Dom in Dorset

The necks tunred up today, they were from here: [url="http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS__W0QQ_armrsZ1"]http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS__W0QQ_armrsZ1[/url] they were £49 each, reading stuff on here about off the peg necks it seemed that necks from £50-£100 are prety much the same, good and bad stories about cheap and mid price necks. I chose this shop because they gave precise measurments ie width at the nut, 12th fret etc. the necks were ordered on friday, turned up saturday (while I was out). Both necks have a slightly raised 3rd fret, not a big problem , otherwise nicely made, quite delicate. The next step is to try some dummy bodies from mdf, ply etc, to get the ergonomics and ballance sorted. Yes , my photos are cr@p!, It's a cheap camera and I'm sh1t at photography + my hands start shaking as soon as i pick up a camera.

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='722259' date='Jan 23 2010, 03:52 PM']? I was told that you shouldnt rest any of your arm on the guitar as it can aggrivate the wrist and cause injuries - is that not true ?[/quote] I'm not a medical man but it's never caused me any problems (as far as I know John Entwistle didn't suffer any problems either, and he would have put in a lot more playing hours than me) IMO what you were told is most definitely not true. It's a very comfortable way to play the Tbird and it cures the neck dive. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the designers intension that it should be played like that, try it , it feels just right.

[quote name='Shaggy' post='722064' date='Jan 23 2010, 12:00 PM']Personally I think this is one of those myths that gets handed down to each successive generation of bassists. (second statement agreed with, of course!) I like to rest my right hand on the top body bout so you can really dig in hard and fast against the strings - like Thunderfingers (pic) - only wish I had an ounce of the talent! That's what makes my '65 T'bird IV the most ergonomic bass I've ever played, by a big margin. The well-known strap button re-position mod sorts out the balance issue. [/quote] I do agree with this, in my original post I meant that if you like Tbirds it doesn't matter what design flaws they are said to have, you still love them and play them. I also play with my right hand resting on the body, it cures the neck dive without having to move the strap button.

The T bird is all about the triumph of style over practicality. It's the bass that says "wake up , it's time to rock!" I've got an epi, I'd have a Gibson if I had the cash.

Like: Thunderbirds Jazz basses Natural finishes acoustic bass Steinberger stick bass twin necks Dislike: long skinny horns any headless bass (appart from the Steinberger) MM bongos Active pick ups (appart from acoustic basses) playing through a single 15" speeker.

The simplest way to cure neck dive on a T Bird is to rest your right fore arm over the back end of the bass like so:

Lemmy's playing on Hawkwind's Space Ritual album.

Not bad for a gcse woodwork project.

Reminds me of stuff here: [url="http://www.junkguitars.com/pictures.html"]http://www.junkguitars.com/pictures.html[/url] Thumbs down from me, uglier than a bongo - too right. I knew I'd seen it before:

I play with a drummer who has also played with Nick Turner's Space Ritual - that puts me on the extreme outer edge of the Hawkwind family tree. sort of.

I don't know if this is true or not but a friend of mine recently told me that a lot of fretless basses have the pick ups set very low, far bellow the strings "flush with the body" My bass has a piezo bridge pick up so I can't be sure. Might be worth a try.

I've been playing fretless for a few months now. For my first fretless I used a de-fretted rosewood board and filled the gaps with blackwood dust and glue, faint lines to encourage myself to learn to play without looking. I'm getting on well with it and played a good gig in a dark venue where I couldn't see the lines at all. I'll be useing the same pick ups and bridges for both necks initialy so I could swap the necks if I'm not happy but I'd rather not nacker the strings by faffing about with them too much. I'm selling a few things to raise funds and will start work ASAP, I will be posting stuff on the build diary when I have something to show.

I'm planning to build a twin neck, fretted/fretless. I've made most of the decisions and one question remains... Which neck on top, which neck at the bottom? I like to play fretted with my right hand flopped over the back end of the bass Entwistle style, so fretted at the top? Is it more important to have the fretless at the top for greater ease of control? Before you say "why have twin neck, wouldn't it be easier to use two basses?" - It's not about practicality, I like prog rock and think that twin necks are cool.

Bowie's "Star Man" you can see people's faces during the intro and first verse looking puzzled -they know this song but what is it? When the chorus comes in that look changes to "Oh wow! It's that one!" if they are p1ssed enough they all join in on the nah nah nah bit. It's a bitch to play and requires the vocal range of a god.

[quote name='redzombie' post='701227' date='Jan 5 2010, 06:43 AM']I want to write and record an album and play everything on it, as well as sing. Might get one or two friends to "guest" on guitar or vocals here and there, just so it does sound too samey. That's all I really want to do, nothing else really interests me anymore musically. I've turned into a right self-centered bastard.[/quote] And I thlought I was the only one!

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='700411' date='Jan 4 2010, 01:22 PM']Get the new three piece out gigging. Learn how to do some really basic BV's whilst playing - any tips out there?[/quote] I do backing and ocasional lead vocals and I find that I can only do it when I know the words and bass line off by heart. The slightest chink in the armour and things start to go wrong. Practice- a lot and don't be ashamed to simplify the bass part in order to be able to sing at the same time.

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='700338' date='Jan 4 2010, 11:58 AM']Now that is something that I would love to do ! - if you get round to it please do a build diary[/quote] I'm on a budget and I'm buying in the necks so I'll be starting as soon as I've got enought for them (I think I'm £40 off at the moment, shouldn't be too long)

write and record demos fro a solo project that I've wanted to do for years. build a twin neck bass get better on fretless play some more gigs

Talking of laklands: Beatiful in the same way that a Tbird isn't.

[url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/2458-rotosound_jazz_bass_flatwound_high_c"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/24...latwound_high_c[/url]

Even if you could get classical guitar strings long enough they won't work on an electric bass, the black nylon bass strings (picato etc) are steel strings with a black nylon coating.

My next home build project is a twin neck fretless/fretted and I'm going for wizard pick ups. I've heard great things about them, the prices look good and they are British (Welsh) made - you can't say that about many things these days! I'm leaning towards their P bass pick ups, it'll work out slightly cheaper for my project and I'm after big fat tones. The last time I checkked them out they were doing about three types of Jazz pick ups.

What bass do you think just looks good? You don't have to own one, or have even tried one. You don't have to like the way it plays or sounds. I'm a T bird fan so you'd expect me to go for something a bit weird but here's my choice: And the end view: I just love the simplicity of the design, the jazz bass has a beautiful body but coupled with the black headstock.... It may not have the contoured body of the usual Jazz but there is something about that shape.

I think my biggest concern re: MIM is quality control. While I'm sure there are some great MIM basses, I've seen and heard of some that weren't (mostly neck issues). Ibanez on the other hand seem to have a better record for consistency IMO. If you get to try the bass in person and you like the MIM then all's well, if you are buying "blind" by mail order then I think Ibanez are a better bet.

I like a drink, but if I'm being payed to play music I'm not being payed to get wasted (if such a job is ever advertised I will be applying) I don't make a big deal of it with other band members , it's up to them. My brain needs all the help it can get. Having said that the last gig a played was walking distance from my house and the only drink on sale was mulled apple juice.!