PaulKing

[quote name='PaulKing' timestamp='1392653692' post='2371102'] Happy jack, what's your take on it, you're mr Hofner innit? [/quote]

Happy jack, what's your take on it, you're mr Hofner innit?

I got that itch and made a slightly impulsive purchase. Been looking at vintage hollow body basses a bit, after enjoying my reissue Kay 162 a lot (when I'm not playing upright, which is most of the time). Framus star... gretsch .. Hmm, Hofner. I like that budget bass, warm tone. But not a violin thankyou. So along come a couple of Presidents and one is callings name particularly. It's 1963 I guess, by the serial number which looks like 12. There's a blob after the 12, but it isn't big enough to be a number. Even so 129 still puts it at 1963. I have to work on the bridge pickup circuit Cos it doesnt wirk - anyone know if that is a common problem? Otherwise it is immaculate, with stunning veneer on the back. I hope I'm as happy with it in my hand as I am looking at the pics... Now how do I post pics from iPhone...?

Rabbie is right, but wrong at the same time. Both approaches work for different people . The classic way is high strings (10-15mm or more), gut or nylon, easy to grasp with fingers, lots of string movement for acoustic volume, and any sense of attack from those weak but lovely organic strings. Makes for dynamic, aggressive punchy percussive sound .. Bounces and drives. Also the low tension means any less height and you'll get string buzz. But the other strategy works well enough for amplified psycho and more modern styles. Steel strings, don't need as much room to move, don't need as much energy to sound. Means you can get away with less physical attack, can afford lower height, so long as you can develop a technique that gets enough finger purchase on the string. I think the price you pay is that the steel click becomes relatively loud compared to the pizz note (which is what you want for psycho), and also the overall sound becomes less dynamic and bouncy, more of a mechanical noise. But with good eq, you can manage a perfectly good amplified tone. I think it's harder to play dynamically that way though, there's little difference between a gentle pluck and a right old tug, as it were.

Just to avoid confusion, these are labelled as 3rd B, and 4th F#, intended for playing at solo tuning. Tuned down a tone they make a fine low tension A & E.

I play 140B solo gauge 3rd & 4th detuned to concert, for a fine match with gut G & D (at least on one bass....). For slapping, jump blues. For low tension, low sustain gut-like thump, with far better definition and punch than most gut-alternatives, a perfectly passable soft click that matches gut nicely, and none of that artificial boink of some nylon strings, it's a fine choice for blues and swing and roots slapping that not many people think of trying. I've just replaced them on my King Mortone because foolishly I over-coiled mine while I trialled another string ... And the windings kinked in a couple of places on both strings. DAMN! So now I have 2 damaged strings, worth £60 odd .... If anyone fancies trying them on for size, drop me a line. They are not a permanent solution, coz the kinked windings will score your fingerboard ... But they could give you a sense of how these cool strings sound before you decide to buy.

Nuno is indeed a fine man and spectacular slap bassist. Check his recordings with Sylvan Zingg, just blistering.

Not mine .. I've got 3 already. If someone doesn't buy this I will. Simplest, easiest, most reliable pickup for multi-purpose bass amplification. It just works in every situation. If you're a beginner, or want to try the bewildering and expensive range of piezo pickups out there, grab the original and best whenever you see one on ebay, that's my advice. 3 days to go, and only £16 at the moment. £40 would be a bargain, £60 still under half price. The dude doesnt even know what he's selling. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/double-bass-pickup-/221298011069?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item338663abbd"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/double-bass-pickup-/221298011069?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item338663abbd[/url]

Peter Tyler swears by his vibrator. Perhaps some explanation to clear his name .... I saw one of his basses sitting in the corner with a gadget attached to its bridge, buzzing away day and night to speed up the opening up process. He said it made a huge difference. Not a rabbit in sight. A brand new laminate bass will mellow and bloom to some extent, but yeah it rarely develops in the rich complex way a decent solid or carved bass does.

I think there some overly cautious / scary replies here. I don't think your bridge is knackered, although it migh t be a bit below par .... Ranking it alongside hundreds of other bridges being happily played up and down the country. Sounds like your post is quite a tight fit, which is pretty common too. Not a problem for you, tho it might bother a concert bassist, and might just choke your sound a tiddly bit acoustically. But you are playing thru a pick up so don't worry about it. Plus, you don't need to worry about it falling when you fiddle with bridge and strings - just make sure your bass stays lying flat while you 'operate'. Here's what might be contributing to your trouble: Bridge feet maybe not finely fitted to begin with. Quite likely, if bought new from eBay or wherever. Solution - read up on fitting bridges, rub down the feet using a bit of fine sandpaper taped to the surface of the bass to get a good fit (it's a cheat, but works well enough for a bass like this - its how I do it). Hard thing is getting angle right, so bridge fits perfectly vertical. Alternative, send to luthier and get it done for £30, though they will probably advise a new bridge cos they'd rather see a good quality one on thee. Bridge is not wrong way round - curve on top edge follows fingerboard. Bridge taper (thickness) isn't ideally shaped at top - should be flat on underside, curving slightly on top surface, like what KOHL said. But that's not a biggie. String notches may be 'catching' strings, so as you tune up the strings constantly pull the bridge upwards. Very likely, ESP with Silverslaps strings with that half-round wound surface. Solution - as described, one at a time slacken off the strings, pop out of notch, use fine round file to smooth out notches at entry and exit point - delicate touch here. Then scrape some soft pencil into the notch before replacing string. Best to slacken off all strings at the end, tighten to point they hold bridge in place firmly, then stand bass up. Now start to tune up, but regularly push down on the top edge of the bridge to make sure it stays at 90deg to surface of bass. You might even hear the rough surface of the strings 'clicking' over the notches a bit, but hopefully not if the notches are really smooth. Ideally the strings should glide thru the notches with no resistance. Break angle over bridge too steep. Well, there's a lot written about this. It may exacerbate the problem here, but there's not much you can do about it, it's part of the basses anatomy. Expensive block extensions would reduce the angle (and apparently tension at same time), but I don't think this is really the issue here, looks pretty normal to me, within normal range. Bridge may be flexing at the adjusters. Possible, though doesn't look like it in pics, and yours is adjusted right down, so shouldn't be a problem. but if they're poorly fitted, there may be too much play in the bridge, causing it to lean. Take out the bridge, see wherher the feet wobble noticeably. If so ... Get a new bridge. Bridge may be warped. Possible, but again doesn't look much like it, not enough to be a problem. You can steam the bridge ( in a normal veg steamer) for 20 mins, then put a big flat book on it and as much weight as you can to press it flat, then leave to dry and cool overnight. But I don't think that'd achieve much here. Overall, while there may be some imperfectns, minor quality issues, there's nothing I can see here that isn't pretty typical, and there are plenty of basses with FAR worse problems that play perfectly happily for years, so I'm sure yours can be sorted pretty easily. Start by sorting the notches and keeping bridge at 90 as you tune. Over and out

Amazing pics! Would we be able to get some copies? Credits promised!

Wonderful to see BCers there, fine time had by all and some fine blues bass to get the punters heads nodding. Good times! Ta for the lanyard bluejay...

Nice score. Not sure it's either an Excelsior (upper bouts look wrong, and never seen one with that nice burst staining), or a Golden Strad to be honest. More likely an Excelsior, I think later models (70-80s) varied in shape bait. It'll be labelled if it is. No matter, fine looking bass, and would expect nice warm tone. Bridge needs adjusting by the way, down a bit, between he fhole notches....

Thanks for that, right, treading carefully til I get some answers from Markbass on this. Cheers

Any amp/electronic experts able to answer me this? I use a Markbass CMD121P combo. I just replaced the internal piezo-tweeter with a better mini-horn. Is there any risk to my amp from this? I don't understand how cross-overs affect the loading on the amp. The original piezo tweeter was connected to a crossover unit in the combo. The main combo speaker is 8ohms, meaning I could run an extension cab at another 8ohms, putting a combined load of 4ohms on the amp. The piezo tweeter running from the crossover didn't seem to affect the loading. BUT, the new tweeter I have fitted (connected in the same way to the crossover) is a proper magnetic speaker, rated 8ohms. How do I calculate the load on my amp now...? Do the two 8ohm speakers separated by a crossover combine to a load of 4ohms ... meaning I can't run my ext cab? Or does the crosover unit with two 8ohm speakers still represent just a single 8ohm load?

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1364399167' post='2025952'] "The boys just knew that this would get at least a fiver at the car boot!" [/quote] Great pic - looks like the Long Tall Texans around 1983/4? Where did you find that...?

If you're amplifying, any acoustic difference in the bass itself starts to make much less difference than your technique, strings, pick up and amplifiers used. For anything other than orchestral / concert performance that Czech laminate should give you awesome amplified tone ... though I'd recommend Underwood / Bassmax / Shadow / TM / Schatten over Realist. Markbass gives accurate transparent sound. If your set up is good, it'll sound great thru Markbass. Alternatively, if it sounds crappy, Markbass won't fix it.

For many years, rotosound were the only choice if you couldn't afford authentic real gut. Innovation and Presto (called Eurosonic in USA) are now pretty much the main choice. Plenty people play Labella Supernil too. Cheap nylon weedwhackers, home made or otherwise are the new kids on the block - great for low budgets, and great for easy slapping, but the E and A can be pretty much useless. Recently pimped up whackers like Superior, Cordes Lambert and a handful of similar have emerged - they variously offer slightly improved whackers, cosmetically improved whackers ... or completely original alternatives to gut. They are strings for connoisseurs really ... If you want some cheap sh*t to learn slapping with, get whackers. If you have a mag pickup get presto, or the new Superior TriCore ... But don't expect authentic 50s gut sound, just something pretty close to most ears.

Some of the more ... 'helpful' ... US traders , suggest on the packaging that the enclosed is a gift. They are so thoughtful to do so ... as it can mean zero taxes. Buying from the US is always painful otherwise.

I used to run my Markbass 121 with the tweeter disconnected because it is a bit hissy and scratchy. Then I reconnected it, and realised what I'd been missing - just have to ease off the top end. Then I blew it (too much slapping... too much unplugging without killing volume ... doh) Then I bought a kickass replacement piezo tweeter and wired it into a little box that sits on top of the cab like a satellite tweeter. It sounds awesome. I knkow I slap a lot, but i think it defines the pizz tone and adds air and finger noise that helps realise that DB tone, not just bassy whump.

... .... though you never know

Excellent, happy ending. I have just one word of advice on jacks and leads ... WIRELESS it's not just about running around the stage and venue, it's about not getting electrocuted (it happens) and about not snagging cables and damaging delicate equipment. And running about the stage. And arsing about with bass antics.