neepheid

I'd ask over at [url="http://bassoutpost.com/"]http://bassoutpost.com/[/url] - a lot of Gibson knowledge over there.

Mark recently sent me some Yamaha speed knobs for the cost of postage, very generous, thanks! Kept in touch throughout and the items were well packed.

There will always be someone who knows more than you and can play "better" than you. You're better than someone who has never played the instrument before. You will always be somewhere between these two extremes (especially as the first one is devilishly difficult to define). I sometimes wonder if I'm just peddling snake oil, that anyone could play what I'm playing, but the thing I always remember is that I'M the one who's playing it, not someone else. I have found that the biggest shot in the arm for my playing by far was to get lessons. Much more fun and more engaging being taught by a person than reading from a book. I learned some theory, tidied up some bad habits (still working on being more strict at alternating fingers in right hand) and found that I was in a much better position to jam, compose and enjoy myself because before that someone would say "this song's in A" and I would say "that's nice" - completely unaware of why that information is pertinent

We're using a road sign theme at the moment:

The guy has boosted the bass by a couple of dB, new version now up.

[quote name='bigsmokebass' timestamp='1341274366' post='1716368'] 'twas indeed, we found it at last (Y) I like full scale basses and Gibsons, a short scale SG? No thanks Does look nice and a step forward for Gibson,[b] I don't see why they stopped.[/b] BSB [/quote] Gibson basses, expressed as an algorithm: [CODE] REPEAT create new bass WHILE bass still available FOR timer = 1 to a number picked out of a hat less than 10 sell bass NEXT IF NOT outsold Fender AND bass != Thunderbird THEN discontinue bass ENDWHILE UNTIL company bankrupt [/CODE]

We're here - [url="http://www.reverbnation.com/oxbowlake"]http://www.reverbnation.com/oxbowlake[/url] - a right royal bit of everything

[quote name='bigsmokebass' timestamp='1341250209' post='1715784'] Scale length? BSB [/quote] 34"

Really enjoying this, you've got a good groove going, everything slinking along nicely. I don't know what to say about mixing these days, I've just sent an email to our guy asking for the bass to be put up a bit, it's having a fight with the keys I think. Good tunes, had me nodding my head along with them, music that makes you move must be good

Cheers guys, yeah the bass is a bit buried, I guess it's always a bit of a scrap when there are keys involved, I've emailed the guy to see if the bass can be promoted a little. It's weird though, I hear it better, maybe because I know what should be there and my brain fills in the gaps or is listening out for it.

I had a gig on Friday in Slains Castle (the pub, not the ruin - that would have been awesome) - it was ... OK. I thought we were quite slack and loose, it felt weird and like we weren't clicking - ever get gigs like that? Yet afterwards we had people coming up and saying how much they enjoyed it so it can't have been awful. We had a BBQ on Saturday in our back garden - glorious sunshine for once (rain came as close as 20 miles away), raining all week before and raining on Sunday. Absolutely amazing luck. 2/3 of the band were around so we set up at the bottom of the garden and had a wee jam. We did some instrumentals of our songs, blues jam in A and stuff like Louie Louie with the trombone doing the vocal melody so it worked out OK. People seemed to like it so it was worth it. My wife took a wee vid on her new phone - can't hear the bass but it was there, honest! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=033Jbs4jbQ0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=033Jbs4jbQ0[/url]

Hey folks We've been in the studio and recorded a song to celebrate our upcoming appearance at Belladrum Festival. This is also my first proper recording with the band. I'm happy to hear any comments anyone might have (whether it's about the song, the mix or the bass playing ). http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/mp3/oxbow/recordings20120616/The%20Oxbow%20Lake%20Band%20-%20At%20the%20Festival.mp3

[quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1340907517' post='1711441'] SGZ's are great mate! Remember trying one a while ago and enjoyed it, regardless of neck dive! [/quote] Funny you should say that, I have found a surprising lack of dive with a suitably grippy strap. It sort of feels like a half hearted attempt to take a dive but gives up cos it seems like too much effort

NGBD (New Gibson Bass Day) - 2001 Gibson SG-Z bass:

A couple of photos from Sunday: 1) Me, concentrating: 2) Me, away with the fairies: Photos taken by Jason Schroeder

Not quite as impressive a feat, but I got by with an 80W amp (Trace Elliot BLX-80) yesterday, on a lorry trailer. DI-ed into the PA. Thankfully it wasn't the full band - I was up against keys, vocals, guitar, 2 djembes, a violin and a flute so it wasn't too bad on stage. The amp was cranked right up, of course

As I've opined on here a few times before, I have never been in a shop with any inspiring bass gear in it (admittedly I have never visited a specialist bass shop). Seriously - a five minute look around and then out. I used to play a game with my wife when we used to go into one of the (now defunct - [i]quelle surprise[/i]) music shops in Aberdeen - "bet I can name 3 basses that are still on the wall from the last time we were in". More often than not, I could. I find music shops (up here anyway) to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard - trying to be everything to everyone, as long as you're a guitarist (or like Fender basses). I will shed no tears when they eventually wither and die because they cannot compete and they cannot evolve within the constraints they find themselves in. It's not their fault, but it's the way it is. I have no time for rose-tinted nostalgia for a time when you had no choice but be held to ransom through the circumstances of the day by your local music shop. We are better informed than ever, we have a wealth of product information available to us, we have the widest choice of products ever to choose from. I'm not sure where a little local shop with limited buying power, limited storage space and limited display space fits into all that. Sorry, little local shops, but you're just no use to me, my forward planning (I always have spare strings, batteries, cables and sundries - procured online well in advance of their requirement) and my somewhat esoteric tastes in equipment.

Chill, it's only been one evening since you posted, and a Saturday evening at that - a lot of people gig on a Sat night, and I would think at this time of the morning they would be catching up on sleep. I don't use a compressor so I can't comment. So I didn't

Try a grippy strap first.

Loosen the spare grub screw on the saddle in question (not the front two used for saddle height, the one at the back right of the saddle). Manually move the groove to the desired position. Tighten the grub screw. Watch out that the groove doesn't move back as you tighten it, there's a tendency for that to happen.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1340374976' post='1703630'] We're all terrified of making any sort of change to our instruments nowadays. Not sure why, I don't think its only tied up resale value. We seem to think the wood used for a guitar has been somehow blessed by the angel Fender and is now sacred. Even down to a pickguard screw. Guitars are cheaper but we're more materialistic. [/quote] I think that there has been a downturn in modding because there is so much variety now, you can probably find the exact bass you want without having to buy something like it then mod it to suit. I don't mod basses much these days because I think they're just fine the way they are. The only modded one I own now is my G&L Tribute L-2000, and that's a reversible, do no harm mod as it's just a replaced switch and a wiring change. Furthermore, it was worth it because it unlocked a setting not normally available which I happen to think is the nicest sounding one (single inner coils in parallel). There is an element of preserving future value, I won't deny it. But have you seen some of the abortions of stripped and ronsealed P basses from back in the day? Seemed like a good idea at the time? D'oh! Perhaps you have seen how my Gibson Victory Artist arrived - horrible blue refin, silver hammerite on the pickguard, push button mounted in the battery cover which cuts off the battery (which you can't help pressing when playing), and to cap it all off - a "roasted" neck, but done with a blowtorch instead of an oven. So I "unmodded" it. Now it's probably worthless, but to me it's priceless.

Thanks for the kind words, guys

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1340302423' post='1702653'] I haven't seen one of these in a looooong looooong time.... [url="http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/bass/fender/other/fender-starcaster-bass-natural-1975/"]The Fender Starcaster.[/url] Apparently only two remain in existence. [/quote] Away with you, naysayers! Burning basses? It's a sin! This is possibly the nicest looking Fender bass of all time. I'm pretty far from being rich enough to even consider it though

Anything's possible. Whether or not it's worth it is another thing. Let's look at the obstacles (and I assume you're talking about introducing a 34" scale Epi EB-3 neck to an Epi EB-0 body. 1) The EB-3 neck is a set neck, so even if you were able to procure one sans body, it would have a tenon ready for glueing rather than a heel which will fit in the EB-0 neck pocket. So you will either have to fill in the neck pocket, or bulk out the heel of the neck to make 'em fit. 2) The EB-0 is indeed short scale and while it looks like the bridges are in a similar position on the EB-0 vs. EB-3 (the fact that there are a few extra frets on the EB-3 neck means that it's the nut that moves relative to bridge if you interchange the necks) there's no guarantee that it's in the right place. The amount of effort that this would take, especially if you have to get someone to do this for you would likely outstrip the cost of simply procuring an Epi EB-3 second hand.

Stock, they're passable. I played my first proper gig with one You'd use one in preference to not doing the gig at all. A Musicmaster player will be familiar with much of it (6 pole piece strat pickup under solid cover, 2 saddle bridge), but the tuners will be a bit more flimsy than those on the Musicmaster. A lot of people change the pickup for a rail pickup (cool/hot rails). I've had 2 pass by me, one I modded with a lipstick strat sized pickup and the other I had a Fender '51 P (single coil) pickup put in. If you can find one second hand for a decent price, look for a Squier Vista series Musicmaster. 4 saddle bridge, through body stringing, 4 pole piece pickup similar to a single coil P, matching headstock, decent tuners. Also remember that Squier have recently come out with a veritable feast of shorties - the VM Mustang and the VM Jaguar Special in addition to the Bronco.