Dave Vader

[quote name='chris_b' post='999777' date='Oct 25 2010, 10:43 AM']I don't have hard finger tips and last week I practised for several hours a day and did 4 gigs. Turn the amp up and don't hit the strings so hard.[/quote] Did that Thursday night at an open mic in town. Works fine until we play something a bit exciting, then I come over all Steve Harris and deafen the world.

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='999045' date='Oct 24 2010, 05:19 PM']Have you been washing the dishes lots lately? I find the long soak my fingers get while doing the dishes ruin my callouses complete.y[/quote] Yep, but then I always do, I have teenagers....

Weird weekend, gigs both friday and saturday night, decided to take my recently completed Jazz bass project with me (probably not it's fault though). We've had it a bit quiet the last month or so, only one or two gigs, and I've not been practising a lot, but in 20 years of gigging my fingers have never hurt so damn much, can't touch anything, both hands! No idea why, same old fender flatwounds (new set on the J, might have something to do with it) same old hands, same old 80s tunes. Turns out though, the J is not as forgiving as my old P, there's nowhere I can get all 4 of my fingers in without one of them clipping a pole piece and stinging even worse. Had to switch back to the P for the 2nd set last night. Anyone else had a sudden loss of of hard fingertips? Just out of interest?

[quote name='3V17C' post='998465' date='Oct 23 2010, 09:02 PM']get three fingers going on the right hand and you'll have no problem! aside from that its practice![/quote] Try all 4, works for me.

[quote name='beyond' post='995407' date='Oct 20 2010, 10:46 PM']I couldn't bring myself to drill holes in my "beloved" so got these stick-on rubber pads from B&Q. Put 2 near the neck and 2 near the bridge (work great £1.99)[/quote] I'm off to B&Q, that's bloody brilliant....

Put your thumb on the pickguard.

Right now, Warpaint, pretty much all day long. Sadly can't see many suggestions as I'm at work, and youtube is blocked. Anyone want to label their choices for those of us who forget to look back when they get home?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-BASS-GUITAR-EX-COND-/280575519963?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item41539aacdb#ht_501wt_916"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-BASS-GUITAR-E...db#ht_501wt_916[/url] Now I don't know about you, my eyesight isn't what it was, but that doesn't look like a fender to me.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='989003' date='Oct 15 2010, 10:58 AM']Sorry.[/quote] Long as it's in a punky world it's okay. Mine was the main workbeast of the mighty Lean Against the Washing Machine for the 2 years before I sold it. Don't regret the Yamaha SG1000 though, never really liked it, though should as always have got more for it, and the vintage hiwatt cab, sound city head etc. etc....

Not a bass, a Gordon Smith GS-1 guitar, had to sell it so I could eat and stuff back in 98. Only got 175 for it, can't get another one for that now... boo... and Waynes got one, makes me jealous.... I occasionally think of the Yamaha BB414 I offloaded a couple of years ago for £100 (only cost me £80) but I never really got on with it, which is why it went.

Got it back together again, routed it out flat (ish) after finding the bit. But then had to shim the pocket as I had gone down too far. Doh! Anyhow, not too bad so far. Bridge pickup was a bit tinny, so I tried the tonerider I had lying around instead. Better, but still tinny, is this a J thing? Even sounds higher when you clonk it with a screwdriver, so not just placement. Tried switching the phase, made no difference. All through identical pots for once as well... hmmm... Will combine all these threads into a build thread soon, I have pictures (not a lot, but some)

Advice for all out there with routers. If you have used WD-40 to remove an old broken bit from the collet, please ensure that you have cleaned all the wd40 out of said collet before using the router again. Other wise you end up with a chunk from the edge of your neck pocket (reshaped with file and sandpaper thanks god) a loud clunking noise and a missing router bit (think it's in the neighbours garden ) You also have to finish the job with a chisel. I learn something new every time I pick that router up. Lucky this jazz is only a cheap project to see if I like the general ergonomics and sound of a J these days. Should have it together again tonight. Neck join officially looks like sh*t now, worst I've ever done, so quite proud of that alone.

[quote name='lojo' post='985431' date='Oct 12 2010, 10:08 AM']Im used to busking and going off structure, but normally know my stuff well enough Also not expecting to understand any leading at this one as we are all pretty much in the same boat Just wondered if anyone had any neat tricks for prompts other than lyrics[/quote] Bit of paper, scrawl the line before the change on it, and where it goes (if you need to) then you just have to listen out for the bit you need. I've got a whole set on one side of a4 this way before. Eventually narrowed it down to a little strip of paper taped on the top edge of my bass.

[quote name='Doddy' post='982441' date='Oct 9 2010, 12:09 PM']How about the good old fashioned way of writing dots on manuscript paper?[/quote] I was waiting for someone to say that....

[quote name='Sean' post='983248' date='Oct 10 2010, 12:25 PM']I tried a set of Legacy strings from stringsdirect and they are pretty good for £7.99 delivered. There was a Rotosound QA ticket in the box so I guess that's where they are made. Couldn't argue for the money. Try a set and see.[/quote] I use these a lot, constantly before I turned to the flat side. I liked them more than rotos, and I generally buy as cheap as I can. As long as you give them a good clean off after every gig, they go for ages. Have a spare set lying about ready to go on my J project when it's done, get some roundwound zing for a bit. Otherwise, fender9050 flats, as they are the cheapest flats I can find, and I like the sound of them, nicely balanced, and a bit zingy for flats, so's you can get a bit of an edge when you need it.

Grateful Dead, or the Airplane

[quote name='7string' post='981723' date='Oct 8 2010, 04:10 PM']You could try a woodworking scraper for working on the neck or pocket. They're steel and cost about a fiver.[/quote] I will ask my cabinet maker friend if I can borrow his. Seeing as the old snapped bit in my router doesn't want to come out, so buying a new bit has proved to be a fairly futile gesture.

[quote name='Bidd' post='981484' date='Oct 8 2010, 12:31 PM']I realise I'm bringing up an old thread, but just last night the singer in my band offered me an old Antoria P Bass, that was passed on to him by someone else. Anyway apparently this bass was owned by Smokey's (or is it Smokie?) bassist. Would it be right to maybe give the bass a whole upgrade, and maybe complete a trio of Jazz, Precision and Musicman type bass in my possession, or just leave it as a piece of history (even though nothing can be verified, who owned it, or even if it was ever used during the Smokie era)[/quote] Update it, play it, for these things were made to be played, not gawked at. And more importantly, Smokie were a pile of w*** (and they did that cock awful single with CHubby Brown)

[quote name='BOD2' post='980258' date='Oct 7 2010, 09:55 AM']Re. the pickup problem. Are you saying that when BOTH pickups are on at the same time they can sound a bit weak but that each pickup is ok on its own ? If so, then it could be that the pickups are out of phase with each other. To fix this, reverse the hot and ground wire of ONE of the pickups (it doesn't matter which one).[/quote] Until the height problem is fixed, I can't really guess at the phase, and if they have been rw/rp, that won't fix it anyway. Thanks for the advice though, it might prove useful once I get to that bit.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='979951' date='Oct 6 2010, 09:58 PM']Ahh! Thanks for enlightening me. In that case I can't see how it could be that since it would surely be immaterial except when pickups were used in combination? More likely it's just a weedy pickup sitting too low from the strings. I jam my bridge pup right up close to the strings without problems and I remember it seemed to make a good difference to the bass response.[/quote] I am finding myself in agreement with that. Hope my routing skills are up to the task when my new bit turns up. And that there's enough heel left to hold the neck on, quite a thin body it turns out, might be down to about 18mm when I'm done.

Have ordered a very cheap template bit from ebay, £5 to get my dear old router up and running again, hoorah. I can get the cavity on my RIckenfaker down to the right depth as well now, should make sound guys very happy...

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='978860' date='Oct 5 2010, 09:40 PM']Err, buy a new router? Forgive my ignorance but what does rw/rp mean?[/quote] reverse wound reverse phase. Often used in strat middle pickups so that the 2 and 4 positions are humbucking. Means that when you select either of these positions the hum becomes noticeable by it's absence, and your output goes super wimpy. And buying a new router seems to be the best option, or sanding block and a knackered elbow.

So are these guys [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/"]http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/[/url] also allparts do good screws as well.

Finally got my latest bitsa project together last night, Jazz body, silly reshaped headstock neck, MIM pickups. All seemed not too bad, neck has back-bowed a bit but I've loosened the truss, put the strings a bit # and left it over night to pull out. Real problem is same as always, the neck heel is too deep, and the pocket is too shallow, so my pickups don't go quite high enough (at least that's what I assume) to get decent output. I might make some stilts for the pups (foam is super deep and stiff, just wood is too low). On top of this, my neck pickup is not too bad, sounds quite nice, as does both up full. Trouble is, soon as I roll off a bit of neck to get a trebley slappy tone, it goes very thin and weak. Is this just the height? Is it wired up funny? Is it rw/rp (cos I hate that, and it will annoy me a bit) No idea, any help on deepening my neck pocket/thinning the neck heel would be greatly appreciated, need to lose a good 4 or 5 mm overall, and I have broken my router.

You've got a DB, Get a quiff, and go do the Stray Cat Strut on the ROckablilly scene.... :brow: