Muzz

I've never taken to 5s (despite owning three) because I don't like big chunky necks, and find a Hipshot can cover everything I need. Having said that, I wouldn't have an issue chopping back and forth: I have a Dingwall, and at first I'd imagined (easy as they are to play) that my muscle memory would get fritzed switching between 36-odd scale and 34/35s, but it's never been an issue: I'll use the Dingwall and another bass on the same gig without even thinking about it. A strange and wonderful thing, the brain...

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1482505175' post='3201140'] what the... [/quote] I know...I was waiting for the punchline...

There was no need to take the funk out of Uptown Funk, but they went to the trouble to do it...

I don't disagree...I've had them both, and moved them both on. Lots of folk want that exact sound, though. Incidentally, I thought the Tech21 head was pretty barky and weedy...and that's a lead-sled Proper Transformer one... Maybe another thread for 'Big Transformer Heads That Don't Have Much Heft'... I can think of a few I've owned...

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1482501615' post='3201111'] Its well played, but I dont see the point. It juts misses the whole point of uptown funk. ie that it is funk. Any well drilled function band with a horn section will do it far better, and is something great to play in when everyone knows all the little riffs etc that are there. [/quote] All very much true IME - I'm waiting for another one in this series: the punk version of Take Five, when the band shift it to 4/4 and get rid of all that jazzy hoohah...

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1482501629' post='3201113'] Yeeeuch! [/quote] Oh, I dunno - if you want the sound of The King Of The Big Old Valvey Heads (tm), then it does just that...the one with the mids control is better all-round, though.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1482421275' post='3200446'] I like the ethos, learning a song quick and then recording it, but this jazzed-up version just isn't to my taste. [/quote] Pretty much this...Uptown Funk with the funk removed.

Normal M-F XLR...

I had a Streamliner 900 for a long time - you don't need a DI box, just run straight out of the back of the head to the PA. You can select Pre or Post EQ (i.e. a flat signal of just your bass, or a signal after you've EQ'd on the front).

Having used Class D stuff possibly more widely than a lot of folk on here (I make it ten or eleven different heads, IIRC), I've now got two heads, a Magellan and a Walkabout, which I use for different bands, both with either two or three Berg 112s. I'd had a run of rehearsals with the 'proper rock band', for which I use the Walkabout (it just suits the band sound) and I was thinking 'Ooooo, the heft...', etc. Then I gigged at the weekend with the function band at a big Xmas do, where the band leader forgot the big mixer, so I wasn't FOH, and I had the Magellan with me...and that did it, too: huuuuge. The newer Class D stuff is much, erm, 'heftier' than a lot of the first gen stuff - FWIW, I thought the TH500 I had was the weediest of the Class D heads by some distance, I'm not surprised people see a difference when they move from one of them back to Class A/B - the B&O ICE 800w power stage is a helluva thing. As far as cabs are concerned, well, in a world of roadies I'd have an 810 just for the sheer look/hell of it, but in the real world, there's no reason for anything over 50lbs a pop these days - those 1/2" marine ply dinosaurs are just that.

Thanks to all, glad it strikes a chord [quote name='howdenspur' timestamp='1482256577' post='3198995'] That is very nice! Sort of updated-retro looking. I've just obtained an Epi body to use as a base, though it has been stripped and will need painting. I'm hunter gathering for some nice parts to use. How did you get it to balance - just the Ultralights? [/quote] The straplock is situated a little further forward on the end of the heel, which, with the Ultralights, is enough to get it to balance nicely. [quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1482257311' post='3199007'] I was told by someone who knows a lot more about these things than I do, that often the highly figured woods are the less stable ones, so that was possibly the cause of the problems with your Lakland neck. No worries with one from Jon, those carbon rods are going nowhere - couldn't even tell you where the truss rod adjustment is on mine and it is now 5 years old!! [/quote] [quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1482311899' post='3199352'] The only bad neck I've had in 100 basses was a Lakeland Skyline one. [/quote] The Lakland neck was quartersawn, it was just the fretboard which was very highly figured, so I was surprised it was so unstable. Both my other Shukers are solid as a rock, though the winner for Never Even Going Out Of Tune is my Dingwall [quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1482313537' post='3199377'] Muzz, you need to provide a link to those chromy pup covers. It's the law. [/quote] I will Karl - it's somewhere in Germany...let me dig the link out... Here you go: [url="http://www.crazyparts.de/pickup-making-parts/pickupcovers/misc/gibson-thunderbird-pu-cover-chrome.php"]http://www.crazypart...over-chrome.php[/url] They do the rings on there, too...

Lots of big names leave me cold, including most of the usual suspects already mentioned, but I'm not going to name names...

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1482243122' post='3198754'] Unfortunately domestic luthiers are going to have to put their prices up eventually too - they may have enough wood/parts in stock at the moment to allow them to cash in on boosted orders due to the Fender price but once they run out they'll find all their parts are costing more to import. I can't think of any UK luthiers whose instruments are 100% UK sourced, though would happily hear if there are any. Once they need new parts, I can't see many absorbing the higher cost - they'll pass it to consumers. [/quote] And by that time Fender will have put their prices up again...

See my 'NBD (kinda)' in another thread...

Yup, even I did it a couple of years ago (and I should have known better) - bought a brand new 4003, which went back the next day...

[quote name='Bass_Guardian' timestamp='1482235535' post='3198648'] Looks amazing! [/quote] Cheers fella - I wanted that whole 70s chrome look - and those covers fit over a lot of boring old black soapbar pickups...

Karl, you are verily a Wizzard of the images... Cheers Pal

All this has got to be good news for domestic luthiers - now that boggo mass-produced CNC'd Fenders are into the price territory of the luthiers, people could choose a properly hand-made, perfectly-finished bass made to their own specification (within reason, at that money, but certainly within Fender limits) - the sorry fact being, though, that people will still buy the brand rather than the object...

Finally, I got my finger out and had Jon Shuker make me a new neck for the Fenderbird/Laklandbird/Thunderland/whatever I was calling it this week, as the Lakland neck had developed a twist to go with the backbow. This was a real shame, as that neck's got the most spectacular birdseye maple board I think I've ever seen - it really did look like marmalade. Anyhoo, no point looking good if you can't actually play the thing, and having to tweak the trussrod mid-set was getting to be a bit of a bind... Sooo, the whole thing went off to Jon, and last week I went down to pick it up. And it's very very good indeed. Just to recap, it was originally an Epi Thunderbird, but the only Epi bits left are the body (I like the colour) and the neck plate, the rest is pure Frankenhoohah: Hipshot Ultralights with a D-tuner, Hipshot Supertone bridge, Dingwall pickups (a P-Tone and a Dual Coil) under chrome covers with rings, and an East U-Retro. And now a Shuker J neck with a birdseye board and brass nut. It won't be to everyone's taste, I know, but it's exactly the look I wanted, it plays very very nicely indeed, and it's just what I wanted for my 'proper' rock band. It even balances properly... Oh, and I know the sheer uselessness of 22 frets on a bass like this: I'd say those are strong contenders for The Most Futile Top Five Frets Ever, right there... sorrynotsorry... And without further ado, here's the pics... [attachment=234381:shukerbird1.jpg] [attachment=234382:shukerbird2.jpg] [attachment=234383:shukerbird3.jpg] Oh, fer crying out loud...why does the pic uploader rotate them randomly? Ffs...

The Fusion will bark and grind in a rock band, I'd also second (or third, or fourth, or whatever) the Orange Terror and I'm having a lot of fun in my 'proper' rock band with a Walkabout - they work really well in that setting, and running at 2.67 into 3x112s, it's REALLY loud... :0) You don't need any real versatility, otherwise I'd be recommending the Magellan and its Drive Channel, but with all the other cool stuff it'll do, it's overkill for a straightforward rock band...

Dan's Bob on: my P40s are in a shell big enough for 5 strings, but they have the 4 string magnets. I haven't tried the X EMGs, but that'd be interesting as I'm using double-Ps...hmmm.

Yep, to the drummer. I play with several, and they're all different, as are the rooms. I have 3x112s, so it also depends on how many I've brought to the gig. Which depends on the room. And the drummer... It also depends on the amp - very few gain/masters are linear or comparable: one amp's ten o'clock is another's twelve... And your EQ - lotsa mids will make you sound more 'present'. Oh, and the sensitivity of the cab(s), too... FWIW, I did have a MB200, and felt it didn't have the cojones for what I needed.

I can't see anything on the EMG site which distinguishes them, and the instructions link from the 35PX takes you to the pdf for the 35P4X... I'd suggest an email to EMG - I found they were pretty good at responding: I have P40s in my Shuker, and I'm very happy with them as a P-type pickup.

We can go out as a three piece for smaller (usually pub) gigs. It's less money than the function work, but it's closer, and it's shorter hours. And I don't have to dress up Anywhere around £250 is usual, we'll go for less for the right gig, and some pubs are more. I take my gear (Dingwall, Shuker, Bergs, Mesa, etc) to all the gigs, regardless. If it's lairy, I stay closer, but as someone mentioned, I've had more mither at posh weddings than skanky pubs.