LITTLEWING

Is it just an aesthetic thing or does each string HAVE to line up between the pole pieces on split P pickups? I just put a Wilkinson bridge with brass saddles (improved the tone massively) with narrower string spacing on a project P as an experiment on easier playing etc. but obviously the strings now don't lie directly between the pole pieces. The volume and overall tone hasn't changed to my ears, so does it really matter as much? After all, if the pups had 'blank' covers on, how would one even know where the strings sat above them as long as they're in the magnetic field?

Anyone near Poole, this guy is a legend. [url="https://www.facebook.com/john.j.benton?fref=ts"]https://www.facebook.com/john.j.benton?fref=ts[/url]

Absolutely!! Sockets tarnish VERY quickly in outside humidity and sound like crap until you scrape the contacts bright and clean again. And a spider suddenly appearing on your dashboard doing 70mph to a gig doesn't go down at all well....

Have you pressed the new strings firmly over the pickup side of the saddles? Gives them a slight angle as hours of playing naturally would and makes them sound alive. (Try it on any bass right now if you don't believe it) It's possible the new ones are in an arc on the saddles not only giving minimal contact but are further away from the bridge pickup in particular causing the drop in volume although your description does sound lead-like.

I've found that a set of watchmaker's screwdrivers are just about the right sizes of average bass nut slots. Wrap a small bit of fine sandpaper around the business end shaft keeping it on taut with finger and thumb and keep 'shafting' (oo-er missus !) and checking with each string tensioned up until you're happy with depth and width. Doesn't take long to go through plastic. Bone takes a bit longer.

I've always had mine on any passive or active bass right up on full and generally control the output for each song with my fingers. TBH I don't use it for any other reason than to turn it down when it's not in use in it's stand. I guess if there was a REALLY quiet number I would nip it down to suit. I personally employ the tone control more than anything to fine tune if needed to tame the required level.

I loaned a newfound musician mate a 100 watt Orange valve guitar amp in the mid '80s as he didn't own a decent one and he moved house suddenly. Never found out where he went. Somewhere out there I still actually own a classic amp worth a few pretty pennies.....

Ideally you should never keep any gear in an unheated outdoor room. All kinds of corrosion can start up. A pal had a Hartke 2 x 15" cab once which suddenly sounded like the speakers had blown, hardly a sound out of it apart from a distorted fart. Cut a long story short it turned out to be a tarnished jack socket. Quick clean up and a squirt of electrical lube and it was cracking windows again.

Okay, okay. I didn't read it properly. It's just that as soon as I see the words guitar and attic I'm reminded of a mate's Fender Strat which he put up in his loft when he gave up playing for about ten years and when he retrieved it one day it was, well, not very healthy and I found it difficult holding back the tears... I'm back on the right tablets now.

What the hell is anyone doing storing guitars in an attic anyway ?? Have you been up there in the summer - feckin' hot like an oven, and winter - like a bleedin' walk in freezer. You want to shag your prized instruments to death, then carry on. You've only got yourself to blame when they're split, rusty and warped. 'Kin hell !!!

I'm looking at somehow tilting back my combo to hear better when we're playing but can only find stands for sale which will raise it off the ground. I know the normal practice is to have a cab as much on the floor as possible, but is there REALLY any discernible loss in bass and 'good' tone if it's up in the air somewhat ?

Absolutely spot on.

Now THERE'S another thing.....Fender and the Haynes Fender manual say about setting up the heights but is that at the 17th with a capo at the first fret or without? I set my P and Jazz without a capo at 7/64" at the E at the 17th fret gradually sloping to 5/64" at the G and that gives me a nice relationship between finger/thumb and plectrum as long as I don't get too enthusiastic.

Just a quick update, I took the speaker out and found a large lump of 40 x 40cm wood pinned diagonally across the back panel which looks like there were vibration problems with the cabinet at some point, so as an experiment I screwed a fairly large piece of hard foam to it effectively raising it off the rear panel aiming to kill some box-ey sound waves. Slap me hard and call me Doris, but it actually sounds like a bloody good quality combo now. Used it yesterday at praccy and I was smilng like a dog with two wotsits. No more bare wood cabs for me in the future. (Notes to Rumble 100 owners - 1/ disconnect completely unnecessary tweeter, 2/ disconnect completely unnecessary red led's, 3/ fix a lump of foam to rear internal panel, 4/ snip the spade connectors off the speaker wires and SOLDER them on. (You will now have a sensible combo).

Cheers, chaps. Happy New Year.

Does anyone find sound deadening inside bass cabs good or bad? I use a Fender Rumble 100 with a 15" speaker in our rehearsal space (disconnected the tweeter-yuk!!) and the stupid red Leds. (yuk again!!). Anyhow, its always sounded great up to about half volume and then after that begins to sound too harsh as though the bass is 'fighting' itself. The cab isn't exactly very deep so could the waves be reflecting off the back too much? I was thinking about damping the inside just on the back with something or other to possibly 'tame' the middle boom.

Cheers B-B, What great reviews, guess what I just may be purchasing!!

Had to resort to my trusty old Westfield back up bass recently and as the drop in clarity etc was a bit of a bummer, I've been looking at not-too-expensive replacement P bass pups. I found Wilkinson's MWPBs, ones from Axesrus and ones from a guitar chap called Entwistle all sub £30. Any recommendations please, guys (and gals) ?

Point taken Dave bass5, thing was I was just amazed after reading over a dozen or so posts about the poor quality of DR's that some people actually defend them. I was simply stating that the price of so called super strings on the market is WAY over the top just to hammer away and sweat over them at a gig then bin them once they've died. I'd rather buy cheaper decent sounding strings and not think twice about the prestige/brand name/colour. Your opinion is yours and probably loads will agree with you, but hey, we're all different and the world spins around nicely for that reason. All the best, old bean.

Well, excuse me for trying to help. You just carry on shelling out £40 a time for strings that the paint peels off, you have to make a dozen phone calls or emails and wait for replacements for dead//broken strings and all the while you can't use your favourite bass till they arrive. Personally, I'd give DR the biggest sod off tablet I could and find listen to people giving good advice on decent affordable smile-making strings and carry on with un-interrupted playing. Just can't help some folk.............

Chaps, do yourselves a favour and check out LEGACY bass strings from Strings Direct. They're nice and tight and don't go sharp when fretted, don't flop about like some limp d*cks and consistently sound and feel damn nice. I can't think who's make they feel like, but here's the best bit. Set of four 45/105's = £7.99 Set of five 130's = £9.99 Yes, you read right. I got them on my Aria Pro 2 and my old trusty Precision and gig regularly with them. I'm in no way connected to the company, I just want to pass this on. I hate seeing and hearing people getting ripped off with all the hyped up crap out there.

I tried Prosteels once, great strings at first, died dramatically after three gigs and two four hour rehearsals. Bought a set of Nano's last summer, still on now. Maybe a smidge less zing but nothing as dead as them dead 'Steels. Sure, they get a little feathered with a pick but what the heck.

[quote name='M-Bass-M' timestamp='1392995709' post='2375088'] Yup, full or off for me too. If I generally need more volume, then I turn the amp up. If I need more volume mid-song, then invariably I'll create dynamics by plucking softer / harder. Only exception to the rule is using a Jazz style V-V-T setup, and I want to bring in a small amount of the bridge PuP to add a bit of bark... [/quote]Yup, same here. The only issue though is any bass I've owned with two pups and volumes, (I'm using a Squier VM jazz just now) there only seems to be any appreciable difference at the last 20% of each pot. You say you add a small amount of bridge to the mix, I assume this isn't from 'zero' upwards?

I play in a 3 piece covers outfit and if I didn't venture up the neck we'd sound a bit bland. Plus there are times (during a guitar solo) when you really have to fill in the space if you're *musically able. *this part is VERY important. It never hurt that old Cream band........

Anyone know where I can buy a new 'centre detent' pot for my 3 band EQ ? Switch cleaner/lube isn't doing it. Can't seem to see one on the usual parts sites.