mcnach

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1351558677' post='1852719'] The spring plates are far less than 5 mm thick - I'd say 1 mm or less. The only recess on the Classic bridge appears to be at the front edge - if you look carefully you can see the four plates fit into the recess, which is about 1 or 2 mm deep. I've just checked my 93 fretless and it has the same system. I suspect the plates are just wedged between the bridge and body, and into the front edge slot to keep them in place laterally. I'd go for it - if it doesn't fit I'm sure you'll be able to sell the mute assembly without a problem. The foam bit is similar to the innards of a mousemat, but without the smooth covering. It's a bit thicker as well. They are glued on. The pre EBs seem to be notorious for losing them - I had one from new and the G string mute disappeared during a gig on a dark stage after I'd had the bass for about a month - if you look at pictures of Pino's fretless Ray whilst with Paul Young, IIRC at least one of the mutes is missing off his. Presumably glue technology wasn't what it is now, back then!! The modern ones appear to stay put. If I had a pre EB with missing mutes, and I wanted it to be fully functional, I would certainly consider buying the mute kit which McNach is referring to, which is an EBMM part. [/quote] I think stingrayPete meant 0.5mm rather than 5mm. Indeed, from the pictures they look very thin. I'm going to go for it. ... and ordered!

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1351554258' post='1852683'] one thought.... bongos look odd.... but a fan fret bongo could look amazing [/quote] INdeed. If you're going to go "unusual", go all the way!

at least I liked it... some unusual instruments there. That blue Sabre... yum! [url="http://youtu.be/YmPH_HcYwWI"]http://youtu.be/YmPH_HcYwWI[/url]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1351543923' post='1852483'] I think you could probably use a bench grinder to create the little recess in the back of the bridge failing that the spring plate is really only about .5mm anyway so it might just squash down, I did not realise the OLP had the big flat area like the ebay ones so its crying out for the mute kit! I will send you a link when its up Jose for the Mag cover, I'm not really sure exactly what is going on there myself 28'000 copies though [/quote] I don't have one of those machines... I do have a router But if it's that thin it may be ok without. I'll try. The later OLPs (like the one that was my main one, "Natillas") have the smaller bridge very much like modern Stingrays. Previous models have this very large plate ones... and like you say: they are screaming for something to be added there! Yay for the link!

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1350846491' post='1844240'] Aha! I did find one report of a failure similar to what I experienced, only it was in the early days of the RH450 (same power stage as the Classic 450 I presume), reported on [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/my-tc-electronic-rh450-amplifier-died-any-users-had-problems-565716/"]TalkBass[/url]. If mine is only the second reported incident out of all the units TC have shipped, that can't be bad! [/quote] That was me! At that time I was not yet in Basschat. The amp died on me when switching it on at a gig. A flash, white smoke, smell of burnt plastic. That was a Saturday night. On Wednesday (I believe) I had a replacement in my hands. I posted about it on Sunday, I think. I also wrote to TC. On Monday morning I was told my local dealer (Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh) did not have one in stock, so they'd send one from Denmark and I should be able to exchange my dead one for the new replacement on WEdnesday... and that's exactly how it went. I have used the replacement amp a lot since then, nearly three and a half years ago. It was disappointing that it failed... but the company responded quickly and I have been enjoying the amp ever since. So, no complaints here.

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1351412100' post='1850832'] I am looking to buy an amp. Dont mind if its combo or head and cab and one of the most financially viable options is looking to be behringer. Are they the real deal with bells and whistles you get or will they not stand the test of time. Any opinions on the 300 watt ultrabass combo or the 550 watt head and cab? Thanks. [/quote] I haven't tried that amp you mention, but I used to have a BX3000 head (300W). They also have a 450W version (BX4500). They go for very little money, £100 or less... I bought my BX3000 plus a Behringer 2x10 cabinet for £100. That was my first rig. The speaker cabs are not amazing, but the heads I actually like. Pair them with a decent cab and you can get a cheap rig that sounds good. If weight is no problem, I'd look for a Peavey TX410 cab. Heavy, but solid and reasonable sounding. They are usually around £75-100 depending on condition etc.

Thanks for the detailed pictures I think it can work. The pickguard is actually leaving a gap of about 3mm from the bridge. That picture above is not the "final" product: as you can see, it is not screwed in. I actually moved the pickup a tiny bit towards the neck, to close the gap between the pickguard and the neck... the routing on the OLPs is not like on Stingrays, it's just a big wide hole, so it's easy to slightly reposition the pickup. That resulted in leaving a 3mm-ish gap between the pickguard and the bridge, which is just what I need. I had not noticed the bottom metal parts go under the bridge. I thought they were screwed from the top. That means the bridge would not sit perfectly... but it would be easy to remove that 1mm or so from the top of the body under the bridge with my router... I think I will give it a try. First without routing, and see how I like it. If I then like it and think it will work ok... I'll get the router out. It seems doable

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1351533272' post='1852293'] I would get one of those cheap copy bridges off ebay as they have the extra metal that the pre EB bridge has for the spring plate to wrap around, it will be floating in fresh air else wont it? Get the kit then just bond 4 matching nuts into the body to create the captive threads, there is not much tension on them really. The only thing is that it wont be reversable as the holes will all be on show if you put the old bridge back on. [/quote] This is the OLP in question, I think that bridge should be ok, shouldn't it? so much blank space is calling for something to be installed there! [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1351533272' post='1852293'] Should be good though or just get a pre EB you know you want to! btw I have bought another one [/quote] another? where's all the pictureage??? I'm sure one day a preEB will be mine. I'm avoiding coming in too close contact with them for now, in case one speaks to me... and I can't say no [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1351533272' post='1852293'] OT but as an avid fan David Barron has a track on the front of next months Prog Magazine with some top notch bass playing by a certain someone this time, its that track from the video we did but the proper version with my lines etc. [/quote] great! Glad you got your lines there in the end! I'll try to keep an eye out for it... but you can always remind us when it's out

So this variation of awesome is going to be looking a little bit like this... and it will be awesome! I hope I get to use it live soon... not that anybody would care, as nobody notices the bass player...

I have one remaining OLP in my stable. It's one of the "mk2" types, with the nicer contours and big plate bridge. I'm going to be installing in it the 2EQ preamp 'tommorichards' assembled, and I thought "hmmm, I wonder if I could install a set of mutes here". They only cost <£25, and it could be quite interesting. Has anybody experience installing these mutes in non-Stingray mute-equipped instruments? I gather that with the kit I'll get the springy bent metal part, with the pads, and the thumb screws. I would just have to get 4 metal inserts that those thumb screws can screw into, and drill the metal plate and into the body to install the inserts in. It does not seem scary. Anybody has any words of warning (or encouragement!), experiences?

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1351350521' post='1850445'] The body construction has a lot to do with it (bridge etc) - if you press your ear against the upper horn of a Ray or SBMM etc, the acoustic sound gives that overall characteristic sound - passive Sub Rays also sound similar. No doubt the pick up and circuit contributes but the underlying sound is the instrument itself. [/quote] I would very respectfully disagree. There isn't anything very special about the body or the bridge etc. In fact, take that big MM humbucker and move it an inch towards the bridge, and you lose the Stingray. Move it an inch towards the neck, and you get a lovely meaty bassy mighty thump from it, but it does not sound like a Stingray. You will not hear a difference "acoustically". I'd say a Stingray is by far mostly defined by that prticular pickup at that particular location. The preamp contributes to the variety of tonalities you can get, but as you say, even a passive 'Ray sounds like a 'Ray. To the OP: if you really don't like the Stingray sound at all... then something more drastic than a preamp is needed. Probably best to get another bass. Or if you really love how it feels etc... then go the route StingrayPete1977 suggested, and try different pickups at other positions (you can hide the routing with a custom made pickguard). If you like it but don't love it... then I'd still suggest trying a 3-band John East preamp. Because of the midsweep control, the range of tones to get out of it is simply amazing. It may help you find *that* sound you have in your head. But only if it's somehow Stingrayish, of course.

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1350649976' post='1841747'] Stingray is naturally a little scooped (2EQ). Tried all sorts of EQ settings on the bass during the evening. LH500 was set 2-10-2 (close to flat on a Fender tone stack) [/quote] A "little scooped" depending on your settings. A Stingray has tons of midrange. And remember the bass and treble controls are interactive. When you move one, it affects the other to some extent. If you max the bass control, like many do, you may just get too much bottom end with little midrange, especially if then you max the treble to compensate (like many do) which would only provide top end clang. If you want midrange, I'd turn the bass control to about 25%, and treble to taste. If you need more bottom end, set the amp to provide a "basic" sound with bottom end. Stingray's 2EQ are basic yet versatile, but you need to play with them a while to "get them". Also, if your bass control is maxed, it can easily overload whatever you plug into next. So I wonder if this is the reason you distort your input in passive mode. I have to say that I don't find Stingrays particularly hot in their output, compared to your average P and J bass, and I normally play my Stingray and my slightly hotter SUB (wired in series) through passive inputs when I have the choice of both. Without distortion. But then I use the bass tone control to "tweak" my sound, not as a master bass control: I use the amp for that. I'm not familiar with your amp. But others are and think you should be able to get enough oomph out of it. I am familiar with Stingrays in a variety of settings, and I have seen people complaining about a variety of "issues" that could be solved at the bass. You say you have tried many settings on your bass, so maybe all this is useless to you after all. But I had to throw it out there, just in case, as you mentioned the scooped tone of a Stingray... because in my hands it's a full bodied midrange-rich beast. An old battery can also bring in distortion and low output... but I guess you checked that already.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1351196598' post='1848673'] To the best of my knowledge, tuning down your E string to D won't cause any damage to the neck of your bass, but be sure to retune back up to E before you put your bass away for any length of time ( i.e. a few hours or more ) to avoid any long-term problems that might arise from an uneven tension on the neck for prolonged periods of time. [/quote] chances are that the strings you already use are nothing close to being even tension (at least if the data provided on the D'Addario site are representative), so I would not worry about that. A Hipshot bass extender (D-tuner) is soooo convenient and fun, if you think of switching often between the two tunings. Highly recommended.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1351256506' post='1849327'] John East is the obvious suggestion [/quote] +100 Big fan of the 3-band MMSR (classic 2-band plus a midsweep module). Got three of those!

But I don't have a kangaroo...

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1351179491' post='1848333'] The red stuff is called specialist, i have a tin of it in my garage. Does everything but that bloody sealer. This stuff. Flipping brilliant it is. [/quote] wow, I had never seen that! I'll remember it next time I strip a body... it took a while with the green stuff. Pity it cannot cope with the sealer. Tought stuff that one

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1351161758' post='1848030'] Red Nitromors eats poly, it's great. Sorry if this is a bit late.... [/quote] red nitromors? I see green and yellow only...

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1351010184' post='1846196'] ........................................ sorry - did somebody say something ?? [/quote] erm... I think you want the guitarist, that guy over there. I'm only the bass p... hey! I didn't even finish the sentence!!!

[quote name='Jigster' timestamp='1351009687' post='1846182'] the guy who called you a twat could at least have mustered a 'radge' - my all time fave Scottish word from many months working in Edinburgh back in the day. [/quote] indeed!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1351007309' post='1846129'] Maybe '[i]that [/i]guy' knows you personally; nothing to do with your bass playing..? Nice clip, though; nothing 'twatty' about the bass in that. Thumb's up. [/quote] ha ha, it is a real possibility, that! I never say he was not right... I do have my twatty moments. Thanks for the comments on the clip. Can't wait until it's all done and sounding nice. Although I detest my playing in a couple of songs. But nobody seems to notice... oh dear, here I go again

hey, this is my thread, about what I do and what I like... it's not about whether you like to be noticed or not, or whether your guitari... ah, nobody notices what I say anyway!

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1350946341' post='1845560'] I've got to be honest,I really don't like that. A lot of bands seem to play some kind of lame funk-esque type jam in those situations,and often it's horrible. [/quote] ouch, that could well be us! it certainly was last week... most people seemed to like it, but it was not our most inspired moment., I have to admit. I feel it's ok (obviously, or I would not do it!) as long as it is not long. A funky jam, even if not very inspired, if it's only a couple of minutes long, keeps the attention on the band (2 minutes of silence would be an eternity) and it's not long enough to bore people even when it doesn't quite overflow with inspiration. We've actually sometimes gone back after a gig "hey, that jam.. that was interesting, I'm sure we can work on that" and a couple of times it has given ideas for a song. Well, once a song, anotehr time for another section in an already written song. [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1350946341' post='1845560'] Surely you can continue a set without doing this,especially as there is another guitar player? It doesn't take long to change a string. [/quote] we could push ahead, but for the sake of a couple of minutes, we'd rather be "complete". In this case the guitarist is also the main singer. We have three guitarists, with very well defined roles. Some songs are easy to do with one or another. In fact, in some songs the singer does not really play except a couple of embellishments or a short solo. We have pushed ahead even when rhythm guitarist broke two strings, as we could take a break soon and we played songs that would not suffer much. But we prefer to have a short jam and get our full complement of strings if possible. [quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1350946341' post='1845560'] Back on topic....Of course people notice the bass player. The ones who don't get noticed are the ones who believe that they shouldn't be noticed and try to hide at the back. [/quote] I don't hide... but in a 6-piece band, with four microphones at the front (the three guitarists either sing or do backing vocals, plus a trumpet player who has become the star with his dance moves and we need to put him in front), sometimes I'm just happy I can just about shuffle my feet a little where we are... It's amazing how small some stages are (clearly we are not playing Wembley ) and how a little determination allows you to put six people plus amps and drumkit on a pinhead But I know the ones you mean. Not only bass players. I went to see my friend's first gig on guitar once... and I could not see him at all. I thought maybe it was the angle, where I was... so I moved... no joy. He was truly hiding behind some large speakers in a corner. It was a two guitar band... but you only ever saw one. We laughed at him a bit about that afterwards. He confessed he felt terrified with all his mates watching him. He got over that 'though. I'm not a spotlight-lover, but I do like to be seen and we do move about on stage a fair bit when we can. WE have a fair amount of interaction among ourselves and it shows we are having fun. It's soemthing people have often commented on, that we seem to be having fun while we play. I find it amazing how many bands just get up there and play looking like it's a chore to them. I don't get it. I guess in some styles it's part of the look... and we are most definitely a "good time" fun band... but still.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1350944568' post='1845537'] Well that's Ian Hunter stuffed then! Though I say credit to the OP for filling the breakage gap with a jam; I've seen bands flap around panicing, go to the bar for a drink, tell the audience to talk among themselves, or have a row (+ flounce) as to why he didn't bring a spare guitar. [/quote] we do that a lot, jamming. Although it's not always really improvised... we normally have a bunch of songs in various states of "work in progress", and we sometimes fall onto one or two of those. We actually use that to gauge how a song is coming along... If the people start dancing and it's well received, we will work more on that one. If people clear the floor, no matter how much we like it, it goes back to the end of the queue. Right now our main priority is our "calypso jam"

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1350943917' post='1845528'] £50? - and you kept the change I hope. [/quote] actually, we got "one of our girls" to get us the drinks. She gave him the change back, yup.

We all have heard that, haven't we? Last week I played a late night gig with Sea Bass Kid [1]. We played two sets, and during the break we generally go out to get some fresh air etc. An "interesting" character approached us wanting to adopt us and putting a very serious amount of cash behind us (he says). Fully "blinged", wearing sunglasses at night, talking about how he's loaded and into music and we were the only band in 8 weeks that he has been in Edinburgh that he thought were good (well, thank you! ) bla blah, "here, buy yourselves a drink" says handing us a £50 note. Anyway, the full conversation with him belongs to a new thread on its own but the reason I started this one was for something he said. When he was giving us compliments, he said how there was a guy drinking next to him during our first set, and at one point that guy turns to our "interesting" guy and says "the bass player? the bass player... is a twat!!!" To which our "interesting guy" replied (he says) saying that he is the twat, and we are very talented and our music is great and this and the other and sent him out of the bar. And, you know what's the bit that I thought was cute? Not the fact that this guy "defended" me, but the fact the other guy had noticed me, the bass player. Even if it was to say I was a twat I'm serious I don't know why he disliked me... we had a guitar string breakage issue and one of the other guitarists, the drummer and I started to jam and I may have been a bit loud and even slapped a bit on that bit for a minute (oh, the horror!) so maybe he just did not appreciate that. I was also very tired and a bit ill and I think I did not play very well that night... maybe it was that. Ah, I'll never know, for our "interesting" guy sent him out before he got to heckle me, so I don't know who he was. But... hey! Someone noticed me! [1] here's a preliminary mix of one of our tracks from our new to be released first CD, in case you are curious [url="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/38169404/SBK%20recording%20mixes%20-%20121022/Gloria.mp3"]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/38169404/SBK%20recording%20mixes%20-%20121022/Gloria.mp3[/url]