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Joe Nation

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Posts posted by Joe Nation

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

    • Like 1
  3. 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.

    • Like 2
    • Haha 5
  4. 47C14610-E0A4-4F14-BA07-AEED21D03C58.thumb.jpeg.c4f87939361699dcf6be323d416a23ce.jpegPicked 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.

     


    E7EE73F0-F976-4785-931A-DF18B320D5E9.thumb.jpeg.f3e34fb7d2068414136c83367b6de3f9.jpeg

    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?

    • Like 3
  5. 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.

    • Like 1
  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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…

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