mcnach

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1358976594' post='1948100'] Sorry, but over 50's men are fundamentally uncool. I speak through bitter experience. [/quote] unless you were Robert Plant, or David Coverdale...

[quote name='LemonCello' timestamp='1358959465' post='1947685'] I'd been fancying one of these myself and did some research. Apparently, on the strap, the headstock makes for the floor? I'd be interested to know if that's the case. [/quote] That would be very annoying indeed. Judging by the shape, I can believe that will be the case, unless the body is very heavy. I have had a few neck heavy basses and guitars... and sooner or later they got sold.

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1358952576' post='1947528'] I had that one I my watch list! Hope it works well for you mate. [/quote] If I decide I don't want it, I will let you know

[quote name='jackers' timestamp='1358951881' post='1947517'] nice the more expensive mockingbird and eagle basses are beautiful, but so hard to find. [/quote] The Eagle is very nice I think. That's one bass I would definitely like to have, if the dual P works for me.

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1358951593' post='1947510'] Oh for goodness sake! A [/quote] I knew you would approve

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1358944892' post='1947367'] I take a very simple approach to this. I leave my amp pretty much flat and I just adjust the centre mid frequency until the notes are punchy and balanced across the fingerboard. Works for me every time. I don't play with a deep and throaty tone anyway, but as soon as you hear the low frequencies flooding the rest of the band it really spoils it for me as a player and as a listener. If my backline is not going through the PA I always think about the person at the back of the venue rather than the person in front of the stage and I shape my backline tone with that in mind. Our male vocalist leaves the stage a couple of times during our set and checks the overall balance of the band and he has a good ear for balance. If he says that my tone is too muddy or too sparkly I will adjust it even though it might sound a bit weird behind me. It doesn't stop me from getting on with my job and I take any sacrifice of my own tonal enjoyment to ensure that I sound good in the venue. Can't be afford to be selfish in this game. We play more often these days without the band being full mic'd up through FOH, so I don't tend to turn my backline volume beyond the acoustic level of the kick drum. That's when the arguments begin on stage! If I am too low for the rest of the guys that usually means that 'they' are too loud. But, if we are acoustically balanced on stage then we tend to find the punters enjoy the performance more. If you are not going through a PA and push your amps up to the same volume expectations it is very hard to balance the band individually. I view amps as personal monitors on stage...nothing else. They cannot do the same job as a PA...amps are not designed that way. I know a lot of us don't have the pleasure of putting the band through a PA, but you have to live by your limitations. Okay, everyone love to crank it up and pin the punters to the wall, but you will be surprised how much they don't really enjoy waking up the next day with their ears ringing and sore throats because their mates couldn't hear them spilling latest Facebook gossip. [/quote] can I join your band??? I wish I could be a volume dictator. I love my band(s) but... I wish we played more quietly.

Yeah, teh star is part of it. And the scratchplate is back on It's an odd mixture... and I love it.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1358935791' post='1947178'] I disagree that if you don't get gigging quickly you never will. My band rehearsed for 18 months before we even thought about gigging---although, to be fair, we did start out as just three guys who wanted to make a racket in a rehearsal room... [/quote] But that's the thing. If you set out to gig, and that's what you are aiming for... and spend 6 months trying to get to a giggable standard without success... then something is very wrong. If you're just doing it for fun and don't have a particular aim, that's another thing. I have been in bands that had no intention of gigging, and it was ok. Some were just recording projects and an excuse to get together and make noise The bands that started with the idea of bringing the music to a stage, did not take very long once the band members were set.

I was watching a video of Maceo Parker a couple of weeks ago, and the bass player used a BC Rich (Wave? Eagle?) with dual P pickups... and what a tone! It got me gassing for a P pickup at the bridge. Badly. Today I found one of the cheaper BC Rich Mockingbird basses with dual P pickups on eBay. It said "or make an offer". So I made an offer. It was black and boring, and the Mockingbird shape does not give me goosebumps either, so I made an offer without a lot of interest... and it got accepted! So, I'll get to try a dual P setup soon properly and see whether I really like it or not. I doubt I will keep this particular bass unless it surprises me and it's amazingly nice to play... so either I'll decide "nah, dual P is ok but not for me" and let this bass go, or go "hmmm, lovely" and I'll be gassing for one of the nicer BC Rich basses... which will be a pain as they don't come up very often, and when they do they are not cheap. Ah well... GAS, eh?

Found a cheap BC Rich Mockingbird... so that will be my introduction to dual P basses. EBay is a terrible thing. I used the "make an offer", and... it was accepted!

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1358858325' post='1946050'] What I find about Hi Beams / Fatbeams/ Sunbeams is that , like all strings , they lose that new zing after a certain time but after that they still sound good and not " dead " in the sense that they are dull , lifeless and in need of changing . That still sounding o.k phase lasts for ages and ages . That coupled with the great feel makes them worth the extra money . The only problem I have with them is that on some basses , to my taste at least , the 40-100 set feels too light and elastic but the 45-105 set feels a little too taught and heavy . Its about time DR brought out a Dingus Signature set gauged 42-62-82-102 . They could make up some story about them being wound at a high temperature and call them Baked Beams and package them in a tin rather than the usual cardboard packet . [/quote] If I ever became semi-known, I would do that!

It is useful to thread the screws through a candle first, to get some wax on the threads. That acts as a lubricant and it allows to thread the screws back the way they were minimising damage.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1358846633' post='1945821'] I'd be interested in trying the FatBeams. My TRB came with DR roundwounds but the seller couldn't remember which variety. They lasted *ages* (I've had the bass for nearly 18 months now and the strings are still OK---I took them off to put flats on last month but they're otherwise fine) and sounded good. I'll probably buy more but £35 is quite a lot to gamble! Certainly, your photo is consistent with what my DR strings look like. [/quote] Well, I'll have the FatBeams soon, and my L2000 is supposed to have HiBeams on. I have a new set of HiBeams, but the L2000 is still more than fine, so it may be some time until I change them. They really do seem to last, so it does not work out so expensive after all.

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1358846424' post='1945819'] Wasn't it you that I was taking the mickey out of because you were putting a black pickguard on your 75 Jazz some time ago? Something about you should wear a Marcus Miller style hat? Now you're using his strings too! Highbeams / Fatbeams sound great on a Jazz bass, you should definitely give them a try. Buying the strings is expensive but they last much longer than any other uncoated strings I've tried, they actually work out better value for money long term. [/quote] ah!! it's true!!! let me check... no, he still has not inflitrated my CD collection, phew He just seems to be a man of taste, I suppose £75 on strings for three basses? ouch. I guess I'm spoiled as I don't play double bass

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1358854561' post='1945956'] oh, ok. Didn't realise you were a major artist... sorry [/quote] so, you need to be a "major" artist to know and have views about sound?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358815661' post='1945687'] I can vouch for this. [/quote] you are not helping.

Oh, I so love to play at low levels!!! (not actually low, but it seems a lot of people feel that if it cannot deafen you, it's too quiet). Why is it so hard to get people to play at reasonable volumes where our hearing is at our best and we can better judge what we sound like?

This could turn out to be expensive

And a Jazz!!!

Hmmm... a Precision with FatBeams could be pretty amazing...

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1358799920' post='1945344'] well as some reinforcement to the other comments I've just dug out the old fat beams and they look exactly the same, the ball ends are identical, the windings look right and from your description of the sound and feel i'm 99.9999999% sure they're fatbeams. they are expensive but they're fantastic strings, i'm tempted to order a set for one of my 5er's but i'm on a flatwound kick at the moment. Matt [/quote] Thank you, Matt! Well, I ordered a set. Everything looked right about them. Every description, the unusual gauge set... now you added more evidence... You are right, not cheap (£35, ouch!). But they do sound good, and it looks like I would change them once a year, or less. If I used D'Addarios, at around half the price, I would feel like changing them probably after 6 months... so there really isn't that much difference. I have a set of pretty new Ernie Ball Cobalts on my Stingray. It would be interesting to compare the new FatBeams to those, as I got the Cobalts mostly because of the midrange. I hope these are the ones. They made my SUB sound amazing, and I miss it already!!!

Thanks to all! and especially Dingus, who found the Marcus Miller in the right gauge! Done!!! I ordered a set of DR Fat Beams MMS45, 45-65-80-105... same gauge as I have on the SUB already. That alone is a pretty good push in the Fat Beams direction, as it's a very unusual gauge mix. I should have them before the weekend, I'll report back.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1358790886' post='1945096'] well the zing has gone and they lasted a long time..... let me put it this way, the fatbeams I had on my P outlasted the coated strings you sold me.... by a long long time [/quote] so, another vote for Fat Beams...

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1358790772' post='1945092'] I too heartily recommend Fatbeams . Or Sunbeams if you prefer nickel . Both sound great and last ages . [/quote] "last ages" also fits the description. Like I said, I bought the bass a year ago, and quickly it became my favourite. I have played it a lot more than any of the others... and it did keep the tone barely changing for a long time. Even now, although clearly having lost a lot of the brightness, they still don't sound "dead" like D'Addarios would have felt months ago already. That's it. I'm going to order a set and find out for sure. Even if they are not the same strings, it sounds like the kind of string I'm interested in.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358790596' post='1945088'] No problem. Even if yours aren't Fat Beams I would certainly recommend them. I spent decades looking for the ultimate roundwound strings, then when I found them (Fat Beams), I promptly changed to flats and am now looking for the ultimate flatwound strings... [/quote] The neverending quest! There is always something, isn't it?