icastle

[quote name='robocorpse' post='1130835' date='Feb 17 2011, 12:11 PM']I think thats covered it?[/quote] Pretty much From a practicality point of view, I have an old metal box (about half a breeze block size) that I've mounted a whole pile of different connectors in. I've put a sealed bag of sand inside to act as ballast and stuck some old rubber feet I had kicking around on the bottom. It makes a nice easy way of holding the connector in place while you're working on it...

[quote name='apa' post='1131162' date='Feb 17 2011, 03:29 PM']Errr 3 pieces to be precise! lol[/quote] Good grief! Either I need to get my eyes tested or get some sleep! Ok - I'll change that to - 'nicely jointed and matched'

[quote name='apa' post='1131036' date='Feb 17 2011, 02:09 PM']Just thought you would like to see whats under that dark blue![/quote] That's a rather nice looking slab! For the price I was expecting to see a couple of pieces stuck together...

[quote name='iconic' post='1131068' date='Feb 17 2011, 02:33 PM']I've googled 'n Fleabayed without success ...would really want some very thin ones for a fretless if such a thing exists?[/quote] I don't think you'll have much luck. Anything thick enough to withstand the rigours of use is going to act as a fret...

[quote name='challxyz' post='1130972' date='Feb 17 2011, 01:21 PM']Hoping someone can help with this query..... playing through my Ampeg SVTII the other night at a gig, done first set, put it on standby and the lights on the front went to red, which is obviously normal, however when I turned it back on for the second set instead of green lights I got amber lights, the amp worked fine and the light eventually turned to green after about a minute, question is, do I need to worry about this? does anyone know what it could mean? cheers[/quote] The SVTII manual says: [quote name='AMPEG']16. STANDBY/POWER/FAULT INDICATOR LED: This is a multi functional LED. In Standby mode, it glows red. In the On mode (when the high voltage comes on) it glows green. If it does not turn green in the On mode, there is no high voltage present and the unit needs servicing. If the amp detects a fault in the power tube circuit, the high voltage is turned off and the LED flashes between red and green. This usually indicates a bad power tube. The amp will remain in this condition until the unit is turned off.[/quote] There is no 'Amber option' according to Ampeg. It sounds as though the amp was struggling to decide whether it was in 'Standby' or 'On'. It could be that there was a supply issue and you'll not see the problem again - for peace of mind I'd probably get it looked at by an amp tech.

[quote name='Quoth'd' post='1130930' date='Feb 17 2011, 01:03 PM']Now my dilemma is this - I have replaced amp with a lovely Gallien Krueger backline which I am loving & looking forward to cranking when am back in a band again. I have a semi-working Hartke 3500 which I don't need so am wondering if it would be better to call Samson & order the replacement output (loaded) PCB then sell it as refurbished [u]or[/u] to sell it as non-working [u]or[/u] to break it and sell individual bits (case / front panel / transformer / pre-amp-board / send-return board / output board / heatsink etc). Any advice gratefully received as am loathed to flebay it and walk away with a miserable £20.[/quote] You might be able to sell it as non working but that'd really push the price down. You could scrap it and sell it as parts but the chances are that you'll end up throwing the majority of those parts away in two years time when you haven't been able to sell them. I'd be more inclined to get the parts needed from Korg, get it back to the original spec and sell it on as refurbished - you clear the whole lot out in one go and make it available to a far wider market than just the electronics enthusiast.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1130223' date='Feb 16 2011, 08:40 PM']A tiny tiny spot of superglue would do (but not so much that you'll never get it out again) ..... some experts will be along soon to poo-poo that idea and tell you to squeeze cabbage juice over it.[/quote] It's carrot juice on the nut, cabbage juice is for the bridge you damn fool... +1 for a couple of dots of superglue though - I have a brass nut on one of my basses that I glued with superglue about 12 years ago and it's still holding fine!

[quote name='alyctes' post='1129523' date='Feb 16 2011, 12:40 PM']Anybody know anything about this beastie? I haven't been able to find anything online. My suspicion is it's well overpriced (seller originally wanted £450, now down to £320), but for all I know it might be the find of the year. It's quite pretty. [url="http://www.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-adverts.showadvert/index-1033426630/3959a589.html"]http://www.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-adver...0/3959a589.html[/url][/quote] Well there's a reference to a chap who was trying to sell a MusicDrive guitar for $100 and struggling to shift it. This particular ad has appeared on a number of different 'for sale' sites recently it seems.

[quote name='dmccombe7' post='1129568' date='Feb 16 2011, 01:09 PM']Not cheesy its a great idea - well done. Bet you've now started a trend. [/quote] Possibly It's was a lot of work initially and it takes a fair old while to start getting the payback but we do rather well out of it. I think it's just 'quirky' enough to make us memorable without being OTT. We've got a rather nice joint 40th Birthday party we're doing on Saturday which was something along the lines of 'the daughter of a bloke she works with was a bridesmaid at a wedding three years ago'. None of us can remember which gig it was! IMHO though, the biggest trick is to have fun whilst playing and make sure the audience sees it - there's nothing worse than seeing one or more performers sulking or scowling when they're supposed to be taking part in a celebration...

[quote name='chris_b' post='1129465' date='Feb 16 2011, 11:57 AM']That's not cheesy, that's good PR.[/quote] Yes. It's not quite so easy to lose as a business card and we certainly get a lot of 'you guys played at my mates sisters wedding two years ago' calls...

You get what you pay for. Every time you move, the lead moves as well and over a period of time there will be stresses, strains and accidents that eventually cause a failure. The cheaper the cable, the quicker it's going to fail. I don't buy ready made cables - I buy Neutriks plugs and decent cable and make my own. Some of them are now getting on for 10 years old and are still working fine - maybe a couple of inches shorter than they were when I first made them though... . Every so often I have a 'blitz' through the lead cases (probably around 80 cables of various types) and go through every cable testing and physically inspecting the connections and overall cable condition. Anything that even looks dubious is either rebuilt or discarded and replaced. Sounds like a lot of work, but we've only had one lead failure (cymbal sliced through it as it fell) whilst playing live in the last 5 years!

What we did was sit down and look at decades. We found songs that people identify with the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's and some up to date covers. We then mix the whole lot up so that a multi age audience has 'something' that they recognise in each set. We have a number of songs that we have rehearsed and don't add to the set - Mustang Sally is one of those. Sometimes it pays to have an ace up your sleeve to appease the expectations of an audience that knows what it wants to hear. We also agree to peform one pre arranged 'request' for high paying performances - particularly useful for 'first dances' at wedding do's. We usually make a quick recording of it in a local studio that we have free access to and present that as a 'keepsake'. Bit cheesy perhaps but it's always well received and gets us plenty of follow on bookings...

[quote name='algmusic' post='1129142' date='Feb 16 2011, 01:26 AM']Ok, I'll give that a go.. thanks again. I'll either be a wizz or a ditz by the end of this ;-)[/quote]

Good value if they work. I bought an HD750 which lasted less than 24 hours before I shipped it back to the supplier for refund. It just confirmed my long held belief that putting so much clever sh*t in one small box is just asking for trouble...

[quote name='soulboy' post='1128980' date='Feb 15 2011, 10:03 PM']A pale blue one went a couple of days ago from the shop, maybe Nick Beggs had it away![/quote] Nah. He's too shy shy... I'll get me coat...

[quote name='jimmyb625' post='1128842' date='Feb 15 2011, 08:17 PM']This is what peer pressure is isn't it? I don't even need one!![/quote] Absobloominglutely!

I tried out one of the original Steinbergers on a couple of gigs when they first came out. I fell off the end of the neck a couple of times and found the tuning awkward. I guess if I'd perservered with it I'd have got used to those niggles though. I'm not a fan of the cricket bat headless basses but I do think the regular body shape one's look rather nice.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='1128587' date='Feb 15 2011, 05:00 PM']We play Paint it Black and Jumping Jack Flash, and I can't think of a single good reason to follow Wyman's bassline in either case. So I don't.[/quote] Yep. We do JJF as well - or rather the rest of the guys do. I've been playing something totally different for the last 4 years and they haven't noticed...

[quote name='algmusic' post='1128275' date='Feb 15 2011, 01:03 PM']My bass is annoying now. I've put back on the old one and now. It's not as bad and is technically playable, but If I touch the lead, there the hum almost completely disappears.. I'm tempted to un-solder everything and get better wires etc (possibly better shielding).. or should I just send it to the Bass Gallery.. I even try just connecting a solder wire from the pot to the bridge to see if the hum stops.. which it doesn't.. as I thought it was the grounding to the bridge.. maybe I should replace the grounding cable[/quote] It could be that one (or more) of the earth cables has got fractured during the initial upgrade - many basses use single strand copper wire that's pretty inflexible. If you don't have access to a meter to check the individual cables for continuity then I'd say replace all the earth side cables. So that's the earth wire from the bridge, the earth wire from the jack socket and the earth wires soldered to the back of each pot. You can redo the whole lot with about 2' of cable so it's not an expensive thing to try. As you've done an extensive bit of rework here, it's probably well worth taking a look at the soldering on the back of the pots - the solder 'shape' should be nice and low, imagine a little puddle of water on a dinner plate. If it's an upright standing 'blob' like a piece of sweetcorn on a plate then there's a good chance that's where the earth break is! (And the first person who sniggers at my description will be hunted down and forced to listen to my collection of Sea Shanties! )

[quote name='tauzero' post='1128057' date='Feb 15 2011, 10:19 AM']Dakota. There are some root-note songs that I find enjoyable - She Sells Sanctuary is almost all root but it's full of energy. Rocky Mountain Way is one of those locking in to the drummer songs. But Dakota is just tedious.[/quote] +1 I use a big lump of artistic licence on that one!

Speaking from my own experience of often not knowing what's going to be thrown at me to play next, a 5 makes perfect sense. I suppose it's a bit like having hazard lights on your car - you don't use them every time you drive it but you know they are there if or when the situation calls for them... I have no particular allegiance to 4's, 5's or 6's as I own a sample, or samples, of each, they're just tools after all...

First Bass Owned: Aria ProII SB600 'Go To' Bass: Ibanez SR505 'Your' Bass: NS WAV4

[quote name='Earbrass' post='1126885' date='Feb 14 2011, 12:06 PM']Oh, hang on a minute, I think there's a vid on YouTube somewhere of some Japanese guy.... [/quote] Noooooooooooooooooo....... Not again....

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='1127083' date='Feb 14 2011, 02:30 PM']I've no practical reason for posting this question, but I'm stuck at work without enough to occupy me for another 20 minutes or so. I've just read the story of the Kon-Tiki expedition on a balsa wood raft across the South Pacific. They kept mentioning mangrove wood, and saying it was as hard as iron. If so, couldn't it be used for such things as wooden bridges?[/quote] Hope not. 35% of mangrove forests have been stripped bare in the last 20 years.

I have an artistic license and I'm not afraid to use it...