tauzero

Started on guitar, formed a band at university with three other guys, finished up with two guitarists, one guitarist/pianist/vocalist, and a drummer. As the marginally inferior guitarist, I went out and bought the bits for a Hayman 40/40, put it together, and played it. After dropping out, there was a bit of a musical hiatus, then when I moved to Tamworth I started looking for another band as either rhythm guitarist or bassist. Got snapped up to play bass and stuck with it since then (that was 1980). I still play guitar too, but only gig it as 50% of an acoustic duo with Mrs Zero.

Buy it and then make a claim that it's not advertised - title says it's a 5-string but it's only got three. I don't think I've ever seen a 5-string version of that bass before. The 4-string ones don't exactly grow on trees. I had a defretted 4-string which I sold when I got a real Thumb to have defretted, it was not a bad bass at all.

So many albums to choose from, so little time... For me, the band is Focus, and I'll plump for Focus 3.

Possibly in the hope that you won't see the wood for the trees and notice that the action is at least a centimetre at the 12th fret?

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1423775863' post='2689008'] Actually a lot of people class the B string as the top string... I think it sounds so wrong though! [/quote] My former guitarist referred to the "top" and "bottom" of the neck as if it was hanging up by the headstock, so as the notes got higher he'd be heading to the bottom. Doesn't make it right though :-)

"Strung with top four strings from a 5 string bass for a deeper sound" So that'll be the four strings from a 5-string bass that you'd normally find on a 4-string bass then?

[quote name='NoirBass' timestamp='1423081731' post='2680570'] Can you point me in the direction of a simple timer circuit and / or transistor switching? I've not come across either. Many thanks for the reply [/quote] For the timer, look into the 555 timer IC. I think there'll be millions of circuits on the interwebs.

Which bass amp, and is it a mono socket? No stereo headphones are going to work in stereo with a mono socket. And do the headphones work in stereo in (for example) a hifi amp?

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1423529572' post='2686093'] Weren't the Kardashians the nasty aliens in Star trek next generation ? [/quote] No, they were from the original series. Their dad was Kodos the evil murderous dictator, who then changed his name to Kardashian and became an actor.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1423509697' post='2685744'] Like it or not, Kanye West is the biggest rock star on the planet. [/quote] Who's Kanye West?

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1423433933' post='2684798'] Then the glue is heated in a double boiler. This is a very simple setup of a large pan, a gas hob and the jar containing the glue. Boil the water surrounding the jar until the glue has fully dissolved, but do not boil the glue as this can reduce strength. [url="http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/Manton-Customs/media/1938CromwellbyGibsonG4MantonCustomsRestoration20glue4.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] Presumably you loosen the lid of the jar before this stage? Things might get a little explosive if it's on tightly.

"What makes it rare is the fact that all five tuning pegs are on the same side. You'll struggle finding others configured like this!" I don't pay much attention to Fenders, but I do recall, in the brief period that I had a Squier 5-string (4+1 headstock), noticing that the 5-string Jazz that a fellow bassist was playing had a 5+0 headstock. Doing a Google image search for "fender jazz 5-string" shows about a 50-50 split between 4+1 and 5+0.

[quote name='Drax' timestamp='1423089960' post='2680759'] Staggering numbers - 28% of $7billion market tied up in Guitar Centre. If it does fall, it would take out a few manufacturers along the way. [/quote] There will be an impressive closing-down sale, which should saturate the market for a couple of years and cause another few shops and manufacturers to close down, followed by the total collapse of the music industry.

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1423331873' post='2683675'] The Mondeo was it's successor, I think? Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that you can't label a company 'lazy' for releasing the same products for years. Those cars are the staples of Ford in Europe and whilst they release other models, that's their bread and butter. You said it yourself, bits of wood and string don't become superseded, so why mess with a product that has worked for years? Like Ford, Fender has produced MANY other products, but the continued popularity of a couple of models attracts the vast majority of attention. Someone, I don't recall if it was your good self, said why not put a preamp in a Jazz?! Which already happened 20 or 30 years ago. Fender have produced some crazy, weird things as times and fashions changed, but the Standard P and J remained. [/quote] I didn't say why not put a preamp in a Jazz, I said it had been done. They do it every now and again, then drop it. I also said that there was no reason to assume that making new things meant you couldn't make old things. There's great enthusiasm for Ps and Js, Fender would be daft to stop making them, but there's no sign of any desire to make a long-lived third family. to spread their fanbase wider.

Oh, I do.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1423311820' post='2683358']Erm, my only two Fenders are both active. A Japan Power Jazz[/quote] That managed three or four years, '84 to '87 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1423311820' post='2683358']and a Squier Jag.[/quote] Still going all these years after 2012.

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1423322704' post='2683540'] Not quite sure what point you're trying to make; care to elaborate? [/quote] Well, you mentioned Ford turning out the Focus, Fiesta, and Transit. Maybe you're so young that these have all been made through your entire lifetime, but I can remember the Sierra (a real innovation, not to mention pig-ugly) coming into being - and where is that now? So yes, Ford are making the Focus, but it's not something they've made since the dawn of time. Cars are a poor analogy, as bits of wood with strings on don't become completely superseded.

I'm really getting utterly peed off with agents. There's some operating around Birmingham that have got quite a few pubs sewn up. So we can't approach the pubs direct, yet, despite the fact that the pubs would like us in, the agents aren't booking us into them either. What the hell can we do?

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1423226811' post='2682445'] Same with Ford, wish they would stop pedalling out all those Focus', Fiestas and Transists [/quote] And when will they move on from churning out the Model T?

Any fule kno it's a Squitr.

The neck pickup seems to have been installed with minimal regard to string coverage. Or maybe it's just my OCD.

As the experience of playing a real German-made Hofner is a rather unpleasant one (IMO IME HTH HAND and bar), are these a more or less pleasant experience?

There was a lovely Stradi that cropped up several times on Ebay - fretless with a full-length unfretboard and a bottom horn that was just a hook formed of a piece of bent brass plate. A more exotically-wooded (IIRC) version of [url="http://www.stradi.pl/stalion.html"]http://www.stradi.pl/stalion.html[/url]

Um. Yes. I think you've just re-made my point.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1422984545' post='2679165'] Dating a musician? Cut him in half and count the rings ... [/quote] For keyboard players, just cut the left hand off and kill two birds with one stone.