spinynorman

[quote name='joe_bass' post='387228' date='Jan 21 2009, 10:11 AM']I don't get why he does it, browsing recent pages of his feedback shows no one is stupid enough to pay what he's asking & yet he still lists these things. I understand about raising price expectations but it must be costing him money to constantly list the items.[/quote] My guess is it's cheap advertising for his parts business. And every bass forum on the planet gives him free publicity.

I guess it's all a matter of taste and what sort of band you play in. I didn't get on with the Tone Pump in my Rebop 5 and an OBP1 didn't help much either. So now I've got it wired passive, with La Bella flats on it. I think it sounds great, but I'm expecting to be frog-marched out of the Spector club any minute now.

The e-Petitions site is an experiment in public consultation set up by the Prime Minister's office in 2006. The government does respond to every petition completed, usually with a "yes, but ..." email, but there is no commitment to take them into account in formulating policy. There is also no way of bringing an e-petition formally to the notice of Parliament, unlike a paper petition, which can be presented to the House by an MP during an adjournment debate. Even so, experienced campaigning groups much prefer to get supporters to write to ministers and/or their MP, as that requires the MP to make a personal response and generally gets more notice. In 2007 there was an investigation by the Commons Procedure Select Committee which concluded that an e-petition sponsored by an MP should have the same status as a paper petition, but that doesn't seem to have got any further. So, regardless of how serious the level meter issue actually is, signing the e-petition is, at best, a waste of time. You'll be in [url="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/19/red_arrows_petition/"]good company[/url], too. If there's something you're really concerned about, write to your MP or the relevant minister.

I had a black Elitist EB3 for a couple of years. I got it from an eBay shop in the US as a factory second and it cost me about $650. As has been said, they were discontinued about a year ago, as Gibson continued its policy of treating bass players with contempt they deserve. As far as I know they were never sold in the UK, though I did see one, I think, on sale in a shop in Germany. Differences from a Korean EB3, much of which has been covered: short scale, set neck, dot position markers, 4-position Varitone switch, Gibson US pickups - though, I'm told, the neck pickup is somewhat watered down from the original "mudbucker". It was very well made, although not well set up when I got it. The 3-point bridge is a steep learning curve, but does the job if you keep the front higher than the back (otherwise the posts pull out). It was fun to play for a while and we did a lot of Cream and Free in those days, so I could indulge my Jack Bruce and Andy Frazer fantasies. In the end I found swapping between long and short scale difficult and the neck dive got to me. Maybe you could do something about that if you found lighter tuners that would fit. Also, and this is a positive or a negative, depending on your point of view: guitarists and sound ops hated it. It really doesn't like to sit back and let a guitar take all the glory. I sold it in Feb 2007 for £450, which surprised me for a 2nd, but there was a lot of interest. They are difficult to find, though I've sometimes seen an Epi Japan EB3 sold out of one of the eBay.jp shops and they're the same thing. Japan or the US will be your best bet to find one. That bashed Greco has been hanging around for months, and the shipping cost doesn't help make it more attractive. For look and feel, Greco, Burny, even an 80s MIJ Tokai, would do the job, but I gather they don't sound much like a Gibson.

The reason old Fenders have tug bars below the strings, rather than thumb rests above was exactly so you could easily use your thumb to play. So think of it as going back to the roots.

It is of course possible that someone there reads Basschat, or even stumbled on this thread checking how the band ranks on Google. It can be dangerous to discuss your plans too specifically in an open forum. It's also possible they are just taking a long time to sort out the applicants. Do you even know when they plan to hold the auditions? That would have been a good question to ask when you had someone on the phone, as then you'd know whether you need to panic. However, you don't sound like the type to take no for an answer, so I'd stay quiet about it on here and keep phoning. When you get through, sound calm and professional, ask what the audition dates are, try and find out if you're in the running and if there's anything you can do to increase your chances. Be enthusiastic, but not too eager. See where that gets you, at least you should then know more where you stand.

Here's an experiment you can try at home. [url="http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables"]http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hang...-monster-cables[/url]

I had one. I put a DiMarzio P/J set in it, and they sounded great.

I shipped one a few months ago for £78. I thought that was outrageous. Have you tried www.interparcel.com?

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='357820' date='Dec 18 2008, 12:40 PM']No word strikes more fear into me on eBay than 'custom'[/quote] Normally I'd agree. It's just all that retro chrome against the blue .... No, you're right. The "reinforcing strip" in the neck sounds ominous.

I think this would look really great with a pair of Kent Armstrong split tube chrome pickups instead of the black Jazz ones. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180313883036&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=008"]tele bass[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kent-Armstrong-SPLIT-TUBE-JAZZ-BASS-PICKUP-CHROME-REAR_W0QQitemZ150297552597QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item150297552597&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]Pickups[/url] Can't decide if it's worth the risk, though. If it plays like a dog, the parts might still be worth something.

[quote name='seymourfluid' post='352719' date='Dec 12 2008, 02:16 PM']I don't understand why anyone would want a rack tuner. If you are putting on a show, the last thing you want to do is turn your back on the audience. SeymourFluid[/quote] 1) Rack tuners have coloured moving lights. 2) You need another reason????

[quote name='ron s' post='352510' date='Dec 12 2008, 10:48 AM']Hi New to the forum, found it in a search for the origin of this un-named precision copy. I'm hoping that a 70's/80's Japanese copies expert (loads I'm sure :-) can identify this old precision rip-off for the sake of my satisfaction/sanity. [/quote] From experience your sanity may be more at risk than you realise. I had an EB3 copy that was clearly based on the same design as Ibanez and one or two others, but without the logo it wasn't one. A reasonable guess would be it was made in the same factory, and that's as far as I got, until, stupidly, I sold it. Bassassin may have a list of factories that made plywood bodied p's with maple necks and dot markers, but the answer is unlikely to enhance its value. Since you enjoy playing it, I'd settle for that.

[quote name='Prosebass' post='352271' date='Dec 11 2008, 11:17 PM']A good one a few weeks ago was QUOTE Red fretless bass body ????[/quote] I've got a fretless jack socket just waiting for that.

"For sale - Jack socket for a fretless 5-string."

[quote name='elom' post='346873' date='Dec 5 2008, 10:50 PM']Met these people at the South West Guitar Show. They seemed like a nice bunch plus they have the best name for a company ever! [url="http://www.endlessknobbing.com/"]http://www.endlessknobbing.com/[/url][/quote] Four of these would be perfect - for about the same price as a Squier VMP-TB. [url="http://www.endlessknobbing.com/shop/article_EN-TBK-0001/Telecaster_Bass-Knob.html?shop_param=cid%3D2%26aid%3DEN-TBK-0001%26"]Telecaster/Bass Knobs[/url]

Allparts give dimensions on their site, so should be easy to match the knob you've got left. If it's like my Spector the pots are split shaft, so it could be these. [url="http://www.allparts.uk.com/dome-knobs-split-shaft-pots-p-3104.html?p=product"]http://www.allparts.uk.com/dome-knobs-spli....html?p=product[/url] The problem I had was the knobs are fixed with a grub screw, which had been tightened against the split shaft, which bent inwards. Could that be why yours are falling off?

We turned up at a pub gig to find a blazing log fire at the back of the small space we had to play in, right behind the drummer. The landlord couldn't understand why it was a problem. Much as I like the idea of doing something for charity, those gigs always turn out to be a nightmare. We played one recently in the corner of a cafe in the Royal Showground at Stoneleigh, with an irritable barman yelling at us to turn down. Which we didn't, as he'd also harassed the previous act who wasn't at all loud. At the end, two quite elderly ladies came up and said how pleased they were that we'd ignored "that rude man".

[quote name='OldGit' post='343058' date='Dec 2 2008, 02:58 PM']er gold bits? I've already got that hat [/quote] On the assumption that there's not that much difference then, apart from the extra knob, I saw Scott Spray with Johnny Winter last year and that beat up old Yamaha sounded pretty damn good. What is it with bass players and berets?

So is that what this guy plays? (EDIT: Answered my own question, it's a BB3005. What's the difference?) [url="http://www.scottspray.com/"]http://www.scottspray.com/[/url]

Talking of Youtube clips and BB King, try this [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lqAuuIDU2sw"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lqAuuIDU2sw[/url]

We now have a dog after many years of cats and I've noticed one big difference - cats inspect anything very carefully before they eat it, whereas dogs eat first, wonder what it was later.

This is the first political discussion I've seen on a bass site that didn't turn nasty before the end of page 1. Give yourselves a huge credit crunch bail-out bonus.

.... I'll cry if I want to .... I assumed .... must be my age. (Happy birthday)

I got a Tapco mixer for £15. The seller didn't have the power supply and didn't know if the mixer worked. Fortunately the PS from my Behringer MIC 100 works fine with it.