Simon.

Getting a bit OT, but I've got one of the Vox headphone amps, and it does the job very well. Like BigAl says, it's not superior, crystal clear sound quality, and the overdrive sound is a bit pointless IMO. However, it does a decent job, is compact, easy to use and means you can practice without annoying the neighbours or waking up the kids. The Aux input works just fine, too. Battery life isn't too bad - I would say I get at least 20-25 hours use out of a pair of AAA's. Looks awfully like the unit in the original post as well...

Really liking that, Clarky! I think the mix is really well balanced, especially the mix of the two voices. The overall vibe is nice, nice, nice! I love the low-end definition on the bass as well. It's been too long since I've have the kind of excitement that comes with releasing something new. You should be well proud of this.

Glad to see you sticking around, Guy! Having enjoyed a lot of your playing over the years, it was nice to get a chance to meet you at one of your Edinburgh stand-up shows a couple of years back. We were both on the look out for news bands at that point in time, although I suspect you found work quicker than I did...

No exploding drummer? Amateurs...

After reading various reviews on here, I tried to get Andy to make me a set of 74's and he flat out refused... not sure why. However, I went for a set of stock 64's instead, and they arrived the next day and sounded great, so can't complain. More recently I got a Thumper as well, to make a PJ set. Again, it arrived the next day and sounds fab. In value for money terms, I think Wizards are excellent.

Of my two basses, my P-Lyte is all original (well, except for the threaded inserts put in for the rear control plate, as the original screw holes had stripped over the years). Can't think of anything I'd really want to change about it, except maybe trying a John East U-retro pre-amp, but I would like the chance to try-before-I-buy on that front. My other bass started life as a mid-80's CIJ Jazz. First mod was a de-fret. It's since had: a new All Parts neck; Schaller tuners; a set of Wizard 64's; a new high-mass bridge; re-routed for an interchangeable Jazz / PJ combination, with a Wizard Thumper; two new tort pickguards to accommodate either set-up. In fact, the only original bit left is the body and the electrics, and the electrics might be getting ditched for an East J-retro, once I find gainful employment again! I could put it back to it's original state, as I still have all the removed bits, but have come to the conclusion that I'm never going to get rid of this bass, as it does pretty much everything I want it to. It has given me one problem though - I was looking to get a custom bass made (probably one of ACG, Shuker or Chris McIntyre), but what's the point now? I've covered nearly all the options I could want in a bass, and why get something custom made to fill in the few remaining gaps, when it would potentially get very little use...

I'm not blown away on the looks (needs a rosewood board, for a start!), but I'm really liking the tone. How much of that is down to the effects and amp is hard to tell though. However, the fact that they [i]didn't[/i] put any clean sounds clips in the sample, maybe tells us something. Not a bad price for a new Fender, either, which is nice.

I would add another vote for the Fender P-Lyte. Very light-weight, contoured body and the skinniest neck I've ever played. Mine's in storage at the moment, so I can't check, but don't ever recall neck dive being an issue. If you were anywhere near Edinburgh you would be more than welcome to have a tryout on my one, and they seem to come up fairly regularly in the sale forum.

Thanks Tony, much appreciated!

I suppose I'm one of those on here guilty of asking if people have transcriptions of various songs. In the main I'm looking for transcriptions, rather than tabs, as I want to work on my reading skills, and any time I do ask for on BC, it's because I can't find a transcription elsewhere on the web. As for working things out by ear... well, yes I do it sometimes, but if I'm being honest, it's not a skill I'm great at. The vast majority of my 25+ years of bass playing has been in originals bands, working on songs right from scratch, rather than trying to learn what someone has done before. Covers is something I've very rarely attempted until the last couple of years when I've developed an love of Stax/Motown soul. However, I find that the bass is often difficult to pick out accurately on some of the older recordings, especially if you want to get the lines as close to the original as possible. Transcriptions come in very handy in those cases, but the problem is there are more tabs around for songs than proper transcriptions.

Holla folks, Just wondering if anyone out there has a copy of Bass Player magazine from April 2007 and would be willing to copy/scan/send me a copy of the Harold Melvin "Bad Luck" transcription? Much gratitude earned and any expenses happily covered. Cheers, Simon.

Holla folks, I'm looking for a piece of software that will allow me to record an incoming signal directly to MP3 format (quality isn't the priority, disk space is!). I also need the system to automatically create new files every 30 mins or hour, and to name them in a logical (date/time) fashion. Ideally something that I can set up and leave running on it's own for long periods - days & weeks, kind of thing. I've had a quick play about with Audacity and looked at Direct MP3. Doesn't necessarily have to be a freebie. Cheers, Simon.

Holla folks, Does anyone know who the bass player on Al Wilson's The Snake was? I'm suspecting Joe Osborn as the Wrecking Crew were the most likely session band, but have heard that it might be a Jamerson line, but I don't think it is. Any ideas? Also, anyone got a transcription they would care to share? [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6y5H9r_rY[/media]

Crivens! That boy can play. If I could even come close to that, I wouldn't give a rat's nadger what face I was pulling!

I kind of did this when I modified my old Jazz into a P-J. Well, more accurately, Chris McIntyre did most of the work, I just did the thinking (and paying! ). The P pick-up is centred on the routing for the neck J-pup, so is a bit further towards the neck than it would be on a standard Precision. Neither the P or front J pup are hard-wired, but have micro connectors instead, meaning that they can be changed out in less than 5 mins. I've got two scratch plates, one cut for each pick-up, so can change the bass form a straight Jazz to a P-J pretty quick and easily. Control-wise it's a standard passive V-V-T, and the P pick-up on its own gives a decent Precision impression.

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1349784088' post='1830404'] Appears the first part is tonality and the second part is rhythm?[/quote] That's what it seemed like to me, as well. 25 out of 30 in each section, although there was a bit from around 20-25 in the second part that I lost concentration on! Oh, and that fake piano tone they use! Jeez, could they not have picked something more palatable to listen too? It just grates on my nerves.

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1349446622' post='1826469'] Jerry Jemmot [/quote] Cheers! Sounds more like it.

I really like that Dusty track in the original post, but for me, when it comes to Piece Of My Heart, nothing can compare to Erma Franklin's original: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejjjne_Mua4&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejjjne_Mua4&feature=related[/url] A voice to really touch the soul! Does anyone know anything about the bass player on that version - Sam Dixon?

I've got bog-standard Rotosound 77s on my Bitsa PJ, and I'm loving them. I first started using flats on a fretless jazz about 9 years ago, and even though said jazz has now morphed into the Bitsa PJ (and is a much better bass for it!), I’ve no intention of changing back. I still have rounds on my P-Lyte, as like the tone better for chords and tapping stuff, which I sometimes noodle around with, but for everything else, it's been flats for years. I started out using Rotos as there wasn't much selection in the shops around Edinburgh and the price was high enough even for them. Worryingly though, from what I can gleam from various threads on here regarding flats, it seems that the Rotos are considered fairly high tension strings ... and yet I often feel when playing that they are almost too lose for me! The E stringespecially. I don't think I play with a heavy touch. Maybe I should shell out for something different to do a 'compare & contrast'?

Damn! That's good.

Have to say I'm likeing this rather a lot. Thanks.