neepheid

[quote name='Bucket Head' post='744356' date='Feb 13 2010, 10:01 PM']i was thinking about getting one of those gibson g3 grabbers, i think there the same thing..... but was just wondering what other people think and what the average price is ect and any other general advice. cheers[/quote] Careful what you mean, there are confusing uses of the term Grabber. The original Grabber (G-1) has a single sliding pickup, 1 volume, 1 tone and the G-3 (I don't like the way Grabber gets applied to these - there's nothing to grab!) has 3 pickups, a 3 way switch, 1 vol, 1 tone. Grabber: [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/grabber.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/grabber.php[/url] G-3: [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/G3.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/G3.php[/url] I have a 1978 Gibson G-3 in Ebony (Gibson speak for black), and I have to say I love it. It has a big, chunky neck, a big but not thick body and those blade pickups sound great. Things to watch out for - the stock bridges -while functional enough - are pretty basic and use slotted grub screws for height adjustment instead of hex ones. It would seem (on mine anyway) that these tend to break at the slots. I'd say between the two I'd take a G-3 any time. The Grabber sliding pickup, while a novel concept, seems like a bit of a pain in the butt to me. The one I had a go of had a warped pickguard which made the sliding action difficult.

Hi there Yesterday and today I seem to be getting doubled email notifications of PMs, can't remember if it was happening for thread subscriptions too sorry. Matt

On a related note, I feel I've reached a point of diminishing returns for the extra money it would take to "upgrade" some of my basses. Case 1: My Epiphone Les Paul I got the bass for £170 and spent same again on EMG pickups and EQ. So now I have something which cost me £340 total but is probably only worth £200-250 to sell. What benefit will getting a Gibson Les Paul bring? A name? A better bridge, a selector switch? Nicer wood? It's black, who's going to see it? Not for a net difference of around £500-700, thankyouverymuch. It's just a (I think rather pretty and unusual) container for an EMG suite of products after all. Case 2: My G&L Tribute L-2000 It has the same pickups as a US G&L, the same design of bridge, better shielding (I'm told) than a US G&L. What benefit will spending another £4-500 on a US G&L bring? A name? More expensive tuners which were put on by someone who didn't forget to take their glasses to work? Nicer wood? Body binding? Oh big wow. No thanks. Just how much of an "upgrade" is it when the "budget" bass is everything the "premium" make/model is in terms of sound if not fit and finish? I'll bet some people stick at this point with Lakland Skylines, the new Warwick Rockbasses and other "top end budget" models.

Welcome to the forum

[quote name='4 Strings' post='742104' date='Feb 11 2010, 02:03 PM']Good choice not to make enemies, if the 'experienced' guy defaults in some way you're likely to be the first call (by which time they might have found a decent guitarist)[/quote] +1 - I got my first (and current) gig because I couldn't do it when I was offered it (too busy planning a wedding), they tried another bass player in the meantime, didn't work out, came back to me once all the busyness was over and I got it.

Try soaking the screws in diet coke (cheap stuff'll do) for a few hours. Rinse and dry thoroughly before putting them back

Welcome to the forum - that's a tasty, well looked after Lyte there

[quote name='Bassassin' post='740773' date='Feb 10 2010, 11:09 AM']It's a looker alright, whatever it is. Wonder if the fleamarket story's true - I go to my local car boot religiously (well, it is on a Sunday morning!) every week, hoping to find something like this for £25! Jon.[/quote] A mate of mine did find a 16 channel Studiomaster mixing desk in a wooden case in a bin last year. He gave it to me because I "would know what to do with it". A few hours of Servisol (so many pots!) and it was revived! That's the best "lucky find" I can come up with.

I've recorded sound clips for basses in the past, and have taken the time to highlight the extremes of the range of the tonal variety. That's fine for a 1 pickup, vol, tone arrangement (tone all up, tone all down) but it gets more and more complicated as things evolve. 2 pickups and 2 band EQ was mildly annoying but doable (neck,bridge,both on flat EQ, extremes - neck pup, max bass, min treble and bridge pup, min bass max treble). I wonder what's the best thing to do for a complex arrangement (2 pickups, 5 way switch, 3 band EQ). I recorded all 5 switch positions with flat EQ, but how best to demo the EQ system? It was getting late so I just put my favourite switch position and found one nice EQ position and did that, but it barely scrapes the surface. Is highlighting the extremes still a good idea? In this case I guess it would be (neck pup, bass max, mid flat, treble min) and (bridge pickup, bass min, mid flat, treble max)? By this logic I am never selling my G&L; with that single coil mod thrown into the mix it'll take me a year to do the soundclips on that passive, neck pup, series passive, neck pup, parallel passive, neck pup, single (inner) passive, both pups, series passive, both pups, parallel passive, both pups, inner coils (parallel) passive, bridge pup, series passive, bridge pup, parallel passive, bridge pup, single (inner) active, neck pup, series active, neck pup, parallel active, neck pup, single (inner) active, both pups, series active, both pups, parallel active, both pups, inner coils (parallel) active, bridge pup, series active, bridge pup, parallel active, bridge pup, single (inner) active with trebleboost, neck pup, series active with trebleboost, neck pup, parallel active with trebleboost, neck pup, single (inner) active with trebleboost, both pups, series active with trebleboost, both pups, parallel active with trebleboost, both pups, inner coils (parallel) active with trebleboost, bridge pup, series active with trebleboost, bridge pup, parallel active with trebleboost, bridge pup, single (inner) 27 switch combinations with 2 band passive EQ on top of that. You want soundclips? Pah!

Welcome to the forum

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='740256' date='Feb 9 2010, 06:46 PM']They do weigh an absolute ton, not over the 30kg limit with PF though. Also the case is very long as these have huge headstocks I had an RD Artist '77 in maple. Eventually sold it for around £470, was on eBay with a reserve of £600 and didn't get one bid![/quote] Now see, you just ruined it by talking in the past tense

£40 postage on Parcelforce 48? What's the case made of - concrete?

My Traben Chaos is sub 8lbs according to the bathroom scales, but will fail on all the aesthetics, I fear

Correct, the standard Fender ones won't fit. It is highly unlikely that you will find a perfect fit. Your best bet is to fill all the holes and drill new ones to match the standard Fender plate. That's what I've done for my Squiers. If you really can't or don't want to fill and drill then you could get your Squier one copied. I believe Sims Custom [url="http://www.simscustom.com/"]http://www.simscustom.com/[/url] offer such a service.

No hate mail here, it's only opinions. Welcome to the forum

[quote name='Greydad' post='737964' date='Feb 7 2010, 11:48 AM']Thanks, I didn't know that. I guess it's this one? [url="http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=326"]Hipshot Gibson bridge[/url][/quote] Yeah, that's the 2 point replacement. Make sure you get the right one! replaces replaces