KingBollock

From the research I did before getting it, the pickups aren't meant to be adjustable, it's just a thing with this model. But even if they were to start with, they ain't now, the screws holding the pickups down are about 8mm long. I have got some surgical tubing (from an old catapult), I shall see if I can find some suitable screws. I should have some, I have loads of sweet and biscuit tins and tubs and coffee jars, all full of screws, but I never seem to have just the ones I need...

This isn't a bass problem, it's a cheese-wire guitar problem, so I am sorry if this is in the wrong place, please move it if it is. I got a new guitar for my birthday (well, new to me, it's a very old and battered thing. It suits me) and my tuners hate it. Both the tuner in my Boss GX-700 and my Korg Pitchblack Pro. It's a seven string and I know the Boss hates bass (I have tried a bass through it and the damned thing sulked) but it's not just the low B, it's the E and A, too, and the Korg has been fine until this. The guitar is an Ibanez RG7321, the pickups aren't height adjustable and the pickups in it aren't the originals (they are Duncan Designed, so I am assuming they were taken off another cheap guitar). They are very low down, barely sticking out of the cavity. The guitar seems loud enough, but I am wondering if this could be the reason my tuners aren't behaving themselves. It's got top locking tuners on it, which I don't think are original either. I'm not so sure I like them. The way I put strings on stretches them at the same time, but you can't do that with these things. There are no windings at all around the posts, which seems odd, but after giving them a good stretch I have got them stable enough (it had new strings on it when I got it). It's a nice guitar, the neck and frets are lovely, it just has a couple of niggles that need sorting out. I shall shim the pickups anyway, but it would be nice to know if this might fix it or not.

I can't make the picture out. I'll just go get me bins...

For those that don't like using picks, but need the extra attack, you could try using metal finger picks the way banjo players do... I have done it because I already have the picks. It's interesting... My thumb picks are metal, though, I don't get on with the plastic ones because I can't find one that fits my thumb comfortably, and the ones with metal clips and plastic picks are like hen's teeth. My favourite thumb pick has turned up edges, so it is easier to up-pick, whereas the flat ones can kind of catch. My first metal thumb pick I fashioned the shape of the pick part until it was about 3mm long and had a twist in it, to make up-picking easier.

Well, the only thing I found inside was a couple of little stickers attached to the pcb with, what I assume is, the assembler or tester's name on them. Hi Nate if you're reading this...! That and a cobweb, which was easily sorted with a blast from an airbrush. I thought I had looked inside this amp before, but it turns out I never have because I didn't see what I was expecting. The reverb chamber, which is pristine, was in a pleather bag. And it was only attached to the inside of the amp case by a couple of wood screws through the bag. I don't know if it was the cobweb on the pcb that was causing the scratchy sound on the reverb, but removing it was the only thing I really did and the reverb works fine now. The problem with the effects loop was stiff contacts. Having been forced open with a jack plug after so many years of not moving, they were reluctant to reset and failed to make contact again. I really was expecting it to be a right state, I thought the reverb chamber would be a solid lump of rust.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1463948204' post='3055277'] A lot of amp manufacturers back then used to put stickers on some of the subassemblies - you might get an idea of the date by having a peek inside... ...you know you want to... [/quote] I'm going to have to anyway. It spent a couple of years in the conservatory, where it gets quite humid, and it has effected the reverb chamber and the Jack sockets for the effects loop. I made the mistake of bringing it in and trying something in the effects loop, and ever since I have had to keep a short lead between the sockets else it doesn't work. So I shall clean the sockets up and, hopefully, it'll just be cleaning rust out of the chamber and perhaps the springs. It [i]sounds[/i] rusty, if that makes sense. We'll see. I might open it up tomorrow.

Depends on what I am playing. Funnily, I prefer the rather thin Dunlop Tortex .60mm for heavy, chuggy, death metally stuff. And the Dunlop Primetone 3mm for most everything else.

[quote name='verb' timestamp='1463818690' post='3054239'] Not sure if they have the schematic you need, but lots of laney stuff here. http://bmamps.com/tech_sch.html Have you tried contacting Laney? They couldn't supply me with a drawing for my old bass combo, due to health and safety, but pointed me to a site with one. [/quote] Thank you! That's brilliant! They have the schematic for my amp, and included in it is the schematic for the footswitch. Which is about as simple as it gets, but I figured it might be worth seeing if it was available anywhere before I started mucking about with it. I haven't bothered trying to contact Laney because I only thought to ask about the switch as I was posting this thread. And I only thought about asking the age of my amp a few minutes before that. It really is just idle curiosity. Though, having said that, I like the amp and I have been playing guitar a bit recently. I had an accident and buggered my knee, just in the place where my basses sit when I am playing, but my skinny stringed Flying V is shaped differently and doesn't bother me so much, so I have picked that up again for the first time in a long time. Managed to tear all the callouses off my left hand while at it, too, which forced more inaction and the asking of pointless questions.

I wasn't sure whether to put this in here or Amps & Cabs, but since it's not a bass amp I plumped for here. Sometime in the 90s I bought a Laney Linebacker PL100R that looks like this: (That's the 50 and mine is the 100, but it's the style that's important to note) I know there was a newer version out by the time I got mine, but I don't know when the new version came out. Out of nothing but pure curiosity I have been trying to find out how old my version is. I can't get any clues from mine because (and this isn't a joke...) my wife once decided to clean it for me and she used nail polish remover (no, I have no idea why!) and took all the lettering off it. So all the labels are just what I remembered (She obviously didn't take all the lettering off in one go without realising, but she'd taken enough off to make it look silly, so I made the decision to remove the rest and replace with Dymo labels, which actually looks quite cool). I have Googked until I have Googleyes, but with no luck. Anyone have a clue? Oh, while I'm here... Does anyone know of a schematic for the footswitch? I'd quite like to build one for it. Also... I have tried putting my Boss GX700 into the effects return on this amp but there is no volume control for the power amp stage. What would be a good way to add one?

What, no coffin cases? Pfft! I own a grand total of two hard cases. One is a very battered case for a headless Flying V skinny string guitar, that is too short to hold any of my other guitars. And the other is a Warwick coffin case lined with purple crushed velvet (that came free with my BC Rich Warlock Bass. Good job it did, too, considering the other packing consisted of two small pieces of cardboard and a bin bag). I have to confess, though, as much it never gets used and I seem to be constantly trying to find somewhere out of the way to put it, I do love it.

...ever felt like this, when strange things happen, are you going 'round the twist?. Sorry...

[quote name='ColinB' timestamp='1462865712' post='3046287'] I find the T-rex style to be best. [/quote] I have owned far too many of those over the years and never had one that actually worked. i use one of these: Though I would love an automatic one that worked. I have a set of these, but they're a bit aggressive for very narrow, stranded wire:

I have no idea of the answer, but if it bothered me I would fit the casters to the side of the cab and tip it up when I needed to move it. I have bought some heavy duty casters for my Peavey 410. I intend making a platform with a drawer in it, to go under the cab, and will install my pedalboard in the drawer. I need the cab to be about ten inches off the floor so that my rack, which sits on top, is at desk height. The cab lives in my hobby room, but I often need to get behind it for stuff, so being able to move it without crippling myself would be nice. Being able to slide my pedalboard out of the way will be handy, too.

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1462406500' post='3042855'] I actually got into playing bass because of pick players like Rob Wright of Nomeansno. I really wanted to use a pick for a long time, but I really hate the sound and feel of a pick scratching against the strings when it's not hitting them at the perfect angle, it's like nails on a chalkboard, I can't stand it. Just couldn't get into it. So I learnt fingerstyle instead and eventually got into different music along the way. But i wish I could play with one, I'm always a bit jealous of pick players with good technique. [/quote] There's Dunlop SpeedPicks that have a twist at the tip to help strike the string at a better angle.

[quote name='keefbaker' timestamp='1462392973' post='3042735'] Personally I think real bass players don't strike the strings with an erect penis. [/quote] Right, I'll be off then... Bye BassChat!

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1462257598' post='3041435'] I'm confused. Are your ports now going straight through the cab now if they stick out the back? If so then you cab is now sealed again just with a smaller internal area surely, unless I've misunderstood you, which is quite likely . [/quote] Yeah, that's what I keep picturing. But I am assuming that he's actually cut the ports in the back of the cab.

If looking for a smaller bodied pick that is still thick, there is the standard (though a lot smaller than ordinary picks) sized Dunlop Stubby in 3mm (Stagg make a version of it, too). A pick I remember trying in the early 90s were something called Speed Picks. They were thin, but the body was very small and the tip was twisted so that they made better, more parallel contact with the string while playing. I have no idea is they still exist. Edit: Turns out they do still exist and they are also made by Dunlop. http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/Speedpicks It was the smallest size that I remember. They were gold coloured back then. I know you're not looking for thin picks FinnDave, I'm just throwing up as many ideas as I can in the hope of something maybe giving you an idea that helps. It was Luckydog's small body suggestion that made me think of the Speedpicks, but the twist at the tip might be worth exploring, too. I bet, with a little bit of heat, you could add a twist to a home made pick. You could tailor the twist angle to what suits you better. If it could allow you to hold the pick more naturally whilst still striking the string squarely, it might be worth trying.

Start at the plug. Try a different power lead. If that doesn't work, check the mains fuse in the back of the amp. If that is ok, take it to a professional.

Basically, thirteen year old me took up electronics a year after taking up bass, with the result that I seemed to perpetually have sticking plasters on the ends of my plucking fingers, so I decided to try my brother's picks (which he didn't mind because it meant he never had to buy another one because from then on he just stole mine...) and it came to me really naturally and I liked the sound. I have to confess that I let finger style slip away after that and am now rubbish at it if I have to go quickly. But along with the huge amounts of sounds that I can get from various sizes of pick, including something very like a finger sound, and that I can hybrid pick (oddly, I find playing with my fingers easier if I am also holding a pick), I don't miss it and only get the occasional pang of guilt. Actually, it is mostly the standard finger style I struggle with. I am fine with two fingers and thumb, rolling like with a banjo, and there is one song where I sometimes play it with thumb and three fingers, one each assigned to a string (just for novelty). But overall I prefer the pick.

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1462139735' post='3040627'] I use really thin picks by the sound of it, Dunlop 0.6 ones. [/quote] Yeah, they're what I've been using on bass for the last year or so. I can't use them on electric (I generally use .5s on acoustic guitar) guitar, though, I still use 3mm Big Stubbies for that. It was actually playing old school death metal on my five string (and then my four string tuned to C# (five string set tuned up)) that got me using the .6 over 3mm for bass. I find I get a clearer sound when playing fast on the thicker strings.

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1461861698' post='3038320'] Thanks for the suggestion , yes if the Zoom does not work out I think I may well get a small mixer but only once I have tried out the Zoom obviously. I hear you on the money thing I was looking at the Vox Amphones with the preamp built into the headphones and liked the idea but I just couldn't bring myself to spend £70+ on a set of headphones + preamp that dont look that solidly built [/quote] I've been using a Behringer Xenyx 802 for four years and it's been a cracking bit of kit. I think a lot of people like the Xenyx mixers.

[quote name='MagicOnion' timestamp='1461858172' post='3038285'] My Muff was an NYC model I bought for dirt cheap. I then modded it to more or less a green russian one. The mods I have done are some of the most frequent I think. 2 switches are for removing the diodes from the circuit (one switch for each diode pair), another switch is to have a mid bump, and the last one is to choose between two resistors somewhere in the circuit which changes the character of the low end. All mods are very usable in my opinion, both on bass and guitar. Removing the diodes is such a cool trick: basicly you get a Colorsound Supa Tonebender, with the result of more volume (it really is loud), less compression and gain, thus a more open overdrive-like sound. [/quote] Do you know what? I have a switch that removes or replaces one set of diodes, yet it never occurred to me to have the same option for the other set...

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1461856759' post='3038271'] Thanks, if it turns out that it can only take either aux or bass input at one time is there any reason why I couldn't use a two input socket adaptor like for example the picture below and plug both my bass and an mp3 player into it? bearing in mind that this setup will only be used for practice and definately not for gigging [/quote] That adaptor is mono, so you'd only get one track of the MP3. If you used a stereo version of the adaptor it should work (I have a Zoom GFX 707 and I am pretty sure it works in stereo when presented with a stereo source, because I think it has a stereo chorus effect, but it has been a long time since I did it so I could be wrong), but any effects used would also effect the MP3. I really do think that it will work as you hope. Edit: A better alternative would be something like a small mixer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-502-Xenyx-mixer/dp/B000J5UEGQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461857813&sr=8-2&keywords=2+channel+stereo+mixer But that's £32 and I hate it when people go suggesting stuff like that like it's nothing, £32 is a lot of money for me, but I thought I'd put it out there. But don't go buying anything until you're sure you need to.

[quote name='MagicOnion' timestamp='1461588786' post='3035864'] My Pedaltrain Jr is a bit crowded Polytune -> Boss OC2 -> DIY Bass Tubescreamer -> Modded Big Muff -> EQD The Depths -> Digitech Space Station (thus, a modded XP200) -> Line6 DL4. At this moment all pedals are powered by a OneSpot adaptor, except the Space Station: it uses an Line6 adaptor. Still have to buy a decent power brick though. I'm going for the Truetone OneSpot Pro CS12 probably. And I might need to either rehouse the Muff into a smaller enclosure, or buy a slightly larger board. All pedals are hanging over the edge of the board, but it still fits tightly in the softcase. [/quote] Ohh, lots of lovely, mystery switches on the Muff! What mods have you done to it? My Muff is in a similar size enclosure, but there is also a Musket in there. With ten knobs, three toggle switches and two footswitches, there isn't an awful lot of space left, but I do like a challenge... I have a couple of ideas for further mods (basically extending the clipping options from no diodes, si diodes or leds, to include asynchronous diode and led options. And maybe a noise gate. I might also add a phase switch to the Musket so that it works better with the blend knob when both pedals are on at the same time), but I am always looking for more.

I don't have one but my interpretation of the manual is that you only have to choose one or the other input when making samples. I would imagine that they would otherwise run as you are hoping.