tauzero

What's the octaving like on the AX3000B? I've been exploring the octaving on various bits of kit I've got knocking about and the best so far by a long way is an el cheapo Zoom RFX-1000, beating the laggy Lexicon MPX-100 and the ghastly sounding and poorly tracking Digitech BP-200 into respective cocked hats.

[quote name='Rich' post='157197' date='Mar 14 2008, 08:58 AM']I couldn't decide whether to overdrive the chorused/phased sound, or to chorus/phase the overdriven sound! Is there any conventional wisdom on this, or is it personal taste?[/quote] Conventional wisdom is distortion, chorus/flange/phase, reverb/delay. I think that logically if you're using delay and reverb, you'd put the reverb last.

[quote name='Machines' post='157204' date='Mar 14 2008, 09:07 AM']Hmm a 4 and a 5 string, both fretted ? Might be worth defretting one neck..[/quote] That's the intended route - it actually looks suspiciously similar to the H&S twin necks which are fretted 5 and fretless 4. It could well be why there wasn't much bidding, it is pretty pointless as it stands.

This should be interesting: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160216434611"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=160216434611[/url] Definitely not one I could sneak in without it being noticed. The future Mrs Zero can not only count the number of strings on a bass, she even has some vague idea of the difference between fretted and fretless. I think that double the normal number of necks would have shown up on the radar... Time to stick the Laney combo up on ebay, I think.

[quote name='molan' post='154745' date='Mar 10 2008, 05:46 PM']This is precisely why brands like Fender have Squier & Gibson bought Epiphone etc. Allows them to use the more expensive brand to add a bit of glam to the lower end brand without damaging the rep of either.[/quote] A very successful businessman called Robert Townsend wrote a book called "Up the organization" (which I can thoroughly recommend). This has some anecdotes from the period when he was chairman of Avis (which he made a major success of). On one occasion, they were toying with the idea of a cut-price subsidiary to run alongside the Avis brand. They decided not to when one of the board members said "I don't know what you'd call this, but we Poles call it pissing in the soup". I'm not convinced that Squier has helped Fender anywhere but in the wallet. After all, the Squier name is associated with Fender, so if Squiers are crap then it will damage Fender's reputation, while if Squiers are good then people start wondering why they're paying five times as much for something that says Fender instead of Squier on the headstock.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='155852' date='Mar 12 2008, 11:14 AM']Can someone explain why you would have the volume pedal there?[/quote] Yes, if you put it at the start then you are changing the signal level going into the front end of the effects chain. If there's any noise in the chain (and there will be), then that will remain constant while the volume goes up and down. Also, distortion pedals will drop out of their distortion zones if you drop the input signal too far. With the volume pedal at the end, signal to noise ratio remains constant and the front end of the effects chain is getting a consistent signal level.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='156188' date='Mar 12 2008, 04:57 PM']Bearing all that in mind, how is it possible to say "learning music theory makes you a better bass player"?[/quote] Well, personally speaking, since I've taken a bit more interest in theory, I've played fewer bum notes and been a bit more exploratory because there's actually a few more notes I could have been using.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='156291' date='Mar 12 2008, 07:40 PM']Putting my bass geek hat on for a sec... [attachment=6375:imaginat...I_bass_1.jpg] Does anyone think the bass player miming or maybe playing a Wal MIDI bass? [attachment=6376:imaginat...I_bass_2.jpg] There looks to be a fairly chunky lead coming out of the instrument.[/quote] I'm not certain but it seems live to me. As for thinking it's a chunky lead - it's difficult to be sure when you can't even count the number of hands he has, let alone count the number of fingers he has on his right hand.

John Entwhistle - The 'Oo Dennis Dunaway - Alice Cooper Steve Currie - T Rex Kasim Sultan (although I didn't know his name until just this minute) - Utopia and bassist on "Bat out of Hell" Trevor Bolder - Spiders from Mars

I had a fretless P and a fretted P (both 70s, before the slightest notion of MIanywherebutA would have been anathema to Fender). The fretless was a far worse instrument to play, the neck was clunky even by P standards. I think it was also heavier (natural ash body vs the tatty sunburst on the fretted one).

Neoprene from an elderly mouse mat will do the job.

[quote name='neepheid' post='155395' date='Mar 11 2008, 04:32 PM']I'm definitely more P than J so I'm trying to source a nice wide spaced 5 string neck. I'm quite in love with the Warmoth Wide Gecko 5, but I'm not in love with the price! I'm thinking I could find a cheap 6 string from eBay, change the nut, fill the existing tuner holes, slap a headstock veneer on to cover up and redrill for 5. Does this seem plausible?[/quote] As long as the pickups are solid bars all the way across - the Bart 6-string pickups, for example, couldn't be used as there would be no signal from the A string. And there's also the bridge to consider, you'd really want one which started life with a monolithic bridge rather than individual bridge units as you should then have a bit less trouble filling and drilling. Oh, and probably not string-through originally either.

If anyone does know of any PAT testers that they'd recommend for doing band gear, I've just started a topic in Gear/Repairs and technical issues for it. Any entries welcomed (especially if they're somewhere near Brum ).

Having looked through the various PAT testing threads, I think I've only found two places mentioned who would do PAT testing. So I thought it might be useful to have a thread on PAT testing which echoed the "Recommended Luthiers" and "Recommended Amp Tech" threads. Especially as I don't know of one around Birmingham, and I admit to a certain amount of self interest. So, who do people use for their musical equipment PAT testing and how much do they pay? And can you save money by gathering your gear up and taking it to the PAT tester, rather than vice versa?

[quote name='rayfw' post='155026' date='Mar 11 2008, 12:28 AM']Oh man! Why?! [/quote] One of the techniques used to counter neck dive is to add weight to the body. It's just a different sort of weight to normal.

[quote name='P-T-P' post='155115' date='Mar 11 2008, 10:00 AM']Alright Now - Free[/quote] Which reminds me, that and "Honky Tonk Women" must be the two tracks that bassists listen to least before playing them - there's no bass in the verse of either, but how many bands actually play them like that?

Get a light or medium gauge 7-string set from [url="http://www.overwater.co.uk/bass_guitar_strings.htm"]Overwater[/url] and discard/sell/give away the bottom string.

I think I'll bring a GK 200MB and a pair of headphones. And perhaps a Digitech BP200 and another pair of headphones...

[quote name='SimonLove01' post='154493' date='Mar 10 2008, 01:08 PM']I play a Dean Edge Q6 bass with EMG HZ pickups. It's a great bass and sounds wicked but the strings have been on there for an age and I've never got round to changing them. Can anyone recommend a decent place to order them on the net that won't cost me an arm and a leg??[/quote] [url="http://www.stringbusters.com/"]Stringbusters[/url]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='154168' date='Mar 9 2008, 08:37 PM']I think we should ask ourselves what level of criticism should take place in this environment, and being relatively new to the online world I'm beginning to feel that caution is the better part of valour, or to put it another way, the thick skinned can handle anything (me included) but the thin skinned can't and perhaps we should all have consideration for the thinner skinned end of the forum, so as to maintain a friendly atmosphere.[/quote] A thick skin is vital for anyone posting on any but the most heavily moderated forums, and always has been necessary in most newsgroups. There are [url="http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/"]all sorts of flame warriors out there[/url]...

[quote name='OldGit' post='154410' date='Mar 10 2008, 11:06 AM']Jon's finally got his [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/access.htm"]Shuker Bass Tee Shirts [/url][/quote] That's a disappointingly short build diary.

[quote name='finnbass' post='153294' date='Mar 7 2008, 06:31 PM']I'm thinking about putting up prize money however, for anyone who can stand more than 60 seconds of this:[/quote] I just watched it all the way through. It's well worth putting up with the long intro to hear them burst into "Mustang Sally" at 6'37", after an allusory reference to "Down down" at 4'55".

[quote name='clauster' post='153175' date='Mar 7 2008, 03:57 PM']'twas a late 80s Warwick Thumb and it virtually pulled the notes from my fingers. It was effortlessly easy to play and it just wouldn't let me play a duff note. Fantastic stuff and I'm still gassing for an 80's thumb over 18 years later.[/quote] I have one, and it's the only instrument I've ever felt I had to have. And there's one for sale on Basschat right now...