Linus27

Tomorrow afternoon I have my first ever audition. In the 20 years of playing I have never had one before. Always been in bands with friends. So as you can imagine, I am a little nervous especially as for the last year I have been learning to play with fingers and I really want to play with fingers in this audition. 20 years of pick player is a hard habit to change. All the songs are original and I feel fairly comfortable with what I have learnt so far despite some of the bass being hard to hear in the mix. Can anyone offer me some pointers, tips or advice for my audition. Thanks.

obbm is your man. Top fella also.

Good on you Dave, hope it all works out for you.

I love big band or swing bands. Not so much from a bass point of view but just for the overall sound and feel. Love it. Count Basie rocks :)

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='451507' date='Apr 1 2009, 02:12 PM']Agreed although it sounds to me like maybe the Lakland is turning its nose up at the Ashdown. [/quote] How very rude of it Maybe I should show it the wood saw, that might make it change its mind :)

[quote name='obbm' post='451503' date='Apr 1 2009, 02:09 PM']It might be a good idea to bring your rig, or at least the amp part. When you hear back from Joe PM me.[/quote] Will do. Thanks again Dave for your help.

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='451495' date='Apr 1 2009, 02:02 PM']I have a MAG300 combo and even with my high output Wizard pups I struggle to get the VU meter to move much unless I have the input gain set pretty high. If these are passive pups I'm surprised they'd be able to throw out any crazy high level signal. You haven't got an active preamp hidden under the scratchplate have you?[/quote] Yeah, thats what my Jazz and Stingray are like. Defo no pre-amp. Checked that one. Two pots, one jack socket and some wires.

[quote name='bumnote' post='451453' date='Apr 1 2009, 01:23 PM']If it had a 'PROPER' precision neck, i would have given you a couple of hundred for it and taken a chance [/quote] The funny thing is, this bass was bought with the intention of being my main workhorse, yet so far has never worked I won't give up on her yet though, she will be my bitch and do what I say or else I will torch her

[quote name='obbm' post='451475' date='Apr 1 2009, 01:41 PM']You might think that Dave, i couldn't possibly comment. It would be useful to try it through several different amps and try mine through the MAG.[/quote] Dave, thats a very kind offer, thank you. It's at Jo's at the moment being looked at. If he fails to fix the problem then yes, I would love to come down and compare bass for bass. Do you want me to bring my rig also? I hope to hear back this afternoon so I'll let you know how it goes.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='451257' date='Apr 1 2009, 10:35 AM']Well good luck. Im sure its nothing too serious that cant be sorted. At least the necks not bent or damaged etc.[/quote] Thank you. Not yet its not but considering how cursed this bass is, its only a matter of time before that happens. Its funny how the car in the film Chritine is the same colour as this bass. I'm sure this bass is cursed. I might have to call it Christine

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='451206' date='Apr 1 2009, 09:29 AM']Damn that Bass. After all you have been through with it and now this. Cant really offer anything other than its obviously not right. a passive P should be that hot, especially with that Lakland pup. I would suggest it could well be the amp but if you haven't had any other issues with your other basses then its obviously the DD. Can you not take it back to the guy who fixed it up before and get him to check the pots and pup for you.? My guess is its the pots or wiring but then i know nothing about pup's. I do know that ages ago i had a SD QP in a P and even that wasn't clipping the VU in my Ashdown MAG. Good luck mate.[/quote] Yeah, tell me about it. It plays great and the tone is great but its just problem after problem. Hopefully though, this is going to be the last problem. Definately not the amp. I tested my three main basses again last night, The Stingray, The Duck Dunn and the Fender Jazz. Not sure what the top series of numbers mean on the VU meter, but with the input set at 9 o clock and the volume set 8 o clock, the Fender on full volume is staying around the 15 mark. The Stingray was around the 20 mark and goes up to 15 if I plug it into the active input. The Duck Dunn on the same settings shoots the VU meter all the way to max and is bouncing off the edge. The only way i can stop it from doing this is by reducing the volume on the bass, which I guess is reducing the input to the amp. As for taking it back to my luthier, yep, this is what i am going to do today so fingers crossed its something simple.

[quote name='bumnote' post='449985' date='Mar 30 2009, 09:44 PM']Hi Hows the lotus The duck IIRC is a precision body with a jazz neck I have fralins in my precision and also my jo osb and they are not as powerfull as a musicman. Logic says that a standard pick up wont be as hot as a guitar with a preamp such as a stingray Have you checked the pick up height relative to the strings? If the pick up is very close to the strings it might want lowering a bit to prevent you getting too strong a signal. If you driva a lotus you must have to rebuild it every other week, so you should be good with your hands Have a look under the scratch plate and make sure all the wires are fitted properly. Go to the seymour duncan site or the fralin one a get a precsion wiring diagram, see if its connected correctly. Its very simple, it really is only a few wires. check the pickup height. If its had new pots fitted, check they are the right ones, again, you can get that from one of the sites. They are 250K if I recall correctly. Good luck[/quote] hahaha hiya, the Lotus is great, got back from a track day at Snetterton the other week. Thankfully, my Loti has been pretty reliable and thats after 4 trackdays and 10,000 miles but I do know what your saying though :) Not sure i could afford it if it kept breaking down. I know my pickups are the Lakland own brand. If the pots were wrong then, could it be possible then that they are too powerful and causing this problem. Is that a possibility? The pickups could be a little high, especially the E string but you only really need to play the string softly for the input needle to go off the scale. I would think that lowering the pickups would not reduce it that much. Maybe I am wrong on this.

I'm sure this bass is cursed as it seems to have had problem after problem When I play my Lakland Duck Dunn, at times it makes a horrible distored crackling sound. Not like an electric crackling sound but like a nasty clipping sound, as if the speaker can't take it. I play through an Ashdown MAG 300H connected to a Ashdown MAG 1 x 15 and Ashdown MAG 2 x 10. So I am getting the full 300 watts yet the input dial is not even on quarter full and the needle goes off the scale. The output volume dial on the head is also not even on a quarter full and its very loud. When I play my Stingray and Jazz through the rig its so much quieter and despite thrashing as hard as I can on the strings with a plectrum, I cannot re-create the clipping distored sound with either of those two basses. The bass has had problems with the potts and wiring in the past from previous owners and has had either one or both potts replaced. Is it possible that the output from this bass is to much and causing the clipping/distortion? The reason I ask is the bass is very loud and with the input dial on really low, the needle goes off the scale. Any advice is really appreciated.

Playing for 4 hours is not that long. To me it just sounds like you need to keep playing so the skin on your fingers toughen up. Just try and practise as much as you can and in time it will get easier. If however, your fingers are hurting or your wrist is hurting then like others have said, you could be plucking to hard, your bass is set up wrong or your technique/posture might need looking at. Of course, as your a girl, I can't post without saying, stop being a big wussie

I am wondering if the 'wooly' label is more to do with the style of playing certain people go for. Some players like a really tight clean somewhat clinical sound. Probably played on an active bass. I can't imagine an Ashdown would be ideal for this type of sound. Others prefer the more classic original bass sound than can be made to sound deeper or dirtier or brighter depending on their ideal tone. Maybe played more of a Fender style bass. An Ashdown I would imagine can create this sound pretty well. Just a thought.

Hi Mark, I might be interested in this. Where abouts do you practise and how often. Also, how often do you want to gig and are you talking UK or just London?

Flame proof bunker built - check Flame suit on - check Flame proof table to hide under - check Right, here goes, is that not just the same sort of thing as Maria Carey/Christina Aguilera doing all that voice warbling and vocal w*%£^^*%g. Is this just not fret w*%£^^*%g on a bass?? Runs and Hides to the safety of my flame proof bunker.

Thanks guys, I do have a big grin on my face when I play them. They are all so yummy.

[quote name='simon1964' post='435634' date='Mar 15 2009, 10:46 PM']Very nice! Love the red Lakland, and you can't beat the look of a natural ray (although see my contribution to your other thread - like you, I struggle with the sound!). How does the Lakland compare soundwise to a normal Precision?[/quote] I have only ever owned one proper American 77 Precision which was my best sounding bass ever. The Lakland sounds pretty much identical. Maybe a bit dirtier but pretty much the exact same tone so I am very happy. As for the ray, I am considering trying that Nordstrum pickup that keeps getting mentioned in the thread.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='435631' date='Mar 15 2009, 10:40 PM']Hey Linus, is your jazz the Japanese reissue or the new Mex 70's model? Loving the colour of your Duck Dunn, btw - Stunning![/quote] It's the 70' Mexican re-issue and sounds stunning. Don't let the Mexican make put you off. I am in two minds to change the pickups. Fender sell the 75 Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickups that they put in their American Vintage ‘75 Jazz Bass. My Mexican re-issue has Vintage Style Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickups with AlNiCo Magnets. They sound fantastic but I am just wondering what the 75 Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickups would sound like. It would make it a bit more authentic but as it is, it already sounds amazing so I am not sure to change them or not.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='435594' date='Mar 15 2009, 10:09 PM']Your Stingray is the same as mine! I think mine is about 3 years older....but basically exactly the same! I'll put pics up soon! x[/quote] Coool. I'm thinking of trying a white pealoid pickguard on it to make it look a bit different. probably look rubbish

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='435581' date='Mar 15 2009, 09:59 PM']If the Jazz wasn't sunburst I'd be breaking out the burglar tools [/quote] hahaha you might get passed me and you might, if lucky, get past my wife, and your might get past my son if he's distracted on the Xbox, but your not get past my 4 month old baby daughter. She's evil and loves watching her daddy playing bass

[quote name='josh3184' post='435329' date='Mar 15 2009, 05:29 PM']pick a favorite! Come on man! Damn you fence sitters![/quote] Oh bugger, thats a hard one. I have always loved the feel and look of the Musicman. The neck is awsome and the balance, shape and styling is amazing so I love playing it. The sound though is dissapointing as discussed in my other thread. Nothing wrong with it but I just can't get the sound I want out of her. The Lakland sounds incredible. A big fat clunky dirty 70's Precision sound. The neck feels great, very much like the Musicman but thinner. The balance is good but its more of a one trick pony. A great Precision bass. The Fender Jazz has a nice thin C shaped neck. Its so easy to play and you can really get stuck in playing it. The sound is also brilliant, very smooth and warm although it can be a little wooly at times. Each bass is so different and have different qualities. I can't pick a favourite but what I will say is the Fender Jazz is one I would probably pick to play. It can do a bit of what the two other basses can do so all possibilities are covered. I know, a bit of a lame answer.