BigRedX

Wasn't the Zenta brand sold in Woolies in the 70s?

[quote name='la bam' timestamp='1483959788' post='3211353'] Morning all, A question that I often think is what happens when you become 'famous' (or your band does)? Is that it for live gigs (apart from official big gigs with the band)? Id hate to think thatd be the case. Imagine being so talented then only getting that gig buzz a few times a year - sometimes only every few years! Just wondered if famous bands still gig (on the quiet) or under the radar (as a pub band under a different name etc), or if the musicians have side projects where they can get their gig fix? Seems such a shame to have all that talent and drive, then not gig. [/quote] What does talent have to do with being or becoming famous? For me the whole point of being able to make a living out of writing and playing the music I liked, would be so I didn't have to waste my time doing other things in order to put food on the table or keep a roof over my head. I still wouldn't have time for side projects (ignoring the fact that IMO they dilute what you really should be doing) because I'd be too busy creating and preforming the music I want to do with my band.

As someone who'd be all over this if you were based in my locality, I'd disagree with almost everything mentioned above. Stick to your guns and get the bass player that fits the band and not someone whose going tho change the great sound you have. Also as someone who actually owns a Bass VI, I'd say that they are massively over-rated, and a more "traditional" bass played in the higher register is going to fit much better with the overall band sound. I took mine to a recent recording session, and the sound just didn't have enough authority to not get lost amongst the guitars.

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1483802531' post='3210241'] An easy way is to download and print out some radius guides. The Jerzy Drozd setup [url="http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/akcndfr54jdhrei567/Ultimate_Guide_ver100.pdf"]guide[/url] has some in the appendices. Just make sure you print them out accurately. EDIT: Just found it, it's [url="http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=35868"]10 degrees[/url] [/quote] How can you guarantee that your print out is accurate though? IME all consumer level printers are between 1 and 2% off when it comes to linear accuracy.

[quote name='threedaymonk' timestamp='1483659250' post='3209184'] It's really to change the pitch of the neck, which can't be affected by a manufacturing process based on cutting flat shapes with a router. If everything else were flat, the trigonometry would be straightforward and this wouldn't be an issue, but neck relief pushes the nut end higher. You could compensate for this by lowering the bridge, but the exact amount depends on the setup, and there are mechanical limits to how thin the bridge can be. The other solution is to change the pitch of the neck. This could be done by routing the neck pocket at a slight angle, but it's simpler, easier and more flexible to use a shim at this point. [/quote] That's fair enough for something made in the days when pin routers were the height of wood-working sophistication, but it's no longer the 1950s and these days pretty much everything that isn't individually crafted by a master luthier is produced on a CNC machine where it is simple to get the angles required. Add this to the fact that there's a surprisingly large amount of vertical adjustment available in even the BBT bridge and there is no reason why modern bolt-on guitars and basses can't be made with either the pocket or the heel machined to the correct angle instead of messing about with shims.

[quote name='grayn' timestamp='1483709633' post='3209419'] It's almost certainly a rubbish bass but I like it's retro styling. Cool! [/quote] Actually it appears to share many construction features with the Burns Sonic Bass which came out later the same year, in which case it will most likely be quite a good instrument. There was fair bit of variation in body and scratch plate shapes on these (and the guitar versions) due to the fact that they were largely hand-made.

Unless something happens that physically prevents me from playing music I think I'll probably be doing it until I drop. Most people my age (mid 50s) are heading towards being child and mortgage-free (if they are not already) and retirement so those of us who are still interested in playing in a band will have more time and energy for it than at any time since their mid-20s.

It's a Burns-Weill RP1B Streamline Bass, from 1960. Would have cost about £50 at the time.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1483549577' post='3208154'] Exhibit A. Nicky Wire. Somebody that could give less sh1ts about dispersion. Don't think it's held him back. [/quote] Putting aside the fact that there's probably nothing in those cabs, when your on-stage monitoring is at worst a combination of wedge monitors and side-fills and more likely in-ears and FoH is handled entirely by the PA, I don't think the dispersion characteristics of the bass rig are even remotely relevant.

Very adjustable, but a complete pain to set up. I'd go for the Schaller 3D design over this provided that it offers enough adjustment for you needs.

£2K for a bass essentially based on a design that has been around for over 60 years now. It should be perfect.

IMO shims are fine if you are making up a bitsa, or want to do something radical with the angle between the body and the neck for playing comfort, but on a brand new instrument that should have been made with modern manufacturing tolerances it's just a nasty bodge. Besides I would think that changing the angle between the neck and the body would negate the effectiveness of the plek setup. I'd send the bass back and get another one that has been made properly.

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1483609012' post='3208577'] I'm thinking of going the Peter Hook route, and using a G string tuned up to C - Hooky does something similar with the strings on his six string bass as it gives him a much better tone than using conventional guages for the high strings. He says in his recent book that he had to experiment with different gauges until he found some that didn't snap or were so over-tension as to be unplayable. [/quote] IIRC the Shergold is a short scale (30") which IME makes a massive difference to the sound (and feel) of the higher strings. I have the Squier VM Bass VI and the high B and E strings on it are perfectly useable, which definitely wasn't the case when I was experimenting with high C on my 5-string basses. Having said that, even though the Squier is voiced more like a guitar in it's choice of pickups and their placement, if I was going to spend most of my time playing in those registers I'd probably use one of my guitars as they still sound better. I've recently joined a post-punk influenced band and have been busy channeling my inner Peter Hook, but I'm finding I prefer the sound of my Gus bass played high up on the neck to that of the Squier and at a recent recording session that ended up being the best choice in the context of the overall sound of the band.

As I said in the other thread I could never get a tone I liked out of the high C string. I tried several different sets of strings when I experimented with it a few years ago and without exception the C string had all the character of a cheap and nasty guitar. The same notes played on the G or D strings always had a lot more authority, so I've stuck with B - G on my 5-strings.

[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1483546276' post='3208113'] i'm sure i read somewhere that if you stack 2 2x10s vertically (so kinda 1x4) you get better dispersion due to no phase cancellation (think thats right) from speakers being horizontal to each other. that said my 4x10 has done a great job so far and its no boutique. [/quote] You do still get dispersion issues with vertical stacking, but it's only noticeable if you move up and down rather than from side to side. So as long as you're not pogoing frantically in front of your rig you'll be fine.

I dabbled with high C some years ago, but I really didn't like the tone. To me it always sounded like a cheap and nasty guitar. The same notes always sounded better played on the G or D strings.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1483540788' post='3208055'] Wouldn't you use that page to sign up to a musicians wanted page? [/quote] TBH I wouldn't use Facebook at all. If I was answering a band ad, I'd let them know what I'd done musically in the past, and send some links where they could hear some recent and maybe some musically appropriate songs I'd done previously. I was assuming that someone was then looking me up on Facebook from name and location.

Sand it down and get it resprayed. No-one wants to see a tatty old bass anyway ;-)

AFAICS whether or not promotional picks are actually usable very much depends on what sort of a pick you favour. I've got a selection that I've acquired from gigs and as promotional freebies over the years, but other than using as an occasional alternative to my preferred picks for the guitar when I've looking for a different type of string attack, I haven't found any that I would want to use full time. On the bass where I am a Herco Flex 75 user of over 35 years, I've not come across any promotional pick that would be even a close substitute.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1483436816' post='3207032'] Obviously with the prevalence of social media, it is quite routine to do some online checking to support any credentials - just a few minutes ago I read a Facebook entry on a musicians wanted page where some guy said he's played 'over a thousand gigs in the last ten years'. Clicking on his photos showed up loads of photos of trees and his dog, but not one of the guy playing with anything other than a football. What does that say? [/quote] If you looked at my Facebook page all you'd find is interior design ideas and some cat stuff posted by my girlfriend. All my music posts are on a separate Terrortones persona page.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1482706784' post='3202305'] Mystery solved. Inputs 5 and 6 actually refer to the unit's 'Loopback' function, which allows you to send the signal that's being sent to your audio outputs [i]back[/i] into the input for recording. This is perfect for capturing streamed internet broadcasts etc. For example, if I play a YouTube video and set Reaper to record via inputs 5 and 6, the audio is recorded into Reaper. Previously I had to use Soundflower to do this, which meant switching back and forth between settings in the Audio Devices dialog box. I have now ditched Soundflower (it is no longer supported anyway) as this is a much more elegant solution. Win win! [/quote] That seems like a bit of a faff, when you could simply use Audio HiJack to save the output of any audio stream from any application as a file.

Had to go through three pages of sales ads before I found one I as even remotely interested in trying, so the answer is probably no.

Spotify IME is very limited in choice once you step outside of mainstream or recent releases. My new band are doing a series of playlists on Spotify as part of our interaction with our fans. I was going to do either a J-pop or post-punk electronic set but most of the songs I wanted to include aren't available. It's not as though the songs are massively obscure either. Most of the J-pop artists are on major labels, and all of the electronic stuff was regularly featured on John Peel's show back in the day.

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1482483485' post='3200876'] For me, then, if I don't convert, I need a 5er with a nut width not exceeding 1.75". Any such thing? [/quote] I'm always intrigued when musicians quote absolute measurements as being a strict requirement for an instrument, especially when they only for a small part of the overall picture. So is your 1.75" the width of the neck at the nut? or the width from the centre of the B string to the centre of the G string? And is 1.75" a definite absolute, or could you get away with 1.76"? How about 1.78"? What about the string spacing at the bridge? I ask because my Yamaha BJ5B 5-string would have probably met your requirements (or been very close) but at the bridge it had the typical very wide Yamaha string spacing of 18-19mm between string centres. Would that have been acceptable? I've given up worrying about instrument measurements. If I'm interested I pick it up and play it. It will soon become obvious whether or not I can get on with it.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1482446489' post='3200753'] Maybe I've overstepped here, but I footloosely meant that people reacted as if their toes had been trodden by someone. [/quote] At the moment as far as I can see the only instances of the word "toetroddenly" are in this thread. I think it would make a great addition to the English language and vow to use it from now on whenever I can!