Kongo

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1340977952' post='1712352'] +10000 I was on acne medication that was basically high amounts of Vitamin A and it made all my joints ache incredibly. It also causes muscle breakdown. I was advised not to exercise or even play bass for about a year! [/quote] It is a little known fact, so I'm made aware. So many on medication etc fall under this...and as a musician your quite likely to hit it. Many using their joints for a while take to Cod Liver Oil...nothing wrong with that...Then they also take multivitamins...Cod Liver Oil already has 100% RDA of Vitamin A, add the other 100% Vitamin A in the multivitamins and over the space of a week you'll start feeling the effects of toxicity. This makes many believe they have arthritis when in fact, it's their "daily supplements" having a negative effect. :-)

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1340397278' post='1704130'] Dean still make some lovely instruments but unfortunately, like BC Rich, they get classed as low end heavy metal guitars by people who have never seen or played the older US models. [/quote] Same with ESP / LTD and Ibanez in some respects. Although low end when some will cost you £2500 is no joke. Such a shame people forget an instrument doesn't play itself. :-P

Ah the old "Fake it until you make it" gag. X-D

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1340900657' post='1711326']Remember, on a properly setup bass you can achieve a much lower action with heavy gauge strings! [/quote] That's what the general census seems to say...Yet I always seem to be the other way round? Hmmm but then again, maybe it's technique? Take my Yamaha TRB6II...very well made bass so the fretwork is fantastic (although the years are beginning to show). Last gauge was .25 .45 .65 .85 .105 .135, action pretty damn low. Now I've gone back to .30 .45 .65 .80 .100 .130 I can get it lower, same on my cheaper basses, whereas before the string would always catch a higher fret. other than tension...I do wonder the physics behind this. But yeah, high action causing pain? Unless your playing some sloooooow Blues lines or something it's not worth keeping action high any more. More wear on hands. Oh and a random note...also cause of hand pain? Too much Vitamin A...True story. :-P

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1340841990' post='1710531'] I'm sold! Dunno what to do with the D'addarios though? They only did a 2 hour studio session last week, but obviously I cut them to fit my bass (3+2 headstock), so I can't really sell them...... [/quote] Keep em as spares. I used Roto's for a bit but quickly came back. That tone your enjoying won't last, that's if one doesn't snap whilst tuning. That's my experience with em anyway. Aching hands though? Careful dude. If things get too tough during a song and it's just rehearsal, back off and shake off when you can. RSI / Carpel Tunnel LOVES to jump you at those moments. Few years ago I was minding my own business when all of a sudden...BOOM my hand stopped working and pain shot all over...RSI from nowhere. 2 months healing and THEN getting them back to strength after.

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1340654273' post='1707717'] Recently strung my Viger Arpege with the DR DDTs heavy gauge which is 55-135. It works fine for tuning a whole tone down. I would have thought that they would have at least had a 140 or more for B, but the 135 works fine for A though, which is as low as I need. Still the 55 and 75 are fairly tight at F and C respectively but eminently usable. Personally I think something like 50 - 70 - 95 - 115 - 140 would have been a lot more balanced but I have found it difficult to source many five string sets with anything bigger than a 105 on the E string. I might stick with the DRs as the tone is way better than what I was using (even when I was tuned to standard), but the cost is seriously offputting. Before that I was pretty much a 45 -130, with it usually being Rotosound or Ernie Ball. [/quote] Although it costs a slight bit more, I'd buy a 4-string set in the heavy gauge with the .110 and then add a low-B to it. It's what I did back in the "armour cable" days. X-D

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1340483343' post='1705201'] Interesting stuff.....! Is your 5er strung through the body or something? I used standard long scale D'addario Prosteels on my TRB (35" scale) and they fitted fine. In fact, if you check D'addario's website they state that their long scale are suitable for a string scale length of up to 36.25"! Think I may get on stringbusters.com in a minute and order some of those .040" - .125" and give them a go. I'm sure I've wasted £20 on worse things! [/quote] Nope, through bridge. Yamaha TRB6II, so 35" scale. The taper towards the headstock falls shy of the nut. :-/

Used to have one here in my city like that, until it went bust...then got bought out...then finally died again. Even as I became a better player I felt bad going in there all the time because most of the staff were so condescending if you asked almost anything and would hardly ever help. I used to feel so stupid when I just started out asking any questions and so...my relationship with online purchases started. :-) [quote name='Jack' timestamp='1340469986' post='1704967'] I hate this, went in to Guitar Guitar in Newcastle specifically to look at a MB Fusion (I asked for it by name), I was shown to the Aguilar Tone Hammers, because they're "much better than anything GK makes and much, much smaller than those massive GK heads". [/quote] This also. My 2nd bass was a 6-string, I got it online in the end but I went to Nottingham once as they have loads of music shops and one I went to did actually have a 6-string but it was £1500. The reply I got when I said that was too much was a few things...1st I got "You won't find 6-string basses much cheaper than that"...Which got me to hand him the Peavey brochure I picked up in a shop previous...So, having a subtle smack in the face I then got "Well, you never need more than 4-strings anyway...what are you, a guitarist?"...Riiiiiiiight. A newer shop in my city currently however...staff as helpful as you like...for now.

I have waaaaaaaaay too many basses now. I used to buy them to use in my only band but it got silly...mostly just testing different types to find what I liked really. However more recently I decided that 2 of my 6-strings, one fretted, one not, are for the band. The rest I am using at home now I've gotten back into learning songs etc so I can have a main in the band and main at home etc. I've given them different jobs / tunings etc the only issue is they are of so many different brands, spacings and scales it's a menace to muscle memory at times. I'd shed them and buy more similar models but tbh, I've seen people put em up around here and most wouldn't shift without mass undercuts so...I'm stuck with em. X-D It's a problem sometimes I agree...I always wanted "The One" but in all honesty, unless you always play one genre, band and tuning...you'll never get it. Like a variety of tools in a box, each bass has it's different use. However, I would suggest trying to get them as similar to each other as you can. ;-) [quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1340388357' post='1703989'] How do you get rid of GAS? Is there any cure? [/quote] Nope, your terminal. X-D