KingBollock

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1398671731' post='2436269'] Lemmy. He kinda is motorhead. [/quote] I know he writes the songs, lyrics and music. He used to be a guitarist but wasn't that good, and while he has his very own bass technique he's not that technically gifted. Where as Mickey Dee is utterly brilliant at his instrument. Granted Lemmy is the more rounded musician but the thing he excels at is being an icon. It's a difficult one. This from a life long Motörhead fan.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1398629208' post='2436028'] Ozzy ? Lemmy? [/quote] Bugger, I was going to say Lemmy. Can't think of anyone else. Mind you, I am rather guilty of never really thinking about individual band members, I can't even name the members of even my favourite bands, unless they're really obvious like Lemmy, Till Lindemann or Dani Filth. There are bands that I absolutely adore that I can't name a single member of.

In 25 years of playing bass the closest thing to a P bass I have ever played was a Satellite I was given when I was 16, which I sold on a few months later, not because I didn't like it (I actually did) but because I couldn't see the point in ever owning two basses at the same time. I have never tried a Jazz bass. Don't want to try any, either, because even if I did like them, and I certainly wouldn't count the possibility out, I couldn't afford one anyway.

Lately it has been a pretty much continuous Rammstein, The Vision Bleak and Sabaton fest. Lots of manly horror and war. Might have to throw in some Within Temptation for variety.

To be honest, if it wasn't for trying to design something that looks cool then I probably wouldn't even bother. It's not like it'll even leave the house... Although, if certain medical stuff goes well, that prospect may change, which would be incredibly cool. The plan is to build a PSU, a switch pedal for my T-Max and a loop pedal first, so I've got an idea how big it has to be. It's all going to be done with birthday money, so I can't start it until after June, giving me far too much time to think about the design. Though the main points have been in my head for over a year. Like I said, I am obsesses with twinkly, sparkly things, so it has to have some kind of lighting. The plan isn't to flood it with light, just to illuminate the wiring. I am now thinking that low level black light LEDs might be the way to go, and paint the wiring with UV reactive paint, this would mean I could have different coloured wires running through it, though I am thinking that just painting the power wires a nice blue would be enough. It might seem a bit early to start asking questions but the more time I have to source what I need the better. Would this be a bad place to ask about the PSU? The plan is to find a nice quiet schematic and cannibalise a bunch of wall warts I have taking up drawer space. The intention is to have four main outputs, each with its own transformer and circuit if need be, the only link being the mains input. I have a heatsink for the voltage regulators, but it is one long one, is it a really bad idea to attach four regulators to one heatsink? They should have an inch each side of themselves and I am hoping to make it so that they don't even run hot enough to need it, but I thought it should be something I cleared up first. I could cut it up and add insulation between each section, but it won't look as nice... I even thought of adding thermostatically controlled mini fans to it, because I am cutting the heatsink from an old HDD cooling tray, it even has a temperature display, but I got thinking that that could only add noise. But it would look so cool...

I tried this in the technical thread but had no luck, so I thought I try it in here.. This year I am planning on having a crack at building a pedalboard. I am obsessed with shiny things and would love to have some lighting inside the board, under the grate (want to use aluminium grating rather than the usual metal or wooden strips), and have been considering running El Wire/glow wire along the power cables. They aren't too bright and I thought it might look a bit Tron like, or, with the grating, like the floor of a space ship from a sci-fi movie or Red Dwarf. I have read that the power supply for the wire emits a high pitched sound, which, if that is the only problem, I am sure I can deal with, however my main worry is that the instrument cables might pick up interference because the wires run on AC. Does anyone know if that is the case? Has anyone tried it? I could shield the power supply but I can't shield the actual wire. Perhaps I could wrap the instrument cables in copper tape? If that turns out to be a rubbish idea, does anyone know if cold cathode ray tubing with cause interference? I could install UV ray tubes around the edges and paint the power cables with UV reactive paint maybe. They use this stuff in PCs so you'd think it would be ok... When wiring a pedalboard, is it best to run the power cables away from the instrument cables? I had been planning on bunching them all together but I am now thinking this might not be the best idea. This is the first time I have ever tried to put together a pedalboard so I am unsure how best to go about it.

Have I put this in the wrong forum?

[quote name='dincz' timestamp='1397584743' post='2425436'] A helpful little mod for your bass might do the trick: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uqpObxAVZs[/media] [/quote] Argh! We used to go to a Jousting event where lots of people dressed up as medieval folk (Not us! We went to watch the Jousting and the Medieval Babes (the group)) and there was an 'orrible old woman wondering 'round with one of those the whole time, every time we went. Well, I say wondering, what she was actually doing was following [i]me[/i] around, so I could hear the damned thing everywhere I went. I'm one of those people that believes it's sacrilege to destroy a musical instrument (says the man that left an upright piano in a skip when he moved house), but she made me 'ave 'orrible thoughts about it

Wasn't sure where to put this, but it suppose it is technical. While it is about a pedalboard I didn't think it would suit the effects forum, but if it needs move so be it. This year I am planning on having a crack at building a pedalboard. I am obsessed with shiny things and would love to have some lighting inside the board, under the grate (want to use aluminium grating rather than the usual metal or wooden strips), and have been considering running El Wire/glow wire along the power cables. They aren't too bright and I thought it might look a bit Tron like, or, with the grating, like the floor of a space ship from a sci-fi movie or Red Dwarf. I have read that the power supply for the wire emits a high pitched sound, which, if that is the only problem, I am sure I can deal with, however my main worry is that the instrument cables might pick up interference because the wires run on AC. Does anyone know if that is the case? Has anyone tried it? I could shield the power supply but I can't shield the actual wire. Perhaps I could wrap the instrument cables in copper tape? If that turns out to be a rubbish idea, does anyone know if cold cathode ray tubing with cause interference? I could install UV ray tubes around the edges and paint the power cables with UV reactive paint maybe. They use this stuff in PCs so you'd think it would be ok...

Nice! I'd love one of these, sadly I have absolutely no way to justify buying one. I once saw a picture of a piano white, fretless version that still makes me drool when I picture it in my head. I don't have a fretless bass, currently, unfortunately I have already told my wife that I intend to convert a bass I already have, so I can't even use that as an excuse.

You could check with your ISP. I know we get free webspace and a ton of email accounts we could use just by giving them a name. It is easy and cheap enough to get a domain name and point it at your webspace. I upload stuff to my webspace using the free FTP add-on in Firefox.

http://www.squarespace.com I only know of them because they sponsor Joe Rogan's podcast. Thought it might be worth mentioning so you can check as many ideas as possible.

I suspect you're right. While I was typing it I was thinking you'd probably need braces too. When I was at my biggest, 26 stone, my gut was rather large and heavy. One day my wife and I went out to a local, disused quarry to collect rocks for vivarium and terrarium displays. I had a back pack on that ended up with 100lbs of rocks in it. Rather than weigh me down it actually improved my posture, balancing me by pulling me more upright. The walk back to the car was about four miles along a rough path, those miles were the most comfortable I had been in ages. You know how sceptical I can be about medical claims, but what you said doesn't sound odd to me at all. I think core strength is a well recognised thing. And Pilates is something I very much believe in and would encourage people to try, even though I don't do it myself, though that will hopefully change if current medical investigations prove fruitful.

I doubt such a thing exists, but what if you could install some kind of strap lock system to a belt or belt buckle, have the belt take the strain. Obviously you'd have to have a strap button fitted in the right place. With any luck something like it is already out there and this might remind someone that has already seen it.. Or tickle the senses of an inventor.

There are plenty of hollow bodied basses on the market. Or if you don't like the look of those then you can get more common shapes with hollow chambers in them. Something like that and a nice wide strap should help. You can get straps that hang over just your neck, too, they attach to the bass with just one strap pin, might help by shifting the weight. I don't understand how the previous suggestions would be more likely to effect what jobs you get than using a stand would. But then I have no idea what a corporate gig entails.

I have seen bands that, for songs that require changing from an acoustic guitar to electric, have the acoustic on a stand so they can play it while having their electric strapped on as normal, and can walk away from the acoustic without hassle. So, while I can't give any more detail I can say that stands do exist. Personally, if it was bothering me so much, I would use a tall stool and sit down. A stand is going to hold your instrument rigid, where as sitting down you can still move with the music.

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1398028017' post='2429739'] I guess I have the same experience in this shop, possibly on Walter Rd. Went in on my way to another shop for work stuff. Found a bass I was really interested in. No one seemed to want to serve so I left. When I got to work I told the manager of our shop about how useless I thought they were. He happened to know the owner and gave him a call. I was offered a discount if I went back ( price agreed), and was told ask for the manager. When I got there he was out, this was twenty minutes later. Tried the bass and liked it. Told the staff that the manager had agreed a price of £179.00. They didn't question this and even threw in a strap of my choice. The bass was a Tokai Thunderbird priced in the shop at £329.00. If they had got it right on my first visit I would have paid the asking price. [/quote] Not the same place. This one was on an industrial estate. There is a large music shop downstairs that sold classical instruments and keyboards, upstairs was my the guitar shop and further through was a PA shop that I had to pick something up from, so I actually had to pass through the guitar shop to get there. I can't be sure that the bloke I got ignored by was an owner or a manager, I can, however, be sure that he was a grumpy twat in the wrong job. At the time I was looking for a 4x10 cab. I was in one shop where I found an Orange cab. A young lad spotted me looking at it and started talking to me. Not about the cab, he was just talking like the clappers about all sorts of unrelated stuff. I kept trying to get him to give me a price, as there wasn't one on it. I had a feeling it was going to be more than I was prepared to pay, I told him how much I had and he just kept talking. The cab was in a really poor looking condition, so I was a little hopeful that they might come down to my price range. After almost half an hour he disappeared upstairs to see how much it was. He came back and gave me a price that I later found out was only just shy of the price of a brand new one. But he still kept talking at me, again not about the cab, it took another ten minutes to get out of the shop. I had given up finding a cab, I was positive that I didn't want to buy one online, that's why I ended up buying the bass from the other place. After buying the bass I did have a look online for cabs and actually decided on one that I saw on the GAK site, but where it said about delivery it said to call them on the phone. So my wife called them and they were actually quite rude to her, treating her as though she was stupid because it obviously meant they didn't have it in stock so it was pointless calling them! I haven't bought from them since, either. I did actually find a 4x10 online that was local and he only wanted £40 for it, so I got that and it's been great.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1397951834' post='2429021'] 30 mile round trip in a private car would cost £27 according to HMRC allowances (45p/mile), and they're not known for being overly generous. Petrol alone would be £8.85 assuming £1.30/litre and 40mpg. Inexcusable to lie about the return postage though. I wonder what their online T&Cs stated? But you raise an interesting point. I wonder how many millions of miles and hours of time are wasted by people travelling to the shops for stuff they don't find? [/quote] This was over ten years ago and we actually had a diesel car, so it wouldn't have cost quite that much. Online shopping has moved on somewhat since then, I doubt they would get away with it now. It was a huge place with different buildings full of cool stuff, and was fun to wonder around, that's why I used to go, didn't get that when I threw £8 down the drain for nothing, though.

There is a great outdoorsy/camping/army surplus store in Burton on Trent, about thirty miles from where I used to live. I used to go there quite often but I hadn't had an a excuse for a while and I was looking for a hat. Being the kind that liked to support proper local shops I decided to order a hat from their website, rather than use an online only shop. I ordered the hat in my exact size from the range of sizes they said they had. The £4 postage would have probably been less than the cost of petrol to get there and back. A week or so later the hat turned up, several sizes too small and the label said "one size fits all" which is always an absolute lie. Got I touch with the shop and they admitted that they were entirely at fault and that they only have the hat in one size, so they said they would refund me the price of the hat and the postage both ways. They lied about that, too. They refunded the price of the hat but not the postage, so I ended up paying £8 for absolutely nothing. Never went back to that shop again either. Most of the stuff I buy now comes from Amazon. It is often the cheapest place to buy from and often there is no postage charges. Delivery is usually very fast, normally just a couple of days, and our postman puts our packages in the utility room so we don't even have to answer the door (which is handy when my wife's shift patterns means we are in bed when the post comes). I no longer feel guilty about buying I online, and I used to, but it is very different living in a village in the middle of nowhere from a large town with three major cities within twenty miles.

A couple of years ago I was in a music shop in Swansea and I saw a bass I liked the look of, but the whole time I was in there the owner didn't look up from his computer. Even when I tried to talk to him he literally just grunted at me (I wish I was joking or exaggerating, but I really am not). I went back the next day, which was a Saturday, because there was something in the shop next door that I wanted to pick up, so I popped back into the music shop to have another look at the bass. Fortunately they had three very friendly and enthusiastic staff in, the owner was not there, and I got to try the bass and got a nice discount that I didn't even ask for. I don't normally leave the house on weekends, but had no choice that day, otherwise he would have lost that sale. I actually felt bad for buying it afterwards, because I felt he didn't deserve my money, but I really like the bass. I haven't been back since though. In fact, that week I had been to every guitar shop I could find within a thirty mile radius, about eight of them, I think. Some of them tried to be helpful, some of them didn't give a toss. The biggest problem I found was a lack of variety in stock, and only three of them had any bass stuff at all. I have only bought stuff online since, which I feel is a real shame but I have been given on other choice.

As others have said, it will only make a difference if you are changing specs or repairing a fault. I don't have much money so, usually, the cheaper the better. But CTS pots aren't that expensive. If I am repairing a fault or changing something, such as adding push-pull pots for coil tapping, or a blend pot, I like to replace everything (if it is all still stock, I have yet to have to repair anything that I have changed myself) so it all matches and looks nice. I like to use good quality components that aren't too expensive, and I mainly do it because I enjoy tinkering. Soldering is an inexpensive, easy and useful skill to learn.

I would imagine that the main gain would be not having to go to the hassle of doing it all yourself; getting all the parts and putting it all together. And if you're unsure of your own abilities then you have the reassurance that it is a job well done and you don't have to worry about it. To me, the fun is all in doing it for myself, but I've been wielding a soldering iron since I was 14 years old. As for the capacitors, basically, the higher the value the more treble you can roll off, so they shouldn't make a difference of you don't use the tone knob. Some people say that you can get different tones from different types, but I'm not so sure about that. I, personally, use the Orange Sprague types because they are easy to get, not badly priced and good quality. I get my parts from WD Music. They even do wiring kits that you put together yourself. If you don't need all the parts you can just look at what parts of the kit you do need and order separately. http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/wiring-kits-175-c.asp But this all depends on your confidence in your soldering ability. Edit: Found this, thought it might help: http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams.wiring_faqs/

Reading between the lines, it looks to me like they were beginners starting their first band and didn't want someone too far above their skill level.

I was going to suggest a second P, but I noticed you have one in your sig. So, while I have no experience of them, something I might consider would be a stacked Jazz with a coil tap for extra versatility.