KingBollock

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1376269186' post='2171609'] But surely a 3mm pick doesn't flex? Or does it? What I like about .50mm picks is the flexibility. [/quote] No, they don't. But the shape of the tip makes up for it. It makes them very versatile, from thumping along, with an almost finger style sound, to very, very fast to very delicate but without that scratchy sound you can get from a stiff, thinner pick that doesn't have a graduated tip. It's because you can hit the string with a thickness from almost zero to 3mm and anywhere inbetween.

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1376258524' post='2171533'] which (along with a twisted picking hand) is precisely why I use a pick instead of fingers 99% of the time. I always have, and while I do try to use fingers at times (with a sort of claw picking thumb & first two finger thing) moreoften than not I switch back because I have been using a pick so long I am just more fluent with it. Neither is right or wrong, but for me the pick is easier, so ... 3 mm Dunlop Big Stubbies for me, though I did pick up some Primetones at LBGS13 and really like the slightly softer tone they give. [/quote] Those Primetones look very interesting, I shall have to give them a try. I used the normal, lexan, 3mm Big Stubbies for many years, but I switched to the nylon version last year. The main thing I like about them over the lexan is that they last longer.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1376251602' post='2171389'] How true. I use a pick exclusively. I just can't get the same level of accuracy, speed, control and dynamics playing fingerstyle. [/quote] Me too. I had only been playing for a year when I started playing with a pick. I did it mostly out of necessity from injury, I was a 13 year old lad and teaching myself to solder... Unfortunately, all these years later, I struggle a bit with traditional finger style on anything that isn't slow, which is a shame. So when I do choose to use my fingers I play it as I do a Banjo, I'm a lot quicker that way. If I had one piece of advice for people starting to use a pick, it would be: Don't forget how to use your fingers!

I'm not a big vinyl fan, so don't have much and what I do have is mostly Motörhead. So I'm going to have to go for Motorhead's No Remorse with the leather sleeve, which I have on my wall, next to a 10" St Valentine's Day Massacre (I have the 7, 10 and 12 inch versions of that). My Motörhead Bomber album with the blue vinyl is pretty cool, too, and I'm quite fond of my white vinyl Iron Fist single. I don't think coloured vinyl is cool anymore, is it?

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1372771709' post='2129709'] I saw them a couple of times. Most memorable gig was them supporting Godflesh at the General Wolfe. [/quote] I don't suppose you remember a Coventry band called Sunset Rose? They were very different to Dirtbox, being more Hair Metal. I used to work with their guitarist and got on well with the rest of the band, yet I can't remember any of their surnames and I would love to see if I could find out what happened to them, especially the guitarist, Graham, he was incredibly talented.

Make sure you haven't actually paid for both first. I bet they wouldn't tell you if you had...

This is the stuff I use for silver coloured stuff, such as silver, steel, aluminium and chrome. You can also get it in a liquid without the wadding. You do have to be careful with it else it can make a horrible mess that's difficult to remove, especially from hands. I use latex gloves when I use it.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1373911582' post='2143057'] Is there a way to calibrate the calipers? Seems like the base setting is off, as the readings are consistent. Like you would on scales, for instance, to make sure they read 0.00 before anything is placed on them. [/quote] Yup, there's a zero button. You can zero it at any point along its length, but before I take each measurement I close the callipers fully and press the zero button to bring it to a flat zero.

I have only bought one bass that required being sent through the post. It came with random pieces of cardboard and a couple of bin bags parcel taped to it, which didn't manage to cover the whole thing. Fortunately it came in one of those huge Warwick coffin cases and was undamaged. The delivery bloke tried to get me to sign for it before he brought it out of the van. I asked him if I could look at it first. He gave me a sad, withered look, slunk his shoulders and went to get it. I think he was surprised that I signed for it.

A micrometer is a bit of a one trick pony, whereas the callipers can do four different measurements. Because of that and that the callipers can measure a larger range, I'd go with the callipers. Gawd, I sound like a bloomin' calliper salesman!

[quote name='stu_g' timestamp='1373744797' post='2141248'] i got some wire wool from the poundshop works a treat,i normally clean mine up and if its rosewood use linseed oil on the fretboard its revived a few of my basses [/quote] I have had good results with stand oil, which is linseed oil that has been boiled, it is thicker than normal linseed oil. I only tried it because it's what I had, it is used in oil painting. I had a guitar with such a dry fretboard I wouldn't want to wear nylon near it incase a spark set it on fire... The stand oil brought it right back to life.

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1373728055' post='2141031'] I like to be self sufficient! Well, truth is I did ask the person. They told me. I forget. Don't want to ask again. Because that would prove I'm an idiot. :-) CB [/quote] Ah, pride comes before a desperate thread... Asking again would be the cheapest solution.

That reminds me of a cigarette dispenser we had in the guitar shop I worked in when I was a kid. It didn't actually work, though, it just crushed them because they never fell into the correct position properly.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1373708540' post='2140754'] Go to a jewellers & buy a silver polishing cloth. They are impregnated with polish, they're totally non-messy & they bring frets up lovely & shiny. [/quote] The stuff I use for polishing silver looks like loft insulation that is impregnated with polish. But it is far, far from non messy. I always wear latex gloves when I use it else it stains your fingers, and everything else it touches, black. I suspect the black crap comes from the tarnished silver, rather than the polish. It is fantastic stuff, though, and well worth the fuss.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1373682293' post='2140606'] I used them this week - I had recently got a bass and needed to know what the gauge was, as they seemed to go well but were too short (yes, too short). They were spot on 105 85 65 45. These are using verniers that I bought from maplin for £8 a few weeks ago [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/100mm-digital-vernier-calliper-219149"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/100mm-digital-vernier-calliper-219149[/url] [/quote] Oh, now I am very annoyed! I knew Maplins sold them, I had had my eye on them for months, I was just waiting for my birthday to find the excuse to buy them. They had also been on sale for £10 for all of that time. A few weeks before my birthday they suddenly stopped selling them, the only ones they had were brass, non-digital ones, that were no good to me. And now they sell them again. And they even sell the exact ones that I ended up buying. Their presale price is £5 cheaper than what I paid and they're on sale with another £2 knocked off! http://www.maplin.co.uk/electronic-digital-calliper-32198 I got mine for £20 from Machine Mart.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1373648225' post='2140245'] Some people read my explanatory post, some didn't. I'm tired of having to keep explaining that it was ironic, I thought we specialised in irony here in the UK. After all, I keep hearing British people saying Americans don't 'get' irony, seems we don't either, most people probably think it means having a sh*t and finding the toilet paper's run out. [/quote] Don't go giving Alanis Morissette ideas for another bloomin' song!

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1373578971' post='2139377'] Totally with you on this. In that other thread there seemed to be a lack of understanding about how one can make jokes within the context of shared knowledge about our history. Similarly, when a new female member introduced herself recently, someone (was that you?) made a lovely joke about her choosing to have a bass rig for ... wait for it ... the kitchen! [b]That and similar jokes are NOT sexist. It's a recognition of our sad past. It's funny too.[/b] As to the reasoning skills, the worrying part is that you seem to still doubt sometimes. Some people on every forum in the world are so thick that they don't even recognise superior minds when they see them. BC can't be an exception, and it isn't. Nice folks though. People here are (Generally) lovely! best, bert [/quote] Unfortunately the problems occur because it is still very much the present for some people. I would imagine that for the people on this forum it is very much in the past, but some people are more sensitive to it because they can see sexism still going on and making peoples' lives a misery. We can't make jokes about racism yet, because it is still very much a horrible fact of life for some people. I'm not sure that making sexist jokes should automatically be allowed because it is something that doesn't happen anymore, even if it didn't, is it right to make jokes about slavery? I'm no prude and my sense of humour is very skewiff to my moral outlook, I'm a Macc Lads fan... But I am never surprised if someone doesn't like that kind of humour, and I would be very careful about where I made such jokes. Maybe you're right and we should be able to make such jokes at will, but we're not as far along as you might think we are. This isn't meant as a criticism, more a possible view from the other side.

What a perfect opportunity for someone who has never tried them, but would like to. I switched to flats a couple of years ago, specifically Chromes, and I adore them. I wish I had tried them 20 years ago.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1373487721' post='2138268'] It's only the end of your world if you let it be. My grandfather lost both his legs above the knee as a recently married '20 something'. Never stopped him from getting the most out of his life for another 60+ years. [/quote] My legs are the best part of me, I wish the rest of my body was in as good a condition as my legs, but, and I know this is easy to say, I think I could cope with losing my legs. Not my arms, though. People say you would cope, because you have to, but those people aren't like me, they don't consider suicide a viable option. And I think that's what I'd prefer. In this day and age you don't need legs to see the world, but to not be able to pick up a book and turn its pages... Or scratch an itch...

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1373452789' post='2137689'] Sounds like you're the one who needs to go and buy a Stingray first thing tomorrow morning! [/quote] Yuck, no thankyou!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1373479494' post='2138153'] 30p/watt [/quote] Same here. But that was secondhand, I have no idea what it would have been new.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1373463019' post='2137862'] To echo what Nigel has said , I too have noticed that if you take any half- presentable looking woman and put a bass ( or indeed any other musical instrument ) in her hands she is inevitably the target of Benny Hill - like attention from male Basschatters . I am all for people saying what they really feel , but why is it that women in music cause men to react in this way ? Do they see an attractive woman in the supermarket and think to themselves "if only she had a Fender Precision in her hands I'd give her a seeing to she'd never forget " ? Surely most men, even musicians ( even drummers ) , could develop a sexual fantasy around something more imaginitive that than their partner sharing the same hobby ? Do men who enjoy doing DIY fantasize about women who know how to do a bit of grouting and who clean out their own guttering at the weekend ? When I made this point in a ( hopefully ) humourous way in another thread recently I was , bizzarely enough , accused of gross sexism , racism and castigated by all and sundry . I have very serious doubts sometimes about the reasoning skills of some members on this site . Or maybe it's me . [/quote] I actually find the ability to wield a hammer, drill or welding torch quite sexy in women. I also like physically strong women. For some reason this scares some men.

[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1373387795' post='2137013'] If you measured 'on the bass' won't they be elongated and therefore thinner? [/quote] Possibly. Argh! Too many variables!

I've been thinking about this. If I had either my index or middle fingers plus my thumbs, I'd be ok. I play with a pick anyway, so that wouldn't change. I think I would get me a fretless, I feel like the freedom it would allow would help. And I'd probably start playing hippy, whale type music instead of metal. I like meditative music anyway and listen to it a lot, if I had a keyboard I'd probably be recording that kind of stuff now, with all my fingers.

My main bass has a neck through design but it created more problems than it was worth, due to poor design. I could really have done with a way to shim it. It's also a shape that is prone to getting bits snapped off, so that's a worry, too. Though I suppose of that were to happen I could route out a neck pocket in the body and replace it with a bolt on, or if there isn't enough body at that point I could glue one in.