mcnach

and it looks like this...

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1361303328' post='1984302'] Fair point. They sound just as bad as the kids who won't let the other kids use their football. Good job the sound guy lets all the bands use his PA system. [/quote] which is *prearranged* or don't you ask?

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1361302809' post='1984280'] I agree. It's never nice being taken for granted. But I've never come across such a thing in a multi-band gig. Discussion about gear has always happened beforehand so that everyone knows what's happening ahead of time. So, no surprises and no big deal. I've never known anyone to share an instrument though (apart from drums, and then never snares or cymbals). [/quote] Oh, I've seen it. Three bands. Right in town, awkward access, so it helps if we all share, right? We agree to the drum kit, and we need three guitar amps, two of which we are bringing and we will use another band's guitar amp. You'd think it's not much to ask for someone else to bring a bass amp... but there was no discussion. We asked, several times... nobody said anything. All we got is "I'll ask my bass player and we'll let you know"... then nothing. The other band never said anything. So, do you think I'm going to show up early to set up for them? Two bands' bassists went through the PA that night. I played dumb "oh, nobody replied so we assumed you guys were bringing your own stuff and not sharing, so I just brought my things and left them in the car so that it would not get too cluttered on stage... I'm sure you will sound just fine through the PA directly and the sound guy will give you enough bass on your monitor, oh yeah"

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1361294157' post='1984093'] Interesting comments. I can understand musicians getting all precious about their actual instruments but amps and cabs? They're just amps and cabs and not exactly delicate are they? And how difficult is it to remember a few eq settings anyway? Prima donnas might be a bit strong . . . but not by much. [/quote] you got it all wrong: the prima donna is the guy who shows up without having arranged anything, fully expecting to use somebody else's equipment that said somebody else had to carry to the venue and then back out again.

[quote name='skoze' timestamp='1361282317' post='1983823'] I'm definitely in the borrowing category at the minute, not out of choice but necessity. We're all students living in a town with no parking, so sorting anything big enough to fit a few rigs plus drums is just not gonna happen. We head up to shows in London a few times a month on the train, and while that's not too bad in itself it'd be physically impossible to carry a decent sized cab along with all the instruments, matey's guitar amp, a bunch of cymbals, snare etc between three of us. I do like to think i'm pretty well mannered with it though, even if i've heard the promoter mention an amp available i'll always chase it up with either the band lending it, or the venue whose in-house gear it is. Similarly, if i turn up and am greeted with something i've never used/ seen before i'll chat to whoever's it is and make sure i'm in no danger of messing with anything. My guitarist majorly pissed me off when we supported a pretty well-established band recently and he refused to lend out his amp, even though it was a local show and we were bringing our own gear anyway. I think that stemmed more from the promoter being like "yeah, they're using your gear alright mate?" rather than asking but still, much un-needed friction. As for anyone turning up expecting to borrow leads, straps, pedals or my entire f***ing set up bass included, without even contemplating mentioning it first, i think i'd laugh them out of the venue. If someone had some gear issues or snapped a string mid-set or something, though, i'd be the first to offer my bass to them. I guess it's just a matter of how you go about doing things. [/quote] Your last sentence just about sums it for me. I have to say I'd be like your guitarist if a "promoter" just "tells me" that he has given permission to others to use my amp. Again, it's about how people go about doing things.

[quote name='AnalogBomb' timestamp='1361276461' post='1983672'] This scenario is all too common to me.... I've lost count of the times that I have brought all of my gear to gigs (even when we're not headlining) to be asked 'ere mate, can I use your amp?' - this is when my face turns an ashen grey looking colour. [/quote] It annoys me when it's not prearranged. Certain BC member in this thread has played through my amp on one occasion. It was fine, we had previously discussed equipment details and I agreed to provide my amp. I didn't know him yet (well, it turned out he had bought a bass from me before, but I did not recognise him yet ) so I had no particular reason to be nice to him, but he was polite and nice, so I just approached him to ask whether he was familiar with the amp, asked him to please mute before plugging/unplugging (amazing how many people don't care) and to tweak things to will, just not touch a particular memory setting that I had selected for myself. That's fine. When they come up while setting up "oh, can I use your amp?" it really annoys me. Are you really that careless, or you thought "let's wait till another fool does the carrying and bring an amp I can use, and then I can piss off leaving him to tear it all down by himself"? I tend to think most are in the latter category, and I used to feel bad to say no, now I don't really care. I often play last, and my rig does not take ages to set... so when I suspect shenanigans (like, we have asked about amplification and nobody else says anything at all)... I just leave my amp in the car, and decide to set up when we play. I no longer go for those ridiculous early soundchecks 4 hours before your 50min slot... a line check is plenty now. So, if someone findes himself without an amp... tough. When we play before other bands, if arrangements had not been discussed and I agreed to provide my amp, I clearly state on the day that when my band is done, I am taking the amp away. I let other bands use my equipment hundreds of times... but if you are just lazy, or looks to me like you are just lazy, you are going to have to find somebody else. Fortunately these days I very rarely play multiband situations where I don't already know the other band(s), and things normally are pretty smooth. I often offer to bring my amp and let the other band use it because I know I get a good sound and I can hear myself well with my rig, and that's not always the case with others. Like the time I played an outdoor gig with a 30W 10" Gorilla practice amp I put it on a stack of boxes close to ear level... and most of the times I heard nothing... but out there it sounded huge

Well, I tried the Sweet Baby at rehearsal. I did not take my amp head today and... what do you know? I had to use the PA. So let's just say that I have sounded better But the pedal seems to be pretty good for what I wanted. I put it in a single loop on a LS-2, together with an OC-2... that way I can blend it with clean bass if I have to... but I did not bothered with that, I did not notice any substantial low end loss. I imagine if you like a very boomy sound you might notice it more... but I'm a bridge pickup kind of guy... and with the Jazz it sounded great. The Sweet Baby fattened up the sound nicely and it did not really feel overdriven unless you heard it by itself. I'm liking it!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1361222299' post='1983161'] Great stuff! you should check out how chris commerford got his overdrive sound when in RATM. Although i couldn't blame anybody for not choosing to go down that route (unless you have money for 3 ampeg valve heads and cabs and a complex pedal board which switches and blends between the heads, set at different levels to give different amounts of drive). I just came back from a lesson where i was plugged in to the drive channel on my teachers preamp. I cranked the bass on my on-board preamp, and the thing just fuzzed up. It was cool. [/quote] Tim's methods are a bit... special He does get a great sound, 'though!

awesome!

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1361214073' post='1982960'] Stickers are for kids Just drill the holes and glue some glow in the dark acrylic rod in there. File them back and shazzam! Perfect dottage. [/quote] That's what the Luminlay is!

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense... although the theory about selecting better grain instruments for their own market.. well, mine is definitely not the pretties girl in the block edit: mine has much nicer grain on the back than on the front maybe they selected it from the back

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...