LITTLEWING

I know this has been up loads of times, but for those who haven't had the pleasure, hit 'isolated bass' on YouTube and just have an ear hole at some of our heroes doing the actual tracks we know and love. It most definitely makes you feel a damn sight better about your own playing with all your own little fumbles and clacking strings. There is obviously some most enjoyable James Jamerson to drool over and some amazing John Entwistle but just to give you a start off, listen to Sir Duke. Not all the notes we all thought!!

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1494238652' post='3294151'] I would recommend getting a cheap precision/jazz copy. Take it to bits. rebuild it. Mess with the truss rod. Mess with the bridge. Get to know these components and the limitations, if any, on the cheap bass. You may even find you improve a bass and start to experiment with what works for you. Get your hands dirty and if you break something, no biggie. At least you know how far to bend or turn something before it gets dangerous. [/quote] Totally. Only thing I have to say is though IMOHE, if you do follow the average set-up video, only set up on it's back up to the ballpark settings. Do the final action, relief and pups heights with the guitar in it's PLAYING position. Everything changes with gravity and magnet-pulling when it's laying flat.

Bring back The Old Grey Whistle Test. End of story.

Helps if you played ordinary guitar, after that bass is a doddle. Listen to loads of music, attempt to play every style. Play at least 15 mins a day. (Keep this quiet but I take mine in when I have a poo) .....ah....maybe TMI.....

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1491410159' post='3272840'] FM still does bass. DAB loses a lot of the bottom octave due to lousy bandwidth. [/quote]Listen to Radio X on DAB. Nice and bassy!! Damn fine toons too.

In a nutshell, if you slap and pop then they're good for that hi-fi crispness, but if you play ordinary stuff then they're a total pain. They just amplify your finger squeaks and sound like an annoying wasp's nest. You can turn the treble down to lose it but then your bass's character disappears. Higher end equipment can sound great though if you have a spare grand to drop.

So many memories there in the 70's. Pink Floyd, Queen, Rod and The Faces, Rory Gallagher. Loads I can't even recall. Went there once with an engineer pal to collect some lighting cables, went under the stage and through a maze of secret corridors in between the outer wall and auditorium to a small hatch-like door and ducked through into the mixing console balcony under the circle and watched Dr Hook one night. Amazing days.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1488742967' post='3251477'] Tissue paper in layers with wood glue.. [/quote] Yep. Spot on. (Done that in my time!)

I've just come in from The Guildhall Southampton after watching the great Sum 41 and although the drums sounded awesome and the guitars and vocals stood out very nicely, the poor bass guy might as well have stayed in the dressing room with a cuppa and a newspaper. I could clearly see him playing but all I heard was something like a 10 litre truck revving it's engine for an hour and a half. WHEN OH WHEN in this day and age of modern audio technology are we actually going to hear a proper bass sound reproduced through a p.a system rather than an indistinct low mushy rumble which does nothing but rattle seats and internal organs???? It's like at The Brook and Engine Rooms too. Just a total waste of time, effort and talent. Okay, rant over. No, actually I'm going to rant in bed now. And in the morning at work. So there.

Yes Spondon, I took care of the pups height too and like dmc I'm getting to like 40-100's too after a trial on a spare bass. Every day's a school day!

Just for the hell of it I lowered my normal setup action from 6/64ths E - 5/64ths G down a smidge to 5/64ths - 4/64ths (@17th fret) and adopted a lighter playing style and over the weekend have suddenly become more confident and more accurate in my playing. Gone are the thumping fingers, nasty string 'clack' and with it that initial momentary touch of grunt in the note when the volume's up the steamy end. Watch and listen to guys like Nathan East, his fingers are merely stroking the strings and everything is so composed and in the pocket. (God, I hate that saying!!) Re-training and new discipline after all these years, but so worth it. It REALLY is all in the hands more than the instrument.

Peavey Combos, brilliant beasts. Carlsboro Stingray head I had back in the day?? More bass in a little transistor radio. Sh*te piece of junk.

That's exactly what I was trying to put across, GB. Unless a nut was fitted by Stevie Wonder, it's going to be near enough and usable in a ballpark measurement and most certainly getting a neck as straight as buzz-free possible is the goal. One thing I must also stress is DON'T adjust anything with the guitar on it's back like in these dumb tutorials, gravity will drop the strings lower than you actually want. ALWAYS set up string and pickup height in a playing position. And watch that magnetic pull while you're doing it !!

Sorry to sound a moaner but there's no such thing as a 'proper' set up. Manufacturers give a standard set of measurements as a basis to start with. After that EVERY guitar is different. EVERY player is different. You like a low action at 4/64ths with a hint of buzz, nice. Some people can't stand that and as they may play harder will like a higher action possibly 7/64ths. As for pickups, the nearer to the strings will be more aggressive and further away more mellow. THAT is what's known as 'feel', adjusting every parameter until it's just perfect for you. James Jamerson had an action you could put a pencil under, Scott Devine has low/ buzzy action like yours.

Cut a postcard or an old small Xmas/birthday card to the size of the whole neck pocket then cut it in half, put one piece into the neck pocket right up against the end as snug as it will go and make two new holes in the card where the screw holes are. Refit the neck (making sure the card stays in place) and as you introduce the long screws turn them anti clockwise and with a light pressure you will feel a slight clunk as they find the thread in the neck heel. This ensures you don't start off a new thread and weaken the existing one. Now start to turn them in by hand and eventually use a snug fitting Philips to take them home just tight enough, and before final tightening, check the strings are sitting equally and not too far over to one side of the fretboard (simply grab the headstock end and push either way until they look good) and finally nip them up, not too heavy handed.You'll now be amazed how low the strings are and instantly have loads of adjustment on the saddles. If it turns out to be too much, it's a simple task to take the neck off again and replace the piece of card with something slightly thinner. Experiment. Have fun while you're gaining experience!!

Why and when the heck did Axesrus stop doing their own bass pickups? I've bought a few p bass pups in the past for projects and upgrades and theirs were brilliant low and punchy things at less than £30 if I remember rightly. Now they only do DeMarzios at £85. Okay, they may be damn fine pups but at that price I might as well add a few more quids and get actual Fenders. Boo I say.

Brought = something you decided to bring with you. Bought = something you paid for. For South Hampshire people mostly........

I've been using them for about three years and never had any complaints. Great strings at a great price although lately have sneaked up to £12.99 which is still very comfy on the pocket. I honestly personally can't hear anything bad once we're playing live or rehearsal and probably sticking my neck out here saying is it a case of 'Emporor's new clothes' as far as strings three times the price are concerned? Agreed that not all strings suit all basses but it's definitely all in the hands of the player. I'm more than sure the likes of Paladino sound just as fluent and sickenly amazing on a Squier Affinty as much as a top of the range Lakland.

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1485543179' post='3224862'] I use rotas quite a bit and they seem to stay bright for ages but I don't sweat much or play heavy [/quote] Same as you, I guess some people's sweaty fingers must kill some strings but I use Legacy (really Rotosounds repackaged) and they keep a level tone for ages.

I need you to sit down...... Y'know Jimi Hendrix? Well.......

I've always used 45 - 105 simply out of habit. I fancy trying 40 - 100 but I don't know if they're going to lose 'fatness' in the sound. Just how much difference actually is there? I know there'll be slightly less tension but maybe that will make me play a bit lighter.

[quote name='Adethefade' timestamp='1484986190' post='3220141'] A couple of observations; when you adjust a saddle screw, if the string is under tension sometimes the saddle won't actually move. You need to lift the string from the saddle seating to free its movement up. Also, I have, on a couple of occasions, found that the pickup being set too high can mess with intonation; probably because of the magnet 'pull'. When you fret the note at the 12th, it's important to apply the sort of pressure you'd realistically use when playing the instrument. If you press too hard, the note will be 'bent' out of tune. I [i]always[/i] set intonation with the instrument in the playing position, not on the bench, because the readings will be different. As has been said, it's important to get your head around the direction of adjustment - moving the saddle away from the neck will flatten the noise, and towards the neck will sharpen it...and remember that any adjustment is applied to the [i]whole string[/i]; you have to retune the open note after every movement, before checking the fretted note. [/quote] Totally this. Beats me why in tutorial videos by so-called expert luthiers they have guitars laying on their backs on supports adjusting string heights and pickups. Gravity always wins and the strings will drop towards the neck and pickups ruining any adjustments and will inevitably be different when standing up playing. ALWAYS set up sitting in the playing position. And one more little tip on intonation, check out the 19th fret octave with the previous string and make the final sweet adjustment.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1484834379' post='3218904'] The amp is far more likely the source of that noise than the speakers. [/quote] Totally. I had an Arsedown Evo which always had that very slight 'fizzing' at the tail end of a note. Tried two other different amps with my cabs and completely clean. Curiously enough, one of their 'After Eight' 15 watters fizzed too even through an extension cab.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1484398251' post='3215188'] £230 is not cheap and cheerful for a Westone Thunder 1. They're good basses but worth trying first to find if it is the one for you. [/quote] I bought a very tidy one a little while ago for £100 as it had a wire needing soldering on the battery clip. £230 is way too high, £150 to £180 if it's fairly mint. Nice guitar though although the p bass pups don't sound anything like a p bass. Damn powerful active though.

It's so off the wall it's beautiful. Bonus now with the reversed pup, gotta sound nice and punchy.