BigRedX

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1461057070' post='3030939'] Does anyone rehearse at someone's house? [/quote] For the first 25 years or so of playing in bands I rarely set foot in a rehearsal room, and for most of the 80s my choice of living accommodation was very much influenced by how suitable it was as a place where my band could rehearse and record. It has only been since I've been playing in bands with drummers who use an acoustic kit that I've stopped having regular practice sessions at my house, although it is still my preferred location for working on new songs with Mr Venom before we present them to the rest of the band in the rehearsal room.

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1461051923' post='3030887'] How could more people being able to start to make music (and in more genres to boot) be a bad thing? Especially when it's now also easier to reach people that will listen to whatever neash genre you want to make. [/quote] Is it easier to reach people with your music these days? It's certainly easier to make your music available - anyone with a recording and $50 can get their stuff up on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc. But does that mean that anyone is actually going to listen to it, let alone pay 99p to actually buy a track? It's great for people who want to listen to new and old music as pretty much everything is out there somewhere; you just have to search for it and most of the time that's not too hard. For musicians trying to build an audience it's hardly changed; you're still mostly playing to family and friends and a handful of fans. In many ways the more things change the more they stay the same. My band's music is available to stream and download all over the world. We've been on podcasts and proper broadcast radio in this country as well as Europe and the US. We've even had a track on a magazine's cover-mounted CD. However no matter how easy it is to listen to or buy our recordings we sell many times more actual physical product (CDs, vinyl and cassettes) at gigs than all our internet sales - digital and physical - put together.

Here's mine: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/DSC01541-2.jpg[/IMG] It's a Burns Sonic Bass from the early 60s. I bought it back in 1981 when it was already almost 20 years old for £60 including the OHC and a free Fender-branded strap. At the time the alternatives in my price range were P and J copies with Grant or Columbus badges on them, which didn't really look or sound as good and were only marginally more playable. What I really wanted was an Aria Pro II SB1000 but they were way outside what I could afford at the time. It's hardly in original condition any more, although the majority of modifications had been done before I owned it. I used this all the way through the 80s (when I wasn't playing synth) until it got replaced with a 5-string in 1990. These days it rarely gets any use, as nearly everything I do requires a 5-string and visually it doesn't suit my current band as well as the Warwick Starbass. I have thought about selling it several times, but because of all the modifications, I wouldn't get enough for it to be worthwhile, so it spends most of its time in the case.

Is there a rack-mounting version?

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' timestamp='1461050317' post='3030872'] Yep, I bet two sets from them would still be less than one over here! [/quote] Not even remotely! Two sets of DR Fat Beans from Bass Strings Online = $39.90 Shipping to the UK via the cheapest method with no insurance = $22.50 Conversion into £ at todays exchange rate = £43.59 VAT on imported goods = £8.72 Royal Mail handling charge for customs = £8.00 (minimum - could be more) Total = £60.31 That's assuming you'll get the best exchange rate (you won't) and that the method you use to pay doesn't add a currency conversion charge (most of them will), and that you will pay the minimum handling fee for the customs and VAT. If you were to order a single set it does work out a bit cheaper that buying from Bass Direct - approximately £36. However it will take at least a week for your strings to arrive, whereas you can get them next day from BD.

It's a limited edition guitar from ESP Japan, so despite the small size, non-standard shape and Tom & Jerry graphics it will most likely be a decent musical instrument.

I've owned a signature bass. This one: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Bass/YamahaBJ5B.jpg[/IMG] It's the Terry And The Blue Jeans signature bass. I had little knowledge of the band before I discovered the bass, and having heard them they are far to much at the "show band" end of Surf Music for me to really like them. However if, like me, you want a 5-string bass in the Yamaha SBV shape this is the only way of getting one without having someone custom build one for you. I'm also interested in the Brad Houser version of the Reverend Rumblefish Bass, despite the fact that I have yet to hear any music by the artist in question that I even remotely like.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1460917814' post='3029802'] That was my thought too when I saw the Rory reviewed in a magazine. When I saw one in the flesh it looked a 1000 times worse. Fakest relic I've ever seen, like a 10 year old stencilled it! [/quote] But no-one in their right mind would want an authentic copy of Rory's Strat. Having seen the real thing "in the flesh" it's pretty gross in terms of the amount of gunk and other nasty substances that are embedded into the instrument. I wouldn't want to handle it without putting on an extra strong pair of surgical gloves first.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1460937530' post='3030011'] Not true. 4'33" [u]is[/u] silent. The score states 'tacet'. So whatever else is going on volume wise, it's not the performance. [/quote] But Cage specifically wrote 4' 33" in order for the audience to hear what other sounds would normally be present during a musical performance but were masked by the music. This why there are recordings of the performance and the location of the recording is the important part. Also IIRC the instruction to the pianist (it's technically a solo piano piece) is to close the piano keyboard lid at the start of the performance and to open it again at the end.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1460900278' post='3029623'] The Fender headstock design (well, the basic P/Strat shape) is "borrowed" in the first place! While it's not a straight copy, it's very heavily influenced by a 1940s Bigsby design: [/quote] Which in turn had been influenced by Martin, who had previously been influenced by many 19th Century German luthiers...

Patents only last for 14 or 20 years in the US, as they are designed to give the originator of a new idea a competitive advantage before anyone else can copy their idea. Therefore the patents on the original Fender basses have long expired. However certain design features (like the headstock shape) can be copyrighted, but the copyright holder has to be seen to be actively enforcing this in order for it to be protected.

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1460847566' post='3029344'] Since nobody else has mentioned John Cage... [/quote] By 4'33" isn't silent. The musicians don't play but there are always plenty of noises going on during the performance.

That's very nice both in looks and sound. Good job!

[url=http://www.vinyl-on-demand.com/-1-402-507.htm]"Electogenesis" by Vice Versa[/url]. Just about every other album that I couldn't live without has been re-issued on CD by now, although I'm still missing all my Freur B-sides.

And the timing's all over the place. Even when he's not pointlessly noodling away when a single note would have sufficed, it sounds like a beginner playing - each note is played as and when it can be reached and not when it should be. This is a thing I notice a lot with solo bass pieces irrespective of the technical ability of the player. There's no flow between the phrases.

Why would you even post that?

Right having had a look at the bass in question (from the link in the other thread), which of the two pickup positions are you planning to keep? IME the closer to the bridge you get, the further apart the two coils will need to be for them to sound different in single-coil mode. The usual options for the type of humbucking pickup you have is to either go with series/parallel or series/single coil, neither of which can be achieved with the standard 3-way toggle pickup selector switch the you have. Having said that I did have a guitar with a single humbucking pickup which I wired using the same type of selector switch as you have to give me single coil A/parallel/single coil B, but I also angled the pole pieces of each coil so that one was biased towards the bass the strings and other to the treble and used it mainly for playing chords. The result was threes very different and useful (to me) tones from a single humbucker. That's probably not going to be as useful on a bass where you'll mostly be playing single notes. You could replace the pickup selector switch with a similar-sized Two Pole, Two-Way switch that will give you the either of the usual two options described above. However this is normally done with a mini-switch and IME the larger ones tend to be fairly clunky and stiffer to operate. Alternatively you can go the whole hog and fit a 4-pole, 4-way rotary switch which can be wired to give all four coil options: single A, single B, series and parallel. It might be worth connecting the pickup directly to the output and trying all of the various options hard-wired first to see if you get enough tonal variation between the two single coil options and parallel mode first before doing anything else.

Surely if it's a parametric pedal the frequency sweep control should cover a big enough range for it not to have to be bass-specific?

To answer the OP: Yes. But not as much as those of the instrument(s) I play. TBH at the average venue under the average venue "lighting" conditions the majority of amps and speakers will be reduced to a series of anonymous black boxes with the odd LED stacked at the back of the stage. So long as there's no obvious damage/tattiness to them and no large ugly brand logos on display. I don't really mind what they look like. For someone who is so particular about how their instruments look I'll take functionality, ergonomics and sound over looks when it comes to amplification. I have at various times played with the idea of having my rig a fancy colour rather than the anonymous black, but it only really works if the rest of the band follow suit and IME trying to persuade guitarists to recover or paint their amps in something bright is a complete non-starter.

Unusual! Especially the "German carve" on the top. Was that a standard option or did you do it yourself? One question, you've stained the top of the body but not the back or sides. Why leave them natural? I realise that this is most likely simply a matter of taste, but I've seen it a lot recently and especially with instruments finished in a blue or green stain, which I personally think looks peculiar alongside the natural wood.

I really can't see the point of using expensive headphone with portable personal music players. There's alway too much ambient/background noise unless you have the very good sealed versions and in that case they insulate you from your surroundings in a way that I consider to be dangerous. I just use some cheap non-in-ear (in-ears don't fit in my ears properly) phones for about £15.00 and replace them when they stop functioning reliably. I do gave a good pair of headphones for use when I'm recording, but these rarely leave the house.

I don't get all the Carlsbro Stingray hate either. The bassist from one of my favourite bands of the early 80s had one (the green and black version) which he used with an Aria SB1000. Great sound and you never had a problem hearing him despite the fact that his band also had 2 guitarists and a synth player. Compared with the pricier amplification that's come since it hasn't aged well, but in those pre-Trace Elliot days it was IMO unbeatable.

Yes you'll get get a humbucking combination with both coils on (provided that you wire them up the right way around) but only with the coils in parallel and not the more useful, and tonally different series configuration. You can get quite different sounds out of two pickups close together but only if they are wound differently which the two coils of a single humbucking pickup will not be. I'd consider replacing the pickup selector toggle switch with one that is capable of giving you the more useful single/series/parallel combination.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1460644142' post='3027538'] Having just typed this makes me think - are 'lipstick style pups' a particular type or is it just any old single coil with a curvy metal cover instead of a rectangular plastic one? I have a Dano Longhorn and had a 59DC, both with lipstick pups, both sound alike, neither sounded much like a Jazz, which would be my main point of reference for single coils pups. [/quote] IME lipstick tube pickups are only similar if they are on instruments from the same manufacturer. My Gus guitar and basses have lipstick tube pickups which are very high output. I also used to own a Hohner 12 string guitar with them and that had probably the lowest output of any guitar I've ever owned. All of them sound great and completely suit the instruments they are fitted to put they have nothing in common except the style of the casing. A bit like P90 guitar pickups in that it's all about the style and the basic design only.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1460556145' post='3026774'] neither a pedal nor simple! I nearly choked when I saw the picture of that thing [/quote] True but only one quarter of it is the tremolo - you also get a really good tap tempo/MIDI sync Flanger and Delay as well as a rather nasty fuzz/distortion. I haven't come across a better featured tremolo unit in any form factor.