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Showing content with the highest reputation on 23/02/20 in all areas
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So after playing Fender basses for 40-odd years I decided to give my back a rest and look for something lighter. After months of waiting, a Yamaha RBX-A2 came up on eBay which I bought and loved, then a second really tatty one came up which I got for £135. I don't have much guitar tweaking experience beyond the odd pickup swap, but on the basis that I had little to lose I decided to have a tinker. This poor bass was quite badly abused although the neck only had 2 dents which I drop filled with Superglue. I filled a much bigger ding on the body edge with epoxy putty. Then I decided to try vinyl wrapping it with a carbon fibre look. I’d never done that before and I’m pleased how it came out, although how long it will last is anyone’s guess. Has anyone else vinyl wrapped a bass? The Yamaha is flat topped which makes it easier, I can’t imagine how you’d wrap a curvy Fender. I couldn’t avoid the odd tiny crease at the edges around the horns, so I covered the edges with car pinstriping tape, which seems to work well and should help to stop the edges lifting. Photos attached. For a £135 bass I don’t think it looks bad, and it plays and sounds great. If anyone’s interested I’ll report back in a few weeks, after a few pub gigs, as to how its bearing up.9 points
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Well, we appear to have drifted back into general Br*x*t territory again. The visa subject appears to have been comprehensively covered and is starting to repeat itself a bit. With that in mind, I think we can draw a line under it.7 points
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ok, well, I don't want to assign malicious intent to something where none was meant, but the conversation seemed very bizarre He said To which you said I am not quite sure how you worked that logic out from that sentence, but still Do you genuinely believe that there is a logic to what you have said? If so how do you work it out? Not only is it not a quote, it makes really no sense. He didn't say that and he clearly didn't mean that. He clearly said that pretty much every policy which people believe was imposed on us by the evil EU is a policy that was created or approved by the UK government. At no point does that imply that the UK created all of these policies, or that noone other than the UK approved any policies or that the UK never makes policies that in its benifit. Just because strawberries are red, it doesn't mean that everything that is red is a strawberry.7 points
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Then if we were still members and our democratically elected representatives thought that the regulations were not in the UKs interest, then they could have been vetoed. BTW. The whole fishing rights thing is a complete red herring. The idea that the fishing industry has been decimated by the the EU is a fallacy. As usual with the UK, it has far more to do with UK government policy, which was to privatise fishing rights, meaning foreign boats bought and buy licences to fish what should be, under EU rules, UK catch. And also by the way, without complete change in this regard and a pay out of large compensation to the rights holders (some of whom are rich UK citizens who sub out their licences) this will continue after Brexit no matter what Cummings and his cronies would have you believe. Pretty much every detriment to the UK that's perceived as EU imposition is actually traceable in one way or another back to UK Government policy and has little to do with the EU in comparison. If you want to play the game of naming one that isn't, be my guest.7 points
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Blue passports printed in Poland, or is it France? Hopefully they’ve got the words ‘printed in Poland’ in a prominent place, in a bold font.6 points
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Blue passports tho eh.... that’ll make everything better.6 points
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This is a problem that a lot of quitters have, they over estimate the size and importance of the UK economy The UK is not the USA…! America has a number of music industry hubs (LA, New York, Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago, Austin, Dallas, etc – these are just off the top of my head), all of which are currently more important than London. There is simply no comparison. The American market is big enough that it really does not need anyone else. If you look at the biggest touring acts in the USA over the past few years, there will be very few (if any) none American based acts. This is not the case with the UK and British musicians need to access the European market on our doorstep in order to survive.6 points
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Well yeah. Funny though, and I'm not having a pop at you Lozz, is the perception of the EU as a single, external entity. This is the root I think of a lot of Euro-scepticism and it's mostly to do with how the press portrays "The EU" and the relationship we have with it and had within it. We were "The EU". Every time it was EU this and EU that, the press were actually talking about the UK and externalising it. People have never got the hang of the idea that the EU is a membership of individual and sovereign states who all agree to exist in an agreed and cooperative framework. As soon as we leave, bar a trade deal, "The EU" essentially ceases to exist for us as individual citizens. We must get used to that idea. Each member country is as it has ever been (and we we were all along) to citizens of non-member states, an individual, independent, sovereign nation. Spain is Spain, France is France etc. For us, their membership of the EU is irrelevant. People are still talking like we're still Eu citizens. We’re not. These countries owe us nothing. It's going to take some time for people to get their head around that.6 points
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6 points
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Not my argument, or my conversation but I am wondering, are you deliberately misreading and misquoting everything he has said, or do you have a problem understanding? It seemed pretty clear what he said the first time you misquoted him, now it seems you are actively trying to misunderstand.5 points
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Thats not what I said. What I said was, pretty much every detriment to the UK that’s perceived as EU imposition is traceable back to UK government policy. Fishing rights is a prime example. It doesn’t take much to research it. But whilst we’re at it, all of the directives, regulations and decisions taken by the EU were done with the UK as a highly influential member with a veto which the UK government of the day has chosen to write into sovereign UK law rather than make use of. I said nothing about them being in Brussels. literally nothing, ever has been imposed on the UK by the EU against the express will and without cooperation of the UK government, If you have a problem with any of them, then your problem is with the UK government and not the EU. These are not my opinions either, they’re just plain fact.5 points
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First time out for us as a proper band last night. A 'Battle of the Bands'. A biggish venue with a very powerful pa (it belonged to Slipknot when they were starting out...) first time I've ever had a separate sound engineer for monitors. We sound checked first and had the benefit of it with the bassist of another band saying our soundcheck sound was 'outstanding' 🙂 Unfortunately for some other bands it was a bit hit and miss - I think it was those who brought their own guitar amps instead of using the backline. I was lucky, for the last few weeks I've been practising with the huge Fender rig they used - it was still on my settings when I plugged in and no-one changed it all night which made my life very easy! Numbers were modest, about 200 including the bands, but it was a very enthusiastic crowd who got into all the bands. Last year's winners 'Dark Matter' put on a great show, their singer told me he had decided to pretend it was a 10,000 crowd however many people turned up. We were on last, and started with Song 2; another band had done this earlier so we decided to just really go for it... it certainly got nearly everyone dancing 🙂 The rest of the song choices went down well, we couldn't have picked a better day to play what ended up as a pop-punk version of I'll Be There! We thought In Bloom might be a bit of a gamble with a largely student audience, but in the end it was probably our standout track because all the Nirvana fans went crazy 🙂 I absolutely drenched the bass with chorus for this one and it sounded absolutely gorgeous where it's just bass and drums (IMHO!) Then two songs from the end I stood on my power cable and all the lights on my pedal board went out. Quick check it wasn't a pulled out wire so I just swapped the wireless to the amp and turned up the gain bit. After weeks practicing Ace of Spades and learning to play chords with a plectrum my moment of glory and no overdrive... fortunately the adrenaline got me through it and my dread of starting too slow was unrealised! We finished with Club Foot, which always sounded poor whenever we rehearsed it without fuzz on my bass, luckily we'd decided to double the solo on guitar which paid off as I could barely hear myself playing fingerstyle with no compression and no distortion. Somehow we started and finished together although I'm not 100% sure what happened in between! We didn't finish in the top 3, I'll probably use the age of three of us as an excuse (we were introduced as three old men and their carer 🙂 ) but as far as I'm concerned that was a fantastic night because I know we were tight, several people complemented how good we sounded (including the sound engineer) and that was probably the most enthusiastic audience reaction I've ever got. My fourth gig since taking up arms again, but I think I can now say; "I'm back!"5 points
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The creative industry employees some half a million people, that’s as many as the construction industry. It brings £110 billion into the economy. In contrast, fishing employs 11,000 full-time people, and delivers £1 billion to the economy. Which industry is being listened to, which ignored? It also has wider implications. Without going off topic, I’m a musician it’ll affect me travelling to perform in whatever guise. I’m also an academic, my PhD is practical based. Academia relies heavily on travelling and meeting people, especially so where the two fields meet.5 points
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A pal of mine works in the vinyl Industry and has wrapped a number of guitars/basses. He already has a sideline supplying customised bass drum heads, (he is a drummer), and has also wrapped a number of complete drum kits. He did a stunning design for a guitar for my son and also a couple of scratch plates for various people. The fact that the original instrument is preserved and if you get fed up you just pull it off makes a load of sense to me. Also very cheap compared to a respray. Here's a guitar and bass he did.5 points
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Agree with the wooden strip across the wall directly screwed onto the stud woodwork then screw your hangers onto the wood. Make sure you leave enough space between basses in case they don't hang straight down. Some basses will fall slight off centre depending on type of hanger and weight distribution. My hangers pivot but some basses do still lie slightly off centre. You don't want your basses banging together when hanging or removing either. Here's mine5 points
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Here now, but nothing to do 'till 10am. So.. time for a cuppa and bacon stottie. The songs are proper eclectic mix. Yesterday was interesting 'cos a couple of the songs really spotlight the bass, which isn't really my thing. I'm quite enjoying it to be honest... even if I need a lie down afterwards. A couple of the guests are pretty particular about arrangements - for the right reasons - so we've had to go into microscope mode. It all feels comfortable in the hall now. The show's going to be amazing, but the opening sequence and closing sequence (of the show in general) are absolute bangers. Here's a vid of my route onto the stage...5 points
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£220 I'm having a bit of a clear out of basses as I have a few new ones incoming and could do with freeing up some cash. I bought this a few years back on this very forum. It is absolutely lovely but just a little unnecessary for me so I can't justify keeping it with a 5 string Dingwall soon to arrive. It's a lovely bass and these are so much better than the price would suggest. It's beautifully put together and has a full active preamp that has bass / treble and then a mid switch which activates a mid cut / boost circuit. Very similar in many ways to the way more expensive BBNE basses. I find the sound of this to be great at cutting through in a mix and it has lovely growl. Currently wearing some new Maruszyczyk strings. It is in really great condition with the exception of some scratches below the neck pickup that are hard to capture. With it being a natural finish without lacquer these could easily be lightly sanded out and the body re oiled. Weight is 4.2kg / 9.2lbs. I have an old gig bag that it will come with but no hard case. Collection preferred from NN12 (South Northants) where you are welcome to try it out with a nice amp and a cuppa. I also travel a lot for gigs so may be able to meet up somewhere. Courier also possible but at buyer's expense. Cash / Bank transfer / paypal gift accepted. No trades thanks. Can be seen and heard in this questionable video4 points -
That’s it isn’t it? The new passport is in reality a sign of regression, and a loss opportunity and freedom. Previously we had the right to live, work, study, travel freely and retire in anyone of thirty counties, also to receive free medical care whilst there. We now only have those freedoms in one country.4 points
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Made by a French company and printed in Poland of course. Like any of this is going to make any difference to anyone other than making our lives more difficult and things more expensive at best.4 points
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I was interviewed recently, nothing exciting or prestigious, a bit of fun for our FB page. Which is your favourite bass? I was asked. After a moments reflection The Bruce Thomas Profile, was my response. I was a little surprised myself - I always assumed it was my Aria. So I took it out last night, wondering what made it so special. What became clear over the course of the evening was that either it produces a wonderful sound, or it coaxes a special performance from me, because every time I play it someone remarks on how good the bass is. And asks me 'what bass is that?' Which, given its superficial likeness to a P. Bass, is odd. But I think the main reason it's a favourite is that even when I'm consciously examining the thing, I just forget it's there. They say the best football referee is the one you don't notice, and this applies here too. I am unaware of weight or balance issues - there are none. I'm not thinking about how good or bad the neck is - it's perfect so I don't notice it. I focus on the audience and my fellow musicians not the playability or sound of the bass because they're exactly right. It's like breathing, I only notice I'm doing it when it's not working properly. I really love this bass.4 points
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Something like this?4 points
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Nice little support slot at The Jacob's Ladder in Falmouth. Good fun!4 points
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4 points
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TBF, this is a musicians forum and so the gripe about the effects on musicians is natural. In the wider scheme of things, it's not going to be just musicians though is it?4 points
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Have you thought about painting the wall like a shadow board so you know where each one belongs and more importantly spot if one is missing?4 points
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4 points
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I really like this one. AVRI 63, now discontinued. Great pick up.4 points
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I’m out... bought back my old my old Lull PJ4 today. Couldn’t be happier - it was worth it4 points
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Well obviously those awful foreigners keep coming over here and taking all the well-paid gigs away from talented-but-starving hard-working BRITISH people who have paid for the social services and stuff that they want to nick and take back to foreign-land with them when they steal all our best tunes and leave talented-but-starving musical geniuses to rot in garrets while they take all the cash which should have been ours but it's OK cos we're going to kick out Johnny Foreigner and tow Britain out into mid-Atlantic where we can become the first-choice trading partner with North Korea and Peru.4 points
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Trace Elliot head GP-12 SMX preamp, I think this is 250W but not certain. I kept hold of this old head as to my ears it was the better of the two TE heads I owned. It has an extremely fat baked in sound that I really liked. Sat in its case taking up room so decided to sell it. FIts snugly into this 'Peli-a-like' case which is pretty much indestructible. Like all Trace gear this is stoopidly loud. The fan is a bit noisy at bedroom volume but nothing serious and no-one has any business playing through one of these in their bedroom anyway.. £150 collected from South Benfleet in Essex - including the case. I'd rather not courier this. Could possibly deliver or meet for fuel costs depending upon distance.3 points -
I'm having a bit of a clear out of basses as I have a few new ones incoming and could do with freeing up some cash. I acquired this fairly recently from this very forum to go alongside my BB1024x. It is absolutely lovely but just a little unnecessary for me so I can't justify keeping it with a 5 string Dingwall soon to arrive. Anyone who knows the Yamaha BB range will know how well designed and built they are. The exact same materials as the much coveted BB2025x but without the vibration treatment and assembled in Indonesia rather than Japan. This and my 1024x are the only basses my bandmates regularly ask me to use. They just sound thick, punchy and solid (the basses not my bandmates). It also has a brand new set of DR HiBeams on it that have had less than 1hrs use. It is in really great condition with nothing more than a bit of swirling that is really hard to photo. It's the sort of thing that would vanish completely with a good polish. Weight is a reassuring 5kg. I have an old gig bag that it will come with but no hard case. Collection preferred from NN12 (South Northants) where you are welcome to try it out with a nice amp and a cuppa. I also travel a lot for gigs so may be able to meet up somewhere. Courier is possible but at buyer's expense. Cash / Bank transfer / paypal gift accepted. No trades thanks.3 points -
That's not strictly true... They behave as if the tones are wired across the inputs to each volume control, not the outputs, so their effects only blend noticeably when both pickups are above about 75 - 80% volume. As you can see from that diagram, when either volume control is rolled right back, its tone is grounded and effectively out of the circuit. I often keep the neck tone off or near off and the bridge tone bright, and switching pups using the volume controls shows the settings to be independent when used like that. Turning both pickups right up and if one tone control is rolled off it will have the dominant effect. This takes some getting used to but does actually open up a very wide range of tones, something I've only really been exploring in the last month having had the bass for about four months. So, for example I can go from a reggae style neck pup, tone rolled off, to bright bridge pup with two knob twirls, where my other Jazz requires three. Effectively you can 'preset' the tone for each pickup at the expense of having to learn to understand how it behaves when using both pickups. My 'main sound' now is neck pickup tone rolled back and volume at about a quarter with both bridge pickup controls maxed. I find this adds just enough 'fatness'. Interestingly the Seymour Duncan website where I got the diagram above seems to share my findings: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/the-1962-fender-jazz-control (Note the first reply on that page is wrong because the clever bit is that the pickups are wired to the WIPERS of the volume controls a point most commentators seem to have missed.) Here's a pic off 'the other website' and you can see its consistent with the above diagram.3 points
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I’ve still got 7 years left on mine. I believe you can buy burgundy covers for the blue ones 😁3 points
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Oh? Ok Understood. OK. Got it. If I've been a little short with you I apologise. I may have also assigned politics to you. Again, apologies.3 points
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Absolutely. Any artist that points out how they're going to be affected by this will be portrayed, by some, as liberal elites who don't respect democracy. At some point I'm sure they'll wheel out Roger Daltry to say it won't be a problem*. *For bands with a tour budget the size of his.3 points
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Why are your 'garage tools' all just giant knives??? 😂3 points
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Aye.. he's a great drummer, too. So tasteful.3 points
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Again, Sparks were great! That’s why Top of the Pops was such a fun but important programme growing up - seeing them for the first time doing ‘This Town...’ was something else. The look of Ron, and the sound of Russell. The guitar riff/playing. The gunshots!! Great pop music...3 points
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3 points
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I now own the white Limelight Jazz at the start of this thread. It’s a monster, as good as a real ‘62 I was loaned some years ago. I would certainly recommend them & you’re welcome to have a play on it if you’re passing my way.3 points
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Right.. more pics from yesterday. MD Alan Clark. Drummer Ray Laidlaw Ray & Pete Accordionerist Shona Newey The video team The gallery - Geoff Wonfor & Chris Cowie's domain...3 points
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Grainne Hunt. Irish folk singer/songwriter who did a living room concert for my sister in law's birthday this evening.3 points
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Real bummer to post here but .... In general, if your house was built before 1999 just try and be confident that the walls don’t have any sort of asbestos insulation board (AIB) any where that you are likely to be drilling . just completed my awareness renewal and the death rates from asbestos diseases are not likely to peak for another 15 years. it is a total bastard and there should be a national outcry , it is everywhere and really doesn’t get the press and coverage it needs.3 points
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No No No! Simplify the process. Buy a shortish piece of plank of appropriate size (I tend to use a 48" length of 5" x 1" or similar) and take your time positioning screwholes - preferably countersunk to get rid of the heads - in the plank and matching holes in the walls over the wooden studs. Attach your guitar hangers to the plank, working safely and comfortably on a workbench, and finally attach the completed rig to the wall. This last bit is MUCH easier if you have a helpmate. Be aware that the supplied screws that come with most guitar hangers IME are pathetic slot-heads made of cheese. Buy some decent cross-head/Philips/Posidrive screws to replace them, and be sure to use the right type of screwdriver/bit rather than "this is close enough, it'll do".3 points
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I never knew he was a director. I thought he just took care of the money, and his partner Steve Twofer looked after the show3 points
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Most people who try to sell one of these on eBay will claim that this is a Monkees bass or a Peter Tork bass. Well it ain't. Tork played a Model 6073 with in-line tuners (in Bergundy) before moving on to a Guild Jetstar. The current Gretsch G6073 Electrotone seems to be a generic Far Eastern bass with 2-a-side tuners but very little resemblance to any original Gretsch model. Of those who don't make the Monkees claim, most will instead call this a Gretsch Country Gentleman bass. Well it ain't. The Gretsch Country Gentleman was only ever a guitar, and a mighty fine one at that. Just because they made some basses with a strong family resemblance does not mean that they ever marketed any bass under the 'Country Gentleman' label. In all fairness, so many people and so many articles have referred to the 6070 and 6072 as Country Gentleman basses that there's little point arguing any more. This is a large-bodied bass. It's a 34" scale, but the sheer size of that paddle headstock and generous body mean that you can forget using any normal gigbag. These things are usually kept in keyboard cases. Seriously. Did I mention that all the hardware was originally gold-plated? Amongst the many unusual features, the bass comes with a 30" brass peg-end which slides inside the bass, allowing you to play it like an upright bass. If you're completely mad. This feature still exists on some current basses, including my much-loved Takamine TB10 which I sold last year. I took the peg-end out as soon as I bought the Gretsch and used the thumbscrew (with a 3" leather punch inserted) as the strap button. Speaking of strap buttons and unusual features, the top strap button is a screw-in type that you'll never see on another bass. Staying with the unusual, the bass features a single Supertron pickup with a 3-position flick switch (upper bout) to select different tones. The three are essentially dub, Precision, and fairly nasal. The large knob on the lower bout is the volume control. The flick-switch at the lower rear of the bass is an on/off switch. More accurately the low/mid/up switch is on/off/on. This is all mad as a box of frogs ... and yet, and yet, it all works remarkably effectively. Unfortunately, the final unusual feature can only really be admired, rather than used. The bass has a muting knob (near the tailpiece) which, if physically pulled up from the body, operates a convoluted system of levers inside the bass, in order to clamp lightly against the strings that large rectangular rubber ... erm ... thing that you see by the pickup. As you can imagine, this feature needs regular maintenance and adjustment, and this is facilitated by the large, round, leather cover on the back of the bass (you thought that was to prevent buckle rash, didn't you?) which is held on with big poppers. I'm not making this up, you know. Well I had the system checked and adjusted by Andy Gibson in Denmark Street when I bought the bass. He told me that the system still works, after a fashion, and all the bits are there, but that vigorous use of this feature on a 50-year-old bass (as it then was) would be counter-productive. Despite the sheer scale of the whole thing, this is a very playable bass with a truly majestic sound and of course huge stage presence. The neck is more Precision than Jazz, the bass hangs very comfortably on a strap, you barely notice the size of the body when playing though the paddle headstock is always a surprise when you catch a glimpse of it from the corner of your eye. The bass was clearly played a lot at some stage in its history, and the amount of wear on the upper side of the neck (first five frets) is surprisingly a good deal less than on the lower side. Either this bass was played by a lefty and upside down, or it was played by a righty who favoured lots of big rings. The fretboard has an odd finish too; it looks more 'painted' than anything else, but that also seems to be original and very hard-wearing. For the discerning bass connoisseur wishing to look and sound a bit different and attract informed attention, this bass is an excellent choice. The bass is in Harrow (NW London) and I always prefer to meet Basschatters face-to-face when selling (or buying) basses. It's always good to have the opportunity to play the instrument, reassure yourself that all is as it should be before parting with any dosh. That said, I am happy to explore ways of doing business with Basschatters wherever they are. However, please note that I do NOT have any case suitable for shipping this bass anywhere. A lot can be achieved with copious amounts of bubblewrap and a bicycle carton from Halfords but that's not the same as having a proper, fitted case. Just saying ... https://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gretsch/bass/6070.php2 points -
After the quadruple checking, I marked up the neck pocket to start the initial hog-out and rout. The first step serves a second purpose - what are the properties of this unknown wood species? The last African Bass gave some challenges - and this is the same species, albeit a different cut. I hogged out with one of my best Forstner bits - a Fisch Wave Cutter. Quite expensive but stupendous bits if you want to minimise cutting issues. The wood was, as I expected, very hard - the hardest wood I think I have dealt with (yes - harder than ebony in my experience) and quite brittle. It doesn't matter because in both cases these are going to be cut away, but pinged some bits despite some very careful and steady cutting: But that answered me a question. Based on the grain pattern in this area, as you see below radiating from the centre of a knot, I might have to rethink the best way to attach the neck: I used a chisel to straighten the sides and then a teeny bearing flush bit to rout down to the planned depth: And then had a look and a think. My concern is that, to do the original plan means I need to cut the pocket even shorter to square it up for the neck heel to butt up against: That's a lot of useful length to lose when the pocket base is quite thin and potentially very brittle - especially if I'm going to cut a biscuit slot in it as well! So I've decided to leave the body heel where it is and use a cut-away neck plate (like this one I did recently on @scrumpymike 's Rascal): With that decided, I could cut the neck blank. There is no heel as such, the whole blank up to the volute is cut at 15mm which will give me a maximum neck thickness of around 22mm. And it will look something like this:2 points
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Yup, we've also learned that P and J basses need their hooks at an angle, like that where your Jazz is hanging from, because of the shape of their headstock.2 points
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7 of my 12 basses hang on the wall with no problems , they stay in tune and none have been damaged, the only downside is they can collect dust, especially if you’re decorating around the house 🙂2 points
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Getting the screws in must have hurt. Anyway, when you shower or bathe, do you wrap the Hofner in a plastic bag? Or just give it a good shake afterwards and go stand in the airing cupboard?2 points
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