LITTLEWING

Yeah, I got the rebate thing too, Paid £247. Had two guys come up for a chat after Saturday's gig complementing the sound. To say I'm a happy bunny with it is an understatement!

Yeah, you're right, the nut is 47.6mm, I read somewhere it was 42mm. BUT just to confuse things, I just measured my neck after the nut and it's a comfy 45mm. All I know is, it's one beautiful player!! I got mine from Nevada in Portsmouth.

Do yourself a favour, check out the Squier Vintage Modified 5 string with a 42mm nut. It's an incredible player and goes for around £272. I've had mine for 6 weeks and can't put it down, it's just so damn nice.

Hi guys, just gotta say my new VM5 is the bee's nuts, tits, and every other adjective. Put it thru' my Ashdown 300 Evo 2 head and Peavey 410 TVX at last nite's first 2012 gig, and if my smile got any wider, the top of my head would have fallen off! Well done chaps for an incredible set of wood and wires for sub £300. Nice, very nice.

Funny you should bring that up. I have an Ashdown Mag 300 Evo2 head which I was playing thru' a 2 x 15" Hartke and had the same thing for a few seconds. The meter went max and there was a squeal and I think I saw the speaker cones move out a good inch, unless I was seeing things. At that exact moment I was standing very close to the head at an angle near the 'output' knob end with my Yammy on 'active'. I can only assume it was some kind of microphonic feedback thing with an internal component. It hasn't done it ever again, although I keep my distance after that. Incidentally, I'm now going through a Peavey 4 x 10" TVX.

Just thought I'd share my joy. Having gotten fed up with trying to get 'that' sound each time I set up in a venue, the bar guy brought out two plastic bottle crates and suggested getting my 4 x 10" off the wooden stage floor to help improve the sound. OMG!!! There it was all the time. Simply raising the rig a measly foot off the floor brought the whole sound higher to my hearing area and I played the rest of the night with the biggest grin on my face. (I somehow sort of found them in my car when I got home that night. Don't know HOW they got there, officer). Happy days!!

Just to add my ten pence worth, I just got a pair of Etymotic ER20's for less than a tenner and they're fantastic. Takes all frequencies down to a safe level and the standard fit are absolutely perfect. I'd recommend them to anyone. Lovely plugs.

Just to add more choice and confusion, I just bought a pair of ETYMOTIC RESEARCH ER20 standard fit plugs for under a tenner. Smaller than the usual ER20's, but a fantastic fit, great protection and can hear more frequencies but a lot quieter and tons more comfortable. Magic stuff.

Elixir Nanowebs last for absolutely ages. Okay, like me, if you're a pick user, the playing end starts to look a bit tatty where the coating starts to wear off, but I think they're the bee's knees. They're a tad dear to buy initialy, but totally worth it in the long run.

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1321565049' post='1440831'] I've never quite understood why people feel the need to measure the string height. The fact is, you can set a bass up using measurements, and it'll still play like a bag of crap. There are far too many variables in a bass neck to be able to successfully measure it that accurately; the fact it's made from wood and despite being quality, well seasoned wood, and being reinforced by a truss rod, it is still susceptible to climate change and will move and twist ever so slightly. Factor in the frets too; fret wear, some of them may lift ever so slightly over time, etc, etc, and you get the picture. When I worked in one guitar shop, we had a top of the range, Prestige Ibanez RG which was ordered in for a customer and had to be sent back twice because it buzzed so badly and even choked some of the notes higher up the fretboard. I spoke to the technician on the phone who said; "I don't understand it, I've set it up twice and the measurements are spot on!" IMHO, the only way to get the best out of a bass is to set it up intuitively. Play it, see how it feels, and keep taking the string height down until you get a bit of buzz and then tweak it back up a little. Some seem to set up better with a slight relief in the neck, others seem to take a better set up with the neck almost dead straight. This is all just IME and IMO of course. [/quote] Couldn't agree more. it's totally different for every guitar. Play, feel, adjust, repeat until happy. Simples.

I mean 110% playing. Keeping tight, best harmonies etc. and perfect endings. Admittedly, we could banter more with the crowd and get some sort of guage that way. Having said all that, we had a first time gig at a local and they went crazy after every toon, did three encores and the landlady couldn't stop thanking us for coming their way, so it can't be us! Crazy world...

I am getting to the point where I'm thinking of quitting the gig scene. I know there's a reccession on, but where is everyone on a Friday and Saturday night? Even the one's that do turn up can't even be bothered to clap at the the end of each song. We always give 110% and expect a small ripple of applause at least, but every time... nothing. My daughter was out in a pub with a four piece playing and the same occured there. Don't people show appreciation any more these days or are there so many bands around that we're just human jukeboxes? I know it's not the be all and end all, but it's nice to get some feedback to let you know you're doing it right!

Just started using my ESP Ltd B-55 again after yearning for the old passive sound and thought I'd bounce this query off some other heads - when I roll the tone control down towards 'dull', it starts mudding off as normal, but the last 10% of the pot goes quiet to nothing like a volume control. Everythng looks okay in the control cavity, nothing touching or anything. What's happening?

Okay, looks like I was searching for something that wasn't actually there. I emailed the supplier with my query re: possible duff string (it was actually a sort of dull tan colour, what difference it made I don't know) and within the blink of an eye a new string plopped onto my doormat. Put the new one on and it's ringing clear as a proverbial. Just goes to show, don't blame your bridge, body, saddles before you try another string. HUGE thanks to Aire Guitars via the Bay and Strings & Things for their fantastic customer service. If you don't ask, you don't get. Happy days!

Just got to say a huge thanks to Aire Guitars and Strings and Things for their recent incredibly friendly and fast response to an issue with a well known coated 5 strings set bought via the Bay. A new string was on my doormat before I could throw another dart at a picture of Billy Sheehan. Cheers again, guys.

Anybody have any idea why the E string sounds dead and dull while the other four are bright as a button on my brand new set of 5's ? Faulty string ?(It actually looks a tad orange although they're allegedly coated in enamel = rust ?) Saddles are tight down on the bridge and grubs are all tight and balanced, neck screws are tight.

IMHO, all the theory in the world won't make you the next best thing. It's like reading all about driving a car then getting into the driving seat for the first time and going WTF?? Scales do help, obviously, but you just need a cheap metronome and start with simple three chord tricks (12 bar or the like) and keep playing till your timing is good. Then get a mate to play simple chords on guitar over and over while you play and see what fits nicely within those chords. THEN you'll be ready to progress as the next door creaks slowly open to the next room full more bass fun. I've been playing in bands and studios since God was in shorts and I'm still finding new stuff!!

HEY, HEY!!! I took all the advice and did everything, bananas, fruit drink, exercises, warm-ups, breathing, relative hand/neck position and it worked a treat. Not a hint of cramp, no embarassing odours and I can now ride a bike, swim and do all the things I was afraid to do before. No, seriously, as with all activities it all makes sense. If you're going to play for two hours pressing down thick lumps of wound wire onto a hard wooden fretboard with your fingers, just get ready for it. Simple as that. Thanks again guys.

Wow, thanks chaps. Glad I'm not alone! I'll try all those before I do next Friday and Saturday's gigs.

Hi guys, not sure which section this should be in, but once in a blue moon my 'neck' hand index finger will cramp up in a fixed down position for a minute while playing a certain pattern during a long song. It goes after the particular riff is done, but it's damn annoying. I'm 54 years young, probably doesn't help, but it's embarassing when you're trying to give 100% and you fail for those few moments! Any ideas - more fluid intake, bananas (potassium), drop that particular number?