stevebasshead

Good stuff, yes, glad it's working fine. A stereo two 2xmono cable in the other socket will unleash some fairly unique sound options Can be done with only one amp too, so long as it has an FX return which is post-EQ, and if you have a separate pre-amp pedal or EQ pedal. When I used an amp with an FX return on it I ran my neck pickup via selected FX into the normal amp input and the bridge pickup via other FX and a preamp pedal (for it's EQ) into the FX return. So I could EQ each pickup independantly. So distortion FX which otherwise lost the bottom end would be off one pickup with the bottom end retained via the other. Admittedly it's more faff than most people can be bothered with and there's other ways to achieve similar effects now, but I do still like it.

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='1245607' date='May 26 2011, 02:09 PM']I've got two outputs on my Ric-a-like, taken out of a Hondo. If I try and use them I only get signal from one, the other does nothing. I know nothing about Ric-o-sound, but had hoped it would send 2 signals, one from each pickup. It may be wired up wrong mind you...[/quote] That's how Ric does it too, the output socket nearest the bridge is mono and can have either neck, neck+bridge or bridge pickup depending on the selector switch position. The output socket nearest your knees is wired using a stereo socket but it's done so that the bridge pickup goes down one wire and the neck down the other, with a common earth. So dual channel rather than stereo is a better description. And to answer the OP, the official Ric box (now only 2nd hand) and all the clones that are on eBay are very simple splitters, nowt special about them. Parts cost from Maplins is probably about £10-£15, basically one stereo jack socket and two mono ones, a bit of wire and the box. But the simpler way is, as already mentioned, to ask OBBM to make you a stereo to 2xmono cable

Great news, I'm glad it's starting to work out for you. I hope your old singer finds something more suited to her too. It's good to be in a band...but it's [b]great[/b] to be in the [i]right[/i] band

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1227370' date='May 11 2011, 12:08 PM']It's like someone else said though, even if you've got a complete mastery of the instrument and - the really rare element - something actually interesting you're going to play, it would still sound better on another instrument. I think the exception is a bowed double bass. Pizz DB solos sound awful, they just demonstrate what a pig of an instrument it is, but bowed a quality instrument with a quality player sounds stunning.[/quote] Irrespective of instrument, I think you've answered your own question there. Someone with complete mastery [i]and[/i] something to say would surely choose an appropriate use of their chosen instrument to express it and avoid playing notes/in a style better suited to another instrument Sadly they are really rare elements, but, personally I'll happily put up with those who try and don't quite get it so long as the intention to "say something" is there. It's the ones who do it purely for the technique/showing off that are a huge turn off to me.

[quote name='SteveK' post='1226227' date='May 10 2011, 02:29 PM']Part of our job is to entertain. Another part (IMV) is to enlighten our audience - turning them on by what we have to say. If you feel you have something to say in a solo, then, say it. If you don't feel you have something to say, then don't. As in life though, many people have a lot to say without actually saying much. [/quote] This. Every single time. Very succinctly put

Reminds me of the story (think it was on BC ages ago) of a band in the dressing room of a working mens club, guitarist is quietly tuning up in the corner. Club chairman comes in and does his nut, saying to the guitarist "you've known about this gig for [i]6 months[/i] and you're only just tuning up [i]now?[/i]...

Without watching or listening to the video - I'd say ditch the music stand [b]but[/b] print the lyrics in a large font (one song per A4 sheet) and stick 'em on a floor monitor in front of your singer. That way the audience can't see them, they're available to your singer if she needs them but being as they're down low she won't want to use them unnecessarily. To do so she would have to break any eye contact she has with the audience, much more so than using a music stand which is approximately in line-of-sight with them. I suspect she'll naturally stop relying on them so much while her lyric-memory confidence improves, but in the early stages the comfort of knowing they're still available without the audience even knowing will be an ideal compromise.

[b]SPAMPEG!![/b][i][/i]

[quote name='SS73' post='1183306' date='Mar 31 2011, 01:42 PM']All 4001's after the transition in 73 lost the cutaway surround, when they got larger and thicker in all areas, the neck also was raised out of the body, check a pre 73 and see that the underside of the fretboard is on the level of the body and after they went up by about an 1/8'', so the cutout was not needed. For some reason the 4003's got the cut away back.[/quote] [quote name='4000' post='1183423' date='Mar 31 2011, 03:14 PM']I'm sure you're right, I can't remember. I've only got pre-73s to check, and haven't had a post '73 4001 for many years (and no longer intend to either as I prefer the others)......I know I was recently put off a transitional '73 for that very reason, which worked out very well in the end because along came my Azure. EDIT: I've just checked pics of my old '73 4000 and though it had the smaller contours it did indeed have a non-cutaway surround. FWIW I could get the action on that lower than any other bass I've ever had, including the boutiques. For a long time I played it with an action of 1mm at the 12th fret E.[/quote] My '74 had the non-cutaway surround when it arrived but either I'm way too heavy handed or it's proof that there's no guarantee of what to expect from any year of Ric manufacter as I couldn't get the action low enough without the strings clacking off the surround. So it now wears the cutaway surround from my now-horseshoe'd '02 4003 and is quite wonderful to play. Low action and a lovely slim neck front to rear, although probably nowhere near as slim as they can be. To the OP's question though, if you've found a brand new 4003 you love the feel and sound of, buy it You could wait a long, long, long time to find a 4001 that's both the colour you want (comparatively rare) and that feels as good to you to play.

Just to clarify about the roundwound/flatwound thing. 4001's were designed to be used with the predominant string [b]tension[/b] of the day, flatwounds back then being both predominant and relatively low tension. Roundwounds when they were introduced had a relatively higher tension, although nowadays there is no such easy-option distinction. So that, combined with luthiers and owners who didn't understand the method needed to adjust a 4001 neck brought about the myth that 4001's couldn't handle roundwounds and caused neck issues (typically the fingerboard separating from the neck.) In truth the issue wasn't the string type, simply the amount of tension the neck could take. That, of course varied from bass to bass as wood itself is variable. Bear in mind that Chris Squire's 4001 ('64 iirc) which has a ridiculously thin neck front to rear has handled roundwounds for decades

[quote name='dougal' post='1181998' date='Mar 30 2011, 11:22 AM']...#starts another 'sounds in the fingers' thread#[/quote] I've said it before and I'll say it again, the sound is NOT in the fingers. I stuck my fingers in my ears and I heard [b][i]nothing...[/i][/b] Lists are as subjective as Geddy's opinions. And mine. And yours. A 4001/4003 at #1? Great. And about time, by the law of averages ([i]and [/i] the aforementioned subjectivity) it just had to happen...eventually...

I've experimented with thickness far more than the type of material over the years and pretty much always gravitated towards thinner picks. I've never taken much notice of the material type, I just go by whether I like how it feels/responds. I don't know what guage it is but the thinnest I've used has been the red sharkfins which are ridiculously bendy! But they stiffen up nicely as you alter your grip (I'm sure there's a joke there...somewhere...) so they're quite, erm, flexible if you see what I'm getting at. For the last 6-8 months I've been really happy with the much thicker blue sharkfins which I hold in reverse and use the serrated edge...which probably makes me a bit odd!

[quote name='Jambo10' post='1171679' date='Mar 22 2011, 07:07 AM']...seen them in up and down the land and abroad, and even met my wife at wembley watching them....[/quote] Did she not tell you she was going? As a couple you really should communicate more.

I've just sold my Gator 2u case to Paul. Easy transaction, great comms and fast payment - top man! Thanks Regards, Steve.

The t-shirt trick only slows down the process, the gasses given off by the foam will still work their way through the material, only at a slower rate. That said, I suspect it would be years before any issues became apparent. I wonder if wrapping clingfilm around the foam before putting a t-shirt over it would be the ultimate answer?

[quote name='1976fenderhead' post='1067900' date='Dec 23 2010, 04:24 PM']Yeah I have a 350w SWR amp and I find it lacking often, wouldn't buy less than 500 today, unless if we're talking all valve of course... Analog watts, lol, they just invented a new kind of watts. Let's hope they mean RMS by the way [/quote] Nah, they've just stuck an unnecessary word in front. All watts are analog. If there was a digital watt it would have a value of 1 or 0. A watt or a not-a-watt...

I used Elixirs on all my basses for about 2-3 years, they always went furry in the most oft played areas. Sometimes it would take weeks, sometimes months before it appeared but never to the detriment of the sound. I suspect the coating is applied in layers and the furring is just the topmost layer coming off which is why the strings were still protected and the sound wasn't affected. Personally I found it mildly irritating because being so close to the strings I could see it all the time, but from any distance beyond a couple of feet away it's invisible. I wouldn't fret too much if I were you. Oh, look. A pun! And not a very good one. I'll get me coat(ing). Bugger, done it again.