Skybone

Don't forget that it's an 18v pre-amp, so you need 2 9v batteries! Nice.

Buffered pedals have been getting a "bad reputation" over the last few years, and the prevalence of "True Bypass" in pedals. When a true bypass pedal is switched off, the circuit is bypassed, and you hear the unaffected sound of the instrument. With a buffered circuit, the pedal isn't necessarily bypassed when it's switched off, and you can still hear "artefacts" of the effect. This is especially noticeable in modulation effects, like wah's, phasers, chorus, delay etc. Remember one band where the running joke was "I can still hear that bloody (effect name), are you sure it's off?". Remember another band where I had to replace my entire pedal board with true bypass versions, as the artefacts from my pedals were getting seriously annoying.

Instead of looking at a drive pedal, have you tried using reverb to fill out the sound? If you use it subtley, it can really fill out the sound, and give it a bit of "width".

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1447619763' post='2909024']Fine, but the thing is is that some people don't really care about music. [/quote] Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of people that this applies to, who are employed in the music industry.

Some of it is nostalgia, but also some of it is that they were actually good instruments. I seriously regret selling my old Thunder 1A, but don't regret selling my old Raider & Spectrum basses. I regretted selling my old Ibanez Artist 2619(s), 1978 Iceman, Aria SB Special II and a few other "classic" MIJ guitars. Compared to today's "entry level" instruments, they weren't that great. But compared to other "entry level" instruments at the time, they were serious bit of kit for the money.

The most used excuse is that because the populace is spread out over a greater distance in the Highlands, it costs them more to have an efficient delivery network, which is almost plausible, apart from the fact that they sub-contract all the work out to another company who has more vehicles. They have more vehicles, because they get sub-contracted by the major courier companies to do their deliveries for them. Thing is though, from prior experience of courier companies, I would much rather have this local company doing the deliveries anyway, they're far more reliable than the others!

Ebay?

[quote name='Left Foot' timestamp='1444116444' post='2880322']Mates got B3 and every now and then he plays a patch hed been working on that sound 99.9% the same as one of my boutique pedals, it takes him a while mind you.[/quote] That's the thing, if you spend a bit of time playing with the patches, you can get some great sounds out of most Multi FX pedals.

Don't know anything about Gotoh Bass pickups, but I've had a few Tokai Love Rock's (the LP replica, fitted with Gotoh hardware & pickups), which came with Gotoh's PAF humbuckers. They were good pickups, certainly very much in the original PAF ball-park sonically and in construction (not wax-potted etc). I can only assume that their bass pickups would be as good a representation as the PAF's and their hardware.

RIP Philthy Phil.

Insurance is included up to about £300, more than that costs extra. Sent quite a few guitars south using ParcelForce, and have always been able to insure them without any problems.

Glad it wasn't just me who didn't like the Bass PODxt (especially after being so impressed with the guitar version). Think you'll be well impressed with the B3, I know I am.

Not that I'm aware of, but they do cover exposure times & levels where hearing protection should be worn / MUST be worn for the work environment, skills and knowledge that Construction Site managers have to use every day.

No.8, have you checked the bridge & tuner screws as well? Do you have the option to "lock" your bridge saddles (like the G&L saddle lock type thing - a grub screw in the bridge which pushes the saddles together)? Could be a number of things. Ezbass, good to hear from a Ric owner. I know mine's a Faker, but if they work on a Ric, they should work on my Faker.

So all the Environmental Science I learned on my degree course, and all the associated text books I used, were obviously a load of old tosh. All the CITB Health & Safety qualifications, courses & literature I use for work, and HAVE to renew every three years, are obviously tosh as well. It's not just "stuff I saw on Wikiedia".

As a resident of the "Highlands and Islands", it continually pi55e5 me off that all the major courier companies seem to believe that the UK mainland stops about 10 miles north of Perth, and the rest of the Highlands is an isolated backwater. The best courier to use for this part of the world is ParcelForce, love them or hate them, they're the best courier to use, and usually costs around £25 (depening on the level of insurance you get). I always use them if I'm sending instruments I've sold online. What gets my goat about the major courier companies, is that they all have depots nearby, they all have a fleet of vehicles, but they charge extra because they sub-contract all the deliveries and local collections to the local courier company.

The FBV is the Floor Board. I've used the guitar PODxt since they came out & love it for guitar. Wasn't overly impressed by the Bass version when I tried it, but if it's a good price, with the floor board, it's worth a punt. The thing with the POD, as with any Multi-FX, is to work on your basic sound first before adding effects (as you would with an amp), and maybe group your patches closely for the various songs / set list. IIRC, the HD500 is geared more towards the guitar than bass. If it was the PODx3 on offer, then go for it, as that has guitar, bass and acoustic models in the one package.

Has anyone had any experience of fitting a Hipshot D-Tuner to their bass? I recently tried out for a local covers band, and they do a few songs in drop D. As I'd only taken 1 bass with me, I had to take time to retune (as did the guitarist), play a couple of songs, then retune to E standard. A bit of a PitA TBH. I could take another bass with me, or just simply retune as required, but then I remembered about the D-Tuners. Instant drop D at the flick of a lever. I'll be fitting it onto one of my Fakers, fitted with generic "open gear" "elephant ear" 2x2 tuners. Obviously, I need to measure the tuning post, and try to match up the tuner's base plate with those on offer. Is there anything else I need to do before taking the plunge???

The decibel scale is based on a Logarithmic scale, not a linear scale. An increase of 3dB represents a noticeable doubling in the volume, so a 1dB gain may well be audible for most people, but most wouldn't really realise it (unless they have sensitive hearing). For example, a 50w guitar amp is rated at 100dB, where a 100w guitar amp is rated at 103dB. Although the Wattage rating is doubled, the dB rating is only 3dB, but the 100w amp will be twice as loud.

Or you could just have a shelf type thing built by a local chippie, and store your basses in their hard cases, and use the cases as "drawers".

Faker query..... Has anyone ever fitted a D-Tuner to their Faker? After my last band sort of faded away after one of the (founding) guitarists left, I advertised for something, and was approached by a local covers band. They do a couple of songs in drop D, and instead of either taking a 2nd bass or frantically tuning/re-tuning between songs, I remembered the good old Hipshot D-Tuner. Just wondering which version was fitted, sizes etc, etc. Obviously, I need to check measurements on mine, but just throwing the query out there.

The best Entwistle guitar IMO is the Warwick or the Status Buzzard.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1446748884' post='2902073']The only people you'd really want to see in a Rainbow reunion are dead. Jon.[/quote] This is sad, but very true. RIP Cozy & RJD

If it's just tuners, then I have 4, 3 Korg (a DT-10, a Pitchclip and a small plug-in one), and a TC PolyClip. If you're including Amp Modellers as well, then there's a few more to take into consideration... A Guitar PODxt, a B3 & an MS60B. Ooops.

What about something like one of those Exercise Steps, or one of those Tool Boxes that doubles up as a step (and a handy place for your bits & bobs)?