BigRedX

OK. That makes sense. My "why bother" comment was based on all things being equal, in which case there is a definite difference between playing bass lines on a bass guitar and playing them on a keyboard. So... if you are thinking about making the switch remember it is a whole different game. Things that are trivial to play on the bass guitar might not be on the keyboard and vice-versa. And all those little nuances that you take for granted on the bass guitar and probably do without even thinking about them, for instance ghost notes, pops and slap (in the middle of a standard bass line) are either near impossible or are going to take a lot of programming skill and then a lot of playing practice to master. However there are plenty of styles of music that make a point of using keyboard bass rather than the bass guitar, so If you are going to be forced to look at playing the bass part from a keyboard, it might also be wise to start getting into some of those...

Getting a realistic bass guitar part out of another instrument is not just about duplicating the sound but you also need to duplicate the playing style. A keyboard is simply not the same as a bass guitar, the whole approach to what you play on each instrument will be different. Of course you could send loads of time programming up the sounds and then practicing so you approach the keyboard playing style in the same way as you would a bass guitar. But really? Why bother? Maybe it's because I can play both to an adequate standard, I pick one or the other depending on the both the sound and feel I require for the part.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1479733006' post='3178784'] Do you press on the strings at both sides of the nut and saddles to create witness points, or you don't bother with that? [/quote] I do with the E and B on my Gus basses as they bend at almost 90° over the bridge and need a little help to bed down properly because of their girth. I don't bother at the nut because all my basses have angled headstocks and properly cut nuts, so the strings bend properly anyway.

AFAICS the silver on the original Fender logo is actual silver ink. I would have thought that these decals are screen printed two colours: black and silver with the silver being printed "behind" the black. There's not really any way you can replicate this with an ink-jet printer, unless you go for a high end one that supports custom metallic inks, and even then there is more than one shade of silver, so unless it happens to be the same as the one that Fender use, it's still not going to be right. BTW the difference in spacing on the word "BASS" on the two decals is a classic example of how a screen printing stencil breaks down with use.

[quote name='nash' timestamp='1479465322' post='3176724'] I've just started to explore this part of bass playing but i'm wondering if there's a go to piece of stand alone gear? [/quote] TBH any decent synth that you find easy to program will do the job.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1479682100' post='3178486'] But, which one is best if all you want to do is play bass lines and sound very much like a bass guitar? [/quote] A bass guitar.

Bubinga5, you really need to go and try an Enfield bass for yourself. It has plenty of variety when it comes to getting different tones out of it. Whether any of them are the one you want I don't know, because AFAIAC, every single bass sounds different, but ultimately the only thing I am bothered about is whether I can get a usable sound out of it in the band context, and with very few exceptions for me the answer is yes, irrespective of what the bass is.

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1479726254' post='3178702'] I wish I had your confidence [/quote] Unfortunately if you don't have that "confidence" then you are probably never going to have any chance of "making it". Buying on to a tour was always the norm in the past. It's partly how the headlining band finance the tour in the first place. With no support band buying on then there's probably no tour at all. And others are right in saying that this is what your record label should be paying for (recoupable from your sales of course). However IME these days most record labels simply aren't worth the bother, because they just don't have the financial resources required to make it worth a band's while signing to them.

Most strings need to be stretched out, because the material that they are made of has not been under tension before, and therefore still has some "give" in it that needs to be worked out before the tuning will stabilise. This is separate to any issues that you might have from strings bedding in around the machine head tuning posts. I don't bother stretching out my strings unless I'm going to be playing the newly strung guitar or bass with other instruments in next couple of days. Instead I just tune about a semi tone sharp and let the excess elasticity in the string work itself out. I suppose it could be possible to damage the string by excessive manual stretching, but I've never had it happen myself, and I would generally suspect that the string was faulty anyway if it occurred.

It might have had a list price of £29.99, but now it's out of print and therefore entirely at the mercy of supply and demand. Having said that, you should be able to pick up a copy in "new" condition for around £50 plus postage if you shop around.

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1479389450' post='3176163'] I've used "Stereo" on a couple of occasions though my implementation does not use a crossover to split frequencies, my bass has the option of a descreet output from each pickup. This allowed me to use a separate outpbuard preamp for each pickup which then went into a QSC stereo power amp. The sound engineer decided to get DI outputs from each pre-amp and also mic'd both cabs a 4x10 and I think a I used a 1x15. On stage I can't say It sounded dramatically different to a mono implementation but out front the engineer had a field day. For convenience I prefer a mono rig but if I someone else was to carrying the cab's and rack I would try it out more. :-) [/quote] That's not stereo at all, but 2-channel. Stereo requires you to have to ability to be able to "pan" each sound source two any position or mix between the two amp and speaker sets.

[quote name='1970' timestamp='1479385414' post='3176106'] How come? [/quote] It's all to do with phase and how stereo panning makes the cutting head of the vinyl lathe move within the groove. Stereo bass content results in large vertical movements of the cutting head and consequently the playback stylus (if you get that far) which results in skips. Essentially everything under 100Hz needs to be mono panned dead centre. You can sometimes get away with this by significantly reducing the overall volume at which your record is cut, but no-one really wants that. Anything out of phase will cause the cutting head try and move in two different lateral directions simultaneously. That simply isn't going to happen. Of course none of this affects digital media, but with more and more people releasing their music on vinyl, bass panning and phase is once again an important consideration. Most stereo effects have a huge emphasis on both panning an phase differences. That's what makes them sound big, wide and impressive. The thing with bass frequencies is that without the benefits of good headphone to clue you in, they appear omni-directional and therefore all that effort is lost.

Besides there's already a pre-amp on your amp.

Nothing wrong IMO with a course that has "lighter workload", as it might actually give you time to digest and properly understand the information you are being given. After all isn't that the point of further education, that you should learn how to think for yourself rather than simply regurgitating what you have been taught. I was on one of those 9-5, five days a week university courses in the late 70s and the information overload was a significant contributing factor to my failing the year and leaving.

[quote name='hairychris' timestamp='1479319709' post='3175642'] Aesthetics, basically, but it does have a physical side-effect. As someone who's owned a number of guitars with reverse headstocks, it makes a difference with tension when it comes to bends. More string behind the nut = an easier bend, so the treble strings are stiffer, bass are looser. Note this doesn't change the string's tension for tuning, just for bends, and with regular gauge strings it's not hugely noticeable unless you're doing extreme stuff. [/quote] The word you are looking for is "Compliance". I suppose it's all down to your playing technique, but personally I already find the lower strings from a standard gauge set for both guitar and bass too floppy for my tastes therefore, I would avoid anything that was going to make them more so. I'm using 10-52, with a 56 for low E for my guitars in drop D and still feel that I could go a bit heavier on the bottom three. Likewise on the bass, if making up custom gauge sets wasn't so hideously expensive I would be experimenting with finding a slightly heavier A and a much heavier (or stiffer) E and B with a standard 40G, 60D. I own one guitar with a reversed headstock, but it's also fitted with a Floyd Rose locking vibrato and nut, so there aren't any compliance issues for me. On the bass I find that the typical 4 in line headstock puts the furthest tuner just out of comfortable reach, so I wouldn't want to be doing anything like flipping the headstock over to make it even more difficult for me.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1479298960' post='3175404'] .130 Lo Rider. [/quote] IME you have match up the strings with the bass. What sounds and feels great on one bass doesn't automatically work on another. I couldn't get on with Lo Riders on any of my 5-string basses, but LaBella Steels and Warwick Red Labels work perfectly well for me depending on the bass. Unfortunately the only way to find out is to try them all for yourself.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1478711331' post='3171124'] Bearing in mind a bridged amp of 800w will only do 400w per side. You don't get 2x400w=800w This is the problem with bi-amping which introduces sub in the equation potentially which is really the last thing you want, IMO. Nice idea, but in practice, no advantage at all. [/quote] Bi-amping has nothing to do with stereo, and IME is actually very useful if you run an effects heavy sound. Having used a bi-amped system for most of the 90s, the ability to run effects that adversely affect the bottom end of your sound such as chorus, flanger and distortion, just on the higher frequencies is amazing, you can run quite extreme effects settings and still retain plenty of bottom-end presence. The crossover frequency for this is much higher than a PA type tops and subs set up, so you don't run into those kinds of problems.

[quote name='thegummy' timestamp='1479159569' post='3174460'] Even if it was a Fender Custom Shop Esquire? [/quote] The only good thing about a CS Esquire is that I could sell it to some mug and buy something good looking and more comfortable to play with the money. There's nothing wrong with a single pickup for guitars - my first guitar only had one, although that was because I could only afford a single Di-Marzio when I was building it, and my current favourite guitar, the Hallmark Wingbat, has just the single P90 style pickup by the bridge, but still sounds great. I'm not so sure about basses though, all the ones I use at the moment have 2 or more pickups.

But just how important is a degree in music when it comes to getting a job playing your instrument? I work in a different creative industry (graphic design) and on the whole the importance of having a degree when it comes to getting a job in any of the design studios where I have worked has been minimal. In fact I can't think of a single graduate that any place I was at, that was taken on based on the fact that that they had a degree. Those that that did had all been at the company before on work experience in some capacity and the skills they demonstrated during their work experience time was deemed to be far more relevant than any qualifications they might be aiming for. Several of the best graphic designers I have worked with came straight from school on work experience and never left.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1479238374' post='3174998'] BTW, BRX, you have a good eye for fonts. I'm impressed and appreciate the input. [/quote] Thanks! Although as I'm a typographer (amongst other things) in my day job, I really ought to know my typefaces! I see what you mean about the serial numbers, but even on your example the MZ3 are a slightly different serif typeface to the rest of the serial number. I suspect it's down to the way that the original decals are produced, and I wouldn't be surprised if the second part of the serial number is laser printed Gimp is a great program, although I would suggest that if you are still up for doing this yourself, then it might be worth downloading a trial copy of Adobe Illustrator CC and getting to grips with bezier curves.

Is that second photo a genuine Fender decal? If so the typeface for most of it looks like variations of Helvetica. The actual serial number is two different typefaces: a serif face for the MZ6 and a sans serif for the rest of the numbers. And apologies for the bluntness of my initial post in this thread. I was under the impression that the decal you were showing was one that you had bought from somewhere I was somewhat shocked that such a poor imitation was being passed off as an acceptable substitute. BTW what program are you using to create you artwork?

You could try drawing up the letter forms. In fact if fender are using a bespoke custom font, that's what you might have to do.

That decal doesn't look anything like the one it is replacing Just from a quick glance the "Serial Number" text is too big and doesn't have enough leading. The ® for both Fender and Precision Bass are the wrong typeface and wrongly positioned. The Precision Bass text doesn't look like the right typeface either.

Line 6 Bass Pod and Linn Adrenalinn.

Five in a row for big bass tuners just doesn't work IMO. The G-string tuner is already a big stretch for me on a Fender-style bass so adding another one is not going to make things any easier. I prefer 3+2 or 2+3 on headstock designed especially to fit a 5-string bass, and not something that's been cobbled together from the 4-string version.