Grassie

Sir, you are a gentleman and a genius. Many thanks!

Hey everyone, Whenever I play, whether at rehearsal or gigging, my hands sweat quite a bit, so much so that the pole pieces on my pick-ups have gone a lovely reddish/brown colour with rust. Anyone got any tips on how to restore the pole pieces and prevent future rusting?

We've filtered out most of the cheese these days, due to a change of singers about two and a half years ago, but "Valerie" still gets a look in now and again. But the band I was in 10 years ago, we had two female singers, and one of the tunes we used to do was (I'm really struggling even typing this...) "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. Yes, that's right, the Spice Girls. Doesn't matter how many times I say it, it doesn't get any easier... Do I win...?

As someone who lives on the Isle of Wight, this subject is right up my alley (steady on...). We have one decent music shop here, and I have bought my last three basses from this particular place, with no problems whatsoever. However, this shop is very small, with a very limited stock in terms of the "big" names (Fender, Gibson, Ernie Ball, Lakland, G&L, blah blah blah...). Most of their stock is budget to mid-range, which includes some Squires, Cort, some of those Rickenbacker copies, but also some excellent used gear. Each time I've gone to this place with the intention of buying a bass, I've come out with pretty much what I went in for, but this is down to great timing on my part. I'm now looking to change my main gigging bass again, but the internet is looking like a good bet for what I want because if I want a Spector or a Warwick or a USA Fender, I'm going to have to get in my car, pay one of the ferry operators a small fortune to get myself and my car off the island (and back again), in which case I can kiss goodbye to around £50 for the pleasure, just because my local shop can't shift big budget basses quickly enough to make a decent profit. It's not their fault, but if I've got to fork out before I've even tried a bass out (and there is no guarantee I'll want to buy it, even if I have tried it) then it's money wasted. Internet shopping is killing local shops off for sure, but for someone like me, then this route is a bit of a godsend, because I can research the instrument to my heart's content on places like Harmony Central, hear what it sounds like on Youtube or Myspace, then look at sellers profiles on ebay or wherever. Then, if I get an instrument that is a dog, I'll just send it back, which is what I would do if I went down to Manson's or up to the Bass Centre and bought a bass which seemed fine in the shop, but sounded crap through my rig. Stick with established dealers, or someone with 100% feedback and you can't really go wrong. If they can't spell guitar (the amount of times I've seen "gitar"...) or have poor quality pictures, or even bad spelling and grammar, steer clear...

Thanks guys, may well get myself one then. Gonna cost me just to try one out though, as I'll have to pay the extortionate ferry fare to get off the Isle of Wight, to get to a dealer. Ho hum....

Hey everyone, So does anyone own, or has owned / played one of these? They look like really nice basses for the money, I've read some reviews on Harmony Central, most are raving about them, but I thought I'd get as many opinions as I can before (possibly) buying one...

[quote name='Jase' post='528487' date='Jun 30 2009, 11:41 AM']When....Nobody leaves you any room to set your gear up at a gig.[/quote] Been there...

...you have to see the chiropractor more than twice a year because your amp weighs more than your drummer and your bass weighs more than his drum kit...

Thanks guys, I was just curious. Not a bad sounding bass, very light, good for throwing around! Paid £50 for mine, a bargain then!

Hey people, A couple of weeks ago I bought a used Peavey Dynabass (International Series) from a friend of mine who needed to offload it as he was moving abroad. He said that when he got it from his local music shop (in Cornwall) he bought it as ex-demo, and paid about £250 for it. Can anyone tell me what these basses were worth brand new?

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='491640' date='May 18 2009, 05:43 PM']Another Corkhead! Welcome to the forum.[/quote] Hey MacDaddy! Yeah, we're everywhere, world domination awaits!

Thanks Ray! Have a look at www.myspace.com/sidetrackeduk for upcoming gigs!

[quote name='King Tut' post='487949' date='May 14 2009, 02:45 PM']I had a similar bridge problem with a MIM Jazz - ie bridge saddles lowering themselves. This is easily fixed with a tiny dab of loctite on each saddle screw.[/quote] Mine did the same too. Decided to replace the bridge. Still waiting for my local shop to tell me it's arrived...

To all of you, Hi, my name is Grant Smith, and I'd like to post my first, er... post on Basschat. So, a little about me and my gear; I have been playing since 1994, whilst at college studying Art & Design. Buying a cheap package deal (a Fender Sunn Mustang with a 10w practice amp, gig bag, lead, strap and "instuctional" book) from the local music shop did nothing for my college grades, but friends made at college plus my new accquisition turned me on to, well, a lot of different musical styles. Fist song learnt: "Give It Away" by RHCP, and from there onwards it was onto the likes of Metallica, Faith No More, Joe Satriani amongst others that got the fingers in pretty quickly. So that's how it started for me. Now, I currently play in a local covers band here on the Isle of Wight called Sidetracked. All rock covers; Green Day, Kinks, Who, Foo Fighters, that sort of stuff. My personal influences that aren't really related to Sidetracked are early Level 42, RHCP, Jamiroquai, Stone Temple Pilots, Depeche Mode, Ian Dury, Incubus, Kings of Leon, Soundgarden, The Police and many others. Gear-wise, I play a Mexican Fender Jazz through a Hartke HA4000 head with a Hartke 4x10 VX cabinet, with a recently purchased Peavey Dynabass as a back-up. Only two FX pedals: a DOD bass chorus and a ElectroHarmonix Bass Blogger. I also use a Planet Waves chromatic tuner pedal. Anyway, that's me, maybe I'll see some of you in cyberspace... Grant