Rich

Checked my BTB406 last night, and... [quote name='BottomEndian' post='480529' date='May 5 2009, 11:29 PM']Checked. All good. Indeed, they fan out to match the spread of the strings, but each bridge unit's parallel to its string.[/quote] Ditto.

[quote name='rslaing' post='480298' date='May 5 2009, 07:39 PM']Hopefully I won't start off another war here, but SIGHT reading is [b]an essential skill[/b] too.[/quote][quote name='rslaing' post='480323' date='May 5 2009, 08:03 PM']it is [b]a major benefit [/b]to any musician to be able to read music..period.[/quote] Surely there's a pretty big yawning gulf between the two..? I would never disagree for a second that reading is beneficial, but an essential skill? Essential in order to do what, exactly?

Bizarrely enough, I've been formulating a project for a small phaser along the lines of an MXR Phase 45 clone, following [url="http://ampage.org/schematics/mxrphase45.pdf"]an online schematic[/url]. But even something as simple as the 45 will be almost impossible to fit into a small box unless you can get a suitable PCB made up. I've tried to work out a veroboard circuit and it's a nightmare. I've designed what I think will be a suitable PCB, I've just got to get it made (without costing the earth).

I have a beaten-up old BTB 6-string. I've never noticed any pissedness in the bridge, but I'll check it when I get home.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='479755' date='May 5 2009, 11:21 AM']I agree 100% that the ability to read is crucial if you want to pursue a course of academic study in music. I think it's bizarre that there are Universities that are offering degrees in music where reading is not compulsary... again, no personal slight intended towards Max. But I cannot regard reading music as an absolutely necessary tool for a popular musician, nor a fundamental requirement for being a 'great musician'. There's too many examples of musical greats who could not read or who had limited reading skills, particularly amongst guitarists and bass guitarists, even those famous for playing jazz (since jazz almost inevitably gets dragged into any discussion of theory on popular music forums). Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian were all musically illiterate, and I can't imagine any way you could question their greatness as musicians and retain credibility.[/quote] A hearty +1 to all of this. [size=1]Or perhaps as a moderator I shouldn't have an opinion..?[/size]

I can't read. I'm not proud of it, but I'm certainly not about to feel ashamed because of it. I'm blessed with a very good ear and can pick stuff up *[i]snap[/i]* like that, generally. If I could read, I wouldn't necessarily be a better player of my instrument, I'd still be at the same average level I am now. Perhaps I would be a better or more complete [i]musician[/i] though? Whatever. Anyway, I can't read, and I'm not about to lose any sleep or hang my head in shame over it.

02 plate Mondeo TDCi Ghia X, the 130 horse version. Black with tan leather. It takes all my kit, has all the toys, gives me 50+mpg at 75 on the M4 (I've just come home from me hols in North Wales, and it's averaged 46mpg fully loaded and with bikes on the roof) and with that huuuge midrange torque it'll cane the sheeite out of the little boys in their booming Saxos It's a lovely drive, and cheap to run unless an injector dies...

I had one of these preamps once. It was brilliant, especially the compressor. Superb in every way, I regret selling it actually. Highly recommended. As for a price? No idea. I sold mine for a ton, but that was 6 or 7 years ago now.

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='471327' date='Apr 24 2009, 10:19 AM']That is [b]precisely [/b] the reason I eventually went the Superfly route. Infinitely more manageable. [/quote] Surely an infinitely manageable amp would actually carry itself to gigs..? [/pedant]

Bedders and Horace Panter were the sounds of my youth! and what cracking sounds they were too. Agreed, vastly underrated. Tastes change, and likes/dislikes come and go, but I [i]never[/i] tire of listening to ska

You're really enjoying torturing me, aren't you..? Another cracker.

Uglier than a smacked arse, but hey, whatever floats your boat. Or paddles it.

[quote name='AM1' post='467441' date='Apr 20 2009, 01:46 PM']Yeah! The Precision sounds like sexual chocolate through it! [/quote] It sounds like Eddie Murphy singing The Greatest Love Of All..?

[quote name='joegarcia' post='464628' date='Apr 17 2009, 02:07 AM'](I'm a sound engineer)[/quote] And a feckin good one, might I say You're the only engineer ever to have got us a really good sound at the Fleece! [quote name='EBS_freak' post='467237' date='Apr 20 2009, 09:59 AM']PS, If you don't mind going rack, the Focusrite Compounder, as I've said before in other threads, is a great compressor. Great for live use and superb in the studio. Your bass (and drum) mixes will literally jump out the speakers.[/quote] +1, although Focusrite anything is wonderful. The compressor on my Focusrite Trakmaster is an absolute joy.

[quote name='ARGH' post='467140' date='Apr 20 2009, 12:46 AM']Yes get a head..get a cab..... Pods..are not the way,if they were,the amp industry would have died..thay are made of plastic,plastic breaks onstage..dont do it.[/quote] The monitoring thing might not be 'the way' or your particular cup of lapsang, but it does seem to be increasingly popular. Sansamps and so on, it doesn't have to be Pods specifically. Personally I could be quite tempted to go down the in-ear route.

[quote name='silddx' post='467016' date='Apr 19 2009, 09:14 PM']I've added an option for those who think it's pointless.[/quote] Yuss, but you added strings (pardon the pun) If it had just said 'pointless' I'd have used that option 'cos I think it's just pointless. One man's p.o.s. bass is another man's all-I-can-afford bass, or somebody else's starter bass.

[quote name='LWTAIT' post='466394' date='Apr 18 2009, 09:44 PM']the rolling stones dont count.[/quote] The only thing I would ever use the Stones as an example of is 'How To Be Utter Crap* And Still Get Paid Shedloads'. [quote]i said the public dont want to listen to oldies playing wierd scales that dont sound right, which they dont, not that they dont want to listen to oldies.[/quote] Why does it necessarily have to be oldies playing weird scales? Is that any worse than youngies playing weird scales? [quote]i suppose your eyesight just isn't what it used to be though [/quote] Better than 20/20 in both eyes, thanks and after all these years of staring at monitors & drawing boards for a living too. Thank god at least part of me still works properly [size=1]* purely MHO of course.[/size]

"The public don't want to listen to a bunch of oldies"..? Really?

[quote name='Cornfedapache' post='465972' date='Apr 18 2009, 10:53 AM']Where do you get BP then? I thought it had gone bust?[/quote] Not as far as I'm aware? Where did you hear that?

[quote name='51m0n' post='465566' date='Apr 17 2009, 09:45 PM']I cant even talk and play....[/quote] For some bizarre reason, this is [i]immensely[/i] more difficult than singing and playing. I can sing and play quite well, done it for years and so it sort of comes naturally (depending on the complexity of the bass or vocal part, and how different the two melodies or rhythms are). But talk and play? Nah. Can't utter a word without the bassline going all to pot. Like him or loathe him, for my money Mark King is one of the great singer-players. Quite how he manages to sing a complete counter-melody over some of his complex basslines is totally beyond me. 'To Be With You Again' is a case in point. 0:41 onwards: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrJNhTBNWs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrJNhTBNWs[/url]

And the Wagon Wheels are smaller.

Yeah, but can you get proper biscuits like ginger nuts and custard creams?

It looks like a much, much better version of the Wolf/Mazeti basses that kept cropping up on fleaBay a while back (maybe they still do?). I had a fretless 6-string one for a short while, the woods were gorgeous but the electronics were shoddy and the neck dive was horrendous. This one of yours looks better, with a longer top horn and a much smaller headstock. And decent guts too, judging by the pickups. Yes, review please