tauzero

Or used a sniping tool...

My word, that's ugly. $50k on a bass or £25 on a new pair of glasses? Should have gone to Spec Savers.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1382606275' post='2254178'] Feel and quality of the neck. The look. Cost. Balance. Manufacturer. General tone. [/quote] First three of those, followed by "will Mrs Zero let me have it?"

Welcome back, Jon! And in view of the way that manufacturing has moved around Asia in the last few years, you were appointed Captain Oriental in your absence.

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1382611099' post='2254279']Carping[/quote] Exactly. Time to move on.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1382451918' post='2252285'] Er, maybe it's not wired up correctly? There should be a massive difference, from [s]bright and clanging[/s] dull and thuddy with it fully up and dull and thuddy when rolled off. [/quote] Fixed that for you.

There's Best Practice, and there's a plugin for Winamp too - in fact, lots on Winamp plugins, just google "winamp plugin pitch shift". And if you have an Android phone or tablet, there's Maple MP3 player.

Interparcel are good for the booking side of things but with a ridiculously expensive phone number, so when I had some delivery issues I contacted the courier (UPS) direct, whcih cost nothing and meant I wasn't subject to more Chinese whispers than necessary.

[quote name='graham1945' timestamp='1382378302' post='2251489'] Surely a market for a new company to exploit the failings of all the others? [/quote] I've worked as a motorcycle courier for companies including Pony Express and TNT. TNT used to get the parels that ParcelFarce (motto: We can lose an elephant and break an anvil) couldn't manage to deliver because they couldn't find the destination. After ParcelFarce managed to destroy a hard case for a bass [1], fortunately not damaging the bass in the process, I've stuck with UPS via Interparcel. [1] One of those flat oblong wooden/board ones, not up to flight case or Hiscox standards but more resilient than cardboard

[quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1382268044' post='2249799'] Excellent thread - thanks everyone! I'm also struggling with this and need it done in two weeks, so no great hurry. The singer wants us to play it in F# too, making it somewhat impossible to play along with any of the available tracks. [/quote] If you can get hold of an MP3 of it, there's quite a few ways of varying the pitch so you can play along.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1379868759' post='2217580'] Combined with a crap drummer, a bird who thinks she's Adele and an incontinent alcoholic guitarist with a messiah complex. [/quote] So it was you who took over from me in the club band then.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1382125533' post='2248493'] I don't like everything Billy Sheehan does but I have been liking the Winery Dogs. His tone, it's not a tone I'd probably want but it definitely works for what he does. [/quote] The tone certainly works for that track and that band, but it's not something you'd want used, by, for example, Cream (when they next play the RAH). Very enjoyable.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1382118453' post='2248330'] It's not just Fender basses you can get a good tone out of ya know [/quote] That's all very well, but does any bass burn better than a Fender? Fuel bills are going up, after all.

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1382116421' post='2248285'] If its a piece of piss then I am a an absolute penis. Took me ages to learn this a couple of years ago. Its a master bass line by a master player. The choice of notes, phrasing and groove, together is phenomenal. [/quote] Indeed. He throws in some octaves in the verse, for example, and I try putting them in but can't get close to the fluidity with which he plays them. I finished up going for the feel, as close as I could get it, because I certainly couldn't get it note-for-note.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1381699639' post='2242671'] Off the top of my head I think it is (broken into phrases over chord) Eb-D-C-Bb. F-D-Bb-G (both descend from first note of each group of 4) Can't remember g run. Something up the pentatonic to octave. (This bit twice) Eb_D-C-Bb. F-E-Eb-D. C-Bb-A-G-A-Bb-C then pentatonic fills over the C then D. I think they are different each time. [/quote] That's about how I play it (which doesn't mean that it's right). How accurate you want to be is down to your own embarrassment level. We've done it live a couple of times but still don't feel we've got it good enough, whereas another band we've supported do it far worse than us with the bassist just playing root notes, and it's a constant in their set.

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1381243124' post='2236289'] This probably counts as a silly question. I've got a P-Bass copy that I'm refinishing and I was wondering whether I could rebuild it as a 5er rather than the 4 it is at the moment. Presumably all I need is a new neck, pups and bridge? Will the new neck fit the existing neck pocket on the body? [/quote] You just need a Wilkinson 4+1 bridge. Goes on in place of the standard bridge, has a tuner on the bridge for the D string, there's a combined string tree/D-string anchor.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1380891999' post='2232006'] First meeting/jam/rehearsal of the new band yesterday. It's being set up by the guitarist who's fed up with his 9 - 5 job and wants a full-time pro wedding band. "I want 200 songs on the songlist", he said, "and no notes on stage". I'm now contemplating the huge task of learning 200 songs - gulp. [/quote] How many songs are based on Pachelbel's Canon? Just alternate those with 12-bars and you can get your 200 pretty quickly. This is where being a ZZ Top or Motorhead tribute band plays off, there's only the one song to learn.

[quote name='maldy' timestamp='1380911909' post='2232405'] So far a lot of love, or at least respect, for Warwick basses. So how come they lost their fashion appeal? Change of music scene and the bands associated with them? [/quote] 70% of bassists have no imagination whatsoever and stick to Fenders and their clones. 25% are fashion victims and follow the latest trend.

[quote name='winterfire666' timestamp='1380902696' post='2232250'] i like a neck to be as slim (thin front to back) as possible and i know warwick necks vary from one model to another but they all feel wrong to me the infinity i mentioned was the closest that i liked but i think that was a custom order. [/quote] I bought my JD Thumb exactly because it had a very shallow neck, just like you like. Cost me an absolute fortune - I never thought I'd spend that much on a bass (£900 in 1987) but after playing that neck I just had to have it.

I noticed it was back (but didn't say anything). He sold it once, didn't he?

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1380712281' post='2229262'] The wider issue, I think, is whether BC can also be drawn into any such actions because they hosted the post in the first place. I don't know what the legal position really is, but I'd think it is practically impossible for BC (or any website) to verify the accuracy of what people post. Having said that, I can imagine it's not much fun for the proprietors to receive legal notices so I'm cool with whatever they decide to do (well, within reason!) - it's their website after all. [/quote] AIUI, as BC is moderated, it is in the same position as a newspaper or similar publication. Also see Godfrey v Demon.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1380793536' post='2230544'] No five string sets from him though [/quote] The Cleartones? Stringbusters.com have 4-string sets and single .130" Bs.

One of these: The Rosetti Bass 7 (mine was in a rather hideous green sunburst). I have a feeling I paid £1 for it, might have been £2. That was in about 1972. It would be overpriced if you paid that for it now.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1380800885' post='2230679'] Initially I thought that I quite liked the look of this custom fretless bass. It's made by a company called 'Unorthodox guitars'. But why is there that sharp bit where the neck joins to the headstock. And while I like the neck through natural wood look, what's up with the massive wide 'through neck' bit on the back of the body? [/quote] As BRX says, the bit on the neck is the volute and it shouldn't get in the way. Looks to me as if he was using a number of narrow planks to make the body rear (easier to get hold of narrow planks and they're cheaper) and decided to [s]use up his offcuts[/s] make it decorative.

It's got J-J pickups. Can't remember what the model is called, something like a Standard Special V. I had one briefly but when I got an Antoniotsai with a considerably less chunky neck, I moved it on. £60 is a very good price if you get on with the neck, going rate used to be £100-£150.