tauzero

[quote name='bremen' post='234131' date='Jul 7 2008, 01:33 PM']Warwick players *all* hate JJ. He played a Fender and made it sound good, you see ;-)[/quote] One man's good is another man's like a banana being hit with a rubber mallet through speakers with five pillows in front of them.

For live work, at the moment, it's pretty much everything flat. I want to get some time to experiment again though, I used to have a somewhat scooped mid with some flanger and reverb on it which came over pretty well in recordings.

[quote name='OldGit' post='232009' date='Jul 3 2008, 01:57 PM']There's a small risk that you won't get an encore so you need to stage manage that by clearing your plan with the promoter and by getting your 20 mates to yell wildly at the end of your "last" number to demand an encore ...[/quote] One band I played in was fronted by someone so egotistical he couldn't imagine not getting called back for an encore, so we always did one, whether we got called back for one or not. I personally thought it was rather stupid to pretend that you'd heard the screams of "encore" from an almost silent audience...

[quote name='andy67' post='232408' date='Jul 4 2008, 01:32 AM']I want to return to being skint but content - how do I get there?[/quote] Give me all your money and I'll tell you how happy you are at least once a day.

Busy weekend. Saturday - the future Mrs Zero and I did a little session in the acoustic tent at Cotteridge Park in the CoCoMad festival. Then it was dash home and load up the bass gear for a 60th birthday party for the covers band (no, it wasn't us that was 60). This actually had arisen from parting ways with the singer - we started rehearsing again and the rehearsal studio passed the request for a covers band on to us, which was nice. So there was this 60th birthday party, a bit of a pain loading in (it was upstairs) but a really friendly bunch of people. It was all a bit static until after the buffet (a phenomenon I've noticed at barn dances too), then the alcohol kicked in and we had a floor full of dancers for the next two hours. Home again and leave the gear in the car, as Sunday afternoon was a gig at a Birmingham club, the E57. The singer's absence was noticed - fortunately, our performance demonstrated that we didn't need him and we did get comments about it being better without him rabbiting on between numbers, and the gaffer wants us back there. And our guitarist really does need to sort out his leads, had to borrow one off me after three of his turned out to be duff. Oh, and we got booked to play an engagement party as well. So all in all a very satisfactory weekend. We've finally got some new songs in after two years of being static, and we're moving up to the parties and functions as well as doing the clubs.

[quote name='ARGH' post='233904' date='Jul 7 2008, 07:57 AM']Yes we do,We put them in cases,like you,but they are slightly bigger.[/quote] Except my 9-string, as that poses certain problems in case purchasing as the 9 strings are split between two necks. For disservice to bass - James Jamerson, for making people believe that they should play Precisions with ten-year-old tapewound strings.

I did a bit of A/B testing between good quality cable and an elderly Nady 201. The amp I used for the test wasn't brilliant but served its purpose. I found that I could just about distinguish between the two but I couldn't say exactly what qualities changed between them, and I didn't think that one was better or worse than the other, just very slightly different.

Why not make your own? Length of aluminium round bar, some grub screws, a pillar drill, and a Dremel (or Dremel clone of extreme cheapness) to do the fancy engraving. If you want a knob you can actually turn with sweaty mitts, get some heatshrink tubing of an adequate diameter and stick that over your knob, then heat it up and shrink it.

[quote name='solo4652' post='231989' date='Jul 3 2008, 01:41 PM']Size/weight: Physically bigger than I was expecting. Weighs about 20 Kgs - heavier than I was expecting. Definitely a 2-handed lug up the stairs. Not as portable as I thought. Probably me being naive/inexperienced with my expectations here.[/quote] I was a bit surprised to see what amps you were looking at when you said you were looking for a "portable" practice amp. I'd have suggested trying out a GK MB150 (or the older 200MB) but it's a bit late now...

[quote name='neepheid' post='229836' date='Jun 30 2008, 04:34 PM']No ball ends, and as I said they don't knot - too tough and springy. Hence the need for concentrated friction.[/quote] Could you loop an end back on itself and then use some button thread to tie it into an eyelet? Alternatively, go to a decent motorcycle shop (preferably one run by old blokes in brown coats) and ask about screw-on (solderless) cable nipples. Or see [url="http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/motorcycle/controlcable.php"]Vehicle Wiring Products[/url] for them (halfway down the page). NOTE: these are [b]NOT[/b] the same as nipple clamps and it will avoid considerable embarrassment all round if you avoid using the term.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='229594' date='Jun 30 2008, 12:01 PM']Hardly the point, is it? Doing a cover when you write most of your own stuff is completely different to doing only ever doing covers. Doing covers that everyone else also does all of the time places people well into the realms of uncreative hackdom.[/quote] You didn't address my first two sentences (nice selective quoting there). If I work out a bassline for a song, that's a piece of creativity on my part. Why is it more creative for me to work out the bassline if Steve Brown wrote the chords than if Chuck Berry wrote them?

The originals bands I've been in - someone (sometimes me) wrote the song, I worked out a bassline for it. The covers bands I've been in - someone (never me) write the song, I worked out a bassline for it. Sinead O'Connor didn't write "Nothing compares 2 U", Prince did. So she's just an uncreative hack. Mott the Hoople didn't write "All the young dudes", David Bowie did. So they're just uncreative hacks. Patti Smith didn't write "Because the night", Bruce Springsteen did. So she's just an uncreative hack. Original music - a way out for musicians insufficiently competent to play covers.

[quote name='LeftySteve' post='228089' date='Jun 27 2008, 03:15 PM']Much as I like my Superfly I am finding it's use restricted by the inability of it to work in bridged mode to give 500W into 4ohms. Yes, I could use two 4 ohm cabs but that is defeating the whole point (for me) of having such a small & lightweight head. So... is it possible to mod it in this respect? Has anyone done it yet? Was it easy to do? Etc. etc.[/quote] I took the opposite approach - I built a 2 x 10" cab and wired it so that it can run either as a 4 ohm speaker from one input jack or as two 8 ohm speakers from 2 input jacks.

[quote name='lozbass' post='227285' date='Jun 26 2008, 12:35 PM']Hi all, brilliantly helpful and informative as ever! I've checked the Bartolini site and the pickups appear to be of the G6 narrow soapbar type.[/quote] My G6 soapbars are 3+3 (so they didn't work very well on a 7 - never mind, I've got a 6 to put them on now...).

[quote name='thedarxide' post='223342' date='Jun 20 2008, 11:58 PM']Mine's the same as the one above, almost. From H&S in Germany. Do not recommend buying from them!![/quote] Mine's the same as that except it's got two fretted necks. Or it did have, until a couple of nights ago, when the 4-string neck lost its frets (so I've got bats on my 4-string neck). They also do twin-neck headlesses, or at least did - I don't know what their current state of play is.

[quote name='Dave_MuadDib' post='227051' date='Jun 26 2008, 12:48 AM']The question is - what gauge should I be looking to go for? I don't know what gauge change really entails, but i'm guessing the intonation will need to be adjusted. As it happens, I've never changed a bass string in my life - still got the factory strings on all 3 of my basses![/quote] Well, the first thing to do is to find out what gauge you've currently got on. Just get your digital micrometer (invaluable for those string measuring moments), set it to inches, and whack it on. Measure all the strings. See if any feel particularly heavy to you or whether they're about the same. Measure the strings on a bass which you think has strings of the correct tension for you. If you're reducing tension, you'll probably need to adjust the truss rod tension. Have a look at the [url="http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html"]Gary Willis setup pages[/url].

[quote name='stevie' post='221577' date='Jun 18 2008, 05:42 PM']Here you go ,mike. [url="http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=29184"]http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=29184[/url] Have a look at the post from Kal Rubinson, a well respected audio journalist who writes for Stereophile. He says: "Yes. 1/2 wavelength is the generally accepted spacing maximum. Dunno about d'Appolito's standard but ANY two drivers spaced more than 1/2 wavelength apart and reproducing the same signals will show destructive (and constructive) interference in the plane OF their displacement."[/quote] If they're 1/2 wavelength apart, a little thinking about the geometry of the two drivers and the listener's ear will show that the only place you can get phase cancellation will be if you are in line with them, ie. at 90 degrees to the speaker axis. If they're .7 wavelength apart, you'd get phase cancellation outside 45 degrees off-axis. You can only get phase cancellation over the whole arc in front of the speakers with 1 wavelength separation, if my quick scribblings and mental arithmetic is correct.

[quote name='fusionbassist1' post='226890' date='Jun 25 2008, 07:53 PM']The other issue is that the preamp is rather delicate and allthough not great in an expensive kind of way (many of you may snigger but it's the tone not the means that counts in my book) it still gets what I want and therefore deserves to be looked after so i'd also like to have it rackmounted. It gets EXTREMELY hot and is an unusual size (from what I've seen) so I have honestly no idea how to go about this. The front panel is 8 and a half inch across,near abouts 2" tall with it's tiny little rubber feet and very nearly 8 inch deep.it's front panel (with all the knobs) is held on with 6 screws - one on each side, 2 on top and 2 on bottom (they can just about be seen in the picture).[/quote] You might be able to make your own rack case ears by getting a 2U blank panel (1U might do it), cutting it down so you've got two end pieces about 7-8" long, drilling some holes in the inner ends, and bending those at the appropriate places, then attaching them to the preamp with little screws or bolts. [quote name='fusionbassist1' post='226890' date='Jun 25 2008, 07:53 PM']In regards with flight casing cabs. In my head it should be done because speakers if not aluminium are extremely fragile and if a fragile piece of my equipment is out of my sight and very likely in the hands of someone who doesn't quite respect the usefullness of a Gallien-Krueger 2x12" Neodymium bass cab then I'd quite like to have something in place to save any un-necessary costs. How much money and from whom can I get a flight case for a neo2x12 (and possibly a neo115 in the near future) in the uk?[/quote] [url="http://www.flightcasewarehouse.co.uk/"]Flightcase Warehouse[/url] would do you one - they might have one the right size in their standard range, otherwise they can make you one.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='224665' date='Jun 23 2008, 01:24 AM']Utter fabricated Ebay bullsh!t, about as ludicrous as the price being asked for a good-but-nothing-special JapCrap P copy. What exactly would Yamaha sue over? The fact that the phonetic transcription of two Japanese names into Western characters happened to share a few letters?[/quote] Indeed, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vester_Guitars"]surely no big company would sue a small one on such a tenuous basis, would they?[/url]

If it's a piezo bridge, you could try just taking the strings off and lifting the bridge saddle out, then putting it back, making sure it's seated evenly. It's surprising how much difference it can make if it's binding or something like that.

[quote name='obbm' post='219605' date='Jun 16 2008, 08:03 AM'][quote name='tauzero' post='219552' date='Jun 15 2008, 11:34 PM'] I think that suggestion of a Y-adaptor like [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=1272&doy=15m6"]this[/url] would work well with a little headphone amp, either homebrew (which would cost around a tenner for something simple) or something like [url="http://www.djmmusic.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=DE15"]this.[/url] Or perhaps the Dean Bass-in-a-box for £25.[/quote] I agree. The problem is that most of these devices are designed to just have an instrument plugged into them. If you try and Tee them off the cable from the bass to the amp you effect the quality of the signal. I know, I've tried it. It starts to knock the HF off and that is unacceptable. [/quote] A homebrew job should be able to do it with no degradation - use two op-amps, the first one as a unity gain very high impedance buffer. Any tone controls, etc, would go into the feedback loop for the second op-amp, which could drive headphones direct.

[quote name='rmorris' post='222595' date='Jun 20 2008, 12:14 AM']What you're talking about is a superconductor. As far as I know it's only known to be possible at absolute zero ( 0K = -273 deg C : very very cold indeed ! ) One of my physics tutors in the 80s was working on superconductors at 'normal' temperatures but as far as I know it's still something of a 'holy grail' - in a rational agnostic sense :-) I stand to be corrected if anyone knows different.[/quote] The original superconductors did their thing at about -270C (I don't think it would be very easy to get anything down as far as 0K). Highest temperature ones now are around -135C.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='219816' date='Jun 16 2008, 01:13 PM']I'm not aware of the legalities, but i'm pretty sure you're wrong. I think some lawyer on the board even posted a message to this effect on a different thread concerning the same topic.[/quote] I think that was subtly different - it was goods being ordered in for which someone had paid in advance, and which would turn out never to be supplied. In this case, the item was physically present. Given that I am not a lawyer, I can't recall the exact stages of a purchase - it's something like: Invitation to treat - goods are there with a price tag Offer - buyer offers an amount Acceptance - seller accepts amount to be paid. At this point, a contract has been entered. Payment - buyer supplies the money Supply of good - seller hands over the item I'd argue that this went all the way through the sale process, and SC were allowing sam88 to temporarily store his amplifier on their premises. So if it was removed and sold, that was theft, and should be reported as such, especially if getting a crime number would allow sam88 to start an insurance claim on his household insurance.

[quote name='sam88' post='218978' date='Jun 14 2008, 08:30 PM']i've been everywhere and its just tough luck is what i've been told over and over. The amp was actually in the store i just hadn't picked it up which is the annoying thing about it! But when i managed to track down a real live person instead of a recorded message it turns out they are quite entitled to sell if on again, gotta love the legal system fighting the good fight for the little guy! [/quote] I don't see how they can sell it on again. After you'd finished the transaction, the amp was your property, regardless of where it physically was, hence selling it to someone else is theft, plain and simple (taking an item with intent to permanently depriving a person of that item). Have you spoken to the police?

[quote name='OldGit' post='218871' date='Jun 14 2008, 03:32 PM']So ladies, gentlemen and Jojobass (the OP), how should he have done it to achieve: Option A ) help her with her bass playing Option B ) help him with his social life?[/quote] A ) Start by putting what he sees as the positive side of her playing, then what he sees as the problems with her playing, trying to avoid implicitly derogatory or insulting terms like "lazy", then advise on what he thought that she should do to correct it B ) Say "nice playing, fancy a shag?"