LawrenceH

[quote name='untune' timestamp='1329235655' post='1539306'] I've always used Rotosound rounds, just a shame that the most expensive set (flats) that I got, although they felt and sounded great - the G snapped before I'd even really played them, so I still have the other three practically unused sat on one of my basses [/quote] Good thing about Rotosound is they do sell strings singly IIRC, so you might be able to get another.

The pickups in the current Mexican Fenders are a lot better than those in the Squiers IMO. WIthout a pickup upgrade, the MIM will get closer to the 'classic' Fender sound, if that's what you want.

Great! Is that with the 18Sound? How is it sounding?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329143762' post='1537701'] However, they still want an equal share of the loot when it comes to pay-out time. ... The drummer always turns up, which is great - but he's [i]always[/i] late. What [i]is[/i] the matter with these people? [/quote] Thought about timesheets?

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1329126079' post='1537319'] That's looking to be a very nice job so far. [/quote] Cheers! Sanding erases a multitude of imperfections Just have to hope I haven't introduced any new ones...I would've liked the longer 18" sanding blocks but decided I was too cheapskate. We'll see if that comes back to haunt me.

After I'd finished the veneers I cut them down roughly to size with a blade, trying to avoid any gouging along the grain of the maple that'd pull it out below the surface of the board. Nearly succeeded, too. Tried some spot-filling using superglue and maple dust with limited success - the glue just dried too fast, maybe I should've used wood glue. Anyway it was close enough for jazz and there was still the sanding to go. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures for a bit, but basically just took off the tape and sanded with the block trying to put as even a pressure as possible all the way along the board until it looked like this: [attachment=99862:DSCF1474.JPG] Next I decided that just to spice things up, I wanted the neck bound to match the aerodyne body. Which makes a good point to pause...

Once the bleeding had eventually stopped (took quite a long time actually, it was deep) I finished this very tedious and now quite painful job. No massive chunks came out, but the tangs pulled up little bits in quite a few places and up close it did look a bit ragged [attachment=99859:DSCF1467.JPG] I kept the tape on, and used a fresh razorblade to clean out the fret slots and take away the filler from the ends. Then I started preparing the maple veneers - on this neck unlike the cheap one the slots follow the radius of the board, meaning the veneers also have to be radiused. I used the practice neck as a template, shamelessly copying a youtube video I found [attachment=99860:DSCF1472.JPG] Once the veneers were sanded down so they sat all the way in the slots, I ran a line of superglue on the bottoms then pushed them into place, before putting a thin line round each edge and pressing the wood down to hopefully flatten some of the raised flakes back into place. [attachment=99861:DSCF1473.JPG]

Removing the glued in nut, with the flat-head screwdriver and hammer. A bit nerve-wracking but I did this freehand and amazingly managed not to gouge any chunks out or snap the nut. [attachment=99850:DSCF1464.JPG] Unlike for the previous board, I decided I'd mask this one up before removing the frets to offer some protection and help catch any chips pulled out. Rather glad I did this, as it turns out...these frets are really small in profile, quite soft, and I suspect glued in. At any rate, they were MUCH harder to pull out, this first one took ages and without a set of nippers that have been ground down to match the board radius, it's really tricky not to mark the board with metal tools. I heated them with a soldering iron for a few seconds until they smoked (presumably the glue) but this didn't seem to make all that much difference. [attachment=99851:DSCF1465.JPG] After a couple of frets I found that loosening up the frets with a razorblade helped subsequent pulling, working it under each part of the fret bit by bit. [attachment=99857:DSCF1468.JPG] Turns out razorblades are quite dangerous in the hands of an idiot. Who knew? [attachment=99858:DSCF1471.JPG]

So, I was a little hesitant to start ripping frets out of this very nicely finished bass in case I stuffed it up (doesn't normally stop me but eh). Fortunately, thanks to BC user oldslapper I managed to get a cheapo jazz-type neck to practice on for the cost of postage! Thanks again John I had a go at the defretting and veneer inserting on this and it seemed suspiciously straightforward...I ripped the frets out with a leatherman, which seemed easy enough to do without damaging the rosewood board, then superglued in 0.6mm maple veneers (perfect fit) before sanding down with a 8" length 9.5" radius block from Stew Mac. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of this process but nothing apparently went wrong so I moved on to the Aerodyne. You'll never guess what - it was much harder. First casualty. The snug neck pocket on this bass is a testament to Japanese build tolerances. My removal of the neck was a testament to English cack-handedness. You live and, occasionally, learn...luckily being black it should be a fairly simple spot repair. [attachment=99847:DSCF1456.JPG] Here's the board before I mangle it, it's a nice piece of wood: [attachment=99848:DSCF1457.JPG] Some wear marks...definitely won't stand up to roundwounds without a coating of some kind! [attachment=99849:DSCF1460.JPG]

I bought an Aerodyne Jazz, originally to try out and then sell on, but it was so nice I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. So to justify keeping yet another jazz I thought I'd convert it to fretless, and have a go at coating the board as well so I can get that nice growly roundwound fretless tone. Not finished yet but thought I'd put up some of my progress so far...

[quote name='StraightSix' timestamp='1329082444' post='1537031'] Me too - I would have voted Fiesta Red but that doesn't look anything like FR to me...more like Coral Pink. This is a common problem - I love Fiesta Red but so many Fenders are being produced now with this wierd shade - take a look at the Squier CV 60s Precision in 'Fiesta Red' - it doesn't look right at all... [/quote] Fiesta Red was not a very stable colour apparently, faded pretty easily hence, I suppose, modern repros are imitating an 'aged' version much like vintage white versus olympic

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1329072456' post='1536813'] I dare say that 10 or so boost pedals in a row should do the job. Not sure how it would sound, but if you used good quality pedals, cables & power supplies, then it would be an interesting experiment. [/quote] Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74luQLg6Psw (Needless to say, sadly it doesn't work like that)

Hi Dave, Enjoying the blog - have voted Vintage white, but for me, ideally it'd be somewhere between the tint you've shown and Olympic. Good luck!

If you really want to nail that 'Precision' sound with, ahem, precision, then you have to be careful with P/J basses. A lot of them have the P pickup set further towards the neck than a true Precision, to maintain good spacing from the J pickup. The Aerodyne jazz is like this, whereas the Precision model isn't (J pickup is shifted bridge-wards instead). The Power jazz special has a reverse P. Having said all that my Aerodyne jazz does a good enough P impression despite the pickup position! But a true anorak could tell in an A/B.

The closest Precision equivalent to an Aerodyne jazz? That'll be the Aerodyne P, I'd think... http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/fender-aerodyne-precision-bass-614578/ Trick is finding one in the UK.

Band called Orgatronics used a cajon, worked well IMO. Not their best song but the only live one I could find http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA577VySPak For a good portable drum kit without compromising the sound, look at the Yamaha Hipgig stuff. Real challenge is still finding the player though. The Bellowhead percussionist is great, but his set-up's not exactly a compact alternative to a full kit!

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1328978145' post='1535584'] Thus I could turn the drums/vocals all up/down as one? [/quote] Yup, that's the usual idea. How you best group them really depends on how you find yourself adjusting things in the mix. They're often most useful for muting/unmuting in a hurry!

I really can't see the point in even a 4-way mix in a 5-piece band no matter how big the stage, unless everyone's sonically p**&ing all over each other, in which case how bad does it sound FoH? The only exceptions I can think of are if a lot of them are singers. Amazingly enough, I find that I can still hear the sound of a speaker even if someone else is listening to it so sharing a monitor is not a problem...a GOOD monitor though, now that is a luxury! It's often a problem of dispersion. Sidefill-style monitoring is a good solution IME, left, right, centre, back. So many monitors use horns with dispersion angles designed for vertical PA use that it makes more sense putting them vertical at the sides anyway.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1328796338' post='1532764'] As for the wedge, I have used a broken Boss guitar pedal for years to tip speakers up slightly, I have to say it works better as a wedge than a pedal but it is certainly not the cheapest option. A piece of wood is cheaper (unless you get a block of Purpleheart). [/quote] But a piece of wood does not give you the mechanical isolation. Bill's use of camping mat is fine for that application, just stopping a head rattling. Put a speaker on a boomy stage and it will ring out like a tom tom. Put it on camping mat and if it's heavy it compresses the mat, compromising its effectiveness as a mechanical isolator. I have found inch-thick structural foam to be very effective, giving me (much) more than 6dB in the lower mids at a gig over NY, and that's an interaction effect a pedal couldn't achieve (the stage will ring long after the note stops). It has to be rigid enough not to compress with the weight but not so much that it forms a good contact for vibration transmission itself. I can't see what the point of those acoustic wedges are on the aurelex at all though, but they aren't going to do any harm. In any case it's all only relevant on a boomy stage. Anyway back to the topic, I think there is a point to a 4 ohm cab and that's when you're using these little micro heads and they start running out of headroom at 8 ohms. The speaker is loud enough, but the amp is compromising the tone. Sometimes that little jump from (notional) 300 to 500 watts is all you need.

I have not found camping mats as effective as strips of thicker structural foam.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1328649688' post='1530768'] I contacted Markbass re this but got no reply - they're usually pretty quick to respond, so maybe they just don't want to give out this information. Do you happen to know what the roll-off is for the LM series, for example? Thanks. [/quote] Sadly I can't give a good answer, measuring response that low requires a better scope than my PC soundcard! But, if you look at the pre-amp filter section in the MB manuals you will see the response starts to roll off around 30Hz. It's hard to interpret this without knowing how they made the graph (and the graphs don't quite tally with published specs in one or two details). But the roll off looks pretty gentle, maybe 6dB an octave so if that's the case there would still be substantial benefit to a proper rumble filter. Whether there's anything happening beyond the EQ section I can't say. It would be nice if bass manufacturers published proper specs like respectable PA companies! The Genz amps from what I understand have a more extreme roll-off that starts a bit higher.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1328600949' post='1529628'] When I started following and reading this thread I was firmly of the mind that the MT sounded like the next "must have" bass related gadget. However I'm increasingly more reluctant to click "Buy Now"; more so as 4 strings are quite enough for me personally. [/quote] I for one definitely didn't intend to put anyone off this product - not that this discussion seems to, judging by the speed at which they flew off the shelf Max answered all questions reasonably and was happy disclosing construction specs, which are of a high quality. Wrt to the 4-string versus 5-string, it won't have a negative impact on the tone of a 4-string, it's just that in theory you can 'get away' with a higher cut-off and even more protection if you don't want to go down that low. In practice a roll-off beginning at 25Hz or so will still offer considerable benefit [i]assuming your amp is outputting much down there[/i] [i]in the first place[/i] (a fair few will being to roll off to varying degrees around then, including Markbass, Genz). It's only if you are playing through relatively small/high tuned cabs to their absolute limits then it won't offer total overexcursion protection, though importantly it will still help a significant amount if the amp has minimal filtering of its own. These cabs are all tuned higher than the standard low E anyway, so you could either set a filter to begin rolling off around 42Hz or for ultimate protection you would compromise slightly and roll off higher but this will be audible albeit only on the lowest notes and only a modest amount (these cabs will already be 10 or 12dB down at this point). NB I would think based on spec the Thumpinator would be an excellent match for the Barefaced cabs, which quite a few people are running.

There is a varitone jazz plate available on ebay that incorporates a mid scoop, somewhere or other there is a youtube video (I think it's the same one as on ebay) where it sounds pretty usable. I guess these things work by using an RLC bandpass filter that bleeds the mids to earth, but calculating component values for your own, wouldn't that be dependent on impedance of the particular pickups used? That would make it more complicated

User nugget on here has offered to carve a binding channel for me for a very reasonable price - but it's on a defretted neck which I won't be refretting. The bindings should be do-able with a Dremel if you're careful, I'd have thought? I might have a go at this on my 'practice' neck. I'm not convinced by the stickers in photos myself, though perhaps they look better in real life. I think the stickers work much better on the VMs presumably because they're black, and under a layer of lacquer.