neepheid

[quote name='The_D' post='474277' date='Apr 28 2009, 03:46 PM']I have had this bass for years and as long as I can remember it has had this crack at the neck. I have had a good close look and am sure its just the finish and not the actual neck itself. Anyone know if I am deluding myself or if this is actually in the wood? Only reason I ask is because there is a chance I am going to sell it and dont want to sell it then have it break on someone. I have played it for years without any bother and it hasnt gotten any worse.[/quote] What does it feel like? What does it look like when light passes over it?

I've never spent more than £300 on a bass. Maybe £400 taking mods into account. My current main beast is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Bass cost £170 second hand. Unfortunately for the bank balance I augmented it with EMG-HB pups (EMG-P in a humbucker casing basically) and an EMG BQC 3 band EQ and spent £200 in the process. Oops! Just as well I love how it looks/feels, eh?

I drive around in a Honda Civic (not the latest one but the one before) which with the seat down basically turns into a van with windows.

Well done! Looks pretty good - nice woods, unobtrusive finish and an unusual headstock design which goes well with the body - looks like flames or something. If I had to give any criticisms I'd say that a little more contouring might be good, it's a little too slab like in the body at the moment. Also it might be good to shape the heel to follow the body shape curve rather than the uncompromising straight across thing which is there.

Having only been playing seriously for a year or so (oh why did I buy a bass in 2003 and use it as an ornament all that time? All that wasted time, sigh), and a veteran of ... 3 gigs (well, 3 and a half if you count a 3 song open mic appearance ha ha), I feel like this all the time. I was playing a gig with the band for the second time last week and the headliner's bass player was so much better than me. By "better" I mean more at ease, more fluid, played more fancy stuff (not in an overtly showy way, just going the scenic route from A-B sometimes instead of the flustered dash down the motorway and nearly missing the slip road kind of way that I do it). I felt a bit down in the "if that bass player went to my band and said "I'd really like to join your band" then I'd be out on my ear" sense. However, with the Guinness haze removed I remembered what a tender novice I am and all it takes is more practice and more experience. Plus there's something to be said for someone who turns up to rehearsals/gigs on time, has own transport, can provide a rig if needed, can look after the myspace page, isn't a dick more than occasionally etc. I can only keep plugging away and hope for improvement through practice and experience. A more structured approach to learning may yield better results - must look into that. I am useless at improvising on the fly. When we're developing songs, our guitarist comes in with something, I get the root notes and play along. I then go away and come up with something more ornate by myself. Clearly this approach doesn't work in a spontaneous live environment. So at the moment I'd have to say that not only would it be out of my comfort zone, it just won't be happening. If you think ornamental bass guitars are bad, ornamental bass players are surely ten times worse I'm always learning though. One day it'll click, I'm sure.

A Message to You Rudy - nice, slow and repetitive for as long as the band feel like playing - a real breather in the middle of a frenetic ska set

So the Fender Bass V is not a 5 string bass because it A) has 5 strings B) is of an appropriate scale length C) is in a valid tuning for a bass guitar ? Me confused. It's not very good for dusty end players, I'll give you that.

[quote name='andyonbass' post='470414' date='Apr 23 2009, 09:38 AM'](You can use match sticks, but I find them to be made from very soft wood)[/quote] Good work there, but I'd just like to point out that cocktail sticks are made of sterner stuff than matches and are more suitable for this kind of repair if you have no access to hardwood dowel.

Finally, some photographic evidence: And here's my "who said that?" face for hecklers: Photos taken by Andy Thorn - [url="http://www.andythorn.co.uk/"]http://www.andythorn.co.uk/[/url]

Good work fellas, I forgot to take my camera

Welcome to the forum

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='468481' date='Apr 21 2009, 01:52 PM']My networking starts today. I don't want to burn any boats but I could be so much happier. My mind's dwelling on this knob too much, being told I'm trying to be young and that modern music is dire is a step too far. Okay I do have wider tastes than most but the guy's such a music bigot. It's not just music he's a complete old letch and has such a middle class superiority thing going on.[/quote] Seriously man, it sounds like you'd be better off out of there. I have occasional tetchy moments with our guitarist, but it's nothing compared to this fool.

Heh, I saw that one in the flesh at the weekend - and yes, my eye was drawn to it instantly despite it hanging next to a few others.

Yes, changing the pickups can make a big difference to your sound. The question is what kind of difference do you want to make?