KingBollock

What stand is that? It looks like a really good solution to not having a lot of floor or wall space in my Lair. I have one of the grabby Hercules stands and really like it, however it doesn’t fit my Warlock. It won’t go tall enough. I had been hoping to get the triple version, but I think it is the same height. And as my Warlock gets played a lot, it’s one of the basses that needs to be kept close. Your stand looks like the triple Hercules stand, but with another one stacked on top. On yours, is it possible to remove one of the lower grabby arms? And/or move them up or down independently?

Anyone know if the Dunlop Max Grip .60 nylon, are just standard size? I’ve got one of the Max Grip Jazz III Carbons that is a nice size and very grippy (similar to the rather poorly made Lemmy signature picks that you get in the little tin. That I still took some sandpaper to to make usable, despite never intending to use them), but is too thick. The red Jazz III and the Ultex Jazz III are too small (and thick). I need something flappier. Annoyingly, this is one of those cases where my fingers are being stubborn. They like the .60mm and won’t hear any argument for fractions either side of that. Most troublesome!

Yeah, I prefer nylon to tortex. I briefly switched from standard 3mm big stubbies to the nylon version, before discovering Primetones. I actually have quite a large selection of picks, but the only ones I have in this size are these cheap, nasty ones. I would take Maude’s advice and alter them (I’d drill holes in them for extra grip) if I thought they’d last more than about five minutes. I shall do some measuring on the morrow and do some research. If I have to I can take comparative photos and ask on here for suggestions.

As much as I tend to prefer a heavy pick for most things, I have found that on heavier strings (120 - 130), I prefer a lighter pick, especially for fast stuff. Annoyingly, the one I find myself using the most is a rubbish one that came free, thrown in with something else I’d bought. It’s a .60, like the orange Dunlop Tortex, but a bit smaller. It’s a bit like trying to hold onto an eel, though. I am going to have to see if I can find something of a similar size that is grippier.

The mnemonic that I learned in college is rather unsavoury, but it is the one that has stuck in my head. It’s done it’s job, I suppose.

Going for a simple, home brew idea (because that’s all I’m good for!), if it were me, I would try to find, or make, a 4.85mm dowel. Drill a 4.85mm hole in the ball. Then split off sections of the dowel to fill the gaps where the flat bits are, and glue them into the ball. I think that makes sense.

I did think of using white, styrene tubing, but I don’t have enough here to do a whole bass (and I need to do two). I might try to drill down the middle of the new dots and fill them with luminous paint. Though I’m not sure I will be able to drill accurately enough considering that I would normally do such small drilling on a desk, under bright lights and a magnifier. The dots will have an outer diameter of 2mm. I’ve got drill bits that go down to .3mm and I can use a syringe to inject the paint. But how small is too small? I need to allow enough of the white showing to be able to see it when the paint isn’t charged.

I find that when I play standing up (which I never actually do), the length I like my strap and the way my gut pushes the top of the bass forward, means that I can’t actually see the fretboard. I do, however, struggle a bit if I can’t see the side markers. I have always wanted to fit some of those FretFX strips to some of my basses but, because I don’t play live (which is why I never play standing up), I can’t justify the expense. The same goes for Luminlay. I should have some sticks of bright white rods coming today, for a couple of my basses where the side dots are just too dark.

When we first moved to Wales we briefly lived in a house that stepped right out onto the pavement of a busy road. I remember once watching a parcel can pull up, watched the driver fill out the “tried to deliver but not in” card, jump out and push the card through the door. No knock, nothing. I opened the door as he went to turn away. He looked suitably guilty, and without a single word, he went and got my parcel. I can’t imagine what would have happened to anything left outside the door there, it would have literally been on the pavement. With some of the kids that lived around there, a parcel wouldn’t have lasted two minutes.

Don’t delivery companies tend to take a photograph as proof nowadays? My wife lost (though it was replaced in the end) £300 worth of craft soaps after it was delivered, but hidden under a hedge behind our wheelie bin. It was there for two or three weeks before we found it. They had been very, very wet weeks. Maybe see if you can find out if a photo was taken. And maybe have a scout ‘round (perhaps he can have a look for the parcel and earn himself a badge…).

Bloomin’ Nora! Why’s it have to be some bloomin’ complicated!? All I want is a set of these: https://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/wjb750-tuners-for-right-handed-bass-guitar-4-in-line/ In black. I have bought them from that store before and like them. I’m not really that bothered about the make. I just need them to fit, be black, cheap and open backed (if I am buying cheap, I like the idea that I can maintain them).

Oh, I thought I’d be safe with Wilkinsons, that they’d be genuine. Considering that they would take just over a month to get here and with postage and tax, I’m not actually saving any money, I think I will wait and hope that someone in the UK gets them in stock. Northwest Guitars should send me an email if/when they get them in. I don’t really know where else to look except Amazon.

My wife has bought from there, too… I just got my hair off with it. Everytime I clicked something, the page would suddenly get huge and most of it inaccessible, requiring that I reload the page to get it back to normal. This just kept happening, over and over. Once I eventually got to the checkout and everything filled in, it sent me off to PayPal, as it was supposed to, but when I got back there was no option to continue, the only button I could press was the one I had just pressed. I get very nervous when it comes to anything with money and online stuff, so once I had been to PayPal twice, with the same result, I got angry and gave up. I’m mostly annoyed that I can’t get what I need from any of the places I would normally go. And it just happens that it’s basically only the colour that I specifically want that is out of stock. I was already not having a very good day!

I just tried to buy from Ali Express for the very first time. It will be the last. The website barely works on my tablet. I tried, twice, to get it to take my money and it just dribbled slightly out of the corner of its mouth and carried on licking the window it was staring blankly out of. I was attempting to buy some, apparently genuine, Wilkinson tuners, because everywhere else is out of stock (in the colour I need). Oh well.

I like to socket ICs, so I had a quick look to see if it is possible to socket SMD ICs, and it is. It’s possible to convert SMD to DIP. I was kind of hoping that there was a way of making using SMD ICs easier, maybe some kind of clamp system, or something. I don’t know. I have never used SMD stuff before, I don’t think. But, anyway, at least it appears that I can use SMD ICs (I don’t know about other components, I didn’t look) on vero-board. I have narrow soldering iron tips. One comes to a 1mm wide flat tip and another comes to a point. So I should be alright there. I’m a bit of a dinosaur with this stuff. Most of my electronics experience comes from college (including work placements) from 1991 to 1993. And I’ve forgotten most of it.

I am very interested in this. I’ve been wanting to build a HPF for ages. I have put together some pedals, but I am not part of a community, so I don’t know if it’s proper to ask this, but… Will there be a circuit diagram or, even better, a diagram for building it on strip-board? I prefer using strip-board. I don’t know why but it feels like using a PCB is like a Lego kit compared to a strip-board Airfix kit (point to point would be like scratch-building, I suppose). And I don’t mean that in anyway derogatorily, it’s more that Lego kits cost more. I’ve seen some very cool Lego kits but I have also seen the prices!

Just bought a bass from Telbomber and it was a flawless transaction. I am a very nervous online buyer, but Telbomber made it easy and reassuring. Excellent description, attention to detail and packaging. Call me a very happy customer.

Or in the case of my childhood dog, Blue, a car door. He couldn’t be let out of the house without being on a lead. And if you opened the door and he saw, he would bolt and escape. This was particularly troublesome because he would go after and fight any dog he saw (unless that dog was very small). He was very strong and if he got into a fight with a big dog, it was hell trying to get them apart. But, if he saw an open car door, he couldn’t help himself, he would stop whatever he was doing and jump into the car. It didn’t even matter whose car it was. Fortunately he would go very calm, as though nothing had happened. Very odd.

None now. Woo!

I would recommend using a jet style lighter. You can get ones for cigarettes or for kitchens or bendy ones for lighting camp stoves. I probably wouldn’t try it with the saddles installed, though. I did once have trouble with the height adjustment screws in Steinberger, headless bridge saddles. In the end I had to drill them out. I think I got replacements by looking for M3 hex screws, in the desired length, on Amazon.

I always keep my thumb on the back of the neck. I even have the neck angled in a classical position. And I’m crap, so….

My two oldest basses were bought from shops when I lived up in the Midlands, where if you tripped over in the street, you might fall into an instrument shop. I have a bit of an issue when it comes to shopping, though. I absolutely fall apart if there are too many people about. But looking around music shops is ace! I have another bass that I bought in a shop fairly locally. However, the last time I went in there they hardly had anything of anything. Living where I do now, it is difficult to find instrument shops locally, and even harder to find one that might stock basses. I remember wondering around one guitar shop and remarking to my wife that they only had one bass in the whole place. The chap behind the counter overheard and said that he thought I looked like a bass player when I walked in. I took that as a compliment! Several years ago I got my Warlock from Ebay. There was precious little detail in the advert and the single photo was atrocious. But I knew the model of the bass and that it was The One! It was stupid of me to trust it so completely, but I did the buy it now thing and paid immediately… And then I waited. Eventually a couple of weeks had gone by and I finally got a message back from the seller. He apologised, saying that he’d been on holiday and forgotten he’d put the bass up for sale..! But he did send it. It arrived in a hard case with a bin liner over one end and two pieces of cardboard taped to it… And it was unplayable! No wonder it was going so cheap. The action was incredibly high, and it had to have been right from the factory because there was no way to lower it. The neck was flat and the saddles were bottomed out. I tried to find a lower profile bridge to replace the one it came with, but had no luck. In the end I ground the saddles down to half their original height. Now it plays like an absolute dream! Yesterday I bought my first ever bass on BassChat. To say I am nervous would be a huge understatement, but I am a very nervous person. It all happening around Christmas and with mail strikes going on, well…

I have been wondering why I chose £600 for my upper limit and I think I have realised why. My favourite bass, my BC Rich Warlock is my “The One”. In about 1989 I was asked what my ultimate bass would be and I described the Warlock that I currently own. They didn’t actually make this spec at the time and only started in 1999 and only for ten years (I think I’ve got the date right). And they sold, new, for £600. Also, I have sometimes looked at signature basses. I remember the Blackie Lawless BC Rich Widow was sold for £5000 (at least, that’s what it said in the Inside The Electric Circus cassette cover. And which I have seen people convert standard versions of for a hell of a lot less than that). The other, obvious one, for me, would be Lemmy’s bass (rather more difficult to replicate), which also sold for £5000. (Though, to be honest, I preferred the blond one with the iron cross and “born to lose” on it). I just don’t think I’d ever go that far. However, the one signature bass I would be interested in is the Steve Harris blue one from the 80s which, I believe, sold for £600.

They seem to have good feedback. Collection in person can’t happen, they’re about 250 miles away. We’ll see. I don’t even know if the bass is still definitely for sale.