Telebass

No, not [i]that[/i] fragile but vastly more so than modern solid state.
As to the Mig-29 thing...The EMP from a nuclear burst will instantly destroy all solid state devices not explicitly designed to cope, or without some external protection measures. The high voltage induced in valve circuits tends to simply arc across the valve plates and dissipate through the circuitry, which still needs to be 'hardened' a bit, but will otherwise have a good chance of survival.

If a power valve fails due to incorrect biasing, it's usually because the bias was set too high, or a resistor value has changed somewhat due to heat. The valve then tends to suffer thermal runaway as current increases cause further current increases. Quite often, the valve envelope can melt down, and the screen grid resistor burns out. This can throw a load onto the other valve in the pair, sometimes causing that one to suffer the same sequence of events.

MU, now free cover to 2 gerand, including unattended motors, plus public liability.
I'm no political 'union' type man, but I'll always be a member.

PS: One thing Leo got terribly wrong, on the Esquire/Broadcaster/Telecaster/Precision was the useless jack socket design. How that's still going passeth all understanding...I replaced mine with an Electrosocket!

[quote name='SteveO' post='332848' date='Nov 20 2008, 07:17 AM']Was it? I always thought it was just to give us better control over the tone. You learn something new every day, as my dad used to say.[/quote]

The first active bass was British (Burns TR2), and that was done for tone control, so far as I can tell. Alembic was next, and the worst killer for tone then was poor, overlong guitar leads. Using an active circuit, whether for tone also or not, drives the cable, overcoming a large part of the inherent losses due to capacitance. As cables have improved, the emphasis is quite rightly on tone control now.
The true reason I use a radio is because I'm a dab-hand expert at destroying expensive cables...


The other reason I like to keep it simple is that, radio aside, there's nowt between my nice sounding Precisions and my nice Markbass amp. Simple is what matters when gigging a lot. The simpler it is, the less there is to go wrong...

[quote name='noelk27' post='331843' date='Nov 18 2008, 09:32 PM']Well, every bass model in the Fender catalogue[/quote]

Precisely. The catalogues are not reliable guides as to what colours were available. Matching headstocks could be had on anything during the 60s, but to special order only. Production custom colour Precisions with matching H/S are very unusual...

[quote name='tauzero' post='332188' date='Nov 19 2008, 12:08 PM']So the radio is one of those wind-up ones then?[/quote]

Natch!

Seriously, the radio removes the cable loss, which was the original purpose of active anyway...

Oh no, don't like that (I know, surprise surprise...)

Interesting to see those amps behind Sterling. IIRC, they were built by some Italian guy called Marco!

28 Nov 2008 Phoenix, Callington, Cornwall
29 Nov 2008 The Revenue, Devonport, Plymouth
6 Dec 2008 Cornish Arms, Gunnislake, Cornwall
12 Dec 2008 The Royal Standard, Mary Tavy, Devon
20 Dec 2008 The Revenue, Devonport, Plymouth
31 Dec 2008 Tavistock Inn, Tavistock
16 Jan 2009 The Stoke Arms, Exeter

Now, that's a Rig OF Doom if ever I saw one...Fretmeister, where are you?

Rats...then, if I can get the dosh, Rob will just have to build me an S2...

Yes indeed, Darwinism, no argument. In Leo's defence (bad pickguards, wrong-way tuners, 2-saddle bridges,etc) - these WERE advances, and also shortage of decent materials for somethings (middle of the Korean War, remember...).

The larger 57 headstock less prone to neck dive? Never, ever, heard of a pre 57 style Precision that suffered from neck-dive***..pretty rare but not unknown on post 57s...although I've never personally come across a neck-diving Fender bass, except the Jaguar...

If I'm seemingly stuck mindlessly with my precisions, it's because nothing else has ever felt right, no matter who made it. And yes, I do like that name on the headstock. I grew up with these being the only good bass around at the time. While that is patently not the case now, I just love 'em, and have yet to see much that is other than minor tweaking, even in the big picture...

Headless? Hmmm...If I could have a 'modern' bass, it would be a Status S2 headless. With a single passive P pickup. That, I would step up for.

So maybe I'm not QUITE the stick-in-the-mud even I thought I was!



***Some modern, basswood bodied versions might, but no originals or Telecaster Basses...

All the above, +1. But also, don't think of yourself as a beginner anymore, once a bass player, ALWAYS a bass player. It's what you want to do, right?

Get the Tascam MPBT1 if you can, as mentioned earlier. I have an old CDBT!MKII which has just died, and my new MPBT1 arrives tomorrow. I have a dep gig (on Boxing Day of all days...) and the set list is going straight on it tomorrow. Put the songs you want to mess with on your ipod and listen to them when you can't be playing, if that's practical.

Then you'll be ITCHING to get your mitts around the thing as soon as you walk in the door.

I took 17 years off, never had an instrument in all that time, never even listened to music much. When I got my Sting bass in 2003, it was like I'd never been away. And I was, beyond all doubt, BETTER, because I KNEW I wasn't going to have to start from scratch! And you don't have to, either! Bonus!

And why not?

Batteries = point of unreliability.
I only ever use simple basses, but into a bang-up-to-date amp, and a radio, so no cable loss.
Active = redundant.
JMHO...

Matching headstocks were VERY rare on Ps, even when in custom colours...

Leo got it 99% right in 1951, upped it to 99.5% in 1957, then added a different flavour in 1960...
Anyway you look at it, no-one is [i]capable[/i] of revolutionising it that much...
Avtive, woods, other materials - just icing on top of a cake who's fundamental (!) recipe is un likely to be bettered any time soon.

Of course I'm biased! But it IS what I think.

Sounded good!

Hi Chris! Also from Devon!

Come on, EVERYONE needs a Precision at some point...!



GASGASGAS

[quote name='rjb' post='253135' date='Aug 2 2008, 07:46 AM']How's about their telebass?



These look pretty decent indeed for the money..[/quote]


EEEK! A TelEB3!

Wrong. In so many ways...

Howdy!

Welcome! Back!

You'd never have enough signal. You need the magnet AND all those turns to have enough induction taking place. In addition, there'd be terible problems of frequency response, as stated by mcgraham...

Have got Notepad 2008, and am working on it...It's the timing aspect that is worst; can sort out the actual notes a bit already. That last site looks interesting - thanks!