Jean-Luc Pickguard

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='201985' date='May 19 2008, 10:44 AM']Oh yeah, and on bass - Steve Swallow. He keeps upgrading his basses only to downgrade his sound, it seems...[/quote] Doesn't he use a metal plecky? If so that would probably make any bass sound bad.

Not very scientific, but my maple necked P has far too much zing even with flatwounds, although I put that down to the hard ash body as much as the one-piece maple neck. The rosewood boarded one is much better behaved and sounds more like I think a Precision should. Blindly dismissing it as bollox is dumb as its easy enough to do some A/B tests - its not like we're trying to prove or disprove the existence of God here (although I think Richard Dawkins has pretty much wrapped that one up )

If cost is a primary concern, a secondhand Trace Elliot Commando 12 might be worth looking. I bought one for my daughter and sold it on recently as it was far too loud for her bedroom. They're Cheap as chips if you can find one, and you won't loose out when its time to sell it on when you upgrade. I used it for a few rehearsals when I was betwen amps.

It is a bit tatty, there are screws missing and as the receipt says it doesn't have a tremolo, so that's probably a fair price

chinagraph pencil works well to mark the settings.

I would frame the pg and hang it on the wall rather than keep it on the bass. or am I missing the point?

[quote name='Platypus' post='197476' date='May 12 2008, 08:26 PM']Dave_bass5 returned a Lakland bass to them and they refunded him more than he had actually paid for it. Turned out the prices had increased since he bought it. Poor fella was devestated [/quote] This would be because of the € to £ conversion rate rather than price movement - they would have refunded the same amount of euros they had originally received. So it could go down as well as up.

It seems to be solution looking for a problem. You'll have all the crud it picks up from the floor rubbing against you. I use [url="http://www.herculesstands.com/guitars/GS302B.html"]this Hercules stand[/url] It folds flat & fits in the front pocket of my gigbag and is much steadier than other mini stands I've tried. I always use it with my mustang bass in preference to my big Hercules stands.

[quote name='Linus27' post='196477' date='May 11 2008, 12:27 PM']Is the NS-Design Bass Cello tuned the same as a bass, E, A, D and G???[/quote] I'm not sure if there's a four string version, but the one I tried was a 5 string tuned as : B-E-A-D-G. I think the name doesn't help as it puts people off as they sometimes get it confused with the NS-Design cello which is a different instrument all together.

The logo was probably applied by the same person that did Marcus Miller's. His CIJ sig basses also copy the logo placement of his '77 which looks just like that.

I used to own a Dean Pace which I enjoyed playing fingerstyle but it isn't designed to be bowed as others pointed. I currently have an NS Design CR5M. If your funds can stretch to an NS-Design Bass Cello. Don't let the word cello put you off - it is a bass. It has the same scale as a Bass guitar (like the Pace) but can be bowed and can be played upright on a stand or horizontally on a strap.

Well he can ask them if they have any secondhand stock they'd lend out. When the guitarist in o5b blew up his amp at the end of a gig (near the end of the second encore if I remember correctly) he didn't have anything for the next couple of rehearsals so I lent him my v-ampII box & stuck it through a spare channel on the PA.

A Badass III will fit - its a three-hole design & it will keep the thru-stinging. [url="http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/bridge_leoquanbadass3.htm"]Here![/url]

[quote name='kennyrodg' post='188472' date='Apr 29 2008, 10:09 PM']you could look [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/BuildaBass_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm"]here[/url].[/quote] The necks & bodies there badged as "signature" appear to be identical to those on SX basses. If they are they are overpriced.

That's why I have only ever sold two of my basses, one of which was my first bass a cheapo 70s japanese copy, before I realised it was OK to own more than one. The other one I was 100% sure I wouldn't miss it. Good luck in tracking it down.

Yep its £70 for a fretstone (inc setup) at the Gallery. I had one done recently & they did a good job on sorting out my Mustang.

[quote name='paul, the' post='187759' date='Apr 29 2008, 03:25 AM']Hot gear. It's great to hear that a Mustang is your workhorse. Why do you prefer it? I want to try a short-scale again soon.[/quote] I bought it as I wanted something very similar to the musicmaster which could be used with my string of choice, thomastik flats. I've put a set of TI JF324 on it which are too long for the musicmaster, but are perfect on the mustang doe to the thru stringing. The neck seems to be thinner than the vintage mustangs I've tried, very much like a short jazz neck making it very fast & effortless to play. [quote name='paul, the' post='187759' date='Apr 29 2008, 03:25 AM']How does the lipstick'd jazz sound?[/quote] Its very versatile and it seems to be impossible to dial in a sound I don't like. I think this probably has more to do with the John East circuit as the pickups though.

[quote name='paul, the' post='187467' date='Apr 28 2008, 06:53 PM']I might watch that guild, myself.[/quote] mmmm that is nice. I'm going to try to resist commeting on this pic though:

[quote name='jono b' post='187320' date='Apr 28 2008, 04:10 PM']Is that a neck pocket on it a little too wide too? I have a similar problem on my Jazz.[/quote] That's how they made them in '71 - doesn't seem to make any difference to the playability though. I wanted to get a CIJ mustang in the same blue, but ended up getting the vintage white one instead.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='186414' date='Apr 27 2008, 12:15 PM']... so I kept going in a pool of coke and broken glass.[/quote] Sounds like a night out with Pete Docherty

[quote name='BassManKev' post='186689' date='Apr 27 2008, 07:46 PM']i love the 81 p [/quote] You probably wouldn't if you felt the weight of it The body is made of heavy "baseball bat" Ash so it could be effectively used as the anchor for a medium sized fishing boat. Lovely colour & grain pattern though.

I've finally got around to taking some pics of some of my basses. A couple of guitars crept in as well. A 90s Danelectro Longhorn, just like the 50s ones (but with a trussrod) '81 Precision cherry sunburst Bitzer fretless built from a brandoni neck & body with fender hardware & kent armstrong pickup 1990 MIJ "jamerson" style '62 RI '2003 Highway1 Jazz with Badass bridge, Kent armstrong Jazz lipstick pickups, J-Retro, Tort pickguard & Hipshot D-Tuner (why do red basses not photograph well?) '71 Musicmaster CIJ Mustang with Chandler "aged pearl" pickguard - currently my main gigging bass Epi TBird Alpine White CIJ '72 RI Tele Thinline with Chandler B/W/B pickguard Stratacoustic - great fun and plays nicely once shimmed

I always use an RCD, but Pete in o5b was getting small earth differential shocks off his mic when his guitar amp isn't plugged into the same circuit as the mixer. It doesn't happen if the mixer and amp are on the same extension cable. This isn't always possible, so to stop him touching the mic he uses a big blue foam foam clown nose thing on his SM58. [url="http://www.o5b.co.uk"][/url]

It'll be much more cost effective to get a fretless P neck with ebony board from Brandoni. When I bought one it was about £100 - so you should cover your costs by flogging the fretted neck. I built my fretless with a brandoni body as well as the neck and hardware from various places.

walnut oil?