pete.young

[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1446333848' post='2898700'] Have just retired after 30 years interviewing musicians [/quote]I am looking forward to reading your book when it comes out.

Greene King? Say no more. I love beer, but if they were the only brewery in the world I'd be teetotal.

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1445964187' post='2895758'] OK, well the well cut and set up nut still stands, no? To be fair when I said "cheaper bass", I mean really cheap, an inexpensive instrument without branded hardware from Schaller, Hipshot etcs. [/quote] My cheap, inexpensive mtd Kingston, which doesn't have branded hardware and for which I paid 400 quid second hand on this very forum, has a more tightly defined sound from the B than many more expensive bases including (just) my own Yamaha Bbne2, so go figure. It does have a 35”scale. Seems to me that you need to make individual judgements on a per instrument basis rather than worrying about spurious comments about hardware or original retail price.

Maybe 'Sing It Back' and 'The Time Is Now' , Moloko. Just about within your time period.

Evanescence.

Spray a couple of coats of clear lacquer over it.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1445715913' post='2893729'] Aye. This is how things are with us people. I do it all the time myself. It was just that I simply couldn't resist pulling yer leg a little. [/quote] in fairness, the search function on this forum sucks watermelons through elephants. I find I get much better results using Google and site:basschat.co.UK as a search term.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1445330839' post='2890544'] My Hifi cabs always use MDF for example but my preference is for 3/4 ply as a good compromise for stage gear. [/quote] That's triggered an odd memory - I'm sure I read somewhere about some cabs that used MDF for the front panel and ply for everything else, but I'm damned if I can remember where I read it.

Colin Hodgkinson and Tony Hicks.

What are the dimensions of the failed pickup? I might have something that would serve.

Try a local search for car paint match. There are two places in Ipswich which do it, Movac and Cars-Paints. First one claims trade only but the second one has a web site and might be able to supply you.

You can do 1 and 2 with all three pedals. B3 allows you up to 3 effects in a patch, MS60B allows 4, B1ON allows 5.

It's all relative. Bass is by no means the heaviest instrument. For example, my tenor banjo is 12 Kg.

Another happy Smoothhound user here.

The best advice on compression I've seen is 51m0n's wiki posting, which is currently not available due to the continued inability or unwillingness of the site owners to fix the wiki. Compression is very hit and miss without monitoring. It might work for you, and then again it might not, there doesn't seem to be a lot of science behind it. I've tried Demeter, EBS and Tech 21 and have settled for now on the MXR bass compressor, which does at least have some rudimentary monitoring. You're probably looking for short attack, 4-8Db compression, soft knee, as long a release as your playing can stand. It always varies though, dependent on the bass you're using, room dynamics, so needs to be set up for every location. I agree with ProfFrink that it's not a fix for gain issues, but there are some pedals which seem a lot happier with a more consistent and tightly defined signal, the Markbass Synth being one example. That plus your playing needs to be super clean or weird sh*t happens.

Lead? How last-century.

Something like a zoom MS60B or B1ON would allow you to try out a lot of different effects and decide which ones you like, for not very much outlay.

How about a Tandy/Realistic PZM clone? Can't get them new any more but they pop up on eBay from time to time.

Some time ago now there was a Shuker 8-string for sale on this forum. Can't remember if it was a custom build or whether Shuker converted it, but it had 4 banjo-type tuners through the headstock to take the octave strings and I can't remember what kind of bridge it had.

You might find a Korg X5 within your budget or an X5D for a little more. Another alternative would be a midi keyboard plus a sound module like the Korg X5DR. Our keyboard player uses one of these as a second top keyboard, it certainly does all the basic piano and strings sounds very well, and provides a lot of other stuff too.

I have an MTD Kingston which supposedly uses the Buzz Feiten system; but it doesn't have a shelf nut (it has a zero fret) and since the bridge has now been adjusted as part of a string change and setup, it seems to me that its remaining benefits are spurious at best!

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/rock_legend_s_favourite_guitar_among_charity_auction_items_1_4244424 [i]"The sale’s showpiece item, however, is a Warwick Thumb bass guitar thought to be worth at least £80,000 – and possibly even as much as £100,000.[/i] [i]Described as Bruce’s favourite bass, it was played at the band’s induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, on the recording of his last album, Silver Rails, on tour with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, and at the Cream reunion concerts in 2005."[/i]