DaveFry

My Epiphone Zenith has similar dimensions and only fits in one of my gig bags . This is the one I use ; [url="http://fusion-bags.com/products-in-guitar-gig-bags/f3-bass-guitar-16486"]http://fusion-bags.c...ss-guitar-16486[/url]

Handwritten notes by Thelonious Monk ^^

I used to work with a guitarist/arranger who saw the Beach Boys tour early '65 . Glen Campbell was filling in for Brian Wilson playing bass and singing the falsetto harmonies at the same time . Respect !

Three handed bass technique ?

Try leaving [url="http://www.eartrainingradio.com/index.php"]http://www.eartraini...o.com/index.php[/url] on in the background for 15mins a day !

Just a little nit-pick about " Superstition " and guitar solos ; Stevie Wonder was a child star . All his earnings were held in trust until he was 21 , which also was the time his contract with Motown expired . On reaching that age he declined to renew the contract and finding himself comfortably well off decided to block-book the most advanced studio of the day , Electric Ladyland ( Hendrix's old studio ). Down the corridor in the next studio was Jeff Beck . They used to contribute to each other's albums . One day Stevie wanted to thank Jeff for a guitar track and asked him if he could give him something in return . Jeff replied " Well, I really liked that track you were working on when I arrived ( that day ) " . Stevie said " I can't give you that one , but come back tomorrow and I'll have something for you . ". The next day Stevie gave Jeff " Superstition " . He had written it overnight with guitar in mind . The Jeff Beck Group recorded and released it . Stevie liked the " original " so much that he recorded his "own" version later . - Sorry for the OT . Back to Arseholes in pubs ........

Take Five ( trying to learn to feel comfortable in 5/4 , prompted by the recent demise of Dave Brubeck )

Bloke goes to a psychiatrist and tells him " I can't stop thinking about breasts . " Psychiatrist replies " Ok, let's try a word association test . I'll say a word and you tell me the first word that pops into your head . Right , first word ; football . " The guy blurts out " Tits " " Cars ? " says the shrink . " Tits " comes the answer . " We need something more detailed " muses the shrink ," How about windscreen wipers ? " The guy makes a rhythmical side-to-side motion with a kiss at the end of each swing .

Yes , I took a break from music once . I used to play keys 6 nights a week and worked as a copyist for a music publisher during the day . One winter I thought I'd give it a break ..... I didn't play a thing for 25 years . In the meantime personal computers and midi came out . One day I bought a laptop just so I could install updates for my motorcycle GPS which my niece showed me how to use and I realised that things that were impossible when I used to be a pro muso were now achievable by anyone with a laptop , so I got a cheap midi piano and an interface as a hobby . After a year or so of training myself to simplify my piano playing and really listen, I thought it would be fun to learn fretless and EUB. The seemingly random times when I play in tune are just rewarding enough to make me want to persevere Now I jam once a week with a bass player I used to work with all those years ago who is now learning guitar . I teach him theory and he teaches me bass , we have nothing to prove now and have a great laugh . Funny old world .

This New York Gypsy All Stars video appeared in my YouTube subscriptions recently . Bass solo at 2:00 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDGHB9Lz7v0[/media] ........ and , Coal - Train ? - Could mean Alice ; ( pops up in my favourite playlist occaisionally ) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuDuNfqXnrc[/media]

Kay LP FX Spotted in a 2nd Hand shop . Just needed a new speed knob and a 9v battery . I believe they were available mail order from a catalogue in the late 70s / early 80s . This is a page from the Sears ( U.S.) catalogue of 1983 ;

[url="http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0113.html"]http://www.stewmac.c...ive/ts0113.html[/url]

I have just nearly finished my first defret using superglue on the fingerboard . I used two and and a half of the small bottles that you get four of for £1 at the local pound store . I followed these instructions ; [url="http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0139.html"]http://www.stewmac.c...ive/ts0139.html[/url] If you don't have a radiussed sanding block it is easy enough to make one ; If the board is ,say , 12" radius then find a drum ( catering/ cooking oil drum , whatever ) of 24" diameter , tape or glue a piece of sandpaper to it , and sand a piece of softwood up and down the drum till you get the radius on one face . When wet-sanding and moving up the grades be sure to clean the board and wash the papers between grades of grit . Rotosound 88s on a fretless P copy sound great here .

The Stagg is alder . ( I have one ). [url="http://www.staggmusic.com/en/product_detail/bc300-n.html?backp=1"]http://www.staggmusi...-n.html?backp=1[/url]

Zoning out ? It seems the part of the brain responsible for monitoring what we are playing shuts down when we improvise , whilst the part responsible for dreaming becomes more active . So we do zone out , in a way , yes . ( Scientists have found a way to fit a small keyboard inside an fMRI scanner and have measured the brain activity of jazz musicians performing different tasks ; ) [url="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-02/niod-iji022608.php"]http://www.eurekaler...d-iji022608.php[/url] Maybe the ability to play what we imagine does indeed require us to bypass our habitual self-conscious patterns and tap directly into an intuitive , non-rational part of ourselves . Maybe .

( Retired piano player learning bass here ; ) I guess it is one of those things that get easier the more you do it . One handy trick is to imagine " louder " ( in your head , that is ) , and to make that imagination so compelling that the fingers have to follow ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_7DgCrziI8[/media]

The Ibanez Mikro that Lefty J posted about is 28.6" scale . If you want a 24" scale 4 or 5 string bass , Mo Clifton could make you one ; [url="http://www.cliftonbasses.co.uk/page11.html"]http://www.cliftonba....uk/page11.html[/url]

One of my favourite basslines ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-HiDZ1MqWo[/media] I remember back in the early 80s some engineer/producer type person praised her as being one of the top Fairlight programmers in the world ! Respec' !

Just an idea ; if this was a rare part for a classic motorcycle I would consider making one ,or getting one made . Fibreglass would be the obvious material , but rubber is a possibilty , even araldite . To save cost I would make a mould by pressing the old one into plaster-of-paris and then take it to a local surf board maker ( there are a few down here in Jersey ) , or a fibreglass roofer . Then it could be made in any colour you want , and a piece of brown tortoiseshell could even be embedded in the top . - Just an idea - [url="http://www.frost.co.uk/classic-vehicle-restoration-books-and-dvds/how-to-cast-small-metal-rubber-parts-by-william-a-cannon.html"]http://www.frost.co....m-a-cannon.html[/url] HTH

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPAgj9LXOKA[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0tpI4Y4W7I[/media]

I don't know . '87 or '97 seem possible . Maybe we need someone with the Blue Book Of Electric Guitars 9th Edition Zachary Fjestad, Edited by S.P. Fjestad [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1886768579"]ISBN 1-886768-57-9[/url] ( he types hopefully )

Been subscribed to this guy's channel on YouTube for a while . His latest video is quite impressive : [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjhZhI2Zthg[/media]

No worries John , I've been following your thread too As I wrote in the first post , the only information I have managed to find about Fenix serial numbers is on the Wikipedia page for Squiers ( down the page under Korean Squiers ) , where it says ; " S/E: The S and E serial number prefix Korean Squiers are from the late 1980s/early 1990s. S = Samick, E = [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Chang"]Young Chang[/url], E letter serial numbers were used on Young Chang's Fenix brand guitars.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squier#cite_note-4"][5][/url][/sup] The first number following the serial number prefix is the year. The first guitars made ​​in Korea are those with serial number written in silver E1 + 6 digits For example[list] [*]"E1 + 6 digits with silver serial = made by Young Chang in 1987-88. [*]"S9" = made by Samick in 1989. [*]"E0" = made by Sung-Eum in 1990. [*]"E1" with black serial = made by Sung-Eum in 1991." [*] [/list] So it doesn't actually say if Fenix numbers correspond to the Squier numbers , it just implies that the first digit denotes the year , so my E 1056361 number ( in silver ) would suggest a '91 , but then it says " E1 + 6 digits with silver serial = made by Young Chang in 1987-88." , which contradicts that . Of course the above only refers to the Squiers that Young Chang were making at the time , so I am as much in the dark as you are !

Thanks for going to all this trouble .

Thanks everyone . The mystery of the black design still remains .... But thanks again for everyone's assistance .