fretmeister

Thank you but that's 8lb for the body alone! Too much for me these days.

I used to use red ones, but I like that green!

Stick a 2 inch thick bit of foam rubber to his upper lip so it bangs into the mic first. Then tell him it's just 'training wheels' for a couple of weeks until he gets used to being further away... but warn him that after a month you will hot glue it to his face if you have to.

Get foam ones and make it a feature. For each gig use a foam that matches his shirt. Or if he decides to get a purple mohawk, get purple ones. That sort of thing. Or just use a plain black one that nobody will notice at all. The punters have no idea about differences between microphones anyway.

Apparently the new UK service centre is going to be something called Sontec in Norwich.

If you send a message to Frank Ritchotte via the massive facebook Helix users group then he is usually the best contact to find stuff out like that. He's the Senior Director of Operations and deals with stuff like that in the group.

SX website seems to be down. Boo. And the shops stocking them only seem to have black or blue ones. I'll set up an eBay alert wotsit.

I quite fancy doing a bit of a Duck Dunn tribute bitsa, but there's not many sensibly priced Candy Apple Red bodies around so now I'm looking at complete basses. I will be swapping the neck for a Jazz type so whatever I get will need to have the right neck pocket. Any ideas? I know Duck was seen with a variety of P basses, but apparently Candy Apple Red was his favourite, with a maple board and that's why the very short run Japanese signature model was done like that. If I had the money I'd get a chambered Warmoth and have them paint it but that would be about $550 + shipping, Vat, Import which works out at about £550 including all that.

If you can find one then a Jim Deacon Precision is a perfect "try it out" short scale bass. Used for under £150, pretty light in weight - 3.6kg ish and best of all, the basic build is definitely good enough to warrant upgrading the other bits. I got my first one a few years ago as I just wanted to try a shortie. There was a bit of neck dive so I fitted some Hipshot Ultralight tuners which completely solved that. The vol and tone controls were pretty much ON/OFF cheap things so they were replaced, and as I don't like pickup polepieces that stick out I stuck in an Aguilar that I already had. It has turned into my very favourite bass. It has La Bella short scale DTF strings on it for that Jamerson / Duck Dunn thing. I love it so much I recently bought another one. It will get the same tuning head upgrade, but this time I'm going for modern tones. I have a set of EMG PJ-X pickups that will go in it. I'll get the slot for the J routed out professionally as I should never be trusted with power tools. The string spacing at the bridge is quite narrow at 16.5mm but it turns out I like that - but if you like wide spacing then it might not be the thing for you. However the advantage with that is that the neck stays slim all the way up to the top fret and that makes it very easy on the left hand. Nut width is 38mm and the neck shape is a pleasingly full C shape. Even if you don't like it you'll have no trouble moving it on. After I bought the cream one that was on here I had messages from 2 people asking me if I was going to keep it or going to sell again.

I am loving the La Bella LTF on my TT4. Sound ace, feel superb under the fingers. I got a short scale set for my Lionel and I’m not quite sure about them on that bass as they might be a little too flexible for the short scale but they feel so nice to play I’m torn! That bass also has relatively low output pickups compared to the fire breathing TT4. I have been planning a pickup change in the Lionel to a set of EMG PJ-X so I’ll leave them on until I do that, and then decide. They are definitely staying on the TT4 though.

New Moon for me too.

I have a BS2 and although I don't use it very often it is a lot of fun! I don't think I've ever written anything with it, I just get some drums going on youtube and waste a load of time!

Not on purpose.

Really? Mine is dead quiet unless I start mixing analogue and digital pedals.

I know what he's looking for. Employees. He just doesn't want to pay them.

Me too - I love flats with my EMG equipped basses.

Well... 1: Flats 2: Steel rounds 3: Nickel rounds 4: Nylons/Tape 5: Groundwounds / Pressure wounds 6: A set of those mad glow in the dark DR String Neons. Same again for Jazz and rays.

Great recording mic, not great live though.

I have an old Thomann / T.Bone copy of the Shure Super 55 and it's actually pretty good. Mind you I've never tried a real Super 55 but the internals are supposed to be very similar / the same as a BETA 58A. RRP is £265 these days, but Thomann have them for £205 https://www.thomann.co.uk/shure_super_55_deluxe.htm EDIT - Shure do a cheaper one that looks similar at about £155 - the SH55 too.

I've done a few and I've turned some down too. If it's free then there has to be something else for me. Could be as simple as me fancying playing stuff I wouldn't normally, or playing with a drummer I've never played with before just for the experience. The reason doesn't have to be as important as maybe getting into the band. Just if I fancy the craic I suppose. But then again if it's a Friday night and I want a curry then I won't!

What about swapping the mic for something he can't actually get in his mouth / reach with his teeth? Several colours are available

here's Axl Rose not being rock n roll at all....😜

In my nearly 40 years of performing I don't think I've ever seen a rubber or even plastic grill replacement that can screw on. I wonder if you can get someone to 3D print something? There are loads of one-off 3D print services available on platforms such as Fiverr. If you can find the proper specs for the screw bit then it could be possible. Or maybe get a used grill from somewhere and cut off everything except the screw bit and then glue a 3D printed part to that?

The metal is there to protect the capsule so whatever you find it will have to go over the metal grill. Otherwise he's going to end up hitting his teeth on the capsule and killing the mic. Bare in mind that the grill isn't just a thing slapped on the mic randomly. The shape and distance from the capsule has been calculated - that's why there are many different designs. Even the material is important. Something soft and rubber will resonate with his voice and in turn cause more / different resonance in the air hitting the capsule. It will sound different, and probably not good. He needs to change his technique. Get a cattle prod for rehearsals or wire up the existing grill to a car battery. He'll learn quickly enough!

Get him a headset like he's in 5 Star.