Joe Nation

Does anyone know a good website/book/video for first-time fret levelling/dressing/crowning/polishing? My Rockbass Fortress badly needs some work, and I'm all up for DIYing it but I'd rather not make a hash of it. I've been watching plenty of videos lately on guitar building and picked up the basic principles, but I'd like to make sure I know what to do, in what order, and hopefully what not to do. TIA

Very true. Which brings about a whole other conversation about the mathematics of intonation, and whether frets should be in slightly different positions for each string...

It's the length that the string vibrates over, so between the face of the nut and the apex of the saddle.

I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, but I was about 12 when I realised it wasn't just normal. It's a constant high squeal or ringing, mostly I can block it out and it only bothers me when I'm in complete silence. I've never had any treatment or anything, and weirdly when I've had hearing tests for work I've always done really well with high frequencies.

Check out this video about Sade's Sweetest Taboo bassline. Only two notes in the whole song, but played with such style and groove. Reeling back round to the original point, I doubt Paul Denman was held back by the rest of the band on this one. But if the guitarist had insisted on a follow-my-lead-and-KISS approach it would've ruined the song. So it goes both ways.

Edit Me - Twin Atlantic

Looks like it's a 3 piece body that is trying hard to return itself to 3 pieces (upper horn has a split on front and back, there's another split at the butt and another behind the neck plate). I wouldn't buy a Fender Jazz in that condition for a third of that price.

I barely know one end of a TSR cable from the other, but it sounds like two ABYs is exactly what you need. Acoustic (A) and bass (B) into one box, then out (Y) to the FX, then into (Y) the other box and out to the amp (A) and desk (B). With a 2 in 2 out, you've got no way to get the FX in line with both guitars. Edit: A for acoustic and B for bass! Also see Matt P's post further down with the Dual AB switch, sounds ideal.

That's not annoying. The Cheeky Girls are annoying. Nickleback are annoying. That is shameful and embarrassing, and downright painful to listen to.

I don’t generally like f-holes, bound bodies or Ps, but I really like this. I especially love the little peak at the end of the fretboard.

Slightly off-topic, but I work at a hospital and have had people turn up to an appointment for their child... without the child. I also had one old dear turn up a year late for her appointment - the appointment card just had the day and month written on it, she found it by chance and thought it was recent.

I'll check it out, thanks. So far so good with the NUX Mighty Plug and Sennheiser HD206 headphones. My only gripe is the latency when watching Youtube videos on the iPad via the Mighty Plug, makes it near-impossible to play along - but the audio is great.

Picked up my new 2004 Rockbass Fortress today. It’s in pretty good shape considering the age, and even came with the original bill of sale! Missing a volume knob, a few scratches on the back, could maybe do with a fret dress and setup. My only real concern is the bridge - the back edge isn’t sitting flush with the body any more. Looks like it’s just buckled slightly under string tension. Is this anything to worry about, should I get a new one?

The second set of holes under the bridge might be an attachment point for something during manufacture - a jig for machining or finishing maybe, or a fixture for neck alignment. They wouldn't just use the same holes as the bridge screws in case it got stripped. Just a guess, it's a common practice in all sorts of manufacturing set-ups.

I’ve just read through this thread, which pretty much covered exactly what I’m after. I’m going to get a NUX MP2, and some cheap-but-decent headphones. The Waza Air looks amazing but costs more than my bass!

Just listened to Longview by Green Day for the first time in a few years, man that's a great bassline.

I thought as much, thanks.

Long story short, I have no space for an amp nor can I practice with any sort of decent volume for the foreseeable (until we move house and get a garage/decent shed). So I'm after a simple and cheap-ish way to practice with headphones, ideally via an iPad. What I'd like to be able to do is have a metronome, drum backing tracks, maybe some playalong stuff on the screen, all running through some headphones so I don't disturb the kids/neighbours. An effects emulator might be cool, but far from essential. I'm coming back to playing after 15 or so years away, so not a beginner but I need to learn a lot of the basics I didn't bother with when I was 17! I'd appreciate any and all recommendations for headphones (is bluetooth worth thinking about?), interfaces etc, as well as any iPad apps, free or paid. Budget is small-but-not-tiny, but I'd rather spend a few more pennies to get good sound and function. And yes, I know there's no substitute for a decent amp and it won't be the same, but it's what I've got to work with. *shrugs* TIA.

Most important thing is, enjoy yourself! If you want to learn a particular song 'cause you love it, or you just need a break from the monotony of lessons, go for it. Your playing should be about you and for you, first and foremost.

Adam's Song - Blink 182

Truck Drivin' Song - Weird Al Yankovic

I'm no expert, but there are several variables that change how a string sounds: length, gauge, material, tension, construction. Make a string longer, it plays a deeper sound (that's obvious to anyone that has ever fretted a stringed instrument); make it tighter, it plays a higher sound (ditto for anyone that's ever turned a tuning peg); make it thicker it plays a deeper sound (hence why we have multiple strings on one instrument). What's less obvious is how material and construction changes things. I'm sure most bassists know that flatwound and roundwound strings exist - flats generally sounder softer/deeper, rounds tend to be brighter/zingier. I would speculate that that this is because the tighter fit of the flatwound binding restricts and dampens vibrations in the string, whereas roundwounds can flex just a little bit more before each adjacent wrap starts to impinge on the next. Thicker strings also resist flexion more than thinner ones, because there's more material to stretch/compress. The thickness/pitch of the binding will also change the sound, using a thicker binding with fewer wraps per unit length of string (turns per inch, TPI) will resist bending more than thinner gauge/higher TPI. You could also change the relative thickness of the core and binding, to give the same overall string gauge but a different sound (eg a 1mm core with 0.5mm binging will be the same gauge string as a 1.5mm core with 0.25mm binding, but would sound and feel different). As for material, different metals and alloys have different properties. To make a guitar string, you need something that is flexible (not brittle), strong, has a high elastic limit and is ductile (can be drawn out into a wire). The higher it's elastic limit, the further it can bend/stretch and return to it's original shape. A tiny change in the level of brittleness will change just how much it will flex under a given load, ie how much it will vibrate when you pluck the string. Adding coatings, anodizing or plating to the wires will also change the properties in small but noticeable ways - black strings sound different to nickel-coloured ones. It's all about resistance to bending, change that and you change the sound. As for the hows and whys, and how to get a certain sound, I'll leave that to more experienced minds.

Hello all I’m new to the forum, and new-again to playing bass. I played a bit in my late teens, I was technically in a band with some friends but I don’t think we ever actually played a whole song all the way through! I thought I was pretty ok back then but now I realise how many things I was doing wrong. Fast forward 15 years of not playing, wife, house, 2 kids etc. Got my 6yo her first guitar for Christmas and the bug bit me hard again. I keeping trying to play it like a bass but it just doesn’t work, so I’ve found a used Warwick Fortress that I’m going to go check out on Thursday. Cant wait to get going on all those old RATM, Rancid, Green Day and RHCP riffs I used to know…