muttley

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1367415' date='Sep 9 2011, 10:57 AM']Thanks I'm aware of the history. So what music these days does not use the even tempered tuning ?.[/quote] None of it? All of it? I don't really know the true answer to that. Solo piano definitely does, infinitely-variable tuned instruments (eg voice) definitely doesn't. I suppose everything else is a mix of equal-tempered and harmonic tuning. "Good enough for Jazz", I say .

Oh, and to the OP: great resource. Thanks.

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1366544' date='Sep 8 2011, 03:52 PM']naming the notes according to one arbitrary key and having two names for the same note is obviously insane[/quote] But they are not the same: that's the point. It's only equal-tempered scale compromised instruments like the piano and fretted stringed instruments that force them to be the same. Look it up. It's a useful piece of harmonic/musical theory .

Anything that isn't an open string.

I think the Precision with the twin humbuckers looks quite purposeful. I suppose it will appeal to potential owners who feel they [i]need[/i] a Fender but not one that sounds like one . Twin splits on the Jazz though just looks wrong.

Note that the VAT threshold is about to be reduced to £15. Won't make a difference to the import of a high value item like a musical instrument but useful to know for other items. (The reason behind this was to try to close the loophole whereby CI based retailers can undercut their competitors by not having to charge customers VAT. Unfortunately, the govt stopped short of closing this properly.)

[quote name='chris_b' post='1361609' date='Sep 4 2011, 10:42 AM']It's Fender's customers fault. They seem to be quite happy to buy any old stuff that gets produced so why would you expect Fender to do anything else?[/quote] OTOH, all of the big guitar and bass manufacturers are known for perhaps only 2 (or 3) really successful products. The numerous variations produced never seem to have a big impact on sales. Is this the customers' fault? Probably.... Anyone remember the Strats with humbuckers that Fender made in the early 80s? They didn't sell either...

I'm 45 and I started playing the bass (properly) earlier this year. I do have "previous" though . I'm looking forward to playing in a band again. Got my beard coming along nicely! I'll echo the other comments: definitely get a light bass. I started on a Squire - nice, but too heavy.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1349014' date='Aug 23 2011, 02:18 PM']It's 1% that could make a difference then I'm not sure do you pay another 20% on that 1%?[/quote] Yes. The total amount payable on an imported good = ((FOB price plus freight plus insurance) plus import duty) plus VAT plus carrier handling fee. In other words, import duty is applied to the total value of the shipment, including transport and insurance costs. VAT is then added to that lot. The carrier, eg FedEx, will make a charge for clearing it through customs on your behalf, hence the taxes will be payable to the carrier, not direct to HMRC.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1348415' date='Aug 22 2011, 08:57 PM']Is it as high as that. I was reading the other day it was 2.7% the HMRC website has it at 3.2-3% but it's been a few years since it was updated.[/quote] We're only talking about a c.1% difference here . The biggest chunk is the 20% VAT which is added to the total value of the import (item plus freight plus insurance plus duty).

Wlico: that's exactly the same as the one I have. Yours is in slightly better nick though .

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1347416' date='Aug 21 2011, 07:34 PM']+1 on sticking to the UK; you could well be hammered by extra duty when it's shipped in.[/quote] Import duty will be 3.9% ([url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=139"]info here[/url]) of the total cost of the import (CIF), not just the price of the instrument. VAT at 20% will then be added to the total and you will have to pay the carrier a handling fee for the privilege of the item having been cleared through Customs for you. FedEx charges £12, Parcelforce around £8 for example. So if your bass comes to US$1500 ex-works, then you will actually pay the equivalent of $1870.20 plus the handling fee. Don't ask the luthier to declare less as this fraudulent and will mean that the shipment cannot be insured for the full value. Don't think it will just sail through Customs either, HMRC now looks for any way it can to find additional sources of revenue!

[quote name='chris_b' post='1347288' date='Aug 21 2011, 05:15 PM']Rotosound say they are "ultra low tension".[/quote] Yes, they are. TruBass nylon flats are very easy on the fingers.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1343886' date='Aug 18 2011, 12:41 AM']If high mass bridges weren't a step forward from the Fender bent pieces of tin Leo Fender wouldn't have put them on all his subsequent designs. The fact that he never used low mass bridges again inspite of the extra cost [b]should tell us something[/b].[/quote] Yes, it tells us that the marketing people got their own way! If a perceived improvement exists then customers will ask for it. If Fender thought that they were losing sales because of the BBOT bridge/tail then they'd be foolish not to replace it with something else. Put another way, I suspect that: {number of sales lost to having BBOT} > {number of sales lost due to not having BBOT}

[quote name='Beedster' post='1341081' date='Aug 15 2011, 08:04 PM']Alternatively, are there any online sources where you can buy better quality music files than iTunes?[/quote] Yes. Amazon, Play, CDWow etc etc... BUT, you have to buy CDs, not downloaded stuff... Just rip them into your preferred format and you can use them [u]anywhere[/u]. How much is a downloaded track these days? Multiply that figure by the number of tracks on the CD and I think you'll find the CD is often better value, especially when you consider that you are getting full 16-bit/44kHz.

Interesting, but not at all surprising, that nearly 3/4 of all responses (71.5%) are in the £100 to £799 ranges. How much is a Precision?

Canford HSS and HST are excellent cables. I've used them for a variety of applications (not just MI).

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1331607' date='Aug 8 2011, 01:06 AM']Roto Flats are the roundiest sounding flats I've ever used. HAd them on my bass for about 10 months so far[/quote] Which type?

[quote name='yorick' post='1340484' date='Aug 15 2011, 11:22 AM']New bass day [/quote] Cheers, thanks. Makes sense now.

NBD = ? New Bass Delivered? TIA .

[quote name='Marvin' post='1331180' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:29 PM']All Bass players are cool. End of. [/quote] FTFY

[quote name='Ross' post='1328745' date='Aug 5 2011, 02:19 PM']The problem lies in the cost of instruments will rise, it'll make it difficult for people to get into it young. I remember when I started, it took me months to buy a cheap starter bass, if it'd been twice/ three times the price I don't know whether I'd gotten into music.[/quote] No, manufacturers will still use low-cost materials for their instruments and/or find cheaper ways of producing them. There is a large market for starter instruments and the manufacturers will not ignore this market by pricing themselves out of it. Regarding the more "exotic" and rare woods, if supply of these becomes scarce the price of some boutique basses will or course rise. However, I cannot see this doing any harm to either the makers or their customers as the latter will still pay.

Lemmy, for putting down his old bass because of tuning problems only to pick it up again because it was LOUDER than his backup. Victor Bailey, for breaking a string mid-set and carrying on regardless. JJ Burnell, for being my first bass hero. Mick Karn, for being Mick Karn. Norman Roy-Watt and Robbie Shakespeare for showing that a lot can be done with very little. Bernard Edwards, not least for "Le Freak". and loads more...

The following has probably been written loads of times on MI forums but I'll write it anyway. What we hear as the sonic character of an electric bass is essentially the harmonic structure of a vibrating string as "measured" (to use instrumentation terminology) by whatever pickup(s) is/are fitted (disregarding any influence of electronics downstream of the pickup). As any Acoustics Engineer will tell you, the manner in which any non-rigid body vibrates is a function of 1. the structure of that body including its own acoustic impedance, 2. its end conditions and 3. the method of excitation. Item 1 is the string, so we'll forget about that for a minute as that's another can of worms. Also, a string has such a small surface area and high mass relative to that surface area that when vibrating in air we can ignore any contribution by its acoustic impedance. Item 2 is dominated by the structure of the instrument. The string is not terminated by an infinitely rigid structure so its end conditions are complex (both in the general and mathematical sense). Material choice will have an influence here, but so will the method of construction. Also, we must not ignore the player. Take a bass and record the sounds of open and fretted (ie stopped) strings. Then remove the frets and record the same sounds. It is unlikely that the open string sound will be greatly affected, but the stopped string sound will be very different. Why? Because one of the end conditions have changed. This is an extreme example of course but it goes some way to explaining the differences that we experience. In practice, different players' fingers will have different characteristics so even a fretted note with a string plucked by a machine and no vibrato will sound different between players. Item 3 is the method of excitation, in other words how the string is plucked. Lots of variables here, hence lots of variation in sound. All this is before we have considered type, number and position of pickups. I would suggest that, all other things being equal, that material and structure (ie method of construction) are equally important in influencing the sound of an instrument. However, in real life, those "other things" are not equal. [i]Vive la difference[/i], as someone once said.

I stand corrected, sir . I was thinking the Strat was late 40s, but that was the Broadcaster. Silly me. Must brush up on my electric guitar history (did a project on it at University but that was 25+ years ago).