neepheid

Had an OLP MM3 (5 string) natural/black/maple. Seemed well enough screwed together. Sounded pretty good. Sold it on because the string spacing was too close and I probably wasn't ready for a 5 string anyway.

Higher gauge strings = more pull?

Oh, I forgot to mention something I do - sometimes I take a song and load it into Audacity. I then bass boost it followed by a low pass filter filtering everything above 200Hz with something like 12dB attenuation (you might need to experiment with the attenuation level). Cuts out most singing and percussion and all you're left with is bass and the lowest end of the range of guitars. Handy if you can't make something out because the other instruments are getting in the way. Headphones is essential when listening to this.

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[quote name='Boneless' post='411443' date='Feb 16 2009, 08:10 PM']But what is, really, the appeal of a short scale? I have never found a short scale with the right string tension, and the lower strings tend to sound muddy and without much clarity (the only exception maybe being the Danos, since they are so bright and jangly). I understand some may appreciate the punchiness of a short scale, but I don't really get it I'm not criticizing, but what do short scale enthusiasts actually like of short scales? (By the way, I have a medium scale and I hate it ).[/quote] Ease of playing mostly. Getting one to do your first gig to try and tilt the odds in your favour a little might be regarded as cheating, but that's what I did. I quite like the looser feeling of the short scale. I have a Bronco and an EB-0 and I like them both. I might well mod the Bronco for through body stringing to see what effect that has on string tension.

[quote name='henry norton' post='410823' date='Feb 16 2009, 10:27 AM']For 500 quid you could buy a used DeArmond Starfire or an Epiphone Rivoli (the reissue) - both nicely made and if you're lucky you might have enough change for an upgrade or two. Steves Starfire went for not much more than your budget and it had two Darkstars. The nature of these basses means Fender type players buy them 'cos they're so different but find they don't have much need for them as a working bass and they tend to be cosseted at home. The other advantage is they won't lose value like a new bass will. Do it. Join the short scale revolution!!!![/quote] The last Rivoli to sell on eBay went for £900. Whether or not that means it'll be back up for sale due to non-payment remains to be seen.

I concur with all of that. It's not to do with the machine heads being in any particular place - there are examples of angled headstocks with in line tuners - the Hagstrom I am restoring has a slight angle, and I sold a Washburn neck a while back which had an angled headstock and 4 in line tuners. The angle on the Hagstrom is so slight that it is a one piece affair - no scarf joint. One side effect of the angled headstock is that sometimes they don't fit in hard cases not designed for them. I have a hard case I got from Thomann and flat headstocked basses fit no problem but angled - no go.

Not really the best person to ask, but when I had to learn a set of songs for my first gig I used a combination of my Tascam bass trainer and tabs lifted off the internet. I then put my interpretation of it into Guitar Pro and learned that. Yeah, I just learned it by frets/patterns. No idea to this day about keys or even what notes I was playing. Don't worry if you have to simplify things a little. You don't have to be note perfect with respect to the original recording, in fact it's probably detrimental to the performance - you're not a robot and you'll just end up stressing more about mistakes that way. Basically, whatever works is about right. Playing (most of) the right notes at the right time is the aim.

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Quick update - seeing as I have no idea what wood the body is made of, I've just filled the grain and it's drying overnight. As soon as it gets a little warmer (allegedly happening soon) I'm going to start spraying. No point in pics, it doesn't look much different. Wood looked a little darker when the grain filler went on, but when it's dry it'll probably look much and such the same.

[quote name='kdphysio' post='407421' date='Feb 12 2009, 11:04 AM']Ooh, wouldn't have thought of doing that. We should have a 'Top Tips' forum.[/quote] We have one - it's called the wiki. Oh never mind, I'll get me coat

D'oh!

Could be tempted with a road trip

That's OK, I've come to the conclusion that unamplified ABGs are mostly useless anyway, irrespective of the type of string used. The strings are starting to hold their tuning for longer intervals now, so looks like they are settling down. The amplified tone seems nice and warm, but I was just playing through a crappy little practice amp - will put it through the rig and see how it goes

Anyone using these? See when they're new, they need a fair bit of stretching - I've been practicing for about half an hour now and I've been going out of tune before the end of songs! I hope the calm down soon, they surely can't need too much more stretching?

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum