependent on the construction of the string such that if two strings are differently constructed then they can be the same gauge but have different tensions because they have different masses per unit length. ... and [url="http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm"]tension is not compliance[/url].

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1410031009' post='2545593'] Just need the first user discount applied i.e. find one on BC at sane money. [/quote] Yes, I bought mine from Clarky who bought it from ... I don't remember.

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1410027530' post='2545550'] That is one gorgeous bass, now where do I find one? [/quote] Now discontinued but the updated version, the TB10, is expected in stock at Thomann 30/09/2014 ... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/takamine_tb10.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/takamine_tb10.htm[/url]

This one is a fully hollow Takamine B10 ...

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1410011608' post='2545378'] True. Though in fairness, the two types of string are very different in a lot of ways, so the "choice" argument is a valid one. [/quote] Except it's not about two types/labels of string but many many more than that. Anyway, if you read what I wrote I said 'also' so there was no denial of the so-called 'choice' thing.

It's also down to [s]choice[/s] consumerist capitalism. We mostly have more money so there needs to be a lot more ways of getting your money off you.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1409842337' post='2543867'] Just respray the black pick guard [/quote] ... and the black pick-up cover.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1409856234' post='2544067'] Is this sort of thing recognised in the world of drumming I wonder, or does it just get passed off as the drummer's style. I'm thinking of the difference between, say, Charlie Watts and Keith Moon. One is pretty steady and just laying down a solid rhythm with the odd fill, the other is one long fill. [/quote] I read somewhere that when drummer Phil Seamen first heard Keith Moon he said something like: 'Man, you get paid playing like that?'