Leaderboard

Agreed, it's very hard. I'll go out and pick up $125.00 on a Thursday night, $200.00 Friday night and $150.00 on Saturday night. And if there's a nickel on the floor I'm picking that up too. Lol Blue

Just back from my first gig in 8 months. The break was due to osteoarthritis in my left hand fingers. A few weeks ago I bought a couple of short scale basses (Mustangs) in the hope that I would be able to continue playing, and tonight was the time to put the theory into practice. Well, it certainly worked - we played as a three piece, so lots of room for interesting bass, and we held a good crowd outside a small pub in Witney, even though it was pouring with rain. We had a gazebo style canopy over us (that the bar owner put up) but the weight of water on it caused a small waterfall to cascade between me and my amp & cab. Luckily, the mains plug and socket was just out of range, but we stopped and moved the sensitive bits somewhere safer. Home again, no problems with my fingers after nearly two hours of energetic playing. Good to be back!

Can we have one thread stay on topic please?

Peavey T40 1979: the best passive four string bass around. After 45 years it is still hard to beat. A versatile tone monster! And it ain't that heavy... Aria Pro II SB1000 fretless from 1981: my wet dream back in the days. I didn't fancy the fretted ones, but the fretless!!! That is a whole other story... But this is a heavy s*cker. Like a front door...

Turns out that CNC machines in China and Indonesia work in exactly the same way as CNC machines do in Mexico and the USA!

For those who don’t remember the original Dymo labels that were referred to… No one would mistake these as manufacturer’s logos, it was done for a laugh.

I'll be playing my first ever gig with a short scale bass (Fender Mustang) this evening. Looking forward to coming home without a sore shoulder and aching fingers on my left hand.

Hey folks! I thought this wild looking thing would interest some of you! it’s a 1979 Ray in a very aged and rare Inca silver. Apparently there were less than 200 of these made (some say 153) out of 25,000 pre Ernie Ball basses! so i feel pretty lucky to have snagged one! I’d love to know your opinion on Mojo vs case queens! What’s your preference??

Well just done a first gig with it at a festival in West Wales and the sound guy loved the bass sound. Definitely time for some flats but it’s promising so far

I'd imagine ffmpeg can do this.

Carefully push the spring of the jack socket that is supposed to connect to the tip of the jack plug inwards so that it will grip the jack plug tighter, sounds like the tip spring of the socket might have been pushed a bit outwards and become sloppy over time, this should fix it, if I understand your issue right. Edit!!: Just noticed the last part of your post, and yes, this type of jack socket along with the barrel type ones tend to eventually fail, even higher quality ones, replace it with a regular simple one of proper quality, like a Switchcraft, much more reliable, and if they fail, which they are not really prone to like those other types of jack sockets, it is usually a simple easy fix.

I'm out. Free on the recycling thread from the most gracious @jonsparrow91. The truss rod nut is very badly mangled, but otherwise in good nick. I have an autumn project in mind and wanted a donor 5 string, so this is it. I will see if I can get some adjustment using a torx key, enough to string it B-G and play it, but the project will need a functional truss rod so I have added "remove fretboard and replace truss rod" to the list. Of course it's not economically viable, but it will be interesting.

Met with Frank this morning, I've lost count of how many times that's been now, but as with all previous encounters it was easy and hassle free. He turns up where and when he says he will, spouts a load of guff for a few minutes and then disappears in a cloud of his own gasses. What's not to like, other than the vapours when meeting him in an enclosed space?

Busy weekend.

new direct rig.....mix the 3 di signals in the behringer to get the best mix of the geddy and the ashdown, saving for a two notes torpedo live to add a cab sim aswell

It's about efficiency - all that time typing that extra 'e' could have been spent drinking whisky...

I've had a few GP 7 SM's in bits for a rebuild, 150's and 300's and the split heatsink output boards are the bipolar variant. They arent dissimilar to the MAG 180 and Mag 300 design in later Ashdowns, one heatsink is positively charged, and one heatsink negatively charged. They should never touch or sparks will fly and components are likely to pop. The only reall issue I ever see with these bipolar boards is that some loose their ground screw because the locking washer either wasn't fitted in the first place or due to years of vibration. The screw in labelled GND1( see pic) and is in the left front corner of the board. I always give this screw a turn with a screwdiver to see if its loose. If it is, renew the locking washer. If not its probably ok. Another curious but common issue with the SM amps is the standby switch circuit. The big green resistor next to C10 is often fitted hard to the board, overheats and burns out. This causes no output because the standy circuit dies. Both are easily fixed. Anoth tip is to keep the cooling fan clean and make sure the heatsink fins dont clog up with dust. Bipolar output transistors can be prone to thermal runaway if the aren't kept cool. Mosfets will shut themseleves down in that scenario. Fans on the bipolar SM's tend to run noisier and faster than the ones on their mosfet brethern's amps. The 300 watt mosfet board is very stable, and the only issue i see with them is vibration causing dry solder joints on the coupling caps over a long time. On earlier models, the board is usually not screwed down at the front right corner and sort of floats losely on a plastic post allowing that corner to flex too much. Later SMX models like the one in the picture were properly screwed down at all four corners. The mosfet boards also tended to have thermostatically controlled fans so they run quiter and smoother and only spin up to full speed when the amp is hot. Thats why later SMX's are more desirable than standard SM's, they usually have the more reliable mosfet output and all the previous niggles earlier SM's suffered have for the most part been ironed out.

It’s been a while since I posted, so this is a pretty big update to the board. Pedals listed in signal chain order for those that care… Input > Montreal Assembly PURPLL > Boss OC-5 Octave > Fuzzrocious Li’l Fella > Fuzzrocious M.O.T.H > Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler v2 > Fuzzrocious Croak > Red Panda Bitmap2 > Dr. Scientist Dusk (w/ Moog EP-3 Expression Pedal) > GFI System Synesthesia (w/ Triple Switch) > Hologram Electronics Microcosm > Source Audio Collider > Keeley Bassist Limiting Amplifier > TC Electronics Polytune Mini > Output Everything is cables with EBS gold flat patch cables, powered with a CIOKS DC7 + 8 Expander, and mounted to a PedalTrain Jr Max (a number of PT Pedal Boosters are mounted to the back row for accessibility). I also use another Moog EP-3 beside the board, which changes the pedal it’s controlling based on my mood: usually the Bitmap, Microcosm or PURPLL. I’m so in love with everything in this set up at the moment… that’s a great feeling

Or they just don't fancy it? I find slap a bit like jazz - it takes a lot of skill to do it properly and while I'm impressed with the dedication and persistence it takes to learn the skills, the end result doesn't float my boat.

I would love to have a climbing wall at home! oh yeah, and the bass thing

Thats a good plan, I should probably do that! I just got rid of all the banks that were set, as I realised all those pedalboards were in the way of mine. Thanks for the heads up, I will look at the ttap

That sounds like a punchy tone

I wouldn’t dare. My bass has a sharp left hook.

Just my 2p worth.. I've got a low spec maple neck Squier PJ of the type currently available, it's excellent. If I had to choose between it and some of the old pukka fenders I've had through my hands in the past I'd keep the Squier. Other than tuning it up I could have happily done a gig with it straight out of the box.

Wonder wall and pretty much anything by the Eagles. My problem isn’t necessarily with the material by the original artists (mostly) but is due to the number of times I’ve heard less able musicians butcher them, to the point where I find the originals unlistenable. The same cannot be said for Steely Dan. On paper their records should be amazing and render all other music unnecessary, given the calibre of the writers, players and producers on their recordings. Sadly what they delivered was overproduced, cheesy yacht-rock. I know that probably makes me unpopular, but it’s a hill I’m prepared to die on.

This weekends rig!

I liked ol' Ranking Roger, he was great fun, a geezer...

I love the Dimarzio Area J for something that sounds much like the classic single coil Jazz, but they're humbuckers. Not expensive either.

I use these ones from amazon: https://amzn.to/46GBVFa currently £13 for six. Although they're cheap and I've reconfigured my board a few times, I've never had any issues with them.

That's ok, all the more for me

Twas a pleasure, young Francine, as always 😍

Back then that would have likely been old school impact Dymo too. Mmm, tactile... Edit: just beaten to it!

Hurtsfall will be playing Goth City 7 - To Live and Die in LS in Leeds on Saturday 15th July. We're playing the main stage at Boom opening for Auger (who are great) and will be on at 8.30

Too rock'n'roll for that... Choked on someone else's vomit!

I pick paint off my 66J when I am bored.

Right, 2 days in. Created a short list of the drives, chorus, phasers, flangers and delays that have potential and going to uninstall all the ones that don't really suit my needs. It came bundled with some really nice premium plugins that the previous owner(s) had purchased too including some of the convolution reverbs which sound incredible. The TTAP delay is a standout for being unlike anything else I've heard, the Shiro stuff is all great too. I think now I'm over the number of fx and I've got a more refined list of stuff it's way more daunting. Few small annoyances like not being able to use the headphones because I'm using the channels as an fx loop rather than stereo, this means I get a send in one ear and the actual mono out in the other. Also the editor is a bit laggy even on a wired connection, no where near as bad as via Bluetooth though! All relatively minor issues though and still way less frustrating than some of the issues I had with the Boss GT1000core.

I'll say it again - sounds better than the real thing 😄

Cold Cocked ～ Pete

I’ve been following them for a while. They’re doing a free gig on a Sunday afternoon at the end of the month about 30 minutes from me. It’s in my calendar. Rob

Not everybody is the same, but... It is nice to buy a pedal and expect to get an instant super sound from it, while it should be tested thoroughly. Yes, you can turn every knob to 11, but have you ever done it? Learning curve can be very steep even with simple units.

Being able to make a living out of music is just like any other artistic/creative job. You have to accept (especially in the early days) that in order to make sufficient income you are going to have to take on the (much) less interesting work as well as the things you would really like to do. I've learnt from my creative business (graphic for print) that you get the work by say yes to pretty much everything, and doing exactly what you employer/client wants. You can't afford to turn anything down or have your own opinion until you have got to the point where you have so much interesting and exciting work that you can politely turn the less riveting stuff down and be able to recommend someone else for those jobs. Remember that you may always need to pick these back up again the in the future if the "good" work starts to dry up.

I use these on my RockBoard - they're ace. Available in 10cm length for tight spaces:

Just started a little feedback diary so I can waffle at length about my thoughts as I'm using it - https://forum.mod.audio/t/first-impressions-diary/10150

I'm just associated with the horrible noise coming out of the bass speakers.