KingBollock

Dunno. Just showing my support for the fabulous Peavey.

I have an old Peavey T-Max 500 going through an old Peavey 410TX. I love it. If I had to replace the T-Max I would try to replace it with another T-Max.

Gibson is in the news because of wood sourcing. There is a quote in the article: [quote] "The wood that goes into guitars is crucial to the tone of the instrument," says Laurence Juber, an acoustic guitarist who lined up with Sir Paul McCartney in Wings. "I can show you the difference in sound between Indian rosewood and Brazilian rosewood and ebony and maple." [/quote] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15268169 To be honest, I don't know enough about it, though from what I have read I am inclined to believe that it's mostly rubbish spread by elitists and people who stand to make money from it. Makes me glad that my next planned purchase is made, mostly, of man made materials, Luthite and Ebanol (though the neck is wood).

[quote name='Lysdexia' timestamp='1318462966' post='1402630'] They're doing it wrong. [/quote] Oh yes, that's the winner (loser?) for me. Without a shadow of a doubt.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1318358484' post='1401151'] some good (bad) efforts so far, but what about these monstrosities? [attachment=91111:strange_guitar_12.jpg] they're both at least a little bit bad, if not worse. [/quote] That one puts me in mind of the tanks full of bad clones in Alien Resurrection. Truly revolting.

Not quite but... When I was about 14 I joined my first proper band (they'd been going for years and were all much older than me), the lead guitar player taught me the intro to Megadeth's Peace Sells. I'd never heard it before and only had what he taught me to go on. I remember one day he said to me "You still play that wrong". I'd still never heard it and still played it the way he taught me! Obviously I've heard it since, but it wasn't until earlier this year that I actually got around to relearning it properly, 22 years later. For some reason when I'd tried to relearn it before I just couldn't get it to stick, I just always reverted to the way I was taught, it took some shaking out, even though it's not difficult.

I know nothing about them, though I'd like to. I was given one when I was a kid. It was the Boss's son's and he had originally offered it to me for a tenner. He brought it in to work and when he saw that I actually did play he gave it to me for free. I later sold it for £35. For £20 it would make a great starter or project Bass. It certainly wasn't anything special, as you'd expect, but there wasn't anything wrong with it either.

I have yet to start building my own pedal, in fact I intend to start in a couple of days. My wife is really into crafting, card making, that sort of thing, so for her birthday I bought her a CraftRobo Silhouette cutting machine ( http://www.graphtecgb.com/craftrobo/craftrobo-silhouette.html ). It's perfect for cutting stencils and vinyl decals for pedals... though she doesn't know that's why I was so enthusiastic about getting it for her... So if you know anyone really into crafting it might be worth asking if they have one, and if they don't.. encourage them to get one...

My first ever Bass, my Westone Raider I in the Silver/Grey finish. I adored that thing and it breaks my heart everytime I think about it. I sold it for £60 because we got into a bit of trouble, financially, through no fault of mine. I still miss the way it's hardcase smelled.

I had a Carlsboro Bass amp that was blowing fuses and it was the Bridge Rectifier. Obviously it's not necessarily the same problem for you, but if it is it's easily tested for and cheaply fixed.

[quote name='daz' post='1369945' date='Sep 11 2011, 10:18 PM']Id llove to see pics of your terrapins, but that link just takes me to my own pics? Im asumiung it would take me to the myspace front page if i didnt have a account there?[/quote] I hadn't spotted that. It looks like a generic photo album address for when you access it through your own home page. This should work: [url="http://www.myspace.com/kingbollock/photos/albums/animals/1953041"]http://www.myspace.com/kingbollock/photos/...animals/1953041[/url] They're not very good pics and only about 3 of them are of my Terrapins. They were taken a long time ago while we were still experimenting with filtration.

[b]Basses:[/b] Current: Cort T-35 Aria Pro II MAB 20/5 Westfield (I think it's called a Small Body, but it's not the same as the current Small Bodies) Past: Westone Raider 1 (It broke my heart to sell this, I still miss the way it's hardcase smelled) Satellite P [b]Amps:[/b] Current: Peavey T-Max 500 Behringer Bass V-Amp Pro Peavey TX 410 (Cab) No name 1x15 (Cab) Past: Laney Klipp Carlsboro Stingray 1960's Marshall 4x12 Future: The only thing I have planned is to buy a Cort Curbow 4 sometime next year. I tend to only buy cheap stuff, stuff that's not really worth selling on. So I haven't got through much in the last 24 years.

Thanks guys, that's a relief to know.

I've just done up an old Bass and decided to try flats for the first time. Only took 24 years to get around to it... I think I like them, I've only just put them on, but I'm surprised at how sticky they feel. I was expecting to be sliding all over the place, but it ain't happening. Is this something that will wear off? They're D'Addario Chromes. They're a lot brighter than I was expecting too. I remember when I was 15 and working in a Guitar shop. For cleaning the boss's tour bus I was told I could have a pack of strings. I decided to try flatties but the shop didn't stock them! I spent an hour going through all the single strings until I found an whole set, only to then notice that they were shortscale.. Oh well, I wonder how different my playing might have been if I'd have tried them back then.

[quote name='billyapple' post='1354918' date='Aug 29 2011, 02:03 AM']As an aside here. You fish with Ragworm? Years ago I would sea fish off the coast of Northumberland, using Ragworm that I dug up from the beach at low tide. I've heard this is now illegal. Is this true, and if so, where do you get yours?[/quote] All of the local tackle shops that do sea fishing stuff sell them, so I would imagine they're legal. I don't know if there's a technicality or a by-law banning their use though.

Yeah, I was under the impression that you shouldn't keep strings off a guitar/bass for long, even to the point where I restring one string at a time to keep the tension. Infact I recall being told by my old boss, when I worked in a guitar shop about a million (20 odd) years ago, that when standing a guitar against something, like a table, it's best to do it strings against the object to actually tighten them. Though I can't remember the exact reason for this and I don't know if this was a fad at the time or something. I've not explained what he meant very well, it's late and I can't think of words.

I knew a guy at school who had two thumbs on each hand. Imagine quadruple thumbing!

I once stepped in to do a rehearsal for a band whose Bass player couldn't make it. At the end they were rather impressed with my playing, which was nice, so much so that they said that they would sack their current player if I would join them, which wasn't so nice. I said no. Actually, thinking about it, that was the second time something similar happened. The first time though I knew the Bass player in question and offered to teach him to play the band's material instead.

The trouble is that I think about it too much, I need to trust my fingers and feelings. I've just put my Bass down after messing about until I did get a similar tone that I liked and while I don't know what scale I was messing about with, I got the notes I wanted. I can't afford lessons and theory doesn't seem to stick. But I only play on my own so it's not the end of the world.

That was great. The solo was beautiful. Lovely tone too. This is, sadly, where my knowledge of the Bass lets me down and I feel it. It doesn't normally bother me much, I just play and enjoy it. But I hear something like that and I don't know where to start to go about getting a tone like that or even the scales used. So hearing it made my heart swell but left me feeling sad...

[quote name='mentalextra' post='1342521' date='Aug 16 2011, 09:50 PM']I have only recently picked up a bass after a 35yr gap. When I was a teen and learning bass I had a pick that was made of plastic, thick with a sort of twist to it, not like the flat pick. Can you get anything like that now?[/quote] I've altered one of my thumb picks so that it has a twist in it. I remember when I was a kid I used to buy plastic picks with a twist in them called Speed Picks. I bought them because they were 20p each.. They were really small though. Haven't seen one in about 20 years. Just had a look and you can still get them, though they aren't exactly like they used to be. [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/3997-jim_dunlop_m10_speed_pick"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/39..._m10_speed_pick[/url]

[quote name='mentalextra' post='1342508' date='Aug 16 2011, 09:37 PM']On a five string banjo, what is the little string for that ends half way up the fretboard?[/quote] I think the way to describe it is as a drone string. It's the same gauge as the highest string but as it is 5 frets shorter it is 5 semi-tones higher. I think it's meant to get in the way and make me wish I'd bought a 4 string... Much like my Bass (I kid!) My Banjo is tuned g,D,G,B,D. If that helps.

[quote name='mentalextra' post='1342441' date='Aug 16 2011, 08:35 PM']Oh, OK. Other than a learning aid, any advantage where tone or playability is concerned. Looks like a half way between finger and plectrum?[/quote] Being metal they are very bright sounding. Also because it is attached to your thumb it frees up your fingers for variety.

I use one occasionally, along with two metal finger picks. I bought them to use with my Banjo but I use them in the same way on the Bass sometimes. I wish I could find a thumb pick that was metal, for moulding onto my thumb (plastic ones don't fit properly) but with a soft plastic pick part. I know American Banjo players use such a thing but it would be nice to find one over here so that I didn't have to order from America.

Depending on the species they can get very big and need a lot of room. And yes, they eat a lot too. Another thing about them that people don't realise is that they bloody stink! If you're keeping them indoors you need very, very good filtration and you need to keep on top of it else it will block up, often, and it only takes a short while before the water turns to muck. There's a liquid that you can buy that helps to neutralise the smell. Another thing is that they are quite nasty when it comes to food, keeping more than one in a single tank can be difficult as one will often bully the other and starve it to death. I feed them a special Terrapin pellet, frozen Bloodworm, occasionally live Crickets (left over from feeding my Tarantulas) and very occasionally live Ragworm (left over from Sea Fishing). They love live food and go mad for it, it's very cool watching them hunt for it. They also need special lighting. They need UV lighting else they will develop bone and shell problems. The UV light will need to be changed every 6 months or so as it's UV output will diminish. They also need a basking spot. Because I keep mine indoors the heat given off by the UV light is enough. I have three in a tank in my living room. I have three different species though. One will feed mostly from the surface, one mostly from the bottom and the other will go between. So I've found a way to keep more than one in relative peace. The top feeder is quite large and I will have to upgrade their tank in the next couple of years because of him. The other two are quite small species and won't grow more than 4 to 6 inches long. If you keep them in a pond you can't keep anything else in there with them, they will eat [i]everything[/i]. If you keep them in a tank there's not a lot you can do to make it look pretty, they destroy everything. I have gravel, heavy rocks and a large piece of driftwood in with mine, all things that they can't move or wreck. Some Zoos will take them in, I remember seeing one place that had hundreds of them in a lake. All of them had been abandoned by people that thought they would make good pets. You can see a couple of photos of my Terrapins here: [url="http://www.myspace.com/my/photos/album/1953041"]http://www.myspace.com/my/photos/album/1953041[/url] There's Mud Pie (the big one), Worf (the spiky one) and Knobneck. So, before considering taking them on, take what I've said into account. If you think you're up to taking them on then they can make great pets, I love mine to bits. They each have their own personalities and they're fascinating to watch.