spinynorman

There's reviews of a couple of their instruments on HC "Currently, I wouldn't rely on this guitar to hold a door open." "Because of the problems in getting the guitar and mandolin properly set up and strung, I was never able to play it, so I can't comment on the tone." [url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Tennessee"]http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...brand/Tennessee[/url]

Last year I played in a pickup band at a benefit gig for a local drummer who had terminal cancer. You would have thought people could have left their egos and stupid genes at the door for that one, but no. The worst thing I saw was the guitarist who spent 10 minutes, after his band was set up, showing his wife how to use the video camera. By the time we got on it was running 2 hours over.

Keyboards are the devil too. Just lie in wait for the guitarist's solo and whack with the swell pedal.

Another thing to say is, being used to a P, you may find the neck on a J is too narrow. I don't like 4-string Js, the J I have is a 5-string, where the neck is actually relatively wide. Given the comments about pickups, you might be better off with the MIM P. [url="http://www.dv247.com/invt/34765/"]http://www.dv247.com/invt/34765/ [/url]

Well I managed to find some Basslines cheap on eBay. Thanks to Dubya doing the dollar in, bidding on US auctions is like taking candy from children. I tried Dimarzio UltraJazz on an old Ibanez Jazz copy I had, didn't like them on that for some reason. I had a Dimarzio P/J set on another bass and they were wonderful.

[quote name='molan' post='219410' date='Jun 15 2008, 08:21 PM']Springsteen song originally - and definitely some of his strangest lyrics:[/quote] I didn't know that and wouldn't have guessed in a million years. Personal opinion, but can't stand Springsteen generally. BBTL is a good song though, if weird.

I'm probably slightly paranoid or even superstitious but once I've got the amp set the way I want it I don't touch anything, including the volume, and having the volume way down on the bass doesn't feel right somehow. I assumed an A/B switch wouldn't work because of having a lead into both inputs on the amp. Actually I've got a forgotten Sans Amp BDDI down the bottom of the gig bag, might give that a try. You're not kidding, that EBS Microbass II is seriously expensive.

I've been trying to find out what the "upgrades" were and when they started. I have a MIM Standard Jazz 5 of 1999/2000 vintage and the pickups are very weak. From the positive comments I guess the more recent ones have fixed that.

This may well have come up before, but I can't find anything. It may even be a really stupid question. I have a passive 4-string and an active 5-string. For reasons we needn't go into, I start gigs with the 4-string, but sometimes need to swap part way through to the 5-string. The amp is the type that has separate inputs for active and passive. I've tried leaving the lead in the passive input, but the active bass is really too strong for it. Is there another alternative to swapping the lead between the sockets, like some kind of inline switch/pedal?

It's not just about volume. Whereas a guitarist can use a 50W amp with the volume up to 10, because distortion is ok, the bass really doesn't want to be going beyond 4 on the dial. So you need more power than your guitarist, because you're not going to use it all - it's called headroom. Also you need to be able to be heard over the drums. If your drummer has a huge double kit and is hammering it the entire time, you'll need more grunt than if he just has bass, snare and tom and plays with brushes. If I were starting out now I'd go for something like an Ashdown Mag 2x10 combo, which is 300W and pretty cheap new. Or something used, like the Ashdown (even cheaper used) or the Trace Elliot mentioned before. Just remember with used you don't have warranty and the older it is the more likely you'll start having problems with it.

+1 for GuitarPro. Don't know this particular song, but I don't know what I'd do without GP for the songs we do. As a rule the tabs submitted are more accurate than the olga ones. Only thing to watch, because they are full band tabs, even if the tab isn't accurate, or complete, it will probably sound as if it is, especially if you don't know the song well. So you can waste time learning with something that turns out not to be quite right and then have to work out what the problem is. I learn sections at a time and check back often with the mp3. Then you can't go too far wrong.

Very interesting responses here, there seems to be a widespread expectation that when you sell a bass (that you bought used, at least) you should expect to get your money back. That's how I feel too and I've been quite gutted any time I've lost money on one. And that tends to work against modding, as an MIM Fender is what it is, in spite of anything you do to improve it. I don't think I'd go as far as BigJohn, looks like the only part left of the original bass is the body. Maybe one way of recovering some of the value would be to keep the old parts and put it back stock before selling it. That way you either have parts for a new project, or could sell them, certainly with pickups and preamps I guess that would work. So I'm talking myself into pickup replacement. Just need to decide which ones.

There was a music shop owner on one of the early morning "news" programmes on TV a few weeks ago with a six neck guitar that I think came from the same source. He claimed he'd sold it to an act where six people where going to play it at once. My favourites are the ones where they stick two unrelated necks together.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='213023' date='Jun 5 2008, 10:27 AM']The logo on the signature guitar line that was associated with Alex Lifeson is complely different to the logo on the ebay ones. [url="http://www.geocities.com/signatureguitar/"]http://www.geocities.com/signatureguitar/[/url][/quote] So they did make a bass, I missed that. Found an old thread on Talkbass that suggests the Cranston company was a breakaway from the Canadian one, but none of it is verified. I originally started to research this when I came to sell the Signature body I had and didn't want to make claims for it I couldn't back up. Just sold it as a generic alder body in the end, and lost money on it. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-328052.html"]Talkbass thread[/url]

I've got a MIM Fender Jazz 5-string which I was intending to upgrade. New strings were the first thing - £30 and I don't like them much, so probably another £30-£40 to find some I do like. Then at the least it needs new pickups and, assuming Wilkinsons wouldn't do, that's going to be £90 - £150 depending what I go for. Then the frets need some work, which is a luthier job and I've never got out of his shop for much less than £100. Or I could hang on for a MIA neck, though there don't seem to be many 5-string necks about. So even at this minimal level, that's as much or more than the bass cost me in the first place, and I'm starting to wonder if it's actually worth it. Any thoughts on what it's worth spending to do up a cheapish bass?

I've always thought the "crazy" German uses the wonky basses as cheap advertising for his parts business. He sometimes has 3 auctions up for the same bass. Mind you, he has a way with words if anyone leaves him a negative.

There's a guy on eBay in the US sells these as NOS parts. Loaded bodies and separate necks. They're quite expensive for non-Fender parts. I bought one of the bodies - it looked good and was generally ok, except the pickguard was not cut exactly around the neck pocket, the screw holes in the neck pocket were drilled off-centre, and the neck pocket itself was too deep for the standard Allparts neck I had. But I managed to work round that and the result was a decent bass. The pickups were really rather good, compared to a Mexican Fender, say. The doubt I have is about the Signature story itself. All the Harmony Central reviews are of parts you can trace back to the same guy. I can't find any reference anywhere else to a Signature guitar co in Cranston, although there was one in Canada that didn't make basses. I even contacted the chamber of commerce in Cranston and they hadn't heard of it. The only part of the story that checks out is that the date stamp in the neck pocket was 1989. So, maybe it's all true and this company disappeared without trace, and maybe the people who presumably bought complete instruments between 1988 and 1992 never trade them on the web anywhere, but it seems suspicious to me. That doesn't mean they're bad basses, just I wouldn't now pay more than an SX for one.

Somewhere on the web there's a description of a blind test between several mega expensive hi-fi cables and a metal coat hanger. In most cases there was no difference, in a couple the coat hanger won.

For a long time I thought Epiphone was Eh-pi-phoney, like it was a Greek goddess. Epee-fone sounds a bit lame somehow.

[quote name='hughcanbefound' post='207347' date='May 27 2008, 04:25 PM']Already read, thanks. Hmm could you highlight the differences between the two models? There are a couple of comparisons around but to me they don't make too much sense. I have been doing my research but still... And thank you Jobiebass, will add what you've said to my list of possibles. Would you always say second hand though? Any advantage (except for the obvious) for buying new? I have nothing against it, it's just I don't do eBay (I'm 16) and my parents don't like the idea. My next door neighbour is coming round this afternoon to talk to them about it . Thanks for being so helpful so far! -H[/quote] I don't envy you the well-meaning neighbour. When I was a bit older than you (back in the stone age) I got talked into an acoustic guitar that was way above my needs or comfort level. Unless you're going to be playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, in a couple of years (!) you'll be wiping beer off it and falling off the stage with it like the rest of us. Go with your instincts, get something solid and not too expensive and don't let the "grown ups" talk you out of it.

It's not really about making me a better player, though. Basses are nice things to own. I enjoy just looking at mine and knowing they're decent instruments gives me a bit more confidence when I play in public. None of mine were very expensive, but I've luckily been in a position to jump on some good deals when they came along. I'd like more too - but then if I had a Ferrari I'd probably still think it would be nice to have a Maserati.

Long live the weak dollar! It's getting hard not to win a US auction from here.

So I got one. Midnight Wine - seems that's the most common colour - from a pawn shop on eBay. Cost £160 + £45 shipping, and the best bit is Customs let it through without VAT or duty. Came in a week too. A similar one just went for £290 + £25 on UK eBay, so I'm feeling quite happy. First thing I'll change is the strings, then we'll see.

When I was about 15 I lusted after a Watkins Rapier. Looking at them now I'm not sure why, but they seemed very cool back then.