Mr. Foxen

Tone is all about keywords: plastic = bad, wood = good, so describe something as 'plastic' makes it sound bad, describing same thing as 'natural' means it sounds 'distinctive'.

Basses I've made out of bits myself are mostly oil finished, but the one that I chose because it was acoustically loudest (and thus best sounding) is poly finished. I could strip it off and see if it makes a difference, but I don't really want to.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1019483' date='Nov 10 2010, 10:55 PM']Is it that amp power is misleading or is it that most bassists don't realise that you only get full power just before your amp clips? And if you're playing in a loud band, using a smaller cab and don't have thousands of watts you will frequently hit full power on the attack of louder notes.[/quote] Bassists are mislead, or wrong-headed, put the blame where you will, about how much power is coming from their amp as soon as its plugged into a cab. Also, I would like to point out for the record that the second part of this statement is in no way directed at me, I do not have a small cab, or a lack of watts.

More speakers is about the only way to get louder actually. ut, stick it on a box, in the corner, and you get the speaker closer to, and facing your ears, plus the corners gives you a bit of reinforcement as you radiate into a smaller space. Then, mess with EQ, cut some bass, and you can up the volume. Might sound a bit poo on its own, but gets you louder in the mix, that combo is never going to do actual bass, so depending on the frequency center of the bass knob, might just be a fart control.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1018749' date='Nov 10 2010, 01:39 PM']Thanks for that. As im having a "buy the wrong thing" week i did get the wrong solder tips as well. I brought a new 30watt iron but it only came with a pointed tip. I really wanted a chisel tip so brought a packet of tips but of course they were for the wrong iron (in fact for a solder station). I must be getting old as i definitely checked they were the correct ones before i picked them up.[/quote] Still have them? Maplins type ones? Apparently fit my solder station, so I can paypal ya if they are no use to you. Proper hardware stores do lead solder, make sure it is flux cored, it is a joy to use after being used to fake solder.

[quote name='dincz' post='1014078' date='Nov 6 2010, 10:57 AM']Would it be fair to sum up that the Aguilar is clean only up to 100W and that from there on it's more effective as a heater than as a speaker? Probably absolutely fine for anyone who's looking for dirt, but I can't help feeling that the specs are a little misleading.[/quote] Thing to remember is that your amp power rating is similarly misleading, a 500w amps will very rarely be outputting 500w into your cab whilst you are playing, so it won't be an issue most of the time. People looking for dirt don't generally favour 1x12s either. Dopesn't matter how clever your cabs get, more is still more. And more is Doom.

Ah balls. At least my new reinforced castings are making progress.

If you've seen Metalocalypse, where Skwisgar always has his explorer and is diddling away. I do that with bass. Then I go to practice and play one note for about 15 minutes. Not one note repeatedly, just one and just let it ring. Why play loads of notes when you can play one note through lots of amps? My finger dexterity has definitely got a lot better for the time I think of another note to go for.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar-/320615327841?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4aa629a861"]Les Paul type thing[/url]. Kind of tempting.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kays-Bass-Guitar-/220694753165?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item33626eaf8d"]Kay[/url] The "American" one again?

Had a long dscussion with a vintage TV/transmitter enthusiast and amp designer (modernhifi stuff) guy today. With valve rectifiers, the rectifiers took longer to warm up than the other valves, so the HT didn't start until they were ready. Solid state rectification made it sort of necessary, as the simplest way of achieving the effect. Some amps need no standby because the HT is delayed inside, by a relay or something. My big Matamp slave from the 70s has no standby, would guess it is switched like that, because not really their style, not doing things as well as they can be. Current Matamps and Ashdown (both Dave Green designed) have a mute in place of an actual standby, I think because you only get anode (or cathode?) stripping from wanging signal through a cold valve (amps own hiss might count), plus it is a useful feature to have a warm but silent valve amp.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1017364' date='Nov 9 2010, 11:49 AM']Considering the rubbish that gets written about 70s Fakers & Jap copies in general, both on Ebay & on less specialised forums than this one, I think it's pretty likely that a lot of people were under the impression they were [b]all[/b] "made by Ibanez". In this guy's case I think it was probably general ignorance rather than considered bullsh!t - my message would have been very easy to ignore, never mind publish on his listing. Keeping the same price is beyond mental, though. J.[/quote] If he has a watcher, its worth leaving at that price, and I know he has at least one watcher.

[quote name='Musky' post='1017140' date='Nov 9 2010, 07:50 AM']He's modified his description now, which is a bit of a shame as I was looking forward to the BS. [/quote] I think it's what is known in the industry as 'Bassassination'.

Make sure you wash off the salt/vinegar with plenty of clean water once you are done, don't want them continuing to relic in the bass.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1016767' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:14 PM']Why would someone be playing the wrong notes? He wouldn't get past the audition stage. [/quote] The band decided to transcribe to another key to suit a guesting horn player. The bassist doesn't know what transcribe means, but can groove like a mofo. Not an impossible scenario.

Reminds me that recently, a chap in the pub declared that he had been playing guitar for 20 years to try and impress me regarding a guitar that was behind the bar (mine, donated to the pub as a decoration due to being a terrible instrument). I thought, if the best boast you have after playing guitar for 20 years is that you've been playing guitar for 20 years, you've probably been doing it wrong.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1016695' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:38 PM']Go on then...... I'll put my arse on the line and clearly state that the 'best' approach is to be comfortable in both theory/reading and groove/feel.[/quote] I think that is what Marcus Miller nailed, there was a quote about it by him, something about plenty of people can play the music right off the page, but I can play it like I'm not playing it off the page.

Is "groove" related to [url="http://musicmachinery.com/2010/05/21/the-swinger/"]"swing"?[/url]

Of course, even the horrible Hondo's reach in excess of £300 in auction, so it isn't like his price is totally nuts.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Law-suit-Bass-Rick-copy-/200540762141?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2eb129301d"]"Ibanez" with added historical revisionism.[/url]

I thought of a good plan. Offer true relicing for investment instruments, basically, your customer buys a nice new expensive Fender, and you gig it for the next 15 years, then give it back, like buying futures.

Wiring in American amps upsets me. This has a couple of tacked in wires what cross over loads of the board, but its all preamp wiring there, so I dunno if they will be picking up interference, unless it is to do with the heater supplies or something. I was thinking of replacing a re-routing those first as it just looks like a terrible job.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57703"]Bit of piezo bridge discussion and links to buffers here.[/url]