Dom in Dorset

The Festival is (mostly) popular with the locals, it skips a year every 4-5 years.

Got back late last night, I had a gig that clashed with Blondie . Saw Metallica , I've never considered myself a fan but was blown away by them, they are pretty damn intense! (and loud) I didn't have any reason to suspect that Dolly's singing was mimed, the sax that she was holding looked like a soprano but the sound you heard was an alto! Stuff that may not have been on TV that impressed me Rev Payton's Big Damn Band - Slide guitar , drums and washboard! It shouldn't work but really does. The Dodge Brothers -Film critic Mark Kermode on double bass (great player) rockabilly band , I saw them with one of his old school friends , introduced after the show. Brushy One String - one string guitarist, I wanted to see him but his gig was cancelled , not sure why.

After a while you'll find yourself doing more complex bass lines or or playing with the timing of the lyrics without thinking about it. It just becomes routine.

I take a share of lead and backing vocals. As others have said it's down to practice. If I know the bassline and lyrics off by heart it works, slightest moment of doubt and it starts to fall apart!

I like my strings under the frets. It took a while to get the set up just right but there is very little fret buzz.

I added a piezo to a passive P and it added an extra layer of treble response, great for slap. The bass in question is the light weight cut down festival bitsa you (APA) saw at the bass bash last year. I've accidentally bought a 24 fret neck for it and I'm fitting it with Jazz pickups. The piezo bridge is already on it, seems a shame not to wire it in.

Hi, I'm thinking of adding a piezo bridge to a jazz bass, I'd like to have a volume pot for it. Anyone know of a wiring diagram for such a beast? Basically a three pickup jazz bass.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1393839836' post='2384755'] According to this it appears to be 11 3/4" from the 12th fret to the split between the two halves of the pickup [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/distance-12th-fret-fender-p-bass-pickup-314560/"]http://www.talkbass....-pickup-314560/[/url] [/quote] Bingo! thanks, keep them coming it would be interesting to see if there is any variations between makers.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1393834506' post='2384706'] Sorrreeee. My mistake - thought you were doing a Bitsa "P". I'll measure from the bridge saddles to the centre of the pole pieces. That should sort you out. Cheers. [/quote] Thanks again, but bridge saddles being movable aren't ideal, it really must be from the 12th. Pickups tend to sit under certain harmonics or in places where frets would be if the neck continued, not sure what difference it makes but manufacturers usually seem to do it this way.

Thanks Ikay, I'll take a proper look through later but first impressions are that there is some subtle variations , some show the pickup touching the pickguard, some show a gap.

Thanks Eric, pickguards vary (the bass in your pic doesn't have one!) , could you measure from the 12th fret to the E/A poles please?

I'm building a bitsa bass with two precision pickups. I'm trying to find out where the bridge pickup should go. Anyone got such a bass? Where is the bridge pickup?

I put them as close together as possible but still allowing access to the machunes. A problem with twins is that optimum playing position can be compromised (get the top neck in the right place and the bottom neck is uncomfortable and vice versa) getting them close reduces the level of compromise. As for balance I think it had some neck dive but not too bad with a thick strap (I recycled the parts ages ago) If I remember rightly the body was only 30mm thick and weighed about the same as a standard bass body, the weight built up once the hardware and necks went on (two lots of necks , bridges, tuners etc weighs a hell of a lot) In total it weighed[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] 6.25Kg / 14lb [/font][/color]

There was no pop when switching. Setting the necks at different depths is something I considered, it could also allow you to get the necks closer together without compromising access to the machine heads.. If I did it again I would go Steinberger, I'd be able to get the necks closer together and drastically reduce the weight. Being able to change necks even on occasion mid song was great but to keep costs down I couldn't build the bass I really wanted.

Can't get the first link to work.

I played a twin neck for a couple of years , I came to the conclusion that the only way to get the weight down was to go Steinberger! I did plan a second attempt but the cost was going to be astronomical (you are building two basses)

This way madness lies...

I only made a precision plate in the end, I think if I'd made the body thicker and thus reduced the height of the strings I would have persuid it further. If I did it again I'd start with a standard bass body , chop bits of and rout stuff out., looking forward to seeing your take on this idea...

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1393365683' post='2379498'] Cool! Slightly left field but looking forward to see what you come up with! BTW what is the black bass you got in the garden there? [/quote] See the caption bellow the picture and http://basschat.co.uk/topic/181605-multi-function-swiss-army-festival-bass/page__p__2186419__hl__festival__fromsearch__1#entry2186419

Sorry I missed your last comment... it's had a fair bit of use, the only downside is that the strings are quite high above the body (but not the neck) it's a little heavy going to play. It's being recycled, see "Drunken Ebay Purchase thread"

Ok , I'd had a few beers and logged into ebay (not quite sure what I was looking for) I accidentally bought this: not entirely sure why???? Anyway, it sat around for a few days and nearly became firewood (it is real wood but has some dodgy routing on the back to make the pots more accessible) Eventually I got inspired to build a junk bass from bits bought of ebay while drunk. However....after drawing on it with a marker pen to see what it would look like with the horns chopped off: So now I'm thinking, all black, double P pickups and I'll take the neck from this : (this was a compact light weight bass for travel/festivals/rough gigs, it worked well but I've had my fun with it , time to move on) So here we go a new project...

when did everyone leave in the end? Thanks for organizing this years event.

Welcome aboard Norm, see you there.

I read it as it's a building nearby that's going to be demolished, the building his gear is in has been evacuated because it is close by.