BigRedX

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1447366617' post='2907197'] Bass - live, nope...[/quote] You say that but then according your equipment list you are using two valve devices - Demeter and Streamliner which will almost always be adding a degree of compression to your sound. It's one of the things that makes valve designs sound like they do.

If you are using any distortion, drive or have any valve devices in your signal chain then you are getting compression of your sound anyway.

Sims Custom.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1447270931' post='2906346'] right, but what I don't get is that only some acoustics have this type of bridge, and would it be so difficult to have adjustable saddles on an acoustic? [/quote] On an acoustic stringed instrument the bridge is the mechanism by which the vibrations of the string are transferred to the soundboard and thereby amplified. Unfortunately the more adjustment you build into the bridge the less efficient it becomes as more of this transfer is lost.

Not only that, but change the sound of any of the other instruments in your band and you'll almost certainly have to adjust the bass the get the mix sounding right again.

IMO "awesome tone" has far more to do with how the bass fits into the mix of the other instruments with just the right amount of under-pinning and cutting through as the arrangement requires. Fiddling with your amp and effects settings will only get you so far. All the really important tweaks have to be made while actually playing with the rest of your band (and you may have to get them to do some sound tweaking too to get the mix right).

[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1447185146' post='2905683'] I read online that a handy and accurate way to adjust the intonation is to use the open string and the 13th fret, that way your tuner doesn't get confused with which E/A/D/G it is trying to follow. Obviously the 13th should read a half step up from the open string! Seems to work for me, but anyone else tried this? [/quote] That doesn't work because the position of every fret except the 12th is a compromise.

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1447110837' post='2905049'] Might be too early for a truss rod? [/quote] If it's like my Burns Sonic Bass it will have a non-adjustable metal re-enforcement in the neck.

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While Parcel Force will deliver for a reasonable price, musical instruments are not covered by their insurance. Beware. It surprises me that UPS via InterParcel will deliver to all sorts of places all over the world, but bring to get them to take a parcel to anywhere in Scotland other than Edinburgh or Glasgow or any UK island is completely futile.

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1446946853' post='2903713'] Not looking good. Stagg don't do anything for a semi-acoustic. AFAICT Warwick ditto. Hagstrom and Guild are short scale. It's not easy to get any dimensions for a non-generic case - not surprising, but not helpful. [/quote] Warwick do have a case specially for their Star Bass Semi-Acoustic. I have one. It's not particularly small or light, but it offers excellent protection.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1447084440' post='2904682'] The octave harmonic should always be at the half length of the string but once you fret the note the trigonometry alters slightly dependent upon the gauge and construction of the string. [/quote] Also when you fret a note you are stretching the string, so it needs to be longer to compensate for the increase in pitch caused by this.

Warwick do one for their Star Bass.

Best not look at this photo then: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Bass/Born%20To%20Rock%20F4B%20Water_zpsmi2sdivm.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1446804156' post='2902433'] Beat me to it. Nothing worse than 2 guitars and a bass all trying to audibly tune up on stage anyway, whether by ear or not. Trust your tuner and do it in silence. If you are unsure a really short note from each string to check it's in tune after you've done it. Endless 'bending note' noises from the stage prior to the performance just looks a bit amateurish to me. [/quote] Off course you do have to trust your tuner and hope that it hasn't been moved from the reference point your band use (generally A=440). A previous Terrortone guitarist managed to accidentally alter theirs about a quarter-tone flat and played a whole gig that way. The sound on stage was terrible which meant the out-of-tuneness between the guitar and bass was only audible in a few locations and so I'd put it down to some freak of the acoustics. Our drummer who could hear the problem perfectly from is position on stage kept shouting at us to check our tuning, which we dutifully did, both being perfectly in tune with ourselves but horribly out of tune with each other. It wasn't until the next rehearsal that we discovered exactly what the problem had been. However the audience didn't appear to notice anything wrong and we picked up a really good gig review from that night!

IME every bass - even two of the same design made from the same species of wood - sounds different. However they all sound like bass guitars.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1446803758' post='2902425'] Get it sanded. It can happen irrespective of price of the bass. Wood changes over time it can shrink as it dries but excessively dried wood can expand in a home environment too. [/quote] If it's the Squier VMJ fretless the fingerboard is ebanol and the lines are plastic inserts. The bass is still under warranty. Take it back to the shop and get them to fix it properly, or replace it with one that doesn't have this problem.

It doesn't matter how good your ears are. I defy anyone to be able to tune their bass and also ensure that they are in tune with the rest of the band while the PA is blasting out the in-between bands music. That's what electronic tuners are for.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1446795242' post='2902347'] Nice looking bass. The defret job isn't bad, but it's interesting how this isn't moving at £160, but a fretted one is up (in the USA, where things are cheaper) for £120 more. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-Roadstar-II-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Made-in-Japan-Vintage-1980s-Black-/271770578162?hash=item3f46c9ecf2:m:m6HaRbyRs54m5ABAhI7qPWA"]http://www.ebay.co.u...s54m5ABAhI7qPWA[/url] Defretting isn't a great move for "improvement" is it? [/quote] The biggest obstacle to this being sold is the fact it's collection in person only. If the seller was prepared to post it I'm sure it would be attracting a lot more interest.

[url=http://www.thegigrig.co.uk/PBCPPlayer.asp?ID=1566899]Gig Rig G2[/url]

BassPod XT BassPod XT Pro Peterson Strobo Rack Boss TU12 (bought in 1983 and still going strong) Korg pocket tuner that lives in one of my gig bags for emergencies.

I'd have gone to see both bands "back in the day" had they been playing anywhere near where I was living at the time. However neither band has made any records I'd want to own since the early 80s.

We're supporting The Peacocks on Saturday so depending on where the merch stand is situated I might get to see them... The following weekend I'm going to see a friend's covers band.

[quote name='sbrag' timestamp='1446628665' post='2900859'] Sounds good hope it did well at the gig. Is it just battery or did it come with a power supply for the receiver? Cheers [/quote] The receiver does come with it's own 12V wall-wart PSU. However if you buy it from Thomann it will have a European plug on it and a UK adaptor, neither of which IME are suitable for the rigours of gigging. Luckily you can also power if from a standard centre negative, 9V, pedal PSU which is what I do.

I don't know about the relative merits of the two brands in the 80s, but back in the late 70s when I was helping out at my local music shop which stocked both Fenders and Ibanez basses the only reason I could see for having a Fender was because you had to have that name on the headstock. The Ibanez instruments were in every other respect far superior.