KingBollock

I think doing a good set up requires a delicate balance, an understanding of how each adjustment affects the others. It is something that comes with experience and each set up can take quite a while to get just right when first learning. How often is someone with say only one Bass going to need to set it up? To gain the experience to get it right and to know that it is right? And then there are things like fret levelling that even people experienced at doing set ups won't touch, how does someone just learning know if the reason they can't quite get the set up right is because there is a problem with the frets? Sometimes it is worth paying just for the reassurance. I do my own set ups, I can't afford to pay anyone else. I do my own nuts and neck shims, too. But I don't do frets. And even though I have been doing set ups for a long time (I learned while working in a guitar shop twenty odd years ago) I still get anxious when I have to adjust a truss rod, because if I can't afford to pay someone else to do it, I sure can't afford to repair it if I cock it up, as unlikely as that really is.

I will have to repeat the play near the neck advice. I would add using a thicker pick with a good taper and play softly will help, too, it's how I do it. I use a 3mm Big Stubby (nylon), I find it gives me greater control over my sound, and greater variation, than a flat pick.

Yay! A medical thread that I can fully support! (You have no idea how much I hate always being the guy poo pooing stuff.) There are TV channels that show Pilates classes. I can't remember the names of the channels, we get them on our Sky box, we certainly don't pay extra for them. They're a good way to see what it's about.

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1380811907' post='2230941'] Impressive, I gave this a quick whirl the other day, and it's not easy is it? Might suit only certain styles and basslines, but I'm impressed none the less [/quote] Too be honest, if it was difficult for me I probably wouldn't bother! But I may have a bit of an advantage in that I had cracked out my Banjo a couple of days before so I had that kind of finger picking in my head. I use a similar technique for slapping, too, but I curl the pick up in my index finger and use my middle finger for popping, I actually find it easier that way as opposed to popping with my index finger with no pick. Having said that, I'm bloomin' rubbish at slapping either way I do it. As I said, I have a soft picking technique anyway, I think that might be quite a large advantage, too.

Not the Bass itself but I remember while working in a guitar shop a bloke coming in threatening to sue the shop owner because, while trying to fit strings to his Bass for the first time and fitting the E string, he over shot by an octave, the string snapped and went right through his cheek.

I can't stand that shape, I think it's vile. The colour isn't my favourite, either. However, putting the two together makes it better than the sum of its parts. They suit each other so much that the whole thing actually looks quite nice.

It was a political party club in Bedworth. I can't remember which one and I don't want to guess because one of the others was one of my favourite venues to play. To get the gear into this place you had to go up a narrow, very rickety and slippy, external staircase. The stage was in a very odd position. It was quite a long and narrow room but had a wall sticking half way out across the middle of it, cutting the room in half. The stage was built across one of the corners made by the bisecting wall. So the stage was tiny and you could only play to one half of the room and the dance floor was behind you.

I know you said you've got one but I wanted to give my voice to the Digitech Bass Driver. It's a cracking bit of kit and very versatile. I'd love an Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive to go with it. One has just gone for £36 on EBay.

Annoyingly, after spending a long time getting them just right, well sort of, I have gone and lost my finger and thumb picks for my Banjo. The trouble is that I haven't picked the damn thing up in almost a year and the pick set doesn't fit in my pick tin, so they've wondered off. This gives me an opportunity. I was never particularly happy with the thumb pick. What I really wanted was one with metal clasps but a plastic pick part. The only place I could find that did one I liked the look of was in Scarborough but I can't find them now and can't remember their name. There are some knocking about by ProPik but the clasps look a bit weedy and the parts don't look too well put together. I don't like picks with plastic clasps, they never fit me. Does anyone know of anywhere that might sell a robust metal and plastic thumb pick in the UK? I would rather not have to import from the US.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1380393073' post='2224749'] Actually for a "relic" I quite like that. IMO the whole body should be encapsulated in a clear coat to give it a nice smooth feel. [/quote] I was thinking that. It just looks a bit like a crackle finish.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1380364064' post='2224262'] I'm trying to workout whether its just 2 pickguards cutout , rather than a paint job. If so, it should be inexpensive to DIY . Forgot about the trimmings and west ham badge . [/quote] The pick guard is just one mirrored one I think.

I absolutely adore Wasp and Blackie is in my top three favourite vocalists. I wish they'd remix Electric Circus, though, I think it's a cracking album but the sound quality really lets it down. The trouble is that I can't stand Blackie, he's nasty piece of work, and after he renounced their earlier stuff and said that he'll never play them live again, I refuse to go see them live ever again, especially as their first album is my favourite. Fortunately I don't let that stuff stop me enjoying the music, otherwise there'd be a ton of stuff I couldn't listen to.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1380190205' post='2221996'] I tried the bass with a different cable and that's complicated the picture. With the old cable, I was getting a lot of popping noises and the occasional cut-out. With the new cable, there's hardly any of this, although I get some crackling if I jiggle the jack in the socket. Old cable has a straight jack, new one has a right-angled one. No problems with either cable with any of my other basses. I'm going to have a look under the scratchplate to see if I can spot any problems. Might as well replace the old jack socket I suppose. Watch this space. I have Manchester's Fire Service phone number handy. Oh, hang on - I think they're on strike. [/quote] You might find you just need to squeeze the parts that touch the plug a bit. I wonder if the second lead has a slightly thicker plug? I think that might explain the problems you're having.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1380114596' post='2220983'] Good god! I haven't heard the Macc Lads for about 20 odd years!! Saw them live a couple of times. One gig the air was so thick with weed the entire crowd must have been stoned! [/quote] I still listen to them quite regularly. I only got to see them the once. Winter of 1994, right towards the end. The air there was thick with spit, it was absolutely vile, I stood at the back. The floor in the Wulfrun Hall is very hard and the band were two hours late coming on, I got my first ever case of piles. The Macc Lads gave me piles, I'll always have that to remember them by...

Thanks guys, my curiosity is now soothed.

I hate to put this here but it's been bugging me for years. I don't know if you know about the Macc Lads, they were rather vulgar and rude, and used very naughty words, so if you don't like that kind of stuff please don't press play. http://youtu.be/dvVtSFm_-_o What Bass is Mutley playing?

The usual recommendation is 25w. Any less and it's supposed to damage delicate stuff because you have to hold it in place for longer. But I've been using the same 18w Antex since I was in college, where I did electronics, over 20 years ago, and it's always been good for me. Definitely get a stand with a sponge, being able to clean the tip while it's hot will help it last longer. And as has been said, the old 60/40 tin/lead solder is the way to go. If you end up wanting to do more soldering, having different iron tips and different thicknesses of solder to match the job, will help a lot. A set of helping hands is fairly essencial, though for heavier/ thicker pieces I use a miniature, 1", vise.

[quote name='spud19870' timestamp='1379261811' post='2210517'] Hi everyone, I am looking at maybe purchasing a new bass. I have looked at the usual suspects (fender and gibson) and thought about ESP. Has anyone owned or currently own one? These are the 4 I have looked at; [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-ec-414-fm-see-thru-black/23270"]http://www.gak.co.uk...hru-black/23270[/url] [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-surveyor-4-blk-black-rosewood/58945"]http://www.gak.co.uk...-rosewood/58945[/url] [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-f-414-fm-stblk-see-thru-black/23299"]http://www.gak.co.uk...hru-black/23299[/url] [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/esp-ltd-viper-414-blk-black/23322"]http://www.gak.co.uk...blk-black/23322[/url] Also while I remember, what do people make of the Fender Deluxe Active Jazz Basses? I am running an SVT3 Head and 410HLF Cab and play hard rock in my band Any help/opinions will be appreciated [/quote] That first one is gorgeous and I've been gassing for one for years. Never played one, though.

Or you could do both at the same time... I was recently playing a tune that required the root and octave to be played at the same time. Actually root, then root and octave. I am very much a pick player. While holding the pick between thumb and forefinger, I down stroked the root and then on the upstroke I plucked the octave with my middle finger at the same time and it worked a treat. I use a very thick pick and tend to play quite softly, so there wasn't even much, obvious, difference in sound. I was well chuffed. After messing around with that style for a while I found it incredibly useful with many possibilities. I also started including my ring finger for playing stuff like (please excuse my current inability to work out the intervals, or whatever you call 'em...) 4th string 12th fret, 2nd string 14th fret and 1st string 13th fret (I really do know the name for this, I'm sure of it, but it just won't come). I basically used the pick instead of my thumb, and it allowed me to play everything else without having to retrieve my pick from my gob. Dead handy.

The only thing I have bought because of BassChat, that I otherwise wouldn't have, is a 4x10 cab. I had always been a 15" kind of guy (not bragging or anything...) and wasn't even really aware of 4x10s, it had always been 15s or 12s in my mind. So I ended up buying a Peavey tx410 off eBay, from a local seller, for £40. Glad I did, too.

I adore the Dr Feelgood album and still listen to it now and then, but I have never been able to get into any of their other stuff. I guess it was just that it was the first album of theirs that I heard, it was massively popular in the guitar shop I was working in at the time.

Start with a kitchen scouring pad, the green stuff, and if that isn't enough try increasingly courser grades of wire wool, before resorting to wet and dry glasspaper.

I'd give each pickup it's own volume and tone knob. That would seem to be the most versatile choice that gets you your four pots. Edit: Am I right in thinking those pickups can be coil tapped? If they can I'd use push pull pots for the tone knobs and use them for tapping the coils. I did this in my Dean Cadillac (sorry it's not a bass) and it's the best, most versatile/useful, mod I've ever done.

Until I joined a proper band I spent the first year either making stuff up or playing blues patterns from a book I had. Once I joined a band I had to learn a few songs, obviously, but the first would be either Metallica - Seek & Destroy, Megadeth - Peace Sells or a song by Zodiac Mindwarp that I don't think I ever learned the name of. Oh! Or it could have been Dressed in White by King Diamond. Gah! I can't remember for sure, one of those. The trouble was that they didn't play any songs that I had ever even heard before. Those first couple of weeks were tricky, while trying to keep them impressed enough to keep me as they were all 18+ and I was only 13.

[quote name='sunhound' timestamp='1378300005' post='2198318'] Just been listening to the originally titled 'Heavy metal music' by Newstead, but do like the witching hour thing above [/quote] I absolutely adore The Vision Bleak. They're like an aural version of a Hammer House of Horror film.