Grand Wazoo

[quote name='artisan' post='755079' date='Feb 23 2010, 03:15 PM']i recently bought a new 2 band 'ray ,which i love to bits btw.
the only slight niggle i have with it is the g string is weaker sounding than the other strings although not as bad as my old 3 band model which had a totally inaudible g string & hence got flogged on.
volume wise it is just a loud as the other strings but lacks the "balls" or "punch" if you like & no amount of adjustment makes a difference.
i.ve strung it with some fairly heavy EB group 2 flats which sound amazing,well on 3 strings & give the exact tone i want.
i have read up on the 'net about this fairly common problem, which only affects the 4 string Stingrays & people have suggested it could be an e.q. problem-i can confirm it is not.
the only people who seem to have cured this seem to have fitted a different pickup,the pickup of choice seems to be one of the following -

either a Seymor Duncan SMB4a or a Nordstrand 4.2

has anyone tried either of these & did it work?
cheers.[/quote]

Yes mate! The Seymour Duncan is the way to go. Very happy with mine, super even string to string balance, clarity of sound spectrum and volume, real alnico 5 magnets.





[b]Before:[/b]


[b]After[/b]


If you want to buy one, send me a pm and I will give you details of my dealer in the US that will ship it to you in 5 days and a lot cheaper than all the cowboys who sell them here in UK

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='755048' date='Feb 23 2010, 02:51 PM']Calm down, it was you who made the incorrect assumption/statement, i was just trying to help you out. I said i had no issue with what you had done, far from it.
And i dont tend to LOL when i have the hump so what gave you that impression?

And any Tom Dick or bass5 can buy Acrobat, its nothing special and its not a printers tool.

Glad i saved it to my HDD yesterday as i haven't read it yet.[/quote]

This is what is all about mate, I am calm and I didn't intend to have a go at you either, all I've tried was give this community a chance to read the article, wether it was ethical or not, legal or not, its past the point.

Thanks for your observations.

well it's uneditable to the average Dick, Tom or Harry, if you work for a printer of course you would have all the tools, same as if I was a plumber I would have special spanners and stuff. but anyhoo. look now, I have deleted it myself.

Saves anyone getting the hump over it. awight?

[quote name='WalMan' post='754913' date='Feb 23 2010, 12:47 PM']Boring I know, but should we be posting presumably copyright reviews fom a current issue? Just asking

Should be glad it's not [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78341"]Carol Kaye[/url] I 'spose[/quote]

I don't see where is the harm in this, I also don't agree with it being a copyright breech, everyone does it as reference, if anything its free advertising to both the Magazine (and by God, don't they need it!) and the Bass company, and it's not as if we are playing music in a shop without paying for the PRS (Performance Right Society).

Addtionally the beauty of a PDF file is that it's uneditable and as such cannot fall in the copyright breech loophole, since the original material and it's layout belonging to the copyright owner remains unchanged.

Should anyone object to this, they can go ahead and delete it, I certainly won't get a heartburn over it.

Hi all, I don't know if you missed this thread but unless anyone is interested this set of strings is heading to ebay, I just thought I gave you first choice, thanks

There's a Sterling one on ebay for £535

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SB-Series-SB14-Black-Bass-Guitar-Sterling-by-MusicMan_W0QQitemZ190354843017QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2c52086589"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SB-Series-SB14-Black...=item2c52086589[/url]

a Ray 34 for £599

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAY-Series-34HB-Honey-Bass-Guitar-Sterling-by-MusicMan_W0QQitemZ190346607979QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2c518abd6b"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAY-Series-34HB-Hone...=item2c518abd6b[/url]

and a Ray35 for £625

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAY-Series-35BK-5-String-Bass-Guitar-SterlingbyMusicMan_W0QQitemZ190346609642QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2c518ac3ea"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAY-Series-35BK-5-St...=item2c518ac3ea[/url]


place yer bet!!

My darling gf was recently in the US on business and I have kindly asked her to do a bit of shopping for me, and to get me me a load of Bass (20 -30 packs) strings. I normally use the Regular Slinky 5 set #2836, but I've aksed the sweetheart to get me also a couple of sets of these new Coated ones...

Unfortunately I didn't get on well with the feel of the enamel coating, although they do last untold longer than the normal kind at twice the price, you would expct it. Anyway I returned to use my non coated brand because they feel right to me.

[b]So now I have one idle set, brand new - fresh and unopened foil pack.[/b] - - [b]A bargain at £30 delivered.[/b]

I will sell them at the price that matches the lowest current ebay sale for these strings as you can see here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-Coated-Regular-Slinky-5-String-Bass-45-130_W0QQitemZ190347159709QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item2c5193289d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-Coated-Re...=item2c5193289d[/url]

I believe that they are more cost effective for our Yankee cousins, as over there they are a lot cheaper. 300-400 quid max.

As reviewed in this month's Bass Guitar Magazine - Issue 52 - March 2010

[b]* link removed by me *[/b] . You'll have to buy the mag to read the review.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='751285' date='Feb 19 2010, 07:28 PM']I've been searching for the ultimate string for many years. I've tried 'em all, but none seem to last, even the coated ones. However, I think I've finally found the Holy Grail with the Ernie Ball coated. And they feel great to play, too.

Not cheap, but highly recommended. [/quote]

I've bought 2 sets and didn't like them so I went back to using the uncoated ones #2836.

Which means I have a set here for sale if anyone fancies them before they hit the bay, these are the ref# 3836, 5 strings set, and of course they are brand new still sealed in the foil bag.

I will sell them at the price that matches the lowest current ebay sale for these strings as you can see here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-Coated-Regular-Slinky-5-String-Bass-45-130_W0QQitemZ190347159709QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item2c5193289d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ernie-Ball-Coated-Re...=item2c5193289d[/url]

Yours for £30 all in - including free delivery to mainland UK - pm me if interested. Thanks,

Please take them off me so I can get another set of #2836 instead. Cheers

They do what they outline to do but the only problem I've had with them, is the strange dry feel to the fingertips that the enamel coating gives, they're a bit "marmite" some people might love them other loath 'em.

Here is the set for sale

I have an off topic question, if I may...

Not knowing much about the software of this forum I'd like to ask how do you insert a youtube link in a post so that it shows as an actual video ready to click 'n' view rather than a weblink?

Thanks and sorry for the interruption.

p.s.: returning on topic: I saw one of those basses at the Bass Centre in London many moons ago, when they still used to be in Wapping High St. It was quite nice but nothing to write home about it, sounded very plasticky as you can hear in that video, not a lot of definition and a mix bag of this and that 80's flair ideas that didn't really came up to much of it to justify desire to purchase it.

The problem commonly described as fret sprouting is due to the "shrinking" of the fretboard due to extreme dry conditions to which the instrument is subject to. A luthier will help with a fret redress and I would advice you against trying to do anything yourself in the evenuality that you might cause more damage to the neck. Trust me that be a job best left to the professional however once you get your bass back it would be wise to invest in a home humidifier.

something like this [url="http://www.dry-it-out.com/wg-s40-warm-mist-humidifier"]http://www.dry-it-out.com/wg-s40-warm-mist-humidifier[/url]

Also you must take into account that with strings going through the body extra string length is used and as a result not all string makers offer long scale strings which means on an all-in-line headstock you might not have enough length for the G strings to wrap around the post.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='751245' date='Feb 19 2010, 06:48 PM']I've seen some crazy things that I don't see the point in though, £300s worth of LEDs in a £600 bass's neck for instance.[/quote]

That [b][size=3]is[/size][/b] plain crazy, people with more money than sense, for sure.

Yes you can buy a £250 Squier but you'd be crazy spending £600 on upgrade bits.

The most you should spend would be £100 on a pair of pickups and £15 on decent pots / input jack & wiring. Anything other than that would be madness, and you'd be better off buying Fender rather than Squier.

Did you try fitting a new battery?

[b]MusicMan Bongo 5HH does everything, swiss army knife type of bass.[/b]

Besides... knowing Ashdown gear, it'll work fine for a year then you take it to a gig and it dies on you just because it didn't like the van you drove it in.

If your bridge is definately worn, and you have been comfortable with the feel and sound of the original bridge then I suggest you stick with an original replacement from Fender, cheap and does what it is expcted to do, personally I have tried badass bridges but they only work well on a newish bass, if you have one with a well lived-in neck and fretboard, you will find that the badass is a little too high, and will make your action high as a result, now the only way to cure that, is by shimming the neck. So why go through all that trouble when you can just spend £28 on an original replacement part like this one here:

[url="http://www.bassguitarpartsdirect.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=236"]http://www.bassguitarpartsdirect.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=236[/url]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='749745' date='Feb 18 2010, 02:36 PM']I can't see any use for flatwound strings, apart from hanging oneself!

They've always sounded to me as if I've suddenly lost the top end frequencies of my hearing. Dull and not nice.[/quote]

Yeah, I am not a fan either, tried them once on a nice Fender P and I swore never to bother again, cause they killed the sound. I'd sooner have mutes on a MusicMan so you can have them on or off if you fancy a bit of rough every now and then but not for keeps, no.

Thanks to some recommendations both from this forum (thank you OutToPlayJazz) and from a youtube video by Ed Friedland, I've recently bought a very nice Squier Jazz Classic Vibe which I picked up in GAK (Brighton) last Saturday, I have to say I was very pleased by how it played both plugged and unplugged intonation and action are spot on.

However as soon as I took it home I opened it bit by bit to see how it compares "under the hood" to the real thing, (wiring, pots, pickups etc) Yes it plays very well, the neck is sublime and the basswood body weight is a feather compared to a 60's Jazz, but unfortunately as soon as I've lifted the pickguard it showed where Squier has cut corners in order to keep the prices down.

[b]No.1[/b] First of all it is no surprise that these basses are shipped with a transparent adhesive film on the pickup magnetic poles if you play the bass with those stickie things on, then your finger will not get in contact with the magnetic poles and will not cause any interference but... the minute you remove the 2 sticky films and you plug your bass in, at the minimum contact of your fingers with the magnets you get scratching noises and buzz galore through the amp.

Big downer [b]No.2[/b] when you lift the pickguard there is a great big gauping hole where the bridge pickup floats and it is held only by the frame of the pickguard and the 4 mounting screws, in other words if you fancied to play it a-la-Jaco without a pickguard you would have an unsightly great big hole in which you can store your mars bars in and maybe even a sausage roll, bad that, not cool! If I knew about that one before I bought it I would have declined the transaction. Why oh effing why is there such a hole under the pickguard?

[b]No.3[/b]Under the control plate. My oh my, I reckon Stevie Wonder could have done a better soldering job while Ray Charles mounted the pots. They've all got to go. Pickups, volume pots, cheap plastic covered connecting wires, input jack, the lot.

Not a biggie, mind you, as I have sourced a replacement kit based faitfhully on the 60's Jazz with cloth covered wires and sprague orange drop caps, switchcraft input jack and real stainless steel bell shaped plate rather than this chrome painted lookalike. As for the pickups I went for a set of matched stacked single coils by Seymour Duncan they are vintage voiced and stacked i.e. reducing hum as they act as humbuckers these are the models are: STK-J1n and STK-J1b these will be wired to the new 250k pots and capacitors and hopefully they will be noiseless and perfectly apt to the vintage vibe.

Unfortunately there is nothing I can do under the pickguard with that hole wich means I will never be able to play without a scratchplate. But nevertheless with the new bits in, after this weekend the bass will be well worth the extra cost.

The pickups costed me £93 (for the pair) directly from the US via a friend who lives there and posted them to me, the wiring kit £17.50, and the bell plate comes from an old Jazz project that I never finished.

I don't usually bother with a lot of mods but this was well worth the effort and this new CV Jazz will be a nice bass to keep in the collection.

IF:

1) The price is right
2) The bass is in good conditions. Both structurally and electronically, preamp working? all pots working?
3) How does it play through an amp
4) Is the neck straight and I mean not warped so that it looks like an elliptical dna chain?

If all of the above are a pass then sod the colour and get it, looks like a good'n from here with plenty mojo. take the body to a luthier and have it stripped repainted in whatever you like.

[quote name='martthebass' post='747770' date='Feb 16 2010, 09:46 PM']I'd love to add a 'cheapish' jazz to the collection but in order to keep the peace I agreed to a 3 bass max rule with 'her that must be obeyed' some years back[/quote]

Well look at what I did




YES you do need a Jazz and a Classic Vibe measures up to the big boys holding it's own proudly and masterfully.

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='746462' date='Feb 15 2010, 08:26 PM']Thats Gibsons attempt at making a boat anchor out of wood.[/quote]

yeah agreed, ugly plank that.

Well it never stops, does it? It does when you are skint, but then with some really good cheap basses around, we are spoiled for choice. I tend to always pay up front for stuff and avoid buying things on credit cause you end up shelling out a lot more and that is never recoverd when / if you sell it on.

I tend to save up then spend. that way I know its my money, but cheap basses I get with pocket change and its a right laugh.

I hope never to grow up