BigRedX

Buy some music made by your follow Basschatters ;-)

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1464258416' post='3057929'] I don't know of course but I'd bet a significant number of them don't have a blast because there are very few brilliant players aged 18-21 with own transport, etc. prepared to follow up on these "awesome opportunities". [/quote] IME general reliability, enthusiasm and energy always trump being a "brilliant player". This is a mistake musicians commonly make. Also if you have all those things you can find was around the transport problem if you don't have your own. Opportunities come to those who work hard to make them happen. Something else a lot of musicians don't seem to understand.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1464185932' post='3057334'] Ask them to mark it as a gift. No import charges. [/quote] And once again this mis-information appears. All that marking it as a gift does increase the threshold at which VAT and import duty becomes chargeable to £34.

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1464161237' post='3056971'] Excuse my ignorance, but what's a UI? [/quote] User Interface.

What you need is a PCI chassis which is a box that holds your PCI card(s) and connects either via Firewire or Thunderbolt, depending on the model, to you Mac. Unfortunately they are not particularly cheap, a chassis cable of holding a single PCI card cost around £125. Also most of the current models available are for PCIe so you may need to also upgrade your MotU host card to the PCIe version. BTW which iMac have you got? Unless it's a very recent model you might be better off swapping it for a second-hand tower-style Mac Pro which will accommodate your PCIe cards.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1464104676' post='3056587'] A bit off-topic, but: Do you happen to know this to be fact? I'd have assumed that the iPad's battery would be run down more quickly when it has to drive the wired headphones than when it has to send a Bluetooth signal. BTW, yesterday I happened to read the specifications for a slightly up-market Bluetooth set (€250), and the specifications were better for wired connection. I hastily assumed this expresses a limitation of the Bluetooth system as well as of the built-in amp, but do not know. [/quote] My understanding is that any wireless connection the iPad makes will use up the battery power, but I hadn't considered the fact that the headphone amplifier might use more battery power than the Bluetooth transmitter. However the point is moot since I've also discovered that the Bluetooth connection adds too much latency to the audio for the viewing of TV to be a comfortable experience.

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1464048838' post='3056161'] Sennheiser do a headband set called 686 Sports but they look like in ear. I really rate Sennheiser though. [/quote] Thanks. I did look at the Sennheiser site, but after too many non-fitting earbud/in-ear headphones I'm simply not going to risk getting another pair unless I can try them out first.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1464088863' post='3056415'] No not really. Just from the house to the car and the car to the venue. [/quote] In that case anything that fits your basses and your budget will probably do the job.

Are you planning on walking any distance with this gig bag on your back? If so I recommend that you try before you buy. Having bought a (single) Mono M80, I found it very uncomfortable to wear and would not consider buying another expensive gig bag without trying it out first.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1464043105' post='3056126'] I know what you mean, but almost certainly the new cavity will be bigger all round than the old one, so it will all be routed out anyway. [/quote] Bigger? I await the next development with interest!

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1464033502' post='3056006'] ...maybe they're a bit late to the lightweight amp party. [/quote] IIRC the very first class D amp I ever came across was a Peavey power amp some time in the early 90s. This can't be the first one they've made specifically for bass?

[quote name='Leftfret' timestamp='1463874655' post='3054725'] (Be honest all you Rickenbacker 4001/3 and Gibson EB players - you all come back to the fold sooner or later) [/quote] Come back? I never went there in the first place. My first bass was a Burns Sonic, and after that I got an Overwater Original. Full disclosure: I did own a Squier VM Fretless Jazz once - it was fine in the shop but in the band context I couldn't get on with it at all and after 3 months it got replaced with a Pedulla Buzz. If the only options were a P or a J bass I'd go back to playing synth.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1464016517' post='3055768'] There are still some scary bits to do, but fewer than there were! This evening I'll glue the infills so that I can route the bridge and stop-tail recesses tomorrow. If those go OK, there is only one really scary bit left - the control chamber. I can start the finishing process before I need to do that to give me plenty of time to think through exactly how best and how to do it. [/quote] I was surprised that you didn't fill in the existing control cavity completely while the back laminations were off, with a view to routing a new and more elegantly shaped one.

[quote name='Sammers' timestamp='1464036342' post='3056051'] I seem to remember that you can specify almost anything you want if you pay for a master builder. Check out Tye Zamora's Fender as an example, it's pretty out there! [/quote] That's the Alien Ant Farm bass? That's only "pretty out there" because he got Fender to make something that was a long way out of their comfort zone and IMO it shows. For me the whole point of picking a luthier or manufacturer to make your custom instrument is because they are already making something similar, hence my request above. However I've just had a look at the current [url="http://wpc.077d.edgecastcdn.net/00077D/custom_shop/quote_guide/2015/2015%20Fender%20Custom%20Shop%20Order%20Form%20(rev%20ii).pdf"]Quote Sheet[/url] and the options are pretty limited. It might be possible to have something like a long scale 5-string Starcaster Bass as a Masterbuilt option but there doesn't seem to be any way of finding out for sure. In the end it would probably be simpler to buy a standard Starcaster bass and get a decent luthier in this country to copy it with my modifications.

I need some new headphones. They don't have to be fantastic, they are going to be used when I'm listening to music or watching TV on my iPad. However I do have some fairly specific needs. 1. Earbuds DO NOT fit in my ears. I've tried many different designs at all sorts of price points over the years and none of them fit in my ears. Either they fall out or they simply don't seal well enough to eliminate any background noise. So please don't recommend me any earbuds. 2. They need to be small and lightweight. The huge headphones that are currently popular are simply too big for me. Not to mention the fact that they look like those crap headphones from the 70s. All that is missing is the curly lead! 3. Must not be too bassy. I find anything with even an average amount of bass tend to make the soundtrack and sound effects in TV programmes louder than the dialogue to the point where I can't understand a word that anyone is saying. 4. They should not have a headband that goes over the top of my head. I'm lucky enough to not only still have hair but also a hairstyle. I don't want anything that will mess it up. Many years ago I had a pair of Sony sport headphones that had a band that clipped over my ears and went around the back of my head. These were my ideal headphones for my needs and I've been looking ever since for another pair the same. The current Sony range has [url=http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/headband-headphones/mdr-as700bt]this model[/url] which looks like it might be a suitable replacement, except it appears to be bluetooth only. I don't need bluetooth. IMO it's completely unnecessary. I'm perfectly happy with a wired connection, and also it won't run down the batteries in my iPad so quickly. So does anyone know of a pair of headphones with a similar design to those above that don't deliver too much bass and are wired?

I really like the sound of the neck pickup on my MiK Starbass. If it died I'd be replacing it with one exactly the same.

It's easy for the Terrortones. Drums in the middle, guitar and bass either side (it doesn't matter which) and Mr Venom in the middle. So long as there's room at the front for the guitarist's small pedal board, my Line6 Shortboard and the theremin, and space for me and the guitarist to stand, we're good. Mr Venom spends most of his time in the audience so he doesn't need much room on stage.

How custom is the Fender Custom Shop? For instance could I order a 5-string long-scale Starcaster bass in CAR with a CAR neck?

Be very careful even if sanding, as this can IME generate enough heat to cause the binding to delaminate from the body.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1463751392' post='3053853'] Do excuse me if I've asked this before, but has anybody tried converting one of these to a baritone guitar? Only, doing a bit of spec comparison with Squier's VM Baritone Jazzmaster (which also seems to be quite well-regarded), it seems they have the scale length, but the Bass VI has more tonal variety, is slightly cheaper, and the trem would probably be of more use on a baritone guitar than a bass. Not that I'd rule out buying one to use as a bass; I just have an intermittent but nagging curiosity about baritone guitars. [/quote] Depends which Baritone tuning you want. The general standard is 28" scale for B and 30" scale for A with the appropriate strings. I have a HB 28" scale baritone guitar and even with the heavier D'Addario set (14 - 68), I still think the low B and E strings are a bit floppy. However I favour a 52 for low E on the guitar (and 56 when tuning it down to D) so my tastes might not be typical.

The LaBella strings have come, but unfortunately I'm going to be busy all weekend so I won't have time to do anything with them until next week. The plan at the moment is to remove the old strings and shim the neck before fitting the new ones. When I raise the bridge to compensate for the new neck angle should I raise the whole bridge or the individual saddles? Then I'll give the bass a proper setup. There's a bit of choking on some of the strings higher up the neck and the relief seems a little too much right now. I'm suspecting I'll need to tighten the truss rod a bit more to compensate for the LaBellas? There's a message on the Staytrem web site saying it is down until Tuesday 24th. Anyone know what that's all about? How does the Staytrtem bridge improve matters? I'll report back with an update once I've done all that and see how the bass has hopefully improved.

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1463737001' post='3053684'] Sorry - meant t reply to this earlier but it got lost... So I looked up the EMO E520 and it seems to be a passive (transformer only) design. From that it would seem that your output from the Theremin is wired the 'wrong way round' ie signal to GND/Screen ? So with the active input Behringer DI the signal is grounded hence no signal from DI. With the EMO it sounds like it has a ground lift switch in the 'lifted position'. Used like this the transformer input cares only about the differential at its input and is oblivious to the polarity. There will be an output from the transformer - it will be 'phase reversed' but you can't tell that in isolation. [/quote] That's an interesting thought regarding the signal polarity of the Theremin. I'll have to open it up and check. The external PSU looks as though it's earthed. Should there be electrical continuity between that and one side signal wiring from the Theremin? However the output jack is attached to the metal front panel along with all the other controls so I would have thought it would have been wired up the right way round. Having said that IIRC it's only when we have to use it with a Behringer DI that we have a problem. Were normally happy to use whatever DI is being supplied by the PA and only get out our EMO if they are short on DI boxes or if the engineer is getting no signal at the desk in which case it always turns out to be a Behringer DI. The EMO does have a ground lift but it is switchable and although I would normally have it in the lifted position, the Theremin is usually set up by Mr Venom and so there's no guarantee that it is always like that. If you are correct about the Theremin would disabling the ground lift on the EMO also kill the signal?

Is your P Bass absolutely awesome in every way except for the fact that you think the sound would benefit from adding a J pickup? If the answer is yes then it's probably worth doing. If not you are much better off looking for a bass which already has both P and J pickups fitted. There are plenty out there at every price point.

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1463733365' post='3053642'] I always get my strings from Mike Griggs' ' Strings and Beyond' in the USA. He often offers free shipping. last week I received a set of DR black beauties (5s) and a set of daddario Chromes (5s) for a total of £51. Incidentally, I never seem to attract any import duties - has the limit gone up? [/quote] No you've just been lucky. What is the value marked on the customs form?

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1463732779' post='3053633'] BigRedX has, or had, one of these basses - it might be worth asking him. From what I can remember of the couple we had in the shop back in the 80s they came with Schaller bridges. [/quote] I had the Hondo copy, which came fitted with a copy of the Schaller 3D bridge.