fretmeister

Uptown Funk works very well. My old big band did that and the baris would either play the bass part or trade with it.

Sir Duke definitely works too, as does Poker Face.

1 minute ago, OliverBlackman said:

I find that crazy! Even when I gigged I just used 1 comfort strap. But now I don’t gig so a strap is there just to stop the bass falling off my lap!

All my instruments have a strap attached all the time. I cannot be bothered to adjust them when swapping. And different straps suit different instruments.

If I only had 1 strap then I would definitely be the person who turned up at a gig without it!

I'm going to try and save what I would have spent over the year. I really miss having a good 5 string. So that's my plan - Start a fund to save for a Stingray Special 5 string. 

Obviously if I win the lottery this abstinence pledge can do one!  

I'd love to have one. I really like JD's playing and I'm a fan of heavy compression and of those EB flats he uses.

If I had the money I'd have bought a USA version already, but at the moment I don't have the cash for the cheap one!  

Hopefully they'll do another run at some point, and figure out how to get the shipping cheaper.

I bet they would have doubled the orders if the shipping outside of the USA wasn't so high.

The synth sound he gets at about 16:10 is fantastic!

I was just going to post that - thanks!

That’s lovely and a bargain! 

Anyone know if custom neck plates are available- custom engraving?

I’ve got a Fender plate but as I m building a parts bass it’s not a Fender so I’d like something else on it.

ta.

3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Not wishing to dig myself into an ever deepening hole here but the thing with Precision/Jazz basses (along with, let's face it, any other bass that shares the same/similar geometry), is that the elongated top horn improves the balance of the instrument while it's on the strap; I suppose you could use the time-honoured quote that it was something Leo Fender got right (and continued to get right at MusicMan and G&L) and that it was something the boys at Gibson didn't.  Despite not being a fan of Fender basses, I've owned some in the past and in support of the design I'd say without hesitation that they do have incredibly good balance on the strap.

 

You could go into some depth here about pivot/fulcrum points, triangulation of the fixed points (strap connections and break angle at the shoulder) and rotational symmetry, all whilst factoring in other variables (viz. weight of chocolate bars on the headstock), but of course people aren't really interested in the maths or science behind it.

 

In closing, Happy New Year.

 

 

I’m very interested in the maths. That’s why I weighed my original tuners on my Ray5 and saved about 227g. 
On a different bass I also swapped the heavy brass control knobs for plastic ones as that saved over 20g per knob. That was another 80g. That’s 307g running total savings.

Then I decided to go passive. That lost a knob and pot completely and the 9V battery. A Duracell 9v is 45g. Then I took the pickguard off too to save another 25g.

As any engineer working in a field where weight is an issue, cumulative effects are also very important. As you can see I got very close to reducing the weight by an entire pound, with 227g of that at the far end of the neck making massive improvements in balance as well. 
 

That was a saving of approx 13% on the total bass weight. That’s very far from a couple of chocolate bars.

Have a crack at explaining the fulcrums if you want. I’ll get my daughter to check your maths when she’s having a break from working on wing design and wind tunnel maths.

EDIT: I found my spreadsheet. The pickguard and screws together weighed 77g.

Yes, I am that obsessed with weight to have spreadsheets. Colin Chapman was right about it for cars and it works for basses too.

Strings and repair items are allowed I presume?

Are the existing switches really switches and not signal sending units?Some foot switches look like physical items but actually just send a trigger signal for the actual change to be done elsewhere in the pedal.

The trad EBMM tuners (not the new specials) were heavy.

I had a 2005 5 string ray that was 9.1lb with the originals. And smack on 8.5lb with Y shaped USA ultralites. Y keys are a little lighter than clovers.

I wish I still had it, but like an idiot I sold it. 

4 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

To this day I can't really get my head around the obsession and chase for weight saving when the saving is grammes; unless you're using a headless bass there's inevitably going to be some weight on the headstock end.

 

Seeing as how it's Christmastime and that most people love chocolate bars, let's look at the weights for perspective.  49g per machine head is just shy of the weight of a standard Mars or Snickers bar; if you're struggling with lifting four of these bars, then honestly you need eat more red meat or hit the gym to build muscle mass.  You're looking at saving a possible 9g per machine, so the total weightsaving of 36g on the headstock or roughly the weight of a single Double Decker multipack bar.

 

On my thousands of posts here, I tend to pepper my content with the terms subjective or it's a nonsense.  The amount of weight you're looking to save is so small it'll make no difference whatsoever.  My ten year old niece regularly picks up my basses when we see her, she wouldn't struggle with an extra 36g on the headstock.

 

 

 

 

Has your niece had multiple operations that means that any weight saving at all is a benefit?

Also - the difference between old fashioned big plate Fender tuners to Ultralites actually works out at over 1/3lb and on a 5 string over 1/2 lb.

I'm not talking about swapping a modern tuner for another slightly lighter modern tuner. I'm talking about saving maybe 1/2 pound - that's 227grams and that is very noticeable when it's at the end of a neck. Both for balance and for overall weight of the instrument. It's often the easiest way to reduce the weight of an instrument to something manageable.

Balance is changed massively when you take half a bag of sugar off the headstock.

Try it the other way if you don't believe me. Get your best balanced bass and put half a bag of sugar into a carrier and hang it from the headstock and see if it made any difference.

I wasn’t impressed. The Yamaha DXR10 was a lot better.

By the time you’ve bought the kit to make it work properly and rehearsed with it (unavoidable) you might as well have hired a drummer to fill in until your regular drummer is ready to play again. 

Is it heavy?

That looks great! And what a bargain! 

Nothing.

In my band or marriage?

58 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

I would find an alternative cab to use in the interim, and have the speaker replaced with a BF as soon as you are able. 
 

Alex is an affable chap. I run his cabs too. I have a Bassman 50, and have used a 135, at 5 it’s fairly cranking to be fair and is far louder than any equivalent Class D amp. You’ve had 7 years of running this, so I would just say it’s one of those things that happens sometimes.

This.

Borrow or even hire another cab until you can get it fixed. It's just not worth doing half a job on an expensive cab.

You could pick something up on Reverb or Ebay for buttons if you can cope with a heavy old cab for a gig or two. 

Presumably Barefaced can replace the driver for you?

Anything else will massively devalue it if you ever sell it on.

I've had 3.

Status Energy

Defretted Fender mex Jazz

Zon Hyperbass.

I liked the sound but I never got comfortable enough to play them live. Possibly because I was singing as well and I want to concentrate that much!

I'd have another J type or PJ though.

Either the Mark Bass Vintage Preamp pedal or the Fairfield The Accountant compressor.

Both very good.

For guitar use I got one of the UA Tape Delay pedals when they had their big price drop. That's really nice for old dirty delay stuff.

On 18/12/2024 at 11:10, Lozz196 said:

In your position @thisisswanbon I would have 2 pedalboards fully stocked/ready to go. I know this is fund dependent but I also know me and I couldn’t be bothered swapping pedals from one board to another depending on what the gig was. 

This.

For my last gig I actually managed to get everything I needed onto a Nano board but generally I prefer to have duplicates when I can afford it.

I don't swap pedals of a particular type very often - at least not for gigging.

Sometimes a cheaper but 'nearly there' version of a pedal will do for the board I will use less. But there are some things that I just get annoyed with if they are not identical. Particularly compressors!

I do always try to take the smallest board possible as I just don't like carrying heavy stuff.

43 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Respectfully, I disagree.  You can't deal in absolutes when it comes to people.

 

If the pay packet doesn't immediately speak to me in some way, or show some degree of promise or potential, then I'd rather not waste my time with it.

 

Fixed it!