velvetkevorkian

There is the [url="http://www.asodb.com/index.php/simandl-plusr"]Simandl Plus[/url] method which essentially suggests you can switch between 'open' and 'closed' hand positions (i.e. 1234 and 124 fingerings) depending on the line to be played and where you can play it on the instrument.

Or go fretless.

No, the frets wouldn't line up with notes properly if you did that. You would need a new neck to match the correct scale length. [url="http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/Tele_BaritoneNeck.aspx"]Warmoth[/url] make a direct replacement 28.625" scale Tele neck.

Unfortunately I don't drive so getting to Edinburgh would probably make it far less economical!

Well, the bullet has been bitten (and my credit card is sweating already ) and my bass went in to the Violin Shop today to get a new bridge with adjusters fitted. Will let you know how it is in a week or so when I get it back!

Your English is pretty much perfect Nice bass too!

I love my Elixirs, and haven't noticed any board wear from them on my fretless. Not tried Optimas though.

You can do this with piezo bridges, and something like the [url="http://www.rmcpickup.com/fanoutbox.html"]RMC fanout box[/url].

In this case I would probably go with 12/8, but the main issue for me is that neither is particularly clear- the triplets in the 4/4 version are hard to see and the dotted crotchets in the 12/8 version are hard to make out- I assume this is just a quirk of TuxGuitar's notation?

One.

Yep, that's pretty much it. The playback in is meant to be for listening back to what you've recorded (as opposed to monitoring what's coming through the preamps directly), although I plug a CD player into one of the channels on the mixer which works too. The only way I know of to check the quality of the output would be to A/B it against another source- do you have a hi-fi you could connect it to along with a CD player, to compare? Glad to be of service!

It is possible that the headphone out on your laptop isn't up to scratch, so YMMV. What I use is a Soundcraft compact 4 mixer, with all analogue connections- the record and playback ins/outs go to my laptop, the monitor output goes to my hi-fi/speakers. I can plug instruments into the mixer and monitor them from its headphone outputs or through the main speakers, regardless of whether the computer is on or off. I can also record or monitor through software while the computer is on (running through the separate 'playback in' section of the mixer). It seems to me that if you went for something more like what I'm describing, as opposed to the 8 in/1 out approach of the Phonic, you could use the TonePort as your I/O from the computer (bypassing the headphone output issue) and any routing to speakers/headphones/recording could be done at the mixer. Or, if you got a USB/FireWire mixer you could do away with the TonePort. Does that make sense? All this routing makes my head hurt! Hope that helps.

FWIW I run the headphone out from my laptop into a mixer and out to speakers without any problems. In my audio driver panel it allows you to set up the sockets for different speaker configurations (for 5.1 etc.) if you want to- I don't bother and it sounds as good as the crappy a/d converters allow it to.

Just to expand on my somewhat terse reply, syncopation is to my mind a pretty empirical thing- you're either on the beat or off it. It's not something mystical and hard to define (and therefore teach) like 'groove' or 'funk' or 'locking in'. Obviously using it well and tastefully may be more difficult to master but the basics are relatively straight forward.

Yes. It's not magic.

On DB, I think it would have been a piece for kids orchestra. Can't remember exactly what. Aged 12 or 13. On BG, it was an original from my first band- aged 18. Possibly 'Crown Of War'.

Which hand? Regardless, I wouldn't try and play through it- take a break and stretch it out.

I think it was Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid'.

A MIM Fender Jazz 5 string I bought from a friend. The action was always unplayably high as the truss rod was unadjustable. Also, all the pickguard and one (!) of the pickup covers had been painted a kind of metallic purple- kind of matched the finish but looked a bit sh*t. In retrospect, it could probably have been saved but IIRC I donated the bits to charity.

Speaker cabs...?

I thought about the DIY route, but I don't think it's one I want to pursue at this point. I have enough other stuff going on right now (trying to make progress on ongoing house repairs, mainly) that I would rather just pay the price and get it done. If I did it myself it would most likely end up bodged together somewhere along the line, like the bicycle I tried to repair that has sat half repaired for about two years

I can view the page but when I try and watch the video I get a message telling me "Due to privacy settings, not everyone can see this video. Log in to Facebook if you have permission". I appear to be able to view the pics though.

Hi folks, The bridge on my 5 string upright is warping somewhat (and I also cut one of the slots a bit too low) so I'm looking to get a new bridge fitted. Just been in touch with my local shop (The Violin Shop in Glasgow) who quoted me £135 for a 'self fitting' bridge, £195 for a standard carved bridge and about £250 for a bridge with height adjusters. I've always been a mainly classical player but have started to do folky type gigs and would like to get more into jazz playing too. Also, I spent so long playing on borrowed instruments I've never really had a chance to decide how I like my action (or string height, if you're one the mad TB string height Nazis ), so I'm leaning towards spending the extra cash on the height adjusters. Are these prices reasonable, in your experience? And do you think the extra cash for the height adjusters is justified? Any advice appreciated Cheers Kyle