essexbasscat

thanks for guarding our safety mods. T

I started a thread a while ago titled 'ever noticed slowing up through songs'? or something very similar. A band I was with some time ago used to play 'My Sharona' by the knack. After a while, the guitarist and the drummer would begin to slow down, claiming fatigue when questioned about it. Then came the day I decided to maintain the tempo myself and refused to slow down. Both drummer and guitarist didn't like it, but an audience member came up and said I was the only person holding the number together as they just started complaining, so they went rather quiet. Since then, I'll slow up a little if everyone's tired or the circumstances are exeptional, but if a drummer regularly slows up he usually finds the tempo control has been taken over by the bass player. For me, life is too short to waste it constantly performing at less than my best on the day. A rather well known bass tutor once told me that I should always aim to play with musicians that are in some way better than me. That way, I will always be inspired to improve my own playing and musicianship. I've always thought that was rather sage advice. T

Final nail in MIM ? NAH !! Long ago discovered that country of origin doesn't guarentee build quality, incuding USA. Given this, the title of this thread cold just as easily included USA Fenders too in my humble opinion. Elsewhere on this forum many folks have said that MIM roadworns have far and away been the best in the shop by a long way, even in the presence of CV Squires. There are also other MIM models. Perhaps the MIM title is a bit vague, as there are several different MIM models. A good bass is just that,, regardless of origin. TO label every guitar from one origin the same overlooks the finer points of differences between instruments really. T

[quote name='gary mac' post='910931' date='Jul 31 2010, 08:12 AM']1973 or 74 at Waltham Abbey town hall, a sort of battle of the bands thing. Sporting a Roger Glover stylee hat and crushed velvet loon pants. First number was Deep Purples Space Truckin'. Epiphone semi acoustic bass. Selmer Goliath 4 x 10" cab. 50 Top amp[/quote] My first gig was at Loughton, about 5-8 miles from Waltham Abbey and that Selmer stuff was all over the place at the time Relise - enjoy that first gig !! hope it goes well T

Bernie Edwards did some solid bottom end stuff with Chic back in the '70's

[quote name='Rich' post='910766' date='Jul 30 2010, 10:20 PM']snap In my case, the song was the Quo's 'Caroline' played on my '64 Höfner Artist II (bought from metalwork teacher for £20) through a DIY 50w amp made with help from physics teacher, plus home-made 1x15 cab borrowed from same metalwork teacher. I still have the Höfner [/quote] Bloody hell ! Caroline by Quo !! that was the number we closed with !! I'd completely forgotten until just now Edit: trust me to copy the wrong bit. Doh !

[quote name='Beedster' post='910748' date='Jul 30 2010, 10:03 PM']Substitute, some dodgy social club, late '70s. I was playing a Hofner semi through a 15w amp. I might as well have not been there![/quote] I still play that number now !

[quote name='supabock' post='910731' date='Jul 30 2010, 09:47 PM']On my 70'P bass, I only ever slacken off the strings and take off the scratch plate which exposes the truss rod, then I tighten or loosen accordingly. I have never taken the neck off or released the retaining plate or screws to make this adjustment... Final adjustment with regrad to intonation and action have been done whilst all (apart from the strings) are in situ.............[/quote] MMmmmm, I really hope this is the case y'know. It really does depend on how much the trussrod screw is exposed when the pickguard is removed. Hopefully it will be enough to avoid removing the neck, as yours is. That's a nice precison by the way. Whatever happens, I'm glad everyone's offered their ideas, as I can now approach the whole job with a lot more confidence !! Cheers T

A wander down amnesia alley with a read of the 'What was the first number you ever mastered without duff notes' thread got me thinking, what was the first number you all ever gigged ?? I'll kick off. My maiden voyage was 'Rubber Bullets' by 10cc, played on the school stage during a lunchtime in the early 1970's. It was the very first guitar gig the school ever had and the whole school turned out, well over 150 - 200 in the audience. The band was named Hazard. I was about 12 years old and despite rehearsing it for months and getting it right LOADS of times, inside I shook like a leaf in a wind before going on stage. THe follow up number was an original my band had cooked up about a murder at a disco (what a cheerful bunch. Reflects the school I went to though) what was your first number ? was it a cover ? original ? can you remember ? T

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='910715' date='Jul 30 2010, 09:29 PM']If you have to take the neck off, stick a capo on to hold the strings in place. That way, you just have to pop the neck back on when you're done, drop the strings in the saddles and tune it up. No faffing about restringing it.[/quote] Damn, wish I'd thought of this a long time ago. What a good idea

Hi Andy and cheers Yes, I agree, the correct tool for the job is essential in minimising the risk of damage. It's definately worth the time and expense of getting the right size screwdriver for the task, as scuffed up screwheads really do take the 'shine' off an instrument - turns an immaculate instrument into a 'good but could be better'. I can easily replace scratchplate screws, but a trussrod screw could be a bit more challenging !! cheers Tom

Hi Clarky and Chris, much appreciated guys I can see the sense in leaving the adjustment a while to settle down now you both mention it. Hopefully, that process will reduce the need to exert force through adjustment, which will reduce the risk of damage. The bass is relatively new, so I don't anticipate the truss rod screw to be tough to move through age, but a new instrument don't guarentee much, does it ? At the moment, I'll approach the job as you've suggested, avoiding the use of any force above a cautious minimum for a max. of a quarter turn of the screw. Anything more than that and it's back to the drawing board for now. I'll keep you all posted as to how it goes thanks again guys, it's reassuring to hear your thoughts Tom

Apologies for resurrecting a topic that has was around a few months ago. I do remember seeing it, but I can't find it with several different types of searches, so here goes. I'm looking to adjust a Fender trussrod from the bridge end of the neck, screwdriver slot type. However, I'm not sure about the best way to do this one, as I can see potential flaws with a few different approaches and I'm keen to avoid any potential damage. The difficulty lies with stabilising the neck while adjusting the trussrod screw. I'm shy of clamp the neck top to bottom in a workmate or similar as I don't want to squeeze the frets. However, this type of clamping would leave one hand free to manually assist the desired direction of releif or bow in the neck, thereby easing the pressure on the adjustment screw. Would you clamp across the neck ? adjust the trussrod while the backplate screws are only partially slackened off ? I would definately welcome the voice of experience with this one Thanks in advance for any advice folks, much appreciated T

Whole lotta love - Led Zepplin Closely followed by Hello Hooray Alice Cooper T

If you like the instrument itself, have you considered just working on the signal path ? Perhaps an in line something or other, like an Aguilar tonehammer or EBS microbass for example. They may not be the best items to give you the sound you're after, but at least this way, it's minor changes rather than major ones. Do you have examples of the sound you're after ? which arrangement of instruments and rig typically produce the sound you want ? have you heard examples of other people using a similar setup to yours acheiving the sound you want ? Just thinking around the problem really cheers T

Are you doing original stuff or covers ? T

any chance of a look in please ? T

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='903181' date='Jul 23 2010, 01:40 PM']there is a EBS amp and tuner and ashdown cab on glasgow gumtree at mo for 600. could be a good deal if you can pick up, (if you dont want the tuner i might!)[/quote] where's that then ? did a uk search with the terms ebs bass then ebs and didn't find this

Not supporting any one aspect of this discussion, but I would like to present the difference in acoustic sound between a strat and a les paul as evidence M'Lud T

Can't deny he is one of the most famous bassists ever, even if he is not directly thought of as one. Is this a case of his success and image overtaking his role ? Some of his bass lines are truly sublime. Studying his parts over the years has certainly helped me appreciate how to constuct complimentary basslines. +1 to Macca for me T

[quote name='bumnote' post='902024' date='Jul 22 2010, 03:34 PM']That storys been around for a while, Theres a great article here all about paints and custom colours [url="http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html"]http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html[/url][/quote] I meant this one

[quote name='silddx' post='902074' date='Jul 22 2010, 04:19 PM']Thanks for that link.[/quote] Wow, that is some read. Interesting stuff T