mcnach

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1349093645' post='1821604'] It must be just me then.... I have one on my Stingray and always found it a bit rubbish. It's fiddly to tune in the first place and even more fiddly to keep in tune. On a sweaty night when you need to retune reasonably often the 'D' goes out as well as the E (that is relatively, tuning the E doesn't bring it back quite right). Step on your floor tuner and twist the E tuner until it says D. Save yourself 45 quid (or more)... [/quote] I´ve had them on a couple of OLPs, on my MM SUB, on the MM Stingray, couple of Jazzes, a Warwick Corvette... All trouble free. I did have one that seemed a bit "stickier" than the others... all it needed was a tiny amount of lubricant. I constantly change between E and D on my 4th string playing in the RATM band, and the Hipshot works well and reliably. I suspect you just need a bit of lubricant. Well, by you I meant your Hipshot

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1349095596' post='1821651'] Damn, no Bartolinis for me outbid in the last seconds :-( [/quote] Yup. I got them! They looked interesting... so I bid. nah, only joking, of course! frustrating when you think you have a good chance and then... it goes in the last minute (probably literally!) Keep your eyes open, lots of different interesting pickups come and go on eBay.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1349023111' post='1820781'] what dont you rate about the Bartolinis? ive never owned any as ive never really had a good enough bass to justify buying decent pups for but i think im going to with this one, bare in mind i play in a rock band and never solo haha [/quote] oh, they're good, but my limited experience leads me to think they generally have their own type of sound, rather than the more "traditional" one expected from either a J type, or an MM type... I guess I'm a bit more traditional wanting a Jazz to sound Jazz-like... but Bartolinis are not bad. For the price quoted, it may be worth getting them to try... if not happy, I'm sure you will not have much trouble to sell them on again

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348935229' post='1819941'] During lesson yesterday, my teach suggested that I de-tune my 4 string by a semitone so I could play MJ's 'Beat It' at a decently low octave (original is in Eb)... Rather than spending my time doing the de-tuning between numbers when gigging, I wondered if Hipshot d-tuners were a good solution, and whether anyone on here used them... and if they would fit on my Warwick Thumb? [url="http://www.basscentre.com/hipshot-d-tuners/HipshotBT10.html"]http://www.basscentr...ipshotBT10.html[/url] Any comments welcome... [/quote] I'm pretty sure I used a GB7 in my Corvette. I think the Thumb uses the same type of tuners.

not a fan of the Bartolinis in general... I'd rather wait for some DiMarzio Model J or Ultra Jazz (different but both nice) or Seymour Duncan SJB-2 or SJB-3, again different but nice. But the covered polepieces look would be pretty cool on that bass too

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1348839519' post='1818958'] Well here it is the last installment, logo arrived this morning and ive got to say im over the moon with it and would recommend the guy who made it wholeheartedly! His ebay name is `bobs_decals` he charges £7.50 for 2 decals and to me its just added the finishing touch to what has turned out totally beyond my expectations! Thanks to everyone for the input and ideas and also the very kind words, heres a few more pics of the now fully finished Funder Jeff Bass! now what can i do next? [/quote] easy: sell me that one and build another

Update: not fixed. Have you had any luck with yours? My amp has been for a month with a guy that I found was highly recommended here, with whom I'm less than happy (I'll probably expand on that later). It's clearly the amp, not the speaker or anything mechanical. The guy has done something (don't know what) which did not fix it, and now he is convinced it's the speaker... despite my having shown him how another amp plugged into the combo produces no buzz whatsoever, he's heard it! He gave me quotes for new speakers, at which point I said to stop right there and I'm taking the amp home. grrrr.

I'm not generally a fan of pearloid... but this bass looks amazing

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1348476361' post='1813905'] I firmly believe in warming up and down afterwards with hand/wrist/finger stretches first, then slowly playing chromatic scales etc above the fourth fret for a couple of minutes. After this, I usually stretch the hands/fingers again, then I am ready to play. [/quote] Agreed. That's pretty much what I do. ESpecially when playing in a cold venue/outdoor... warm up is very important. I achieve that by quiet unplugged practice prior to starting the gig. But that works because I have been playing a while now and I do it regularly. When starting out, a little extra help can be good in the form of non-bass exercises. Geared towards stamina more than strength since -like you correctly pointed out- you don't really need a lot of strength to fret a note.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1348447493' post='1813812'] Must not be a great workout then! It takes me about 6 minutes I do 4x12 reps of wrist curls, then I do another 4x12 of reverse ones (palms facing down). Doing this 2x a week equates to a total of 24 minutes of isolated wrist/forearm exercises a week and that's plenty! [/quote] It was a great workout with great results in very little time. You train one way or another depending on the objective. I started weight-lifting in my late teens, and I experienced first hand various ways of training. I can bulk up pretty fast if I wanted to, and I can develop strength geared towards sustained exercise or just short bursts... each objective is achieved more easily with a particular way of exercising. With the powerball, I only wanted to make my fingers stop tiring after a few minutes of fast playing. My first band on bass was a metal band and I tried to do with fingers what I could normally do with a plectrum. INcidentally, my forearms have always been my weak point. I never trained them much and sometimes they are y limiting factor when it comes to exercise. I chose the powerball (a climber friend of mine recommended it to me) because... I admit it, I was curious about it, the toy aspect of it and the colours etc but once I tried it I realised it allows you to make very gradual increases and decreases of strength, and the fact you were rotating the wrist seemed to do something that wrist curls etc would not do. As my objective was to improve stamina, I chose to exercise regularly, and moderately. It was a great work out because within a week or so I could notice the difference. This is not to substitute practice on the bass. I still did that. But whilst practice alone only helped me at a certain rate, getting the powerball was like turbocharging my improvement. Unlike most of my weight lifting, I did not do it until my limit and to tire myself out. I did it to sustain a moderate level of exercise, where I feel my forearm muscles work, and get warm, without getting very tired: if I got tired I'd lose dexterity. Ever tried to play guitar right after a weight lifting session? After 3-4 weeks I stopped using the powerball entirely...

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1348438343' post='1813733'] I had one for Xmas 4yrs ago. I used it for about 5mins for each hand for about 6 months. I didn't notice any significant change, [/quote] i used it 3-4 times everyday for longer than 5min, building up slowly each time and then reducing speed gradually. 5min once a day may just not be enough

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1348418658' post='1813396'] +100. I can never understand why people seem to think that you need strength like "Popeye" to play the bass or guitar. [/quote] in my case it was not strength, but stamina, for fingerstyle. It helped me a lot more than simply just playing. Good warm up too.

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1348396645' post='1813032'] My guitarist friend has got one of those powerball things (the gyroscope wrist strengtheners things) He [i]claims [/i] it made a huge difference to his wrist strength and helped him with guitar speed. I'm a bit sceptical (he talks a lot of crap) so I thought i'd ask the BC population of their thoughts (link to the sort of thing I mean: [url="https://www.powerballs.com"]https://www.powerballs.com[/url] ) [/quote] I bought one when I switched to bass and I wanted to practice fingerstyle, as I'd get tired quickly and my fingers would just cramp when trying to play fast. Within a week of powerball use I started to notice an improvement.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1348334146' post='1812506'] im thinking of getting a scratchplate, do i go for A, Black - always a safe option B, Tort - could look very nice C, Dark grey pearl - could look even better D, Blue marble - Different but could work E, Red marble - Totally out of the question cos it looks like the new man u shirt thoughts please. [/quote] black black blaack... although tortoiseshell could look pretty good if not too red

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1348251404' post='1811524'] well i was outbid at 30 notes and since i could buy a fault free one with an amp and some random stuff for 90 quid i dont think i shall bid further [/quote] pity...

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1348248644' post='1811476'] How do you lock this thread and throw away the key because Ive got a bad feeling about this............................ Anyone else smell GAS?? A [/quote] not me, not this time... but I'm happy to enjoy GAS by proxy

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1348245485' post='1811403'] what these B stock instruments require is a full set up and zero fret sand blasting and relisting for a lot more ! do you think the master setter upperer has seen these yet ? could keep him busy for decades yup i bid on one ! wasnt going to risk bidding on 2 if i won both i might end up with a full set of strings and there be no fun in that [/quote] Ha ha I was thinking of that good master tinkerer myself... I wonder! Let us know what you think of the bass, if you end up buying one (or two )

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1348242735' post='1811356'] It was the Jazz 'Precision' that I zoomed in on and it appeared to say Vintage on the headstock. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new-Precision-BASS-GUITAR-Green-Sunburst-B-STOCK-NO-RESERVE-1-LOT-25-/190726201787?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c682ae1bb#ht_3270wt_993"]http://www.ebay.co.u...b#ht_3270wt_993[/url] [/quote] erm, no it has the same headstock, which is not like the Vintage ones... and this one clearly says Benson on it

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1348230098' post='1811141'] Vintage brand by the looks of it, although one of the feedbacks said Yamaha. [/quote] VIntage basses have a very different and distinct headstock. Most definitely not a Vintage.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1348224811' post='1811030'] I've just stuck some nylon tapewounds on my bass, and they've brought to light a grounding issue which was probably already there, but I never noticed it with ordinary strings. The bass has single coil alnico J pickups, the bridge is grounded and the cavities thoroughly screened with copper foil, all of which is grounded too. The problem is, if I touch the polepieces on either pickup when playing (easily done with my playing style), it hums. It's not as loud a hum as if I was touching the live side of a jack, but it's still enough to be irritating. If I don't touch the polepieces, there is no issue with hum, whether I'm touching the bridge or not. As these are typical fender-ish pickups, the polepieces aren't connected to anything, and I've verified this with a multimeter. I've also checked that the strings are grounding OK at the ball ends. I'm presuming that due to the non-conductive surface of the strings I'm not grounded when I play, and I'm acting as an antenna when I touch the polepieces. Rather than coming up with some Heath-Robinson contraption to ground my body, I suspect I'd be better off either grounding the polepieces by running copper tape across the backs of the pickups or covering the poles with something to insulate them (nail varnish?). Any thoughts on which to go for? [/quote] extra hum is a common issue with tapewounds... or rather an issue that tapewounds brings out... if you only have issues touching th epolepieces, I would try to ground them. Depending on the actual pickup design that may not be easy. If you can access the bottom of the polepieces, a simple strip of copper foil, grounded, and you are laughing. Otherwise, nail varnish works very well. I have used the Rimmel 60 secnd one (stop sniggering) which dries very quickly and you can apply a few coats in no time... and that's the problem sorted.

local time is nearly 4am. 22 degrees. I miss my bass but... this is a civilised temperature!

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1348084093' post='1809145'] what about coil splitting the MM pickup? or is that already on the cards..... [/quote] I have that on my Cort GB74... and to be honest I don't care for it. If I have a switch, I will play with it, and ultimately distract me . I prefer to make a decision: series or parallel, and stick with it.

[quote name='Kostas' timestamp='1348077315' post='1809004'] I like your pickguard more than the stock one. I'm skeptical about neck pickups on basses, if I was making a new pickguard for this bass I would rout both body & pickguard for the Jazz pickup to the edge of the guard so it will be closer to the MM pickup. I'm guessing it would be more useful and closer to a stock Jazz. [/quote] and that was indeed something I thought of... afterwards It would also move the neck pickup out of the way when I slap.

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1348067412' post='1808814'] But they are in effect a single coil at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge? A [/quote] Yes. But... location location location. Move a MM pickup closer to the bridge and you lose any resemblance you may have had before to a Stingray and it becomes more "fat Jazz". MOve the J pickup closer to the neck and... it sounds like a J closer to the neck, not like a Jazz neck pickup, if you see what I mean. But they can be blended in together, yes, if that's what you were concerned about.

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1348062933' post='1808710'] visa vie the pickups: Is it in effect a Jazz + MM set up? Im interested on the mix of those if it is A [/quote] Not really, The J type is a lot closer to the neck than it would be in a Jazz or usual MM/J types. I've always found them a bit difficult to balance as the MM tends to overpower the J, but it's a good sound. A bit like the MM with a bit of midscoop and the extra overtones from the neck pickup at that position. The Cort GB74 is more of a Jazz+MM, although in that case the MM is a lot closer to the bridge than on a Stingray, making it essentially a "fat Jazz". But if you're making your own bass, you can make it anything you like! ;-)