mart

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1349981' date='Aug 24 2011, 10:08 AM']No way bud "meat is murder". [/quote] Boom-tish. That's got to have been the most circuitous route to that joke on a Smiths-related thread ever.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1349807' date='Aug 24 2011, 02:26 AM']Cool but I'd rather have Lemmy's head. [/quote] ...on a plate?

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1348305' date='Aug 22 2011, 07:39 PM']I can't add one because of the 'slap' switch [/quote] I'm with Johnston - the cover would look cool but only if you had the chrome plate. Do you use the slap switch much? If not, then you can fit a chrome plate - just remove the nut and push the switch through into the control cavity. If you do use the switch, then you should be able to get someone to drill a suitable hole in the plate for the switch.

[quote name='icastle' post='1348074' date='Aug 22 2011, 03:31 PM']Have you checked that the battery in your bass is ok? As you've correctly surmised, a speaker generally doesn't just fade out if it blows.[/quote] +1. Are you [i]sure[/i] it's the cab that's the problem? Can you try your bass and amp with a different cab?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1346149' date='Aug 20 2011, 10:36 AM']....In the end though it's hardly an original headstock shape is it? Just the Fender one (who nicked it off [i]Bigsby, who nicked it off Martin, who nicked it off Stauffer[/i]) with a second "crest".[/quote] Just thought I'd flesh that history out a little bit!

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1347790' date='Aug 22 2011, 09:47 AM']With a Hipshot replacement.[/quote] I guess that probably is easy to do, but somehow I can't get my head round the idea that replacing the bridge could be classified as an "easy fix".

[quote]... The bridge has lifted up a bit, but it's an easy fix ...[/quote] Really? Just how exactly does one fix this easily?

[quote name='markstuk' post='1345458' date='Aug 19 2011, 02:03 PM']....I don't the the 50/60 Hz makes any difference...[/quote] Of course it'll make a difference: it'll transpose your bass into a different key.

Depends how low an offer you make! At the BIN I'd say it's a fair price if you particularly want the ovangkol body. If you just want a $$ 5, then look around and you should find a few at a lower price than that.

You can buy many Warwick parts directly from them: [url="http://shop.warwick.de/index.php/language/en?katID=22164&cl=EN"]http://shop.warwick.de/index.php/language/...22164&cl=EN[/url] Some items are very well-priced (e.g. tuning pegs, knobs), but postage is about 10 euros, so it's expensive if you're only buying a couple of small things. Some of their electronics are unbelievably expensive. Failing that, yes, you could contact a dealer in the UK. But the only one left, according to the W website, is Bass Merchant. Personally, I'd also check Thomann, and some of the other German music shops, or just try a general google search for the part you're looking for.

[quote name='mikegatward' post='1344136' date='Aug 18 2011, 10:39 AM']I know Warwick used prices aren't great but really ? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Warwick-Streamer-Std-2000-/260835321170?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cbaff2552"]Warwick[/url][/quote] That BIN is slightly better than I would expect, but not outrageously good. The Streamer Stds were the forerunners of the Rockbasses, with the same cheap hardware, cheap woods and slab bodies. The only difference is that they were made in Germany, so many people try and pass them off at a similar price to "proper" Warwicks.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1344147' date='Aug 18 2011, 10:54 AM']And if you want some for free, you could pick up the rice at a church where a wedding has been.[/quote] Nice quote! Shame no-one else seemed to pick up on it. I remember reading some boutique amp maker recommending putting silica gel in speaker cabs so that the speaker cone(s) would stay dryer and hence lighter and hence more responsive.

Embedded:

Calling Warwickhunt!! In the meantime, if you email Warwick with the serial number, then they should be able to tell you the factory spec, including the body wood. My instinct is that, by 1991, they'd stopped using cherry, so it's probably maple. But I don't have a lot of hard information to base that on.

[quote name='Faithless' post='1317811' date='Jul 26 2011, 11:47 PM']Hmmm, just spotted a relatively cheapish Ibanez Promethean 1x10 cab, which is lightweight enough (9kgs/20lbs) - the only thing I can't find about this cab is impendance - if it is 8ohm cab - does anyone know about them? It should do the job, I think, and I wouldnt end up spending shitload of money on extension cab. The second nearest option would be a new TC Electronic RS112 cab (I'd get it for 300 pounds) - it would give me more 'air', than a 10" cab, but, as I've said, it's stupidly big and quite heavy... What do you guys think? easy Laimis[/quote] According to the manual that you can download from the Ibanez webpage, the speaker impedance is 8ohm. That cab is incredibly cheap, and Prometheans get good reviews on here, although I've never tried one myself.

Ah, the old discrepancy between theory and practice. The cause of many a good argument. Sometimes it's a shortfall in the theory (a failure to consider all the relevant issues), and sometimes it's an anomaly in the practice (some quirk in the experiment that makes it an unrepresentative case). But most often it's simply a misunderstanding - the theory and practice are not addressing the same issue, and I think that's what's going on here. What your Pingray clearly shows is that a bass can have a high strap button and no neck-dive. I totally agree with this and have never claimed otherwise. Many basses (including Ps, Js and MMs) are well-balanced, and could have the button in many different places and still not neck-dive. There would be a difference in the balance, but in most cases it wouldn't be discernible. What I am saying (and what I've always been saying) is that if you have a bass that is NOT well-balanced, then moving the strap button up will (nearly always) make it worse rather than better. This is exactly what Mod_Machine has found, after following the advice on that other thread. Most of us don't dare to move buttons about, so can't actually compare the effect of different positions on the same bass. But M_M has done exactly this, and his experience backs up what I claimed exactly - practice perfectly matching the theory. If, on the other hand, you can show me a bass that neck-dives when its bottom button is on the centre line or below, and which balances well when the bottom button is higher up, then you'll have evidence that contradicts the theory. For example, did Pingray neck-dive when it had the button on the centre-line? Yes, obviously you should keep making basses the way you do, and if you stick to the classic shapes then you probably won't get any neck-dive even with a high button. But those of us who, for one reason or another, go for other shapes that are prone to neck-dive, will want to keep discussing different ways of solving the problem. And most of us will want to know whether a change will actually make things better or worse before we start drilling or gluing or spending any money.

Afraid I have no experience of Audere preamps. If you've bought the preamp new, I would suggest contacting Audere for some help about connecting a humbucker to their preamp.

From looking at the KA website: [url="http://www.kentarmstrong.com/pages/schematics.html"]http://www.kentarmstrong.com/pages/schematics.html[/url] It looks like your black is hot, the red & green should be twisted together to be your common, and the white & bare wires should be twisted together to be your ground. But have a look at the PDF on that page as it may have the exact circuit you need.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1315873' date='Jul 25 2011, 03:57 PM']It's basic geometry. It the strap button is too low down (typically at the mid point of the body) and the bass is generally unbalanced anyway then it will tend to pull up causing neck dive. Moving the strap button higher up will stop this tendency for body to pull up and the neck to drop down.[/quote] Hmm, still can't quite follow this. I was looking for an explanation of why the bass body would tend to pull up with the strap button lower down, because it doesn't fit with my understanding. And with Mod_Machine's experience, by the look of it: [quote name='Mod_Machine' post='1315928' date='Jul 25 2011, 04:36 PM']But in real terms this is the absolute opposite of what happens. .... I really need to find that thread on the scince behind it all. Ultimately though i have three holes in the end of my bass at the moment - and guess which one causes greatest neck dive.... the one that is highest up. Guess which one causes lowest. the one furthest down! ....[/quote] I wonder if this is the thread on the science of it that you are thinking of: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=119946"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=119946[/url] It has an eerily familiar selection of people posting so I can see why ou7shined doesn't want to go through this whole argument all over again. Personally, I hope it's not that thread that you're thinking of, cos I'd love to read some more serious physics input into this problem. But I'm very much with Mod_Machine on this one. And when I searched back I found that the conclusions I'd reached from thinking about the physics fits exactly with what a guy named Golem said on the Warwick forum ages ago. What makes his opinion more interesting is that he's not afraid of drilling holes in new basses so has actually put into practice what I've merely theorized about. His main input is here and in some of the later posts: [url="http://forum.warwick.de/10-warwick-bass/7267-neck-dive-2.html#post122682"]http://forum.warwick.de/10-warwick-bass/72...html#post122682[/url] Of course, the optimal position for the bottom button does depend on the rest of the bass, so just because one bass works fine with a high strap button doesn't mean another will. But I don't believe you can take a bass which neck-dives when its button is on the centre-line and make it better balanced by moving the button a little higher up. When you move it up you'd first see an increase in neck-dive. Only when you'd moved it so far round the top edge that it was vertically above the original centre-line position would you start to reduce neck-dive at all. But when I talk about an "increase" in neck-dive, that brings out another problem: this stuff is very hard to measure objectively. When I removed a tuning peg to test whether Ultralites would make any difference for me, I'd say there was no difference to the balance. But of course I'd be wrong: there must be some difference, just not enough for me to notice. And that difference in perception is, I guess, why we'll still be discussing neck-dive when the cows come home!

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1315824' date='Jul 25 2011, 03:27 PM']In which case you should get less neck dive if you move the strap pin further up so that it's attached to the body where the tangent to the curve of the body is 90° to the ground.[/quote] You mean 90° to the ground when the bass is held at the angle you want, right? Can you explain why that should help, or is it just based on years of experience?

[quote name='Linus27' post='1315511' date='Jul 25 2011, 10:50 AM']Would you say the TI's are more flexible than rounds or about the same?[/quote] I would definitely say TI's are more flexible than rounds - they are incredibly low tension. I love them, but they definitely feel quite different.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1315435' date='Jul 25 2011, 09:39 AM']Your guitarist could do what I do with my bass combo & put it on it's side.[/quote] Yep, that's exactly what Barefaced Alex was recommending in his column a few months back if you have a 2x12 combo: put it on its side and on a stand (or chair).

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1314961' date='Jul 24 2011, 06:09 PM']What are the mandobirds actually like?, I'm a bass player, and was in Denmark St at the weekend, and their everywhere, had a little play, and it was very cool, but as you say, very silly, and i nearly bought one, but thought i'd sleep on it, and i'm glad i did! I'd still like one, but wondering if they are worth £130?? Are they actually proper playable instruments, or a bit of folly?? Thanks in advance.[/quote] I would say they are proper playable instruments. I've never played a high-end mandolin or mandola (only sub £200 instruments), so maybe it wouldn't meet your standards if you are used to high class instruments. But for me it is a perfectly ok beast. I have read lots of comments about the pickup not detecting the E string well enough, giving an unbalanced sound, but I haven't had that problem - I've tweaked the set-up and it all sounds fine. The only slight issue is the intonation. I've got the 8-string and it only has a 2-screws for moving the saddle, so you can't set the intonation precisely (whereas the 4-string has 4 individually adjustable saddle pieces). But it's not yet enough of an issue to make me buy another bridge. I guess, at the end of the day, it depends on your needs. I play lots of bass, quite a lot of guitar, but only play mandolin/a for about one song every year or so. If your main instrument is a mando, you probably shouldn't be looking at these things (except possibly as a 4th or 5th instrument!) And the fact that I can play it sat on the sofa means that I'm picking it up to play much more often than my traditional-shaped mandola. So that's gotta be a good thing.

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='1314284' date='Jul 23 2011, 10:10 PM']... For normal balance, you need some wood hovering around the 12 or 13th fret to mount one strap pin and the other can be at the back or slightly higher. For a tele shape, as far strap pins go, as the yanks will say 'ferget about it.' ...[/quote] That fits with my impression. When I checked the centre of gravity for all my basses, they were all in quite similar places, whether the bass balanced well or appallingly. From that I concluded that the problem is largely down to the length (or lack of it!) of the top horn. (Since the bottom buttons on my basses all happen to be at the centre bottom, and the top buttons are all on the top horn, so their positioning is limited by the length of the horn). So yes, an unbalanced bass basically needs a longer horn. Which makes me think an unbalanced bass needs a cross bar like those old Roland guitar synths: Most of us would shy away from bolting a plank of wood from top horn to headstock, which was what led me to try attaching a string from the top horn (or somewhere on the strap) to the headstock, to try and pull the anchor point some way towards the headstock.

[quote name='Mod_Machine' post='1313420' date='Jul 23 2011, 12:14 AM'].... Also with regards to strap pin placement at the rear I can confirm that the further up the bass towards the shoulder it is moved the WORSE the neck dive becomes. There is a very good post somewhere on bass chat discussing the mathematics and science behind this, but ultimately the fact I've moved the strap pin down toward the jack socket and not returned it to it's original position is also an indication that in 'practice' the science behind that post is accurate. ...[/quote] That fits with my understanding of it. But I'd love to read that post you mention that discusses the science behind it - if you could try and track it down, I'd be very grateful. [quote name='Mod_Machine' post='1313421' date='Jul 23 2011, 12:15 AM']For example what about creating a cavity at the rear of the bass loaded with weights to weigh down that side?[/quote] I'd be wary of doing anything that added weight. So how about simply putting a cavity in the top horn, to lighten that end, and hopefully shift the centre of gravity towards the bridge?