KingBollock

That looks like the sort of bass you could truly make your own.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1467011824' post='3080340'] I love the ODB-3 when used at high gain, and into a cab without a tweeter (or through a cab sim). Nothing quite like it. Those that buy it thinking it's an overdrive like the label says are the ones that usually hate it! Other pedals I've tried and hated yet get a lot of love from others: - Fairfield Barbershop - Mountainking Megalith - EHX Bass Soul Food - Joyo Ultimate Drive - Ashdown James Lomenzo Hyperdrive - 3Leaf Wonderlove [/quote] The Ashdown Hyperdrive is the most disappointing pedal I have ever bought. I kept thinking that I'd eventually figure out how to dial a sound I liked into it, but I just ended up not using it at all. And it takes up an awful lot of room for nothing. They were still being raved about at the time. But then, as soon as I got mine, there's been barely a peep since. I feel like I was conned!

I have used Stand oil (boiled linseed oil), but only because I already had it (artists use it. And me, too) and I had a guitar that had spent several year in pieces in a box in various rooms and sheds, and the fretboard had become dry as kindling. The Stand oil really brought it back to life, so I went and did it to all my guitars and they all came up lovely. I've not had to use it since, and that was a few years ago now.

That's where thumb picks that have plastic picks attached to a metal band that goes around the thumb come in handy. I prefer those because you can squeeze them tight to keep them in place. Plastic ones don't fit me very well and my thumb gets sore very quickly when using them.

I don't use one and I'm not even sure where you'd get one, but Chris Broderick (ex-Megadeth) came up with the Pick Clip. It takes standard picks, so you can use various thicknesses (though I don't know how thick or thin) picks and you can replace them when they wear out. I think they're a really good idea and I would certainly be looking for one if I was in a similar situation. Edit to add: The metal thumb pick that I use for banjo has turned up edges so that it doesn't snag on up strokes. Not much use for bass unless you want a really bright tone, but I thought I'd mention it because it addresses one of your problems, and though it might not be suitable, it might give you other ideas of what to look for?

I think there is very little snobbery on BassChat where pick playing is concerned. When I first joined the forum there was some snobbery, which made me feel a bit defensive, but it's not like that now. I think you're more likely to be berated for insisting on sticking to a single style, but only if you were to bang on about how any other way is wrong. I have been playing with a pick for all but the first year of the 29 years I have been playing. Bass was my first and is my main instrument and, despite not coming from guitar, playing with a pick feels natural to me. I started playing with a pick because clumsy 13 year old me had started messing about with electronics and it's easier to hold a pick when your finger tips are covered in sticking plasters. To be honest, I can't really do traditional finger style, if I drop a pick I use thumb and first two fingers as I would with my banjo. I hybrid pick, too, using my middle and ring finger while using a pick. I do own guitars (just got another for my birthday) but I play them like a bass player. More recently I have switched to quite thin picks for bass (Dunlop Tortex .60) but I still play guitar with 3mm Dunlop Primetones.

Alas, 'tis the lot of the bass player. I say alas, but I think most of us love it really.

I am considering getting an expression pedal, probably the Boss EV-5, to go with my Boss GX-700. I love the GX-700 but it hates basses, and it feels kind of wrong buying more stuff that I can only use with guitar and not bass. So I was thinking that building an effects box that I could plug the EV-5 into, that has effects for bass, would be fun. Off the top of my head I can only think of Wah and volume, but I am sure there must be more that could be done with it. Unfortunately I can't find any plans for such a thing, so I thought I would ask you clever gentlemen for your thoughts and ideas.

How about a line of music with the notes of your favourite riff or section of a song on it? Obviously the bass clef would be at the beginning. You could have it wrap around your arm or have it wavy like a ribbon or even a spiral.

I can't find much online about top locking tuners. Is it normal for there to be no windings at all? If there should be at least a winding or two, I might just change the strings now, nevermind that these are new. I've seen some Elixirs that I like the look of. I love 'em on my five string bass, fortunately they're a hell of a lot cheaper for guitar. And hopefully the coating might be more gentle on my fingertips.

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!