geoffbyrne

I use a Digitech Genesis 1 - made for guitar, but works fine for bass. There's a line-in to which I affix either a CD player or my laptop & listen to it using headphones. Adjust the vol of the line in at source & use the controls of the Genesis to balance the instrument. Works great for me & Genesis 1 units are inexpensive on Ebay - if you can find one. Just be careful about the power supply - it's AC in, AC out, so not so easy to replace. G.

[url="http://artecsound.com/pickups/index.html"]http://artecsound.com/pickups/index.html[/url] G.

The only tip I give to you is to be dead careful(!) cleaning the top of those pickups - the foil on Guild GoldenTones comes off pretty easily. G.

I have a passive OLP MM which I put through an MXR-80+ in front of the amp, and it sounds great with no upgrades. Wish it had a thinner neck, though. G.

Haven't tried those, but had some Entwistle-White Strat pickups a while back & they were great - good reputation on these. G.

Of course it'll work - why shouldn't it? It may or may not sound a lttle darker, and it shouldn't start to overdrive as early as a guitar amp. Get a Squier Standard Tele. G.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='836635' date='May 13 2010, 09:24 PM']Now that's a fine example of the luthier's art right there. The bridge is something else.... it must be something else 'cos it's certainly not a f...ing bridge.[/quote] the bridge is very similar to that on the *original* issue of the Gibson Les Paul, except that Gibson got the pitch angle on the set neck wrong, and the strings had to go UNDER the bridge crosspiece to get an action. G.

I have a Yamaha Drop 6 Baritone which I've just 'done up' as it had no pickups or strings. It's quite a short scale for a baritone , 27", B - B, but with 13 - 70 gauge strings, seems to work just fine. The previous own (kid!) stripped the finish & waxed the wood - it looks a bit 'roadworn' but plays pretty well. Now that I've done that I've another project to move on to & would be up for parting with it if anyone's interested. G.

The Laws of Physics state that the pitch of the note depends on the tension on the string between the bridge & the nut (or the fret where it's stopped down). And the gauge of the string (obviously). And the scale length. (Getting like The Spanish Inquisition sketch now). However, for any given scale length & string gauge, the tension for a certain note will always be the same, no matter how far away or near the end of the string is tethered, therefore string through will not change that. If you are talking about the transfer of resonance into the body, though, then ther may be something to that. But in practice, most of us with the facility (I have it on my Cirrus BXP - I've tried both ways & can't tell any difference) can detect very little, if any difference. G.

Sounds like your neck has a little bit of back-bow & needs the truss-rod loosened just a tad. Providing the nut is cut evenly it can be almost down to the fingerboard on a fretless. Hold down a string where the 1st fret would be, and also where the 17th fret would be & look at the side of the neck & the clearance between the fingerboard & the string round about the 9th-12th fret. There should be some clearance there - hardly any is OK, but some nevertheless. Once you have that. by adjusting the truss rod, adjust the height of the bridge saddles to taste & you ought to get a better action. G.

Well, if it's good enough for Jack Bruce.... G.

I will be up in Scotland again in a few weeks time - if you still have it then, I'll pop in & take it from you. G.

I agree with the above - a Hofner neck & pickup. The neck might have been worth something if the 5th hole hadn't been bored in it. Is the body a slab cutout in the shape of a 185? G.

Damn!!! This is getting ridiculous! The one guy I still did a bit with at the Old Volunteer Open Mike night on a Thursdday has been poached by Coralspin & can't play with me any more. I am totally bandless & bereft!!!! You'd think there would be a bunch of mature guys doing a bit of 60's & 70's stuff, or R&B and Blues around here!! Ah well. Back to the internet. G.

My very first bass was a MII Fender srtyle headstock Sunn Mustang which cost me £36, and I wish I still had it. G.

Many get good mileage from cutting up old-ish mouse mats. You can put a double layer in too if you need a bit of height. G.

As another Thunder III Fretless owner, I implore you to stick with it, use the side markers, play open strings for reference where you can, and don't mess up a beautiful neck. Geoff

I have a Schaller 3D 4-string in the drawer that I'd part with - if interested give me a shout.... G.

I'd leave it exactly as it is - and look after those knobs!!! G.

[quote name='lanark' post='823961' date='Apr 30 2010, 12:44 PM']Sorry - the advert was put up as an alternative and I was wondering why the Di100 was so much better that THAT one.[/quote] Aaaaah -sorry, obviously misread. G.

Mind you, for £300 you could have a Hohner B Bass V with Joe Barden pickups & a John East pre-amp.......PM me if you're interested. G.

That advert says it's a *passive* DI - are you sure it needs a battery/phantom power? G.

Wire it in parallel - you'll get a lot more top end, and more bottom too, at the cost of some output & mids. G.

I have a small hand & like slim necks. Currently my #1 bass is my Peavey Cirrus BXP V with the 35" scale. I think string spacing on this is about 16mm. My #2 bass is a Hohner B Bass V, 34" scale with souped up electrics. This is even slimmer than the Cirrus. I also have an OLP Stingray V which, although having very narrow spacing, like the B Bass, the neck is deeper back to front. I really like the tone I get off the OLP, but because of the depth of the neck, I'll be putting it up for sale on the Forum when I get back from Scotland next week. It's the one I had at the Moffat Bass Bash. If anyone wants first dibs on it, PM me. I played Neepheed's G&L 4 at Moffat & it has as slim a neck as I've ever played, but I don't know how that'd translate to a 5er. Geoff

If we're down in Ilfracombe at that time, I'll toddle over. G.