fonzoooroo

A few off beat ideas: If you're happy to polish (or brush) aluminium, it can be worked by routing. (conventional woodworking router using conventional woodworking bits) as long as you take it steady! For someone to make little bits, try a local model engineering society. You'd more likely get results from that than a firm that won't be nterested in making a couple of odments. For your plating queries, there's bound to be a plating firm near you. ( I only know a place in Derby) ... If you struggle finding someone, or are unsure of what quality to expect, give a classic car restorer a ring and ask for a recommendation. ... they're dealing with that kind of thing every day.

You'll get as many opinions as answers with this. I reckon the big one to start off with is transport. Seriously. If you drive (or don't need to shift your gear around) then you can go crazy, but if you're relying on lifts/public transport, then think small/light! Best advice I can give is that if you're parting with big money for a single bit of kit, try it first, and make SURE you're happy. If it's used gear that you can sell on for the same money/killer deal etc, it's a different matter! A mate of mine bought his "definitive" amp when playing in a decent gigging band, and feels he never needs to change... and that's an Ashdown MAG 300 1x15" combo, with a Korg rack mount tuner. He likes it. It suits his bass (active Epiphone 5 string) and playing style. I've tried it, but can't get a sound out of it I like! My rig's a bit silly, but all falls into the "killer deal" category... the basics of it are: Peavey 2x12" PA cab,(got it free, replaced the speakers) 1000W PA amp (bought at the cash converter for 1/3rd of the new price), Line 6 bass POD (used off ebay - no idea why nobody else put bids on it!) ... there's more, but you get the idea! The beauty of seperate heads/cabs is you can carry more/less gear to smaller/bigger gigs/practices (assuming you have more than 1head and 1 cab!) and you can upgrade/swap 1 component at a time. With a combo, if you decide you want to change, then it's a big change (though some will run an extension cabinet, if you decide you want to "expand" it) As mentioned above, leave the Zoom MultiFX for a while - put the money into the amp... it might buy you some extra power or clarity... or another used cab. ... If the players you want to sound like don't use effects, you shouldn't need them... Yet.

Did you get this sorted?

I reckon it all depends on what you're after, and how much control you want. If you're running a full rack compressor, EQ, BBE, you've got a monumental amount of control... I bought a POD XT and was very disappointed in the 1 knob to adjust "compress"... so I kept my 19" compressor plugged in. If you're used to what is effectively a "studio sound" through a good cab, then there's potential that there may be a modern lightweight head/cab that deliver just the same sound.... you'd just need to find it.

I had a set of ernie ball flats on an early 80s Aria bass. Sounded fantastic. A mate picked it up for a quick play, and wanted to buy it straight off because of the strings. That's about 5 years ago now... he still has it with the same set of strings on! I've got 2 fretlesses with Daddario ground 1/2rounds on. Had a couple of issues with them randomly breaking, but like the sound/feel/not fretboard chewing properties. (Dealt with Strings Direct - A quick email, and another set were sent straight out. Excellent service!) My 6 string fretless has Thomastik jazz flats. The sound doesn't seem to have changed over 3 years, but they didn't have much "bite" to start off with! On my 1 token fretted bass, I'm using the rotosounds in the bright yellow or pink packs (the cheap ones) and prefer them to their swing bass efforts which seem to lose their sound very quickly. After getting used to buying cello and double bass strings, most bass guitar strings suddenly seem cheap!

you can check nut groove rattle by pressing a fingernail down directly on teh plaing side of the nut. go over the whole instrument with a screwdriver and jsut check everything's tightened right up. if no improvement, check if there's any tension in the truss rod... if it's completely slack, give it a tweek until you just start to feel the nut "bite"... it'll make no tangible difference to the setup, but will stop the rod nut/rod rattling.

as it's only for a test, pick up a set of cheapie strings and pop them on - that way, you'll be losing less than a tenner at the worst! now for the silly thoughts: I trust it genuinely is just the E... so A on the E string is louder than the open A? (just to check it's not frequency related) are the pickups bar magnet type, or individual magnets for each string? If the latter, loose magnet/wrong magnet? swapping D/G fr E/A and trying them the other way up would prove if there was "loud" pickup pole. try damping the other strings as you play on the E... there could be a resonance which is sounding a harmonic in another string - a reinforced octave or similar would make a significant difference to the percieved volume.

I've got some Petz (no2) which comes in different hardnesses (hence the numbers) which is sticky enough on spirocores. I usually go for a softer rosin on cello (main instrument) with kolstein and Kaplan being a couple of my favourites. I usually find that pretty much anything is better than the usual Hidersine.

email these guys: [url="http://shop.violinbridges.co.uk/"]http://shop.violinbridges.co.uk/[/url] Their top quality stuff's very good. Even going down to 3rd quality gives usable timber.

I used to have a '93 VW polo... Back seat down, I once had a 3/4 bass, 4/4 cello in hard case, some other stuff (think there was a guitar, definately a mandolin) and a passenger eating his dinner on route to a folk session. I now have a '91 VW scirocco and can fit more in... I always go for rear seats down, neck either over the back of the passenger seat if no passenger, or resting on a bungee between the front headrests if I do have a passenger. I've seen a bass in a Micra, and once in a metro. That looked interesting! I reckon you'd struggle in a proper mini - our guitarist needs to take the passenger seat out of his to get his 4x12" cab in.

Looking good. Don't worry too much about the finish - as long as there's some on, you can always come back to it in the future and flat it back/apply more. Main thing is it's back from the dead!

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='1064810' date='Dec 20 2010, 05:12 PM']haha, god knows what wood it actually is...[/quote] best not to think about it too hard... I've had a new chinese bass in where the "ebony" board was black paint over knotty maple (perhaps even "maple!") with about 1/2 a tub of filler in it... and it was warped. Completely impossible to re-shoot by conventional means. I spent 1/2 an hour fighting it (every trick for planing/scraping knots, but it'd always tear the grain out on the "other" side of each knot), before quitting and replacing the fingerboard.

Then I won't mind at all if you titebond the fingerboard on!

Here speaks a luthier in "bodge" mode: Where the laminate's coming apart at the edges, use "titebond". (don't muck about with other glue!) chop a bit of old ply/mdf/whatever to make pads which cover the area to spread the clamping force. Use a couple of sash cramps. Try it dry to check your board pads don't exert pressure on the arching of the instrument - only on the area you're gluing. Cover boards in cling film so you don't glue them onto the bass(!) Glue liberally, clean glue off surface (water). Clamp. Make tea. Repeat process wherever the laminate's coming apart using appropriate clamps/boards. Shape boards to arching cntours if required. Replacing veneer is replacing veneer. chop what's there bcak to a clean edge, then add new veneer. Either laminate veneer to build thickness, or glue a thicker piece of wood on, and shape later (scrapers are your friend) Any instances of seams (fornt/back to rib joints) coming unglued are best tackled with traditional animal glue, (NOT titebond) and clamped continuously (clamps touching - many clamps required!) Fingerboard: If it's ebony it's going to be worth getting a luthier to re-attach it. Honestly. Don't use titebond! Please!!!! If you just want it gluing back on, and are happy to rub a bit of sandpaper (or a scraper) over the board to beck joint yourself, it'l be 30 mins. laboour, and leaving the bass overnight with them for the glue to cure in a controled athmosphere. It's not just a case of slapping glue on and waiting for it to dry! If the wear's bad on the playing surface, ask them for a price for a re-shoot. For me, The severity of the wear affects the price charged. Bridge fitting's a real skill. You may find there are guides online to show you how, but unless you're VERY confident, get your luthier to do it. It's the price of the bridge blank + a couple of hours labour. (blank prices vary hugely by quality)

+1 for titebond. It'll do solid body stuff in it's sleep... I've done cello back centre-joints with it.

Cheap suggestions to try first: Clean the strings with meths (on a rag) and perhaps some stickier (softer) rosin. You've mentioned the quality of bow, but not that of the hair... I presume it's OK and "holds" rosin? (I find particularly if a bow's been stored, or barely used, the rosin just won't take afterwards) As for strings, how about Spirocores? High tension, clean sound, do pizz well, steel core in case you get the urge to retrofit a mag pickup, and they'll respond straight away under the bow on my EUB.

I'm using a Peavey too - a Hisys 3 (2x12"+ mid+ horn) It was in a poor state when I was [u]given[/u] it, so I popped a pair of Eminence Delta 12LF's in. (and extended the port after a few minutes on WinISD) Perhaps not the most efficient, but that just means you have to chuck more power at it! The sound is great though. I wouldn't swap it! (InterM 1000W PA amp and Line 6 pod)... For practicing, when I can't be bothered to lug the 2x12" (it's a big cab!) .. I've just built a box to suit a Rockford Fosgate 12" (200W RMS) car sub... I can feel a crossover and a mid coming on, (tried it for the 1st time last night) but for nice, clean low bass, it's a LOT better than you'd imagine! ...

Regarding finishes, Spirit finish is thinned with alcohol/meths (shellac etc) Oil finish is thinned with turpentine (and cleaned up with white spirit because i's cheaper!) Cellulose/nitro cellulose is thinned with cellulose thinners, or will clean up/rub off with alcohol/meths (alcohol moves it slower than cellulose thinners - useful for "antiquing") A spirit based sealer is fine under cellulose. (they're both hard, and dry quickly) An oil sealer will be fine under an oil finish, but is likely to craze under a cellulose or spirit finish. The following is only useful on clear/transparent finishes - it'd be a waste of time if you were painting: In practice, a drying oil is fine under a hard finish. A non drying oil [i]can[/i] work under a hard finish, but [b]only [/b]if applied sparingly, so it soaks in before the finish is applied... Otherwise it'll craze.

The darker and more consistant the ebony, the dearer it is (for reasons mentioned above) In the region of £8-10 buys you a lesser rosewood/exotic hardwood/stripey ebony blank. There's nothing wrong with any of these options! A good ebony blank (utterly black, straight grain etc) will cost anywhere up to and including £30. There are still some bargains out there though! The only things to watch out for with a lower cost ebony blank are waves in the grain going up and down from the playing surface and knots. Both are EVIL to plane, as even the sharpest of planes with teh most tightly adjusted of mouths thends to tear the grain out on the "downhill" grain. Just be thankful you're not thinking about double bass fingerboards!

As for behringer (the obvious cheap choice) steer clear of the DI-20... I own one, and have tried others, they seem to have a HF hss on them. I've played through DI-100s at gigs, and never noticed any issues... Soundguys must keep buying them for a reason... (Unless it's just the low cost meaning there's less worry about falling pints!)

We all own our own individual kit, and each drive ourselves to gigs. The (vocals only) PA's the singers, I own a pair of wedges and a power amp to drive them. It grabs me that's the way to treat gear - own and be responsible for "sections" of the kit (monitors/lights/pa/subs)... That way, if MY power amp dies, I'M responsible for getting it fixed, I'M responsible for looking after it, etc. The logic extends if you've got a couple more members in the band, but fails when you've got a horn section... Annoying when the singer owns the monitors, trumpet player the PA, me and the guitarist lugging monster backline, and the ("I don't know where to plug this wire in") alto sax player getting paid the same for turning up with a sax and a stand! ... That day, you really need to start adjusting payments to suit.

Talking about Jedson tele basses... I'm selling this one: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270612894548&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...=STRK:MESELX:IT[/url]