mcnach

Well, the Sweet Baby arrived today. I just had a quick test, on guitar first, and then about 15min with a Jazz bass. It is really low gain. So... nice! That's what I wanted. It goes from clean to very low/moderate gain, using a stratocaster. It seems that there is a bit of a "bump" with the gain knob at around 9 o'clock: with the gain at minimum, the volume increases a bit until it reaches that point, after that the volume does not change significantly and it's just the grit increasing very very very slowly as you turn the knob clockwise. The "focus" control is like a very subtle tone control, changing slightly the tonality of the overdrive, shifting where in the midrange it sits. I liked it on guitar. But what about bass, which is what I really wanted it for? Very good! It adds just a tiny bit of overdrive and it's pretty smooth. The fact that the amount of distortion increases so slowly, and that there is no volume changes to speak of after that 9 o'clock position means that it's extremely easy to adjust on the fly. The ultimate overdrive is extremely sensitive: you turn up the gain a little bit, you need to bring the level down a bit, and viceversa. NOt here. Also, as long as you get the gain knob in the approximate area, you will not hear any big differences from one time to the next. So, in that respect, it's just the sort of thing I wanted. Is teh sound good? It is. It has a *slight* "raspiness" to it as you increase the gain, but I doubt it would be heard in the mix with the band, and turning the focus control anticlockwise helps too. It has a reasonably nice tone, and it bumps the midrange ever so slightly (adjustable a little with the focus control). Oh, I don't hear a bass loss. But this is at home, at volume this may well be another story. However, many other pedals suffer from low end loss and it's veyr noticeably at low volumes, so this is promising. I think this might work! I'm going to mount it on my board right now, as I have practice at 9, and I will see then how it behaves in a band context at proper volumes. I will report back. As a very noticeable in-your-face kind of overdrive I don't think this would be good, but as a "mostly always on" overdrive, I have to say it's looking very good, and it only costs £37! I have spent considerable more in other pedals that did not sound or did the job as well as this. I won't name names as some are a bit sensitive around here. I ordered a "Vintage Overdrive" as well at the weekend, after listening to the reviews on Youtube. I want it for guitar, but I will try it on bass too. I have also figured out how to record clips using my laptop and the DI from my RH450 head, as I wanted to record some pickup test clips... so I might as well make a couple of clips with this pedal.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1361120146' post='1981335'] the smoking ban has had a negative effect as well...! [/quote] I can't say I have noticed a difference at all. ONly that I get home smelling a little sweaty maybe, but not smoked up.

[quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1361118318' post='1981293'] We were discussing this on Friday night after we played to about 10 people and then the place got busier at midnight - after we had finished. I'm 21. I've been gigging since 2008 and never played a gig before the smoking ban or 24 hour drinking laws so I can't really talk from experience. The rest of the band have a few years more experience than me and were talking about how it used to be that people would hit the pubs anywhere between about 7-9 and venues stopped serving booze at 11, the same time that bands would finish, and be home by midnight/hit the clubs. Nowadays people go out of their front door at 11, just as bands are finishing! Is it just me, or do you think that 24 hour drinking has something to do with this? (Along with the obvious issue of the world's finances) [/quote] Where are I live there are plenty of gigs at midnight and later. I guess the patterns have changed, but I could not say whether it's better or worse. I personally welcome the freedom to go out when I please without the old rush "quick, let's go, we only have two hours left till closing time!". At least now we have a decent selection of bars open, many with live music, until 2.30-3am even on week days. Yes, when I play at midnight on a Thursday night, I wish it were the way it was before Going home at 3am when you have to work the next day it's not great... but as long as the body can take it, I'm enjoying it. I grew up in Spain, where it was common to not leave the house till 10 or 11, and bars would stay open all night. Not all bars... some chose to shut at 2am, some at 4am... some opened at midnight... it meant there was always somewhere interesting to go to, and you didn't get that sudden invasion of the streets by drunken people from all sides, which I think it's a very bad idea.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1361121998' post='1981373'] There are a number of indicators that tell you if it's export or non-export. Quickest is usually running the serial number. As for the original pickups being USA, that's correct as Japanese fenders use US parts (ie pickups, bodies, scratchplates, hardware etc). [/quote] But there isn't anything substantially different between the export/non-export models, right? It's just an "admin decision" by Fender to make certain basses from certain manufacturers available in some areas and not othe rs, isn't it? How does one find out from the serial number? Mine is P001099, CIJ. So I'm guessing that makes it a 2000 model, but other than that, no idea.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1361127837' post='1981518'] I used some glow in the dark stick on ones, partly for dark use but also so I had markers on the fret positions on my fretless (which has dot markers between the frets). They fall off after a bit of use, however, and that gets a little confusing. I'd like to get them replaced with Luminlays or similar. [/quote] I'm planning to do something similar on my fretless Precision, which started life as fretted and also has the dots between the frets. I would like to remove the existing ones, fill with some kind of wood/paste that matches the existing colour, and put dots at the right place. I have not yet decided whether to get the Luminlays or not. It's a maple fingerboard, so dark dots generally work fine for me.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1361120932' post='1981352'] Yes. I bought some of those glow in the dark dots but I never got round to using them. [/quote] Aha! Yeah, I used it recently in a couple of dark places and the dots are invisible. So, that black Jazz is undergoing surgery at the moment. I took it on Saturday to my favourite luthier to have the side dots replaced with bigger (3mm diameter) ones... the glow in the dark stuff from Luminlay. I went for the blue ones, which are not the brightest or longest lasting but they are cool (they look white when not charged, which is probably enough of an improvement over the originals, the glow in the dark think is just a curiosity). I might get it back on Tuesday. PS: for those who don't know (everybody! ) That black Jazz was my first bass, I sold it to unclepsychosis back in 2008... and I bought it back last summer. Love it.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1361017504' post='1979803'] most 75 jazz reissues from Japan come with 60's spacing, but the non export models from the MIJ sometimes come with 70's spacing.. not always. though..... the non export CIJ usually come with 70's spacing and in various wonderful colour's like lake placid blue etc.. in the 90's they made the non export model in natural.. like the one i have.. dont think they make them anymore,, i could be wrong... [/quote] how do you know what is "non-export"? I bought one that was advertised as "non-export", but have no idea (or care, really, just curious) about it. Mine has the 60s spacing. I paid £650 for it and it had been modified: badass bridge (original gone) and Nordstrand NJ4SE pickups (original, which turned out to be USA pickups) were also included. I don't care about the badass and soon I will replace it. The Nordtrands are great if not very Jazzy, so they stay. I used the original pickups in another bass and they are VERY nice.

They are ok. But I would not think of buying them unless my budget were really really low. Spend a bit more for much better results. (Jazz pickups) Although I quite liked some of his guitar humbuckers, I have to admit.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1312710470' post='1330713'] Hey I sometimes encounter what I think is a fairly common problem---I can't see my fret markers on the side of the neck on dark stages. I know you can get LEDs and so on, but thats more effort/cash than I'm willing to invest just now. Instead, I was thinking of getting some glow in the dark stickers. I was hoping I could find some small, circular ones so they wouldn't be very obtrusive. Has anyone tried this? [/quote] I know this thread is pretty old but... I needed to ask. Was this with the black Jazz?

I just took one of my basses to my favourite luthier to get new side dots installed. The original ones are rather small and did not contrast very well against the background. So I went for 3mm diameter Luminlay... The bigger dots alone will help a lot. The glow in the dark aspect may be cool. We'll see!

so, how did it go, how did it go??? pictures???

Update: I just installed one of those Fender bridges.. it's perfect!!! No worries about the string coming off the slot, it's really held tightly. So that's one of the Jazzes sorted, with a string spacing of 20-21mm, and I love it! Thank you, Fat Rich and KiOgon for pointing me towards these bridges. I suspect that the Badass II on my Japanese 75RI will soon be for sale...

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1360586668' post='1972681'] I did. No way was I missing out on the chance of a gig. [/quote] did you get paid?

SMB4A comes in standard 2 coil as well as 3 coil... The 3 coil could maybe be interested if you want it hum-free after a coil split... I really like the SMB4A, great pickup. I'd definitely consider a midsweep module from John East... even leaving the bass passive and just using the midsweep... It's really versatile, and if you like to control your mids...

Singer has a job already, and so do I... although this morning I'm a bit of a slow starter (making up for last night staying late ) Do give us a call still, you can sing with us via mobile phone next time he lets us down Hmmm... holograms. That's an idea...

youtube, a place for discussion? joke of the day! nah, if the pedal does not work welll for bass... I'll just not use it for bass. I really like low gain overdrives on guitar, so it'll be tested against another couple of pedals I have, and sell the one I like the least.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1360817517' post='1976978'] I can't sleep either, funny enough! I've actually just decided to stick with it for the long run and got myself coffee. Hopefully i'll get my second wind in the late morning I intend to see you live You wouldn't happen to be particularly knowledgeable about electronics? Trying to solve the great mystery of how i will wire my JazzyMan. [/quote] and see us live you must! electronics? not really. I can just about follow a diagram. I'm just a keen solderer, and as a skint student I discovered that modifying the electronics of guitars was a pretty cheap way to entertain myself and change the sound of my guitar... so I have tried many many things, most of which were not better than the standard wiring in most instruments When I did the series thing in a Jazz, I wired a push/push pot for tone, and used the switch for series/parallel switching. I got the diagram somewhere online. Probably "guitarnuts", as they have a lot of basic but good mods (one I always do on a strat is move the tone control from middle to bridge pickup, extremely simple but cool, and I vary the cap value to focus more on the midrange... also adding a "always on" switch to a strat to allow the bridge and neck pickups mix... series/parallel is just another of the simple mods you can find there. Have a look)

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1360802698' post='1976931'] Me and my friend have like the SBK page. I liked it twice, because i have a facebook page You should be really proud though, i genuinely really really liked the songs! Can't wait to hear more, or catch a live show! [/quote] Thank you! I'm so proud I can't sleep tonight! Recordings are ok, but you should really see us live, if you liked what you heard...

Good news!!! Singer no longer has to go away and the gigs are back on schedule!

and you read it here first, ladies and gentlemen!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1360801454' post='1976911'] These songs bloody rock man! If you want to be touring through NI (or ballymena) around, oh, i dunno, january 5th 2014, i can for sure get you a gig [/quote] Thank you and... NI sounds as good a place as any other to start the SBK world domination tour Our calendar is still reasonably free around that date

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1360800859' post='1976901'] Listening to your songs... On the one with the envelope filter at the start. I laughed That intro bit is just brilliant, but a bit funny. [/quote] You know what? It was supposed to be a silly melody once during a practice... but one of the guys said "oh! oh! oh! play that again!" and... they incorporated it into a new song. Lesson: only play it if you mean it! I utterly dislike that song. I hate it. We have much better than that and this one was chosen to be recorded...

Ha! Great! Although I really like the very low gain sound on the Ultimate Drive. It's just that the gain knob is too sensitive, and a little turn can be a lot. I was hoping a lower gain pedal would be a bit more "tame" in that respect. If it's nice on guitar I'd still keep it.