Deep Thought

[quote name='Machines' post='319644' date='Nov 1 2008, 03:00 PM']I expect the little combo will be wired to the internal speaker internally, so you can't just unplug the speaker and have it get power from another source. Might be a bit of a DIY jobby but I can see it being fairly straight forward. That said - the Marshall would rip it to pieces since it's 450w 2ohm with ext cab - and the poor little combo wouldn't cope. [/quote] Note to self-pay attention to original post. My mistake above involved two 300watt combos-this is a slightly different kettle of [i]poisson[/i]. Depends on what size gigs you're playing, but I'd say you're better off getting the Marshall or similar, if that's what floats your boat, and pick up an extension cab if you need one-they seem to be going fairly cheap second hand at the moment, going by recent ones I've seen and been tempted by. I'd have thought using the SWR as an extension was a more trouble than it's worth, but I defer to those with more expertise than me.

[quote name='solo4652' post='319531' date='Nov 1 2008, 11:15 AM']Hi, I already have an SWR LA15 100w combo. Here's the technical spec. [url="http://www.bandland.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1969"]http://www.bandland.co.uk/catalog/product_...roducts_id=1969[/url] It's a great practice amp, but it's not loud enough for pub gigs, so I'll have to upgrade. I don't really want to sell the SWR since it's vrtually new, and it's a good, portable practice amp. So - is there a way I could link the SWR to give me, say, 300W? If I bought this Marshall combo: [url="http://www.imusician.co.uk/acatalog/info_00061838.html?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=00061838"]http://www.imusician.co.uk/acatalog/info_0...m_term=00061838[/url] and use it for gigs, is there any way I could use the SWR as an extension speaker for the Marshall if ever I needed more than the Marshall's 300W? Is this possible? Sensible? I'm trying to save costs here, and in some way use the SWR that I have already. All advice gratefully received. Please don't get too technical - I'm not in any way an engineer! Thanks, Steve[/quote] Yes, you can do it-just don't do what I did..... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7833&hl=prize%20prat&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...20prat&st=0[/url]

[quote name='crez5150' post='318511' date='Oct 30 2008, 04:58 PM']One of my fave films....[/quote] 'Good Lord - I've heard about this - cat juggling! Stop! Stop! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Good. Father, could there be a God that would let this happen?'

Make sure you get the bass line well sussed so it becomes automatic, and you can concentrate on the vocal performance without worrying about it too much. Practice is what it takes. Some songs need a lot of work to get right, some you can do straight off. I often find busier bass lines easier to sing over than slower ones, where timing is more of an issue. Some I just cannot sing and play the same time no matter what. It gets easier the more you do it.

[quote name='Platypus' post='315277' date='Oct 26 2008, 06:48 PM']Mike, think you had probably left by the time I arrived - pity as would have liked to have said hi[/quote] Yes Paul, it's a shame as I would have liked to have seen you too-unfortunately I wasn't able to stick around and tell you in person how pleased I am with the Precision-although it's not getting much use right now as I've got tennis elbow! I'm sure there'll be another time.

[quote name='Muppet' post='314690' date='Oct 25 2008, 06:40 PM']I have a DTR2000 in my rack but in my pedalboard I have just switched to a Korg Pitchblack. It's as accurate as the rackmount version, true bypass and very small. I upgraded from a DT-10, which I upgraded from the tone sucking TU2. [/quote] Oh, great-here I am saying 'I am completely GAS-free-there's nothing whatsoever that I need at the moment'. Now this appears. Oh, well, Xmas is on the way.

I did!-I was first in the queue when he arrived-in fact I [i]was[/i] the queue! I went to see the Stranglers at the Uni the night before (storming night!), and knowing he was going to be there the next day I booked a hotel and got to the show about half an hour before he arrived. I don't think many others knew who he was either-I got the impression I was the only one who was there specifically to meet him. I got to have a bit of a chat with him, got my poster signed and shook his hand-bear in mind this is the bloke who inspired me to take up the bass nearly 30 years ago, been a fan all those years and never got a chance to meet him. He brought Baz Warne, the Stranglers' guitarist with him, so having met JJ I went off to find Baz and have a word with him and shake his hand too, so that was a bonus for me. When I arrived I spoke to the chap on the Rotosound stand to ask when JJ was expected, he turned out to be Jason How, their chief exec, and was a really nice chap and a Stranglers fan too, so I hung around chatting to him until JJ arrived. Having met Baz, I went back to the Rotosound stand to buy some strings ( they were doing two sets for £25, and I felt I ought to buy something!) and in parting I told him how chuffed I was to have finally met JJ, and he was good enough to offer to take a pic of me and the great man on his camera, which he's going to send to me when I email him in a few days. Not surprisingly I went away like a dog with two tails! JJ was apparently only there for a short while, as the band were in Birmingham that night for another gig. Prior to his arrival I had a look around the show (got a poster signed by Jim Marshall as well, another result!). There was a fair bit of bass-related stuff there-I can't say I saw anything that I felt I was going to die if I didn't buy, thankfully. The Ampeg, EBS/GB and Trace stands looked pretty good. I wish I could have stuck around longer and met some of you chaps, but I had to get back to reclaim my daughter from my parents who'd had her overnight-besides by that time I'd run out of dosh!

Kevin Bloody Wilson-'Santa Claus you c**t, where's me f*****g bike?'

1. JJ Burnel 2. Norman Watt-Roy 3. John Entwistle

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='311996' date='Oct 22 2008, 12:51 PM']Look closer at the pickguard. It's scuffed and worn all over. They're very resilient though, so you have to look closely. As for the neck... yep, the headstock is clean but the back of the neck is worn. It could be that - believe it or no - the headstock has never been dinged. I'm not saying it IS original - this is T-O-M we're talking about after all, but.. those photos are inconclusive. You have to hold something like this in your hands to make the most accurate judgement possible.[/quote] I know next to nothing about vintage Fenders, but I do notice in pic 9 (?), the pic of the neck pocket, the shape of the patches where the paint has come away match the shapes on the neck, if that makes sense-ie. when the neck was taken off, some off the paint has come away from the neck pocket, remained adhering to the neck, and the shapes of the patches of paint on the neck match those in the pocket. This suggests to me that the neck and body have been bolted together for quite some time. Dunno if that's significant but I thought I'd bring it up.

[quote name='woodenshirt' post='311795' date='Oct 22 2008, 09:05 AM']Anybody else like this kind of music? Mart.[/quote] Absolutely-seen Feelgood several times, including when Lee Brilleaux was with them. Big Wilko Johnson (and Norman Watt-Roy, of course) fan. Proper R'n'B, not the saccharine tripe with which the modern World associates the term. Will check out the Pirates. Just did-looked at some YouTube footage via their website-good stuff! Thankfully it looks like they don't go in for the pirate costumes any more, probably not a bad thing.

Stranglers, Exeter Uni on Friday.

Friday night, Exeter-can't bloody wait. Since Paul Roberts left and they've reverted to a 4-piece, I've gone back to being the huge Stranglers fan I was when I was a teenager. Good to hear they're sounding good-I was in Burnham-on-sea last week and contemplated nipping over to Cardiff, but I didn't think the missus would be too impressed. Jet was poorly earlier this year and his place was taken by his drum roadie (who apparently did a pretty good job), but he's back on the drum stool for this tour. I have to wonder, though, how much longer he's going to be able to carry on-he's getting on a bit to say the least!

Yep-my old Toyota only cost me £650, which is less than I paid for my Precision. I love old bangers-who cares if they get scratched, dented, etc? My wife has Motability cars, which are brand new, and you can guarantee that in no time some arsewipe will hit it/open their door against it/scrape it etc., usually in supermarket car parks. It's happened to every Motability car she's had, often within weeks of getting it. Not a problem with a 12 year old car! Scratch? So what?

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='304204' date='Oct 10 2008, 10:25 PM']I heard him for the first time tonight. OMG he's awesome. Seriously. There's a purity to his playing and a total lack of pretention. That, and I can't believe how good he can make a 3 string guitar sound.[/quote] Saw him live last year on the beach in Newquay. Incredible-one of the best gigs I've been to in nearly 30 years.

Black all the way for me too-although my MIM has a red tort one-my original plan was to whip it right off and put a black one on, but I dunno.....

[quote name='markytbass' post='300028' date='Oct 5 2008, 06:29 PM']But it was Colin Grigson (Rik Mayall) who played bass in Bad News![/quote] All right, him then! I haven't seen it for twenty-odd years, the old memory's not what it was!

Folks, I give you...Den from Bad News Tour!

Mine (2007 MIA) came with a Fender tool-basically a very long allen key with a T-handle on the end-with which I managed to tweak mine without removing the scratchplate. Mine didn't seem to want to turn at first, and I was on the brink of giving up and going back to the shop when it finally moved, and was fine after that. I managed to make a small mark in the scratchplate by the notch though-it's hard to do without doing that because of the depth and small size of the notch. If doing it again I'd be forewarned and use something to protect the scratchplate. I suppose removing the neck would eliminate this, but it does seem a bit of a fiddle. I notice that the Fender website doesn't say anything about removing the neck, but it makes sense I suppose. My MIM has the adjustment at the headstock end, which is a darn sight easier.

[i]Good[/i] Never had any problem with timing Can give a reasonable impression onstage that I know what I'm doing Pretty good pick technique and not too bad with fingers Can sing and play at the same time on most songs Can write songs Pick up stuff fairly quickly Can lift heavy stuff (within reason) Good at painting backdrops Not remotely interested in slapping Am bald, overweight and middle aged but do not care [i]Bad[/i] Technique fairly ropey Can't read music (although have a basic understanding) Theory knowledge poor, although improving Crap at jamming

Aaah, this is music to my ears. Took up bass after seeing The Stranglers on the 'Who Wants the World' Tour at the Cornwall Coliseum in 1980. I've said for years that 'Black and White' is my favourite album, but on reflection 'The Raven' has a better selection of tracks I like, including my favourite ever track (by any artist), 'Duchess', which has everything I ever wanted to hear in a song. I think 'La Folie' was the last of the classic recorded Burnel bass albums-after that he started being less apparent in the mix, although one of the best live shows I ever saw was on the 'Feline' tour, so he certainly didn't stop doing it live-until later. I got my MIA Precision last year-see avatar-not the first I'd had but never had the black/black/maple one I'd always wanted. Would love a 'TV logo' 70's one though. I think buying a Shuker JJ Burnel is probably going too far in paying tribute, not that I can afford one! Have you seen the new lineup? I totally lost interest after Cornwell left-before, in fact, as the last time I saw the original lineup live they were bloody awful (JJ was totally inaudible), and I never bought '10'. Not at all interested until 2006 when they played near me at Helston. Out of curiousity I bought a ticket, only later finding out that Roberts had left. I was blown away, almost as good as seeing the old band-better, in fact by miles than the last time I'd seen them. I think Baz is doing a superb job filling Cornwell's shoes, and I'm back to being the huge Stranglers fan I was 20 years ago. Roll on the 24th in Exeter! I've finally come to the sad realisation that I will never be JJ Burnel, and thus am trying to do my own thing in blues and R'n'B, with hopefully a little hint of JJ thrown in. Oh yeah, 'Warhead' was my first bassline. Brown vinyl! Has Paul Slack been mentioned? SLF was my first ever live gig. Also a big Sisters fan, saw 'em four times in total. Other names I'd like to add are Greg Norton of Husker Du, Kim Deal of The Pixies and Chris Thompson of the Screaming Blue Messiahs, plus Philip 'John' Brennan from The Three Johns, one of my favourite bands, now almost forgotten it seems. Boy do I like this thread.

Can never have too many Precision men. Good to see you back.

Don't think you can ever be 100% happy, but I currently feel no overwhelming urge to buy any more gear-what I've got does what I need it to do. I now have two Precisions, one intended as a backup, but I reckon the two might be interchangeable. I don't use pedals, my Trace is giving me the sound I want and is compact enough for my needs, with enough volume for pretty much any venue I'm likely to play. Sure there's stuff I'd like, a proper vintage Precision, a Trace V-type, maybe a Rick, but the chances of me having enough wonga to actually get any of these are minimal, so I'm not worried. Now playing-wise it's another kettle of [i]poisson[/i] entirely-I'm currently on a drive to improve my musical knowledge, gradually picking up more and more bits of theory. It's getting there, but still a long way to go, and there'll always be something new to learn.

[quote name='Jake_M' post='293710' date='Sep 28 2008, 02:35 AM']Its been thirty years since i first picked up a bass guitar, inspired primarily and still by JJ Burnel of The Stranglers.[/quote] You and me both, Old Son. Welcome. Discharge-yes, I remember them-had a mate who was quite well into you guys. About to make my annual pilgrimage to see The Stranglers at Exeter next month-can't wait.

I was forced recently to resort to my Ibanez GSR200 when my main bass, my US Precision, had pickup trouble. Never again, I decided, and so recently purchased this from Platypus. MIM Precision with Wizard Thumper, CTS pots and copper shielded electrics. Also had full 'ashtrays' which I'm afraid didn't last long. Currently getting more use than the US one. Has TI flats on it, which I'm also rather liking, although I've always been a roundwound man. My initial plan was to replace the tort pickguard with a black one, but I do quite like the red-oddly enough my first Precision, a Japanese '62 reissue (should have kept it!!!) also had a red tort scratchplate. Can't guarantee it won't get swapped for a black one at some point, but I'm happy with it at the moment. Also having a hard think about upgrading the bridge. Not had a chance to give it a proper workout yet, but should do soon, and a brief blast through my Trace sounded pretty good. Having stood around watching a bloke change a broken string on stage, I like to have a spare standing by, and I'm well pleased with this one!