JimBobTTD

Yup - a circuit board with the preamp on it attached to at least on of the pots, different wiring and so on. What that looks like to me is two volumes and a master tone.

Ie something that looks like this:



which is an EMG pre.

That's three pots with knobs. They should all be 25k audio pots.

[quote name='LeftyJ' post='614777' date='Oct 2 2009, 02:33 PM']Hey, that's my amp. Used to have a head & 2x12 of the Studiotone model, now I have the combo because it rarely leaves the house so I could do with something smaller.[/quote]

You need a smaller Koch? Me too.


Even though it isn't rude, I've found that mentions of "purfling" on acoustics have often brought forth a juvenile giggle.

It's Sunday...things are slow. As a product of the modern world, my thoughts go to acquiring more gear in an effort to stave off the emptiness inside me. Sort of.

My dilemma:

I have a GK 400RB (180W at 8, 280W at 4 ohms), which I like very much and it has served me very well.
I have a Marshall 1x15 (unoriginal speaker) which I do not like all that much. It's ok, but it doesn't make my GK sound as good as the Trace cabs I once had. It seems to lack something, but I can't put my finger on what exactly.

I have a new metal band in the pipeline. I'll be competing with two (probably half-) stacks. Is what I have going to be enough? I'm looking for defined bottom end with some GK growl. I use EMGs in 5-string basses and a compressor. We will end up playing smallish clubs and rehearsal places.

Thoughts? If the 400RB is not powerful enough I could consider upgrading to the 700RB, but I would like to stay with GK. As for cabs, I'm really rather open to all suggestions at any price point. Cheaper the better, obviously, but I would rather have something good and solid than cheap and nasty.

[quote name='Zombywoof' post='607695' date='Sep 24 2009, 02:57 PM']Stopped buying these kind of mags years ago. They're just loft fodder. I used to like Bassist magazine...what ever happened to it?[/quote]

Because lots of other people stopped buying these mags years ago, I'd wager they closed up shop.

Avoid that seller.

Their basses are the cheapest bits of rubbish available, and their customer care is non-existent.

Er...hang on. Is your name James Bennet? I do NOT like this one bit. That is my name, although I have a double t.

Next thing you'll be telling us is that you have Scottish relatives and play bass.

[quote name='witterth' post='604288' date='Sep 21 2009, 11:12 AM']sorry.....
who [snip] ?[/quote]

My question exactly. I did a little digging, and it seems that Whitney Houston is a singer. She was quite big a while back, but really hit the big time when she appeared in a predictable and atrocious film called "The Bodyguard" with an unknown actor called Kenneth Kostsmore. The film is famous for her butchering a Dolly Parton song, which went to number one in every country in the universe and stayed there for seemingly years, with radio play on all stations twice an hour. Somehow, someone thought her warbling was musical and decided every girl who wanted to sing had to copy it.

She used to look like this:


And, sadly, this:


Now she probably looks like an airbrushed Photoshop picture of a mixture of the above two photos.


On a more serious note, I very nearly lost my job when I declared that I did not rate Houston as an artist. Unbeknownst to me, my boss was a platinum member of the Whitney Houston fan club. So was most of her family. I had to endure 15 minutes of her brother (whom I had never met, of course), on speakerphone, telling me what a tool I was. Ah, happy days.

I've been burned by dirt-cheap basses before. I'd steer away - to make it under a ton, some real corners have to have been cut.

[quote name='leftybassman392' post='603794' date='Sep 20 2009, 07:21 PM']I'd be keen to ask whoever said that what they think qualifies something as a standard. [...][/quote]

That's what this thread was for! The comment seemed to be stated as an off-the-cuff remark, as if it were held as accepted truth. But still, it has returned to the forefront of my brain a fair few times in the few weeks or so since I saw it. I kind of see it as being in the same vein as film v digital cameras, VHS v DVD, fax v e-mail. You can say what you want about how the older technology had its charms, but it is still going to be all but obsolete.

I'm not sure I buy into that argument. I don't think music works in that way - ref. the shift back to real instruments after the technological heyday of blips and bloops in 80s chart music.

Anyway, all discussion is good, right?

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='603382' date='Sep 20 2009, 11:04 AM']I created a poll on BC a while back and it basically confirmed that 4 is still the standard but perhaps 5 is catching up.

That's this side of the pond but I suspect the same would be said over there.

Interestingly I'm using a 5 now pretty exclusively as swapping between the 2 isn't helping my acclimatisation.

Peter[/quote]

Balls...I searched for a poll etc before this. Must have missed it. Silly me!

I too am only using 5 now. I couldn't deal with swapping over, so I put the 4 strings in cases and put them in storage. I don't know what to do with them; I feel quite certain I'm not going to go back. I may sell the Fender.

I recall reading a seemingly throwaway comment on Talkbass a while back which went something like this:

"[blah blah blah], which is why five string is the new standard for bass guitar."

Has there been a shift towards 5 strings to such an extent that playing 4 strings equates to being old fashioned?

What do you people think? Do you play "the new standard" or not? Does the author of the aforementioned comment have too strong a bond to modern metal music, and perhaps sees [i]this music[/i] as standard?

Both. It is classic rock, but its total association with Rocky makes it cheese.

I play Ibanez basses. I have two 5 strings - the SR705 and SR1205.

I got the SR705 for £150.
I got the SR1205 for £500.

Is the SR1205 three times as good as the SR705? No. Because price has nothing to do with it. I paid under the odds for the SR705 and I would pay twice as much for another SR1205.

If we take out "expensive" and replace it with "high quality" (for that is what expensive suggests, to all intents and purposes), then the answer is more clear. Why buy a high quality bass? Why buy good quality (ie expensive) strings? Why buy decent cables? Why buy a decent amp?

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='598308' date='Sep 14 2009, 04:47 PM']Join a band.

I'm not being facetious.. it's just that not all bands are born equal. I went from playing in a *very* busy function band that played 4 times a week to a very relaxed bunch of wasters (I do not exclude myself!) that plays once a month at most. It's enough to keep me interested but not enough to make me go mental - which was what was happening before.[/quote]

That's what my suggestion would be. I went from playing in a band (of wasters, sadly) which split up. With nothing on the cards, I ended up not playing for about six years. Now, I'm having a very hard time finding other people (who aren't teenagers) or bands to join. I'm making music on my computer to pass the time.

[quote name='henry norton' post='569806' date='Aug 15 2009, 12:42 PM']Here's my superfly new hanger, made from 5 screws, a bit of 4x1 and some leftover foam handgrip from my bike. Much as I like Hercules hangers with their fancy locking mechanism and neat appearance there's nothing quite like a half hour's work and some bits from the workshop for ultimate satisfaction. Total cost, £0, and I'll keep it there until my wife complains about it.[/quote]


Yes, but if there is some kind of major earthquake which makes the Earth quiver in fear, you'll be less quick to dismiss the "fancy locking mechanism and neat appearance" of the Hercules hangers.

I am hardly an Ibanez expert, but I really like their basses. I have the SR1205 - the holy grail of Ibanez 5 strings - and I am in the process of upgrading the electronics. The bridge looks like it might be able to be replaced with a Badass, but I'm not convinced it is necessary. The electronics are, sadly, weak and NEED to be changed.

But my SR1205 is over ten years old. If I remember correctly, the SR range now has Bartolini pickups. I think you may find that Ibanez have already upgraded their basses so that you don't need to!

Shame they cut that lovely maple into such a hideous shape!

Band rehearsal and audition for new drummer in our thrash band. Three or four songs had been chosen a week or so in advance.

Me: "Right, let's rock out with Master of Puppets."

Guitarist: "Yeah!!!"

Drummer: "I don't know it. How does it go?"

No lie.

That bass is just pure sex on toast.

[quote name='XxBassMastaXx' post='586345' date='Sep 1 2009, 12:00 PM']hi, im a newbie.[/quote]

...with excellent taste in basses. Greetings!

[quote name='solo4652' post='586305' date='Sep 1 2009, 11:23 AM']I have one of these to move my combo. Takes up to 70 kgs.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Folding-sack-truck-trolley-clearance-offer-10-99_W0QQitemZ180401825174QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment?hash=item2a00c96596&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Folding-sack-truck-t...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url][/quote]

I've had similar things, and find they do more damage to my back! The handle on this one is 99cm at full extension. I'm 5'11 - not the tallest of men - and I find that this is simply not long enough. To pull this, I'd need to crouch a little, or lean over a bit, which leads to painful strains on my back muscles.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='585886' date='Aug 31 2009, 06:33 PM']Good job there my friend. [/quote]

Yup - reet nice.

I will not tire of telling people to avoid that seller on Ebay.

I bought a cheap and cheerful 4-string bass from them. It was cheap and nasty - but that was ok. What was not ok was that the frets had been installed in the wrong areas. The 13th, 14th and 15th frets were not in the right place, so the bass would never be playable.

Would not take it back, would not send a new one, would not refund me.

Bottom line: they are scum, and their merchandise is the cheapest, nastiest crap you can find. They have about a dozen accounts on Ebay. Go to your local bass shop and ask them if you can play their nicest bass for an hour in exchange for the £79 you would spend. You will get about as much decent play time for your money, but you'll get to play something worthy of your finger grease.

You could fashion a strap/belt pack using the bug. Simple cable from bass to a jack into which the bug connects, and then tape the bug to your strap. Voilà - bug quality and belt pack simplicity.

If I have understood you correctly, that is. It seems like your old bug broke and AKG replaced it...so yeah, I think I'm on it!