Simon.

Holla folks, I have an '86-ish MIJ Fender Jazz which was converted to fretless many moons ago, and after being my main bass for a long while has been stored in a flight-case for about 6 years. I recently decided to treat it to some new parts and transform it into a Bitsa special. The first stage was today, and after a strip down and clean, it was time to put in some new Wizard 64's. Installation of the pick-ups wasn't a problem, but I did discover what I believe to be some serious weirdness with the wiring configuration. First off, the two pick-up earths and the cavity/bridge earth wires were all connected to the body of the same volume pot, which isn't a big deal, but there were no earth connections to join between the two volumes pots and the tone control. Basically the Bridge volume & Tone pots were not earthed. Secondly, and majorly odd, was the fact that there was no earth connection to the jack socket, only a 'hot' wire. By the looks of it there had never been either, as there was no solder residue on the earth tab of the jack socket. Last off, the tone cap is wired from the centre (hot) tab of the tone control to the hot tag on the jack socket. I was pretty sure the tone cap was supposed to be between the earth tab of the tone pot and the general earth connection? Based on a BassLine wiring diagram, I've sorted the first two issues, but wasn’t 100% sure about moving the tone cap. Any thoughts? Cheers.

Hi Ben, yep Pierre's site is real goldmine of great basslines to pick and choose from & I've been visiting it on a regular basis for a while. Paul - cheers for the recommendation, what a great track. I'll definitely have to try and get that one worked into the set. Cheers.

Holla folks, Looking for some help with a few (slightly less well known?) soul classics, and wondered if anyone in BC-land had had a bash at these in recent times? Transcriptions for preference, as I’m making a somewhat belated attempt to improve my reading skills! Take a Letter Maria - R.B. Greaves B-A-B-Y - Carla Thomas Let Me Be Good to You - Carla Thomas Any other recommendations for non-standard Soul/R&B classis that are worth investigating would also be much appreciated. Cheers.

Baby wipes work pretty well at removing accumulated gig-gunge from cables and other bits of kit. Given what they are designed to clean up, a bit of left-over gaffer residue doesn't stand a chance...

Holla folks, I'm in the process of acquiring an Allparts Jazz neck and wondered if anyone had experience with what tuners will fit best? I have a set taken off a MIJ Jazz which I was hoping would do the trick and save me having to buy some new ones. Cheers.

icastle - good luck getting all those moggies rounded up and re-housed! Hopefully a long way off, too, so they don't come wandering back. Did you have a staring role in this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmgLtg1Izw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmgLtg1Izw[/url]

It's a pain that this is taking so long for you to get finished giblett. I'm looking forward to seeing some signs of progress soon, as I'm seriously contemplating ordering a similar P/J style bass from Jon as well. Good luck!

I've had a P-Lyte for ... 20 years (eek, really 20? Crivens!), and although it's in semi-retirement now, I still love it as a playing bass. I find it incredibly easy to play and noodle around on. In a band situation, yes, I would say it probably could do with some better pick-ups. What exactly, I guess would depend on the style and sound you are after. I don't have too many issues with the electronics, other than it does tend to consume batteries at quite a high rate. I believe there was a mod available which improved battery life, but I've never seen it in real life. If anyone knows of it, I would be interested. Enjoy!

Ticket bought, so I'll be there on the Sunday. Probably will have to skip the curry on Saturday night, as best spend some time with the folks, prior to dumping the offspring on them for the Sunday! Any particular watering-hole intended for Saturday night, in case I can escape for a couple of hours? Cheers.

I've got one of the Vox Amplugs as well, and for a cheap option, I would definitely recommend it. It's a little bit noisy, but nothing you can't live with. It's small and provided you have a reasonable case to carry it in, very portable. Personally I've not had a problem with battery life - the recommendation is for 15-17 hours on 2 AAA cells I think, but I've regularly had well over 30 hours use from one set of batteries. The mini cabinet Vox do to go with it looks great and is quite amusing, but in reality not that practical.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1108139' date='Jan 30 2011, 02:01 PM']Normal gig: Capacitors / Resistors - various Speaker re-coning kit Fretwire and fret press Bessemer converter Sun block (5l.) Pyjamas - paisley Corby trouser press Holy water / garlic / silver bullets Portable gallows Circumcision knife Mars bar[/quote] Nice. I'd love to see what you carry to an abnormal gig...

[quote name='razze06' post='1097146' date='Jan 21 2011, 09:44 AM']There's a good one in edinburgh, on queen street. Unfortunately, they seem to do the reasearch and know how much thin gs are worth. Often has quite interesting things[/quote] True indeed, they do have some interesting stuff. I actually think their prices are somewhat extortionate - often 80%+ of what the retail price of a new piece would be. Given that it's 2nd hand with no knowledge of its history, that's asking too much, IMO. There used to be a good one about halfway down Leith Walk. Not sure if it's still there anymore. Was always the place you went to if you had had some gear nicked and wanted to buy it back...

I've always loved listening to this kind of stuff, but for years and years whilst playing in originals bands I went to great lengths to avoided playing any covers, particularly music I was a fan of in case of spoiling it for myself. Recently I've started getting into playing a raft of 60's Soul/R&B stuff just for fun, and have found out how great it is, how much fun it is to play and how much influence it has had on more modern bass playing styles. Kind of kicking myself for not trying it earlier! Desperately trying to get together a working function band doing this stuff, but it's proving hard to get the right folks to commit to it. Getting there, though.

Getting it down to one tone would be tricky. Either Herbie Flowers' classic Fender Jazz or Duck Dunn's P-bass tones would be where I'd like to end up, depending on what I was playing. Alternatively, does anyone know who the bass player/set up used on the recent BBC drama 'Zen' might be? There was some nice playing in the incidental music, and for the first time in a long time the bass tone being used really made me sit up and pay attention.

[quote name='david_l_perry' post='1083655' date='Jan 9 2011, 09:53 PM']Now all we need to do is get a few more of you Scots to come to this Scottish Bass bash..... Dave[/quote] Well, all things being equal, I'll be there - certainly for the Sunday, maybe some of the Saturday evenings entertainments as well. Not sure what gear to bring though, if any... maybe just the MIJ 75 Jazz re-issue if anyone fancies having a shot of one to compare with the US versions? Cheers.

Thanks for the ideas so far folks. [quote name='Shire' post='1046140' date='Dec 3 2010, 11:12 AM']Vox Bass Amplug? [url="http://www.voxamps.com/amplug/"]http://www.voxamps.com/amplug/[/url][/quote] I got one of these last year, have used it heavily and love it. I find it a touch on the noisey side, but pretty darn good, and great for travelling with. [quote name='Shire' post='1046140' date='Dec 3 2010, 11:12 AM']With matching cab? [url="http://www.voxamps.com/us/amplug/amplugcabinet/"]http://www.voxamps.com/us/amplug/amplugcabinet/[/url][/quote] This however is genius! Didn't know they did a cab to go with it. Definitely on the list!

Holla folks, So, it's that time of year again and despite being a wonderful person in every way, apparently Mrs Simon. isn't actually telepathic and has had to resort to asking if there is anything bass & music related that Santa could add to the Christmas list! Vintage Fenders, new Shukers and top end rigs aside, what are the indispensible gadgets that every bass player needs/should have in their arsenal? I'm not one for using effects, have a decent tuner I'm happy with (TU2, although have had an eye on a Peterson for a while). What else is there that can be acquired in gadget-land? Cheers! Simon.

Am I right in thinking that you tuned your E string down to B? Why not buy a single B string from a 5-string set and swap that out with the existing E string? At least then you would have a string which is designing to give you the frequencies you want at a reasonable tension. If it's the whole bass that's tuned down, then you could put on the B string and shift the other strings over, ie: E->A, A->G, D->G, G falls off the end. so the tuning becomes BEAD. I'm sure there others on here more knowledgeable than me who could give you the necessary info about neck tension and truss rod adjustments to cope.

My ER-15's have been the single best investment I've made in terms of musical equipment since I started playing. Every rehearsal and gig (playing or just watching) I go to, they come with me. I just wish I'd got them moulded on to a cord to minimise the risk of losing one. As part of my day job we are required to undergo a full medial every 2 years, which includes a hearing test. To date my hearing is as good, or better, than all my work colleagues of a similar age, none of whom have been playing in bands for the last 20+ years.

Thanks for the advice folks! Yep, I guess talking to Jon about what would be the best options to go for would be the best way forward. I was just trying to get some extra background info as without being able to find basses with EMGs, SDs, Barts, Nordstrands, Wizards, et al in them, 'tis hard to know what they sound like, and whether they can produce what I'm looking for.

Holla folks, I'm currently in the midst of long-term GAS, which is gradually building towards a custom build, probably a P-J format, and hopefully done by the nice Mr Shuker. However, I've been trying to do some research into what type of pick-ups to plump for and frankly find the range rather bewildering! What I'm aiming for is a setup that can run as either passive or active (thinking John East for the pre-amp), which with the P-pickup soloed will give a real classic Jamerson/Dunn type sound and the addition of the bridge J-pickup to add some different tones and colours, and for some Jazz growl when on its own.. The "Gaffer" from Wizard Pickups was tickling my fancy for the J unit, but I'm a bit lost as to where to go for the P. Or even if there are better options out there. Any advice greatly appreciated. Cheers.

Nice video, shame about the utterly terrible solo from the girl guitarist. Totally tuned out after 25 seconds. Anyhoo, just wanted to pass comment on having seen Guy's show on Monday, and about what a thoroughly enjoyable hour it was too. More humour and less bass-geek than the last time round, but still very good. Even Mrs Simon. thought it a jolly good time. However, I have to confess to being left utterly despondent on chatting to Guy after the show. I mean, for christ sake, if a player like Guy Pratt is out of work and can't get a gig at the moment, what chance have I got?!!