KingBollock

I can do most of what needs doing, though a lack of confidence tends to make some of it more stressful than it meeds to be. But I haven't a clue when it comes to fret levelling or dressing; I don't even know when it is an issue, nevermind actually sorting it out. So I would like to be able to go to a pro to get it looked at and maybe get a whole set-up while it's there. But how well would a pro take me wanting to sit with them for a while to discuss the foibles of my Bass and what I want done exactly? I love the idea of a stainless steel nut as mentioned on that Edge site, but it's a bit pricey. Might have to have a look at cutting one myself one day. It would look ace along with the steel frets already on the Bass.

When doing Discos I always hated venues that put smoke alarms near to where we would be set up. Discos, for me, were [i]all[/i] about the lighting, there didn't seem much point if you couldn't have a smoke machine to show them off properly.

I always used to buy the cheapest that the shop had in, either Rotos or Ernie Balls. Last year I decided to try something more well thought of and had decided to try DRs, I hadn't decided exactly which ones. But then I started reading that the quality control of the latest stuff wasn't up to much so, as they're quite expensive, I changed my mind. I decided to try something completely different and bought some D'Addario Chromes 50-105. They have been an absolute revelation. They're currently on their second Bass, where they will be staying, and they sound exactly the same now as they did when new. I shall be installing them on all my Basses, eventually. One thing about the tension, while the G string is slightly harder to bend than other strings I have tried, I find the E A & D strings much easier to bend. Everything about them just seems more fluid. I do have some DR Pure Blues 11s on my Dean Cadillac and they're really nice.

[quote name='Dandelion' timestamp='1352067580' post='1858449'] I would love to be in a band which celebrates the anguish of being middle aged. Teenage angst has nothing on middle age misanthropy and shattered dreams. At least with teenage angst you have the option of "a future" With middle age, one has too look forward to increasing infirmity and morbidity. Sort of a black metal, thrash/punk fusion.. MMMMmmmm Where is my Darkthrone collection? [/quote] I would [i]so [/i]be up for that!

I don't play Jazz and I don't go to jam nights, but I looked at that list and thought that Owl & Whistle tune might well be worth learning... Doh!

Are you sure it was a Car Battery and not a [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_cycle_battery"]Leisure Battery[/url]? Need to get a Leisure Battery ourselves, for camping.

Ha! Going by that, I should be some kind of Bass playing savant.

I love the way he thinks anyone who uses a wammy bar must play heavy metal. Did anyone ever tell Hank Marvin?

My first proper cab was a 60s Marshall 4x12 that, my little 13 year old self could only lift about 6 inches off the floor. I "acquired" a heavy duty stock trolley from the local Co-op that was flat and only about 6 inches high, and had incredibly squeaky wheels. Every week, for band rehearsals, which, fortunately, were held in a youth club about 100 yards from our house, I would roll the cab, end over end, out of my bedroom, down the stairs, through the house and into the back garden where I kept the trolley. Then I would wheel it, wheels protesting at ear splitting volume, up to the youth club. Then do it all in reverse once rehearsals were over.

Our garage is quite large, with a footprint that could hold two estate cars. It's just breeze block wall, covered in pebble-dashing, and corrugated zinc roof. Over the winter it gets incredibly wet in there, not just damp, everything in there gets sopping wet. Go in there at night and look up and you can see huge drops of water hanging from the ceiling. There's a lot of stuff stored in boxes (so much stuff that we don't park the car in there because there isn't room) and we've had to cover everything in tarpaulins to keep it dry. I have no idea where it all comes from. One thing, though, is that it doesn't freeze, even though there's no heating (or lighting or electricity supply of any kind) in there. I wouldn't want to leave any gear in there.

last summer I had the owner of a Guitar shop tell me he had me pinned as a Bass player the moment I walked into his shop. I'm not sure how he knew what one looked like, though, he only had one Bass in the whole place. Still, made me smile.

Mr Tumnus! You are so right!

Makes me think of a baby food maker that got into trouble in an African country where, because most of the population can't read, they always put a picture of the contents of cans on the label. This food manufacturer had a picture of a baby on the label... Ah ha! I decided to look it up for more details and found it on Snopes! I had no idea how old the "story" was. [url="http://www.snopes.com/business/market/babyfood.asp"]http://www.snopes.co...et/babyfood.asp[/url] Always do your research!

I have the Behringer rack mount V-Amp Pro and one of their Xenyx 802 mixers. I like 'em both and had no problems with either. At some point I'm going to get one of their Ultragraph rack mount EQs too. So, yeah, a +1 from me.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1351525515' post='1852164'] Maybe she wants you to get out there and play! [/quote] That's pretty much the truth. I have erm... issues that make it difficult, but I am now set up so that if an opportunity were to arise I would at least be ready gear wise. She is a wonderful woman.

I have four Basses. I have a 5 string for standard tuning and a 4 string for Eb. I also have a second 5 string in standard and a second 4 string in Eb. Those second Basses are "back-up" Basses... I also have a full, 500W rig with a 4x10 and a 1x15, and a 500W PA rig... I haven't played live in over 18 years, infact not since before I met my wife... I mentioned to my wife that I'd kind of like to sell one of the back-up basses and she was actually disappointed.

A cheaper alternative to a second Bass, if you're really worried about it, would be a tool kit including a gas powered soldering iron and associated stuff and screwdrivers and allen keys. Maybe some spare parts like a jack socket, certainly carry spare fuses for your amp. And a lamp/head torch to work by. This means that if someone else in the band has some kind of failure, you might be able to help them too.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1351373261' post='1850688'] Don't worry about that. I've had many guitarists try to tell me how parts go. I'm sure their ears are different. Their fingers definitely are which is evident when you hear them trying to play bass. [/quote] He's a music teacher that also teaches Guitar and Bass! Though he wasn't at the time, he was a luthier putting himself through music college back then. I think I've got that right, the rest of the band were 18+ (I think the singer was in his 30s) whereas I was only 13, so I didn't hang around with them socially.

In my first proper band (back in 1988) we played Megadeth's Peace Sells...But Who's Buying. I'd never heard it before and the lead Guitarist came 'round to my house to teach it to me, along with the rest of the set. So, I'd been playing it for a couple of months every week at rehearsal when one day the Guitarist says "You still play that wrong" (meaning the intro), I'd been playing it the exact same why he taught me to play it! Anyway, after the demise of that band I finally got the album that it's on, but the whole album is played a quarter step tuned down, so it never sounded right playing along to it. It wasn't until [i]last year[/i] that I finally got around to learning it properly.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1351207974' post='1848866'] Old bearded guy ( clutching a dodgy guitar) goes into a 2nd hand bookshop..."Do you have Guitar Restoration by Mark D Phillips"? [/quote] Bookshop owner hands him a hacksaw, some Beeswax and a sack of cow dung.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1351202601' post='1848783'] [color=#000000][font=Arial][size=1]"the most perfect example of a Satellite Les Paul that I have ever seen outside of a wall hung collection!"[/size][/font][/color] [font=Arial][size=4][color=#000000]Ah yes, all those wall hung collections of Satellite guitars.........[/color][/size][/font] [/quote] They'd be the ones with an inch thick coating of dust in the back storerooms of every Cash Converters.

[quote name='harleyheath' timestamp='1351096306' post='1847320'] Lmao! Well at least it won't ever rot!! [/quote] I know someone who used Creosote on his bedroom furniture. It made his whole house stink of it and he completely refused to admit that he'd done anything wrong. Hmmm, I wonder if that's what made him go nuts and attack his wife and kids (and my brother) with a sword?

I've found some Creosote in the shed... I wonder...

I had never oiled my fretboards before, just a bit of furniture polish when I changed the strings, which is incredibly rarely (I'm talking years in between new sets). The only reason I thought of it was because I watched a Guitar repair video where the bloke used Linseed Oil on the fretboard before he refitted the strings, then, while rummaging around under my desk amongst my paint stuff, I found a bottle of Linseed Stand Oil and wondered if it would be any good. Yesterday I decided to give it a go on an old Guitar that has a very dry fretboard, this thing has been through the wars, including spending several years in bits in a box. The Stand Oil has made it come up lovely. I don't think I'll bother with my other Guitars and Basses because they don't need it, but it worked on this one.

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1351004611' post='1846088'] There was a biggie thread on talkbass about this. in a nutshell, lthe concensus was: lemon oil - scented mineral oil that cleans well but will dry your rosewood out after time. I found this to be true (Dunlop) [b]BOILED linseed oil - Roger Sadowsky himself chimed in and said this is what he uses on all his basses, he's never found better. I also found this to be true.[/b] Linseed oil - leave well alone, only good for cricket bats! Hope this helps. [/quote] Looking on Wikipedia, Boiled Linseed Oil is also called Stand Oil, which is what I have and what prompted me to start the thread. Are you saying that it will work then?