Pinball

[quote name='Icarus_147' timestamp='1332278471' post='1586119'] Nothing like a freshly polished knob, eh? [/quote] and people want pictures?????

I got my 2nd bass guitar today. I'm on a budget having already spent a lot on lead guitars and amps in the last 3 months but I needed a decent bass. I snagged a bargain natural Schecter Diamond 4 Stiletto with EMG hz's on ebay "BIN" last week. It arrived today. I unpacked it and sure enough it looked like it had been bought cheap BIN. I tried it out and I was kind of disappointed. It sounded good with a wider and clearer range of tones than my Peavey Zephyr but it also looked really dull, everything was dirty, strings had spots of rust and it had some loose bits. I don't think it had been played for ages because the jack failed to work on the first attempt so I shoved it in and out a couple of times and it now seems fine. Anyway I couldn't enjoy playing it like that so I unplugged it and tightened up a loose pot and tuner nob, got the lemon oil on the fret board and got some polish on the body. What a difference it makes. The cleaning did wondered as some of the marks on the body that the seller had photographed simply polished off and the black fittings and diamond inlays on the fret board came to life. I'm off to get some new strings at lunch time and can't wait to get down to playing tonight. Much happier now!

Brilliant! It's such an obvious thing once you know but I spent days trying to figure that out. Soundcloud is now on the horzon. Thanks!

Thanks, much appreciated. I'll give that a try when I get home.

Hi, I'm doing my first original recording on Garage band. Everything I do is part of the learning process. What I do is to transferr a drum track from my looper, for say 6 minuites and then put the rest of the instruments on. The problem is that when I am finished and cut the tracks to the length of the recording I want, I'm left with a couple of minuites of blank space at the end that I can't get rid of. According to the vids I see on youtube I should be able to highlight the unnused block of space with the curser while pressing "control" and then delete (backspace?) the whole lot. I just can't get it to work. The result is that I end up with a 4 minuite recording that rolls on for another 2 mins of silance. I should add that this is an old version of Garageband as the mac was made around 2005/6. Any advice would be much appreciated as Soundcloud becons!

I hate any guitar or bass that is overcomplicated. There is nothing worse than fiddling around looking for a good setting.

Am I right in thinking that provided that for recording that its important that the bass gives a good clear sound but it isn't as important to have wide tone variations. My thinking being that if you have a good "raw" sound track you can mess around with it afterwards?

As someone who has recently bought his first bass its interesting that the ones that people miss are right across the price range.

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1331557428' post='1574668'] It's a basschat rule that within six months of joining you must own three basses, have already sold at least two more on to other members and be seriously looking to replace your rig. You'd better get a move on! Edit: To get rid of the accidental subscript that made the writing miniscule [/quote] If its the rule I must comply, I just snagged a Schecter off ebay. It's an early birthday prezzie as It's my birthday on Wednesday. I trust Schecter build quality, it's a mid-ranger with decent EMG-HZ pick-ups and it was cheap. Bought unplayed, my thinking is that if I don't like it I can sell it again. It will keep me occupied until I get a decent amount of dosh together. Fingers crossed! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140720400125&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123#ht_500wt_950"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140720400125&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123#ht_500wt_950[/url] I'd be interested to know from anyone who has one or if anyone thinks I made a mistake!

Thanks for the advice and please ignore my bodywood question. I just read the whole pinned thread titled Tonewoods and its obviously a can of worms.

G&L sound good. I tried some of their lead guitars a while back and the sound was 2nd to none. I'll maybe make do for a while until I find "the one". It is worth it I think as I can only play one at a time

Well Ispent about 1hr 30 mins in PMT in Bristol, They were great and let me try a few basses. I decided that I preferred 4 to 5 strings and out of their stock tried some of the cheaper Fenders, squires, Yamaha BB's and RBX's and an ibanez. I have to admit that the Fenders and Yamahas felt and sounded what I was after. The BB's were great but I found the bodies heavy and the necks very slim and they didn't fit me as well as the RBX. Unfortunately there weren't any higher spec RBX's and the one I had (RBX27?) felt so light in comparison to the £800 BB that it felt like it was made out of cardboard. It sounded good but it didn't quite have the tone of the more expensive guitar. So after my first visit its looking like an RBX yamaha or fender of some sort. I guess I now need to sort out the difference between jazz and precisions and find a higher spec RBX to play. Thanks for the good advice. One more thing-body wood. I imagine that mahogany gives deeper tones than maple as it is heavy but what about the other woods like ash, alder and bass wood?

It's not just their basses that are good, some of their top line leads and acoustics are also exceptional for the money. I missed out on one that I was after as the seller changed his mind. I believe they make top guitars for other factories and wanted to establish their own brand.. I can only think that they were selling cheap to break into the market but their timing was awful in terms of the economic crisis. I have an amazing peerless semi acoustic guitar I got for a couple of hundred. If they ever get into basses they will be another to watch. They are definately aiming at the quality end of the market. Jazz players love them. +1 great review

Your both right, I can't make an informed decision without more knowledge and experience. Lead Guitars I can figure but when I bought my leads I had a bit more cash. I bought wisely and could get my money back and could speculate but basses are still a mystery to me. I don't have the cash backup or the confidence in what I would be buying. I don't actually need a 2nd bass I JUST WANT ONE! I still may just blow the cash on something anyway haahaa! Cheers!

Hi, Well first off I just bought my first bass recently. A Peavy that plays and sounds good enough to make me hungry for more. I'm already wondering what to pick for my the next step up? I have been looking on ebay and scouring the small adds. I get totally confused with the large number of different Ibanez and Yamaha guitars. I have an aversion to Fender guitars because I bout one in the past for a lot of money and never played it-not the guitars fault but hey. Ones that have cought my eye are the Spector Performa, NS2A, Peavey Cirrus, Schecter Stiletto. The problem is that not being able to hear touch them just makes it more confusing. The important thing is sound.At the moment its not much of a problem as I'm recording so can manipulate the sounds as much as I like but I do intend to play live. I play everything from blues and rock through to clean sounds. Advice on what I should be looking at for a few hundred quid would be much appreciated? Also do I need to go "active" and modern or older? [i]Note: I have a Schecter Blackjack and Spider 3/75 combo that I need to sell to fund this so if anyone one in the Bristol area has a bass to trade let me know.[/i] Ed

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1330818706' post='1563520'] Won't do your fx any damage with a bass, although as said above they may not sound great - some guitar effects sound great with bass though, don't be afraid to experiment! The problem with bass through guitar amps is more to do with the speakers and the amount of power needed to produce the low end. Most guitar amps will handle bass well enough at lower volumes but struggle when pushed harder - there are exceptions though! [/quote] I have been playing with the Bass and recording on Garageband. It seems to record OK, the sound is good and clear but seems to have lost some of the low down grit. I know I have a cheapish bass but it sounds a lot better in real life than on the recording. I'm not too unhappy though and maybe need to mess with my pedals a bit. Other news is that I pulled the trigger on a Peavey Bandit/80w combo on ebay. Reviews suggested that it has the really good sounds that I want for my lead and is robust enough to handle a bass-there was a post about it elsewhere on here. That should do me for now I think. £80 so I hope it works OK!! Thanks

Damn I could have been there! saw this 12 hours too late

OK thanks, I'll try and maybe record something and put it up on site in a week or two. I have spent far too much on guitar kit in the last 6 months so am on an economy trip-I'm having fun though!

Hi. I have waht may be a dumb question. I just got my first base and am playing it into my PC through an effects pedal. I know that lead guitar amps/cabs can't cope with a bass but it won't harm non amped effects pedals e.g. boss ME70 or Line 6 JM4 looper will it? I can't see anything in the instructions that suggest its a problem Advice much appreciated!

Thanks, lots of helpful stuff there. The length of the bass scale isn't something that had occurred to me. I got my tape measure out and then realized I wasn't sure where to stop measuring. I imagine the "scale" is the active part of the string from where it rolls over the bridge to the top nut-is that correct? If so it looks like 34.5". The Status site is amazing. I love the look of their their basses. Ed

Thanks Mr F, I'm in the UK and have been looking on Amazon. They have some reasonably priced strings on offer, with user ratings. I was confused about sizes for a 4 string so will plumb for something around the 45-105 range. The set up seems Ok to me so as it is a cheap bass I'll leave it as is for now. It plays well an and the sound is good across the whole fret board. Apologies for the stupid quiestion but I have no idea when it comes to basses. I'm enjoying messing around with it though.

Hi, I'm new to the forum and to bass playing. I'm enjoying playing and writing my own stuff after a 30 year break and am venturing into recording my own material. I needed to add bass lines to my stuff so have stretched my already stretched budget a little further and bought what I believe to be a Peavey zephyr, 4 string, bolt on neck and passive PUP's. To my "new" ears it sounds pretty good. The pickups seem to give a good sound range and it feels good to play. I don't have an amp but it should be fine for recording. It was previously owned by another lead player so has sat in the corner for years unplayed. I was thinking I should treat it to a new set of strings. Like I said I'm on a tight budget so was looking on ebay and got confused as I know nowt! Can anyone one advise me on a decent set of all rounders for a new player?