Paul_C

[quote name='Daniel Acheson' post='909674' date='Jul 29 2010, 09:41 PM']Bass is basically a write off. [attachment=55297:P1010574.JPG] [attachment=55296:P1010570.JPG] As can be seen, the break is at a really awkward location. There is really nothing there to support gluing it back on, because of the grain of the wood etc - it won't hold to playing tension. My only options are to either have a new neckpiece carved, or start hunting for a new bass..... Luckily, I got most of the money I spent on it back on insurance.....just such a damned shame I'm going to have to try to find something of similar quality for the same price....really enjoyed playing it.... Let me know if you see any good deals on well priced decently made basses, haha. Dan[/quote] why would you think it's not repairable ? those sort of breaks (when it comes to headstock repair) are much easier than any other as the break follows the grain - if it was end on then there's much less chance of success (and needs a lot of work for it to stand a chance) if someone brought a break to me like yours I'd be pretty confident that a good wood glue and a few clamps would do the job with no problem at all, and the join should be stronger than the wood (so if it suffered a similar accident then the wood would break, not the glue joint)

[quote name='JTUK' post='908558' date='Jul 28 2010, 07:18 PM']My 9v version goes through batteries very quickly, ie a round 2 weeks[/quote] I'm puzzled by this, as mine (both 9v) certainly don't eat batteries. I've only ever changed them because I thought it was about time, never because they were dead.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='908412' date='Jul 28 2010, 04:49 PM']I see no stripe here. [/quote] from the Ric forum : "The Shedua strip (skunk stripe) was added to the 4001 to strengthen the neck. It came into being around 1972/1973, and ended when the 4001 ceased production."

[quote name='silddx' post='908341' date='Jul 28 2010, 03:59 PM']I am tempted to go with the U-RETRO 01 Deluxe for my custom build, it looks really versatile. Anyone used one of these? What are they like? I'll be using it with passive MEC pups. MM-style HB and J-style SC. I will need some advice with the install. I am clueless with electronics. Thank you![/quote] I've used U Retros in both my basses, they do all that I need a preamp to do Mine are wired to J and P pickups in one bass and a Bongo humbucker in the other and make both basses sound great. I doubt you'll need much in the way of instruction if you look at the details on the website, and it won't need soldering unless you need to wire it to a different style jack socket.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='907902' date='Jul 28 2010, 10:03 AM'][/quote] that is genius - I'm going to have to make something similar in future

having said that, it appears there are (if the pictures are to be believed) some 4001s out there without the darker stripe - but as a general rule of thumb, I'm mostly right

4001s have the dark stripe down the middle - 4003s don't.

I stand to be corrected, but a solid state amp doesn't need to see a load in the way that a valve amp does (so not plugging in a cab will blow the output transformer) and the reason you shouldn't use an instrument lead is because it isn't designed for the current from an amp output and might well catch fire Reading the manual suggests there are a number of safety devices built in and those should protect the amp up to a point. I suggest if it still doesn't work after a period of cooling off (and it's not just a blown fuse) then just send it back as faulty.

[quote name='Muzz' post='906215' date='Jul 26 2010, 07:13 PM']Rare, broken, and £500. Can't believe this hasn't gone yet... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARKBASS-F1-ULTIMATE-BASS-AMP-500W-RARE-/170518655009?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item27b3b43021#ht_500wt_1154"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARKBASS-F1-ULTIMATE...1#ht_500wt_1154[/url][/quote] broken, and yet "In excellent condition & full working order" . . . .

This is quite an interesting piece in regard to the musician/audience question: [url="http://sivers.org/starving-artist"]http://sivers.org/starving-artist[/url] I started off playing for the song while trying to get plenty in for people to appreciate me as a musician (which sadly has rarely happened ), but I'm slowly working back to concentrating even more on the song even if it means less for me. I'm in a band whose musicians are all people I'm delighted to call friends, and almost without exception it's been fun. I'm only in the band to play music and to enjoy playing that music, anything else, whether it's bigger venues/crowds, albums, radio play or any other benefits are all a bonus that I can live without, but am happy to enjoy if they come along

[quote name='andy67' post='904583' date='Jul 25 2010, 10:44 AM']two beauties! please post pics of the other rack - would like to see whats on it. andy[/quote] which rack ? the one behind the two red-necked Yamahas contained all sorts of things in its time, but I do have this photo which shows some more of the madness left to right: Modulus Sonic Hammer Modulus Jazz Bongo 5 HS Bongo 4HS Bongo 4H Stingray 4 Status Stealth 6 Status Stealth 4

[quote name='grumpy-grapefruit' post='904311' date='Jul 24 2010, 08:54 PM']ive tried all that has been suggested to no avail. and i cant replace the string cos i cant afford to.[/quote] you could put the old one back on and see if the problem goes away.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='904039' date='Jul 24 2010, 02:38 PM']Love all those SVBs! I notice that two of the red ones have coloured necks while the others are all 'natural'. Are they 60s versions? BTW judging from that photo, I have something rather special on the way that you'll be interested in...[/quote] the two with red necks were Ltd. Editions, the SB-J1 and SB-J2:

found this pic this morning, which has 15 out of the 16 Yamahas in it

here are my current gigging basses - the only two in existence so far (though I'm working on that )

here's a lefty bass player who I guess learned to play on a bass strung right handed : [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLyV5JLvxM0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLyV5JLvxM0[/url]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='903667' date='Jul 23 2010, 11:42 PM'][url="http://www.fender.com/uk/products/search.php?partno=0990689000"]http://www.fender.com/uk/products/search.p...rtno=0990689000[/url] They look great [/quote] "extra long"

looking at the EB forum and reading the flyer - it appears to be nothing to do with kiln drying - but a further process at a much higher temp (and something not exclusive to Musicman, by the looks of things)

[quote name='jonthebass' post='902162' date='Jul 22 2010, 05:58 PM']It'd a funny old game the custom made thing. I've had 2 now, by different luthiers, and there's always something not quite how you wanted it. As mentioned before do be sure about every small detail as things can turn out very differently to what you expected. Good luck! Jon[/quote] as someone who has made custom guitars for people, I'd love to know what turned out not to be how you wanted it (I don't want to know who was responsible, it's just interesting to know these things) I would agree that specifying every last detail makes things easier for everyone concerned, but also it might be worth considering that throwing everything including the kitchen sink in because you're spending more than you might usually could add to the confusion. Unless you've always dreamed of something very different from what's out there (and are willing to take the chance that it might turn out to be a huge disappointment), a custom instrument might be better approached in relation to something that you have played or owned that was never quite what you wanted and which you can't buy off the shelf. For example, the first guitar I made for someone was essentially a Telecaster with a Gibson scale length, which could probably have been made by Fender's custom shop (but not for the price I was asking ).

the holes look decidedly wonky, but I'm not an expert on the early stuff, tbh.