neepheid

Issuing an album with The Inevitable Teaspoons. This entails me learning how to mix tracks. Have dipped a toe in the water but will have to do a lot more next year to get things moving. Still got tracks to record, so it's not just down to me, but if I don't buck up my ideas then I will end up being the blocker to it being released, and I don't want that. Lack of skills is a blocker, but that can only be rectified with practice, so it's time to stop pr!ck!ng about and get on with it! Practice more at home would also probably be a good thing. To that end, I do have a small amp (Joyo Vibe Cube) on order which should be a lot more immediate, a small enough unit to have out in the living room all the time ready to just plug in and play, instead of the rigmarole of taking my TC head out of its bag, draping cables everywhere for power/bass/headphones/aux in, being headphones only unless I also dig out a cab etc.

Are you planning on dying early or something? 43 == twilight years? I hope not, I'm 50 tomorrow, and I have absolutely zero intention of scaling back operations.

You may recall that earlier this year I took delivery of a Fazley "Hot Rod" bass. It was £84 at the time I bought it, and I was thoroughly impressed with it, especially considering how little it cost. It has of course since been modified - if my experience is anything to go by, expect comically bad pickups. Well, they've got to save money somewhere. Thankfully that's easily fixed for not too much scratch if you go to Warman or Tonerider and the likes. I stuck a Tonerider Duke in mine and it's a fantastic bass. I love playing it live, so simple, just play the damn thing, it's got naff all controls anyway.

Aye aye min, I'm not a mod - simply spending time here damn near every day isn't enough to rise to those exalted heights! I'll see you later on for the fitba?

Maybe just be a bit more selective? Maybe take the festive season off completely for next year - lucrative though it may be? I've got no gigs until the end of January. Even bass players deserve a break...

They're so cheap these days, buy 2 sets, then keep them charged. If one runs out, you've got the second set to fall back on while you charge the first.

Go wireless, problem solved.

Only had first hand experience with the L2500, but I would pick it any day of the week and twice on Sundays over any J bass. Why? Well, the purely personal answer is that I despise J basses. MFD pickups sound amazing. If you *really* want a single coil sound from the L2500, you can mod it to provide that with inner or outer coils by changing one selector switch. The G&L bridge is fabulous, apart from the saddle lock feature, it has lovely rounded edges which make it a joy for palm muting at the bridge - no sticky out bits anywhere. I love Sire basses (I've owned two - had a D5, still have a Z7), it'll be a fine bass, but the V is a J bass and so as far as I'm concerned, it can get in the bin.

When life farts in your face, make fartade? I've ordered some stuff. Because it's still 2025. Watch this space...

Ahh, I knew it was too good to be true. There's a niggling fault and it looks a lot like it's the pickup There's an intermittent low level buzz coming from the bass which goes away if you wiggle or press down on the pickup. Also goes away if you go into the cavity and pull on the pickup wires. It doesn't stop the pickup making sound, but it's audible and seems to change the tone of the pickup a little when the mild humming/buzzing is happening. That's a PITA because the pickup is epoxy potted by the looks of things. Damn! What I think I'll do is get a Warman MM sized pickup as a stopgap (they're only £25 after all) then see what I can do about the stock pickup issue - if anything. What's low level annoying me is that I had a spare ATK CAP quad coil pickup, but I put it in a Squier Jag H and I was too lazy to take the pickup out when I sold the bass. Should have used my crystal ball!

Which Jazz circuit works best for me? Probably the one with no output jack... Merry Christmas!

Yes, with the OG preamp there are two trim pots behind those holes. I adjusted at them both - but they only affect the sound when the "slap switch" is activated, otherwise it goes through the three band EQ pots instead and ignores these settings. I twiddled at them to try to get volume parity between the two modes but they're not very intuitive and I realised pretty quickly that I just would leave the switch alone. Just not my thing at all. Even through the 3 band EQ instead of the slap switch mode, it was scooped as hell when the EQ was set flat. Whether it was the pickup or the EQ circuit I couldn't say, but I wasn't a fan of any of it, so I replaced the whole kit and kaboodle.

Phew, it did fit (just). All wired up and yes, series sounds much better (to me anyway) than parallel. Success! After I had to swap the top and bottom terminals because I got the fifty fifty decision wrong and got my north and south the wrong way round. Typical!

It is an AL, but it's luthite unless they got a bit stamp happy at the factory?

Ooft, that's a chonky switch. Must confess I didn't check the dimensions - it was that much of a pain in the arris to find one which wasn't momentary that I jumped on the first latching one I found. Hope it fits!

Your bass next, I think. He was on a mission to own *all* the basses in the world after all...

Lesson to be learned going forward - next time, as soon as the date is decided, make a thread?

Nice bass, mate, but not really fair to compare it to a 'ray - it's passive for a start. Most ATKs are active with a 3 band EQ. Different pickup too - according to the Ibanez wiki (not saying it's gospel, like) the ATK100 has a regular dual coil humbucker, most other ones made around this time had a triple coil (a dual coil with a phantom coil), or later a quad coil (double humbucker).

I don't think it's fantastic that the two biggest bashes are happening on the same day. This is most unfortunate

A quick razz in the GIMP, and you're welcome! To answer your question, not always but in this case yes, there is a noticeable difference between the two pairs. Granted it's a variation on a theme, but it is there.

Am I invisible? Did I stutter? It's a QUAD coil. I used pictures and everything! Yes, because the two pairs (so that's four then) can only be addressed as individual pairs (in that each pair of coils are joined together inside the pickup then present the each end of that pair as a wire) then it logically becomes a dual "coil" situation, it's more like two units, than two coils. I may be splitting hairs here, but technically correct is the best kind, and I'm a little cross that I've basically been talked over/around in my own effing thread

Because you're worth it. Don't let that pesky imposter syndrome get in your way. And lose the "just". Even "just" doing pub gigs you are already in the rarefied air of musicians who actually make it out of the bedroom.

The thing that puzzles me about this one is that I don't think the fingerboard is ebonol - it's not jet black, I can see grain in it (and in the light), pretty sure it's a wood of some sort, if not rosewood then some other dark wood. And the grain on the back of the neck looks a lot like wenge to me. I have no idea what the "AL" in "CURBOW 4 AL" on the back of the headstock means, but maybe it's a clue?

I would be open to the possibility.

Yes, these later models have a quad coil pickup, but they don't have individual wires for each coil, you can only operate them in pairs. The stock switch does this: And the middle setting (parallel) blows IMO, hence the impending mod.