paul_5

The NME's more of a fashion periodical these days. I remember when it were all about music. Proper music too; not like what young 'uns 'ave got these days neither - a tune you could whistle and everything....

4 channel mixer with a handful of components: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Mixer You could sub a TL072 with an NE5532 if you were [i]really[/i] fussy, but the 72 is a very clean sounding chip.

Back in the day engineers used to have Yamaha NS10s in their studios - the little speakers with the white cones that you don't see anymore. If you could get a mix to sit right in those then you'd cracked it - that mix would translate to any speakers. They did sound a bit sh*t though, but that was the point - they were uncoloured and didn't boost any particular frequency to make your mix sound 'better' or whatever. These days manufacturers make products that flatter mixes to sell more units. Also, I'm old and cantankerous.

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1360604035' post='1973193'] You'll never make a jazz sound like a precision, of that I'm certain. The bridge pup has a sound of it's own and there's twice as many magnets and twice as much coil. Actually no, there is nearly 4x the amount of coil. [/quote] I reckon I'm close - I've got a MM in the bridge position and a Jazz neck PUP. I use a volume, blend, tone configuration on the control plate and if I blend 70/30 in favour of the Neck, and then use the canny little 'phase reverse' switch on the neck pup then it's Precision-tastic! Isa little bit on onboard EQ considered cheating?

He's certainly played before.

Generally if you've got single coils (lower output) pickups then 250KΩ pots will do. Higher output pickups (active and overwound pickups) will need more resistance to stop the flow of signal to the output jack - so you'd use 500KΩ. This will depend on the output of your pickups - they can range anywhere from 6/7KΩ to a massive 10KΩ, so you'll need to get a multimeter across the two wires to check what you've got. Of course, the manufacturers you've mentioned all quote these sorts of figures on their websites. You might find the following article useful too... http://www.axesrus.com/images/BASS1.jpg

I'd do it. Wedding gigs are good payers...

Just got the call for an acoustic night at the Grants in Ramsbottom tonight, should be a giggle.

I once snapped an oven proof dish doing the washing up (by hand!) and sliced my right wrist enough to need suturing and strapping up for the better part of a month. We now have a dishwasher (just until the eldest man-cub gets a bit bigger...)

God, I feel old reading that.

Pop music is a disposable commodity constructed to satisfy the whims of market forces, Rock music too, for the most part. I invest very little time in new bands / artists as inevitably they're trotting out the same old formulaeic tosh. That's not to say that if somebody plays me a new band I'll 'nay say' it before hearing it; I'm willing to listen to anything really, but most of it is either trite old rehashes, or too dependent on Autotune for my liking.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1360511700' post='1971468'] Unfortunately, these days the industry doesn't really allow for the nurturing of talent. An artist is dropped unless they can shift the required number of units on their first release. Music is suffering as a result. Many of the bands that were successful in the past didn't achieve their success until maybe their third or fourth albums. [/quote] True. What we need is to have a couple of really successful bands/artists who do everything themselves - writing, performing, recording, producing, distributing, promotion etc... who have an exciting take on popular music to really move things along. Tall order. The Internet and DAW technology [i]should[/i] make all of the above possible, but it's not necessarily guaranteed to be successful...

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1360443318' post='1970641'] I use a fretless as much as possible. I still have the fretted ones that I use in some of the dodgier pubs we play in as a couple of them are at the low end value wise compared to the fretless basses I have. [/quote] Dodgy pubs? In Lancashire? Never! actually, just throw a stick...

I just looked at the listing. Now I'm sad.

Yup, sold my fretted basses last year, just got my 'bitsa J/MM project bass with frets now. I use a custom Jazz bass for everything and love it. It can sometimes get a little bit 'close' doing chords up the dusty end, but that's just a practice thing. Did I mention that I love it? I did? that's because I love it.

[IMG]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd471/paul_510/2013-02-09140043_zps689d6564.jpg[/IMG] Not the prettiest, but sounds great. Signal chain - Bass - DHA VT1EQ, Chord Octave (OC2 clone), Home made chorus/trem pedal - looper (Loop A, Colorsound Bass Fuzz clone with blend and switchable clipping diodes Loop B - Russian Big Muff with mid control and switchable clipping diodes, Loop C DOD FX25 - modded to work as a LPF with additional volume control), Behringer BSY600 - SWR head and Hartke Hydrive 410 cab.

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1359143323' post='1950797'] I actually think that most pop/rock instruments are easy to play a bit, but to play them in a killer way is a serious undertaking. [/quote] True dat. There's a massive difference between simply getting a sound out of an instrument and [i]playing[/i] it...

Bon Jovi Rush Megadeth Rush and Megadave are still brilliant IMHO!

Led Zeppelin II Chronicles - Rush (a bit of a cheat, I know, but it's the first Rush album I got; I learned a lot from those 2 cassettes...)

You can still have a couple of albums and some great gigs doing it off your own bat - it's MUCH harder work, but you retain the rights to your material...

Brilliant! The East pre's are awesome, I'm sure you'll love it.

I reckon that as players (not collectors) the question should be about 'will alterations make it more playable/flexible/better for me as a musician?'. If you don't like the way it is now or how it sounds then mod it by all means.

I've got a VT1 DIEQ and love it. I've changed the tube for a 12AU7 for less grit, and it sounds brilliant. TBH it's on all the time, as my amp (SWR) is super clean, so this 'GRRRR's it up nicely. I recorded a short demo last week here: https://soundcloud.com/paul_510/fretless-o-d-demo Fretless Jazz into the VT1 into Protools - no compression or additional processing. It'll go MUCH dirtier, but this was enough for the track I'm working on.

They're two expensive bits of kit - I know it sounds like you're chickening out, but have you considered getting a local (more experienced) BC'er to have a look for you?

Do their other basses know any different tunes, or does it just come with the one?