Jean-Luc Pickguard

[url="http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/"]Touchstone Tonewoods[/url]

Can't get much lighter than an Ashbory.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='180196' date='Apr 18 2008, 10:37 PM']They any good? Also do they work for drop tunings? say drop C or D standard?[/quote] 1. Yes - It is certainly the easiest, most convenient and most accurate tuner I've used. 2. No its not designed for that [indent]There's a [color="#708090"][b]guitar [/b][/color]one that does [b]E - A - D - G - B - E[/b] and a [b][color="#FF0000"]bass [/color][/b]one that covers [b]Low B - E - A -D - G - high C.[/b][/indent] I have one of each, but I really need to get a spare red one for gigs. I've seen stupid people try them once at the LGS a few years ago and dismiss them as useless because they didn't RTFM. It needs to be held over the 12th fret with the dial turned to the correct. Pluck the string and tune up until the lights reflected off the string stop moving. If the movement gets faster you're turning the wrong way. It takes about ten minutes to get used to using the SOS, but once you have the knack you can have your bass tuned while the guitarist is still tuning his Low E.

The string spacing is narrower on a bronco than a single coil tele bass, so the poles won't match up to the strings. This may or may not cause uneven output from string to string, but it wouldn't be an issue with a lipstick or rails pickup. The bobbin is bigger on the telebass pickup than the standard strat size pickup used on broncos - hence the pg needing to be modified to make it fit. A good upgrade bridge is the 90s Squier musicmaster one. I think they're still available as a spare part. this has four saddles and is a string-thru design, so a set of ferrules will be needed.

I can tune accurately in well under a minute with noise all all around me and my bass unplugged. I don't have perfect pitch, or probably even 'good-enough' pitch - just a Planet Waves SOS tuner.

[quote name='theosd' post='179993' date='Apr 18 2008, 05:34 PM']They are just always really boomy - only buy if you're a plectrum player.[/quote] What? Mine isn't boomy & I use flatwounds & fingers. It doesn't neck dive either - after ten minutes well spent relocating the strap button.

[quote name='thewalruswaspaul' post='175559' date='Apr 13 2008, 10:47 AM']Have not done pickup swap yet , have just got some new machineheads coz the squier ones suck , will fit pup in next week or two , am currently trying to decide between the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/scpb1_vintage_f/"]Seymour Duncan SCPB-1[/url] and the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage/lipstick_tube_f/"]Seymour Duncan Lipstick Pick up[/url] , both seem to be in the vintage ballpark , will let you know once I have done the swap[/quote] 'm not sure if the SCPB-1 would fit. You need a strat size pickup unless you are cutting a new pickguard. Kent Armstrong also do a strap size lipstick pup. I'd go for a Brandoni enclosed cool rails though. Mine sounds massive in my '71 musicmaster.

I stopped using roto flats when I got three bad sets together. They may have improved since, but they were total crap five years ago when I last bought them.

[quote name='nickcarey' post='178887' date='Apr 17 2008, 02:46 PM']The other thing I was wondering about are the types of strings Musicman fit to fretless Stingrays by default.[/quote] Just a guess, but I'd be surprised if they fitted anything other than Ernie Ball strings

I'd send an alternative set list and ask if he actually wants a bass player onstage. What an idiot.

I have one somewhere, but hid it from the kids and forgot where...

I have several different tuners and only ever use a planet waves SOS - It costs next to nothing and is easy fast & accurate, even on a low B. And its possible to tune in noisy surroundings in total silence.

Go for it - There's nothing wrong with modding a cheap bass - if nothing else it builds up experience, so working on a more expensive bass later will be less daunting. I have put a couple of rail humbuckers into 71 musicmasters. My daughter's has a Brandoni white hotrails with explosed blades and mine has an enclosed black brandoni cool rails. The cool rails sounds (& looks) much better to me, although my daughter likes the zebra effect of the hotrails. I think the coolrails is more suitable as the hot rails sounds a bit too zingy for my taste. Last time I looked either pickup would set you back about £30 from brandoniguitars.co.uk

Donny Hathaway Live, for Willie Weeks groovy p-bass solo on voices inside.

[quote name='Macko1968' post='170163' date='Apr 5 2008, 11:02 AM']I remember seeing one of these circa '84 & not being allowed to touch it by some misery guts shop owner.[/quote] I remember going to Denmark Street in 1986 looking for a Hohner B2A when they were first available. Rose Morris had one in the window, but the chap there wouldn't let me try it out even though I said I would buy it on the spot if I liked it. I went a few doors down where I was allowed to play one and bought it. I knew the B2A hard cases weren't available - the first shipment was a couple of weeks behind the basses for some reason, so as soon as I bought he bass I back to Rose Morris it and asked the same chap I spoke to earlier if he had a case "this" holding it up.

Stash hidey-hole?

I can understand "the funk machine", but anyone know why jaco's was called the "bass of doom"?

According to most of the spam emails I've been getting, I'm not qualified to play my Danelectro longhorn.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='165508' date='Mar 28 2008, 07:58 PM']Changing your jazz p'ups for split coils? That could be difficult, you'd have to re-route the body for that and i wouldn't do it unless you've had experience with this before or if you get a pro to do it. You'd also have to get a custom pickguard cut. I wouldn't imagine wiring that would be too hard if you know what you're doing though.[/quote] The coils are split, but they are still the standard jazz size. As for strings I lke the lovely floppy rubbery feel of Thomastik JF344 on my fenders, but not everyone appreciates flatwounds.

+1 vote for a CIJ Mustang. I got a good-as-new secondhand one for £300. Apart from 30" scale (JF 324 strings fit ) Its nice & light and the nut is definitely narrower than the 70s mustangs I tried (overpriced / knackered ones in Denmark street). I have a danelectro longhorn which is nice & light, bt the body is quite large. I have a nice squier musicmaster I've been thinking about selling, however its pink If I was buying for a nine-year-old though, and the budget was limited, I'd look out for one of these:

A few of my basses have a "below the strings" tug bar - not that's ever going to be used. The chrome pickup cover is useful for Jamerson-style hand resting, but it doesn't make me play like him.

I have a few shorties [list] [*]an Ashbory. [*]a CIJ Fender Mustang (30") [*]a '71 Fender Musicmaster(30") [*]a 90's Squier Musicmaster (30") [*]a Danelectro longhorn reissue (30") [/list] My Daughter also has [list] [*]a '71 Fender Musicmaster [*]a daisyrock Heartbreaker (30") [*]a Daisyrock Stardust Elite (32") - which is lovely [/list] my favourite bass at the moment is the mustang - It has the fastest neck of all my basses and as the strings feed through the body Thomastic Jazz Flatwounds JF324s fit on it which is a massive bonus to me. I tried some "vintage" 70s mustangs in Denmark street and for some reason the ones I was able to try were very knackered and/or very overpriced.

TI Jazz flats only come as one standard set (JF344), so I use: .043, .056, .070, .0100 * the 32" JF324 set on my mustang is slightly different, but I guess we're talking 34" sets

[quote name='BigRedX' post='161810' date='Mar 22 2008, 02:57 PM']Looking at JLP's photo I'd say that he has one turn to many on the E as it looks as though the final wrap is over the one before because there's no space for another below it. Ideally you want every sting to pass over the nut at the same angle as the G and D which are being held down by the string tree.[/quote] It guess it does look like that in the pic, but the final wind isn't on top of another wind. As the TIs are for 32" and the bass is 30" scale, so a much thicker wound bit of the string goes about halfway around the string post.

Lovely looking bass. I vote for with keeping the pickguard, but maybe a different one if you don't like the plain white one. "Aged" white pearl will look good, but if you prefer it sans-guard, how about putting a clear one on?