Krysbass

[quote name='Muppet' post='24272' date='Jun 28 2007, 09:06 AM']You really need to work out what the current situation is with your bass in order to work out which way to turn and by how much. Take a capo and put it on the first fret. Fret the E string at the last fret - you now have a straight line formed by the string. Now, with the string held down, how much of a gap (if any) is there between the bottom of the string and the top of the 7th and 8th frets? If you let us know we can at least give you an idea where to start. Ideally you need a feeler gauge to check this gap as it's quite small.[/quote] + 1 to this. According to Gary Willis, this gap at its widest point should be around the thickness of a credit card. Also, if it's the upper frets that are buzzing, then the truss-rod won't have much influence on this, because its the strings running over the body, between the upper frets and the bridge that are at issue. With upper fret buzz I've found that the bridge saddles usually need to be raised. If the required adjustment can't be obtained from the saddles, then the neck joint may need a shim inserting (assuming the bass has a bolt-on neck of course). Again, Gary Willis gives some detailed advice on doing this yourself.

I’ve been playing bass for longer than I care to remember, but only bought a Gripmaster last year. There were 2 reasons. Firstly, last November I badly injured a joint in the first finger of my fretting hand by gardening (there’s a lesson here for sure). Following this, I wanted to use some regular exercise an aid to restore mobility and strength in my hand and I’ve found the Gripmaster has really helped. The second reason is that, being a family bloke in my 40’s I don’t have the time to pick up my bass every day, so the Gripmaster is spot-on when I’m just sitting with my wife/kids whereas me disappearing into the other room with my bass for an hour every night would not be conducive to marital harmony!! I totally agree that hand strength alone does not make you a better player, but it helps. Manual dexterity is important too, so the other thing I work on which has also helped immensely is using Chinese chime balls (keep it clean please, people!) after I saw these recommended in a recent issue of “Guitar & Bass” magazine. Again; I wouldn’t need these if I had the luxury of time to play my bass most days, but I find these 2 forms of non-bass exercise really help prevent me from getting too rusty between the occasions (most weekends) when I can, at last, pick up a bass.

The other thing I should mention (though you've probably worked this out already) is that with the cost of the BC300 itself, then shielding paint and the new pickups, I've easily spent £200 on it now (about the same price as the Squier). The only advantages were that I didn't have to spend it all in one go and I have a bass that I personally prefer the look of. On the other hand, if it comes to selling it on I'd expect the Squier would fetch more, if only because Squier has the connection with Fender whereas "Stagg" maybe conjures up images of tinned chilli, (Mmmmmm - but that might just be me?) Edit: BTW bass-in-ya-face, I like your Aria SB1000 RI avatar - do you own one? IMHO, the SB1000 is the best looking bass ever made.

+1 to machines advice. Though I’ve enjoyed working on my BC300, bringing it up to scratch, I appreciate that not everyone may feel comfortable doing the sort of work I’ve done on it. I’ve never played a Squier, but I’d guess this would have much better quality “out of the box” than the Stagg. I’ve got to admit, I was lured to the Stagg because I prefer the look of real wood, rather than paint or a scratchplate. It’s fortunate that having bought it on mail order for just £99 on impulse, I was able to sort out the issues it had by myself!

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='21830' date='Jun 22 2007, 12:19 PM']Has anyone any opinons on this fretless bass. Normally I wouldn't touch a Stagg with a bargepole but i've heard good things about it. Anyone got one?[/quote] Yep! - had one since January '96. I think it's great value for the money, but I've "breathed" on mine to make it better..... On first receiving it, I noticed the electronics were noisy which I gather from Harmony Central is a common issue. I found most of the cause was that the control cavity wasn't shielded so I easily cured this with some conductive silver paint (Maplin does it) inside the cavity, having first removed the jack socket and pots. Then I lined the inside of the plastic cover with tin foil. I also removed the bridge and made sure the earth connection under it was good and clean. The above treatment got me through the first year with this bass. The standard pickups are relatively low output, so a few months ago I fitted some DiMarzios and a set of Rotosound Jazz flatwounds. It sounds pretty good now and will certainly keep me going until I've saved up the dosh for a Warwick Thumb NT4 fretless.

The Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110 is another potential candidate. Very compact with a 10" speaker, has both line out and DI outputs with ground lift and chucks out 75 watts. I'm still very happy with mine, though they're not everyone's "cup of tea", so I recommend you try before you buy.

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='19473' date='Jun 18 2007, 09:16 AM']I'm a left-hander playing right. Why does it matter, though? Shurely you have to use both hands to play the bass, and they both need to be equally dextrous? I've never understood why you'd learn to play the rarer, more expensive instrument, when you need to train both hands from scratch anyway. Just to be contrarian, like.[/quote] I think it's something to do with which hand is required to do the most movement. I seem to recall (casting my mind back to when I first picked up a guitar) that it just felt more natural to me, especially when trying to play 8th or 16th notes, to assign this task to my left hand. Then I realised that this meant I was either going to have to find a left-handed bass (non-starter in 1982) or modify a right-handed bass (non-starter as well as I didn't like the ergonomics or aesthetics of this approach - but no offence to those who've found it works). The result was that I forced myself to learn right-handed. Attempting to play left-handed feels really alien to me now - so I can't honestly say if I'd be a better player if I'd stuck to my guns as a true "leftie".

As you'd expect (being a "forced rightie"), I find that my left hand (ie, fretting) technique is much better than my right-hand stuff. Though I play fingerstyle I have to work quite hard at practicing to get my speed up - especially if a lick requires much string crossing.

[quote name='Hamster' post='18212' date='Jun 15 2007, 12:36 PM']It just dropped through my mailbox, Stanley Clarke, Jonas Hellborg, John Myung, Alan Davey and Ric Fierabracci interviews. Aguilar DB750 amp & GS410 cab reviews. Plus how to play if afflicted with gout. I'm off to put the kettle on.......... Hamster[/quote] Hopefully my copy will be on the doormat too - can't wait to get home from work. Don't think there'll be quite as much practicing from me this weekend somehow!

I'm actually left-handed too, but I had to teach myself to play right-handed basses, right-handed. Why?, because back in 1982 when I first picked up a bass and wanted to play it left handed, I quickly discovered that left-handed basses were about as plentiful as rocking-horse poo! Those that did exist, tended to be expensive and for someone who didn't know if he was going to be any good at the instrument, this was way too much of a commitment. The other thing that seemed to be common practice back then (and it still happens now) was charging significantly more for a leftie guitar as opposed to the rightie equivalent, the excuse being the different economics of making left-handed instruments in smaller volumes. At least Warwick are showing the way now with no extra charge for lefties. I totally agree with your frustration at music shops not stocking left-handed instruments - how on earth are you supposed to evaluate a guitar if you can't try it out before you buy? This is text-book discrimination and it needs to stop!

[quote name='dabootsy' post='16827' date='Jun 13 2007, 01:05 PM']i have been after a thumb for about 10 years and got this for £1799, before you buy one check out the weight of them they are monsters if you have a long set so a large strap is a must glenn[/quote] Thanks for the warning. I'm fairly used to heavyweight basses, as my Westone's built like the proverbial brick convenience. Ever since I tried a Thumb fretless out, I'm so hooked I'd probably take up weight-training if that's what it took to have one!

Really like that Warwick Thumb NT4! Trying to build a strong justification (in the domestic harmony context, if you get my drift!) for the purchase of an NT4 fretless to replace my Stagg BC300. Not an easy task, seeing as there are already a total of 6 guitars (though only 3 of them basses) in our household right now!

[quote name='MB1' post='16513' date='Jun 12 2007, 09:08 PM']MB1. be) The catalogue companys managed to get a supply of westone guitars and basses i remember my mate bought a westone thunder 1 active guitar,basses were also available.they were very well made.The stagg was a tree once,just minding its own business and then......................................................................................................................................................... MB1.[/quote] Well that'll be the "something new" I've learned today - I never knew Westones were also sold through mail-order catalogues. Some might say that a Stagg was a lot more useful when it was still a tree, and I've got to admit that when I first received my BC300 it had some "issues" that I've had to sort out, though maybe they were forgiveable at the price.

[quote name='MB1' post='15673' date='Jun 11 2007, 03:58 PM']MB1. be) How long have kays catalogue been selling porn? MB1.[/quote] The Stagg's origins were probably even worse than Kays catalogue - it was a "buy it now" through an Ebay store. As for the Thunder III - well, it's not so much porn as maybe just "a nice old slapper"!

Martthebass: "Sure I've said this b4, but just love that T3. Does it eat batteries like a mutha? Mine did!" I often wondered about this too and only found the answer out a couple of years ago, when I downloaded a set of instructions from the Westone owners site (I never got any with either of the Westone basses I've owned from new, so was in blind ignorance for over 20 years!) The key to saving the batteries (and it's a bit of a pain) is you have to unplug the lead from the guitar when you're not using it. Apparently, when you plug in, this switches the active circuit on - regardless of whether you have the bypass switch on or off, ie whether you're playing in active or passive mode. I now use one of those silent switching leads so I'm not always having to turn my amp down etc. Apparently you should get about 200 hours out of each pair of PP3's and following the above rigmarole, that's probably about right.

Thanks once again guys for your compliments on the Thunder III. If we ever do decide to part company, you'll certainly hear about it thru BC first. Moving to my other bass; the Stagg, I know it isn't up there in the desirability stakes, but I included it as it's the only other bass in my "collection" until I can replace it with a Warwick Thumb NT4 (this may take a while). In the meantime, it's probably a good example of a basic but competent bass not necessarily having to be expensive.

I've only been playing fretless for about 18 months, as opposed to fretted for 20+ years. I was initially similarly disillusioned by my inability to "fret" notes accurately. It does come together with practice - one thing I found to help massively (as my fretless is totally devoid of any fret markers on the fretboard) was to set the intonation so that the dots on the side of the fretboard marked the correct finger position for the relevant notes. I have Rotosound Jazz flatwounds on my bass, which I find still seem to offer a fairly bright tone when I want it. As well as reduced wear on the fretboard, flatwounds tend to cause less "drag" and abrasion on the fingers of your fretting hand too, which helps when you want to slide notes - which, after all, is much of what fretless is all about. Hope this helps too.

+1 to the advice from both oxblood and warwickhunt from another "mature" bloke. Especially the bit about not taking it to uni. I heard of so much stuff getting nicked from student accomodation when I was a student - it's just not worth the heartache. If you can afford it - get it. I'm a great believer that if you have gear that you're truly happy with it will encourage you to play it more, be inspired by it and therefore help your progression as a player.

Apologies in advance to those of you who’ve previously seen my 1984 Westone Thunder III on Basstalk or on the Westone site, but it seemed worth posting it again now we're on Basschat. I’ve used all new pix this time in an effort to keep it interesting! Not posted previously is my “bargain basement” Stagg BC300 fretless. I bought this new for its price (£99) and its looks at the beginning of 2006 and since then have shielded the control cavity using conductive silver paint and replaced the stock pickups with a DiMarzio P + J set for more output and better tone. I've taken a bit of time to set the guitar up properly (re-shimed the neck) and treated it to a set of Rotosound Jazz Bass strings and the end result has been well worth it. Hope you enjoy looking at them both..... [attachment=557:WTIIIall.JPG] [attachment=558:WTIIIangle.JPG] [attachment=559:WTIIIbody.JPG] [attachment=560:WTIIIbody2.JPG] [attachment=561:WTIIIthruneck.JPG] [attachment=562:BC300all.JPG] [attachment=563:BC300body.JPG] [attachment=564:BC300_DiMarzios.JPG] [attachment=565:BC300angle.JPG]

[quote name='presoulnation' post='13661' date='Jun 7 2007, 04:15 PM']When I was a nipper I was playing the Oboe in the school orchestra so I am not sure how much relevance that has [/quote] If it was anything like me, trying saxophone, then settling for 3rd clarinet in the school orchestra, then it could have been a process of elimination that led you to the bass. My cousin played guitar and the fact that he always seemed to be breaking strings left me feeling that this was just way too much hassle, so that was another instrument crossed off the shortlist.

I started playing when I was 20 and a student and I wish I had started earlier. Shortly after getting my business studies degree, I fell into the print industry, where I've worked for 8 different companies since 1984 to escape the redundancy axe (with varying degrees of success). If I'd the chance to do it all again, I'd have practiced harder on the bass, listened to the people who told me I was good at it, and been true to my creative side and tried to make a career out of it. I'd probably have been as poor as a church-mouse (ie, marginally poorer than I am now), but I'm sure I'd have been happier.......

That's a nice bass and a real bargain for the specification. I can’t work out what’s happened with Aria. In the ‘80’s practically every music shop seemed to stock their gear and the SB basses were one of the most popular lines. Somewhere along the line the bubble seems to have burst (maybe not unconnected with the demise of the Matsumoku factory in Japan and the move of Aria production to Korea). I’ve always wanted an Aria SB1000 and got in touch with Aria recently to get a price on the Korean-made re-issue model. I was stunned when they told me the RRP is £1,499. I’d love one, but there’s so much else you could have, made in Europe or USA too, for that sort of money.

Also with the thought "how bad can it be?" I bought my son a new "Raypierre B4" Precision copy off Ebay last year. I really wish I hadn't. When it arrived, the intonation was all over the place - so bad, I had to remove the bridge and re-position it. (If I'd sent the bass back, the delivery costs each way would have been more than the £69.99 cost of the bass). This was fine for a while, until I noticed that the neck had bowed under the pull of the strings. So I started to adjust the truss-rod, only to find that it wouldn't tighten any more. So now we have a bass that looks quite nice, (mainly because it's hardly ever been played) but has a neck like a banana and strings getting on for 10mm off the fretboard! I'll have to find my son a new bass now, in the hope he doesn't end up being put off the instrument for life! (Anyone need a door-stop that looks like a bass?)

Check out the DiMarzio P+J passive set. I put a set of these on my Stagg fretless mainly because the standard pickups had poor output and nondescript tone. Both these are vastly improved now.

That's one thing about Westones - it tends to be those of us who were there when you could still buy them new (ie mainly the '80's) who know first-hand how good they are. With production ending in the late '80's when the Matsumoku factory burned down (or whatever happened to it), those who've begun playing guitar or bass since then often aren't aware of the heritage behind this brand, and the low prices Westones usually fetch on Ebay don't give any clues about the quality either. They've become a bit of a well kept secret. Good news if you're buying, but bad news if you're selling!