Musky

Actually, this thread has just reminded me of a regular column that appeared in a weekly instrument mag in the early eighties. A guy was trying to design a guitar from aluminium (body as well as neck), and he described problems with tuning instability. The problem lay not in the change of scale length, but the effect it had on the strings. He overcame the problem with quite a simple bridge design to compensate. I think he called it the Exe, and actually did produce a few. Anyone got any knowledge of these things?

[quote name='alexclaber' post='136309' date='Feb 8 2008, 09:45 AM']Obviously the UK is part of the EU, but some EU countries are net contributors and some are net recipients. The answer is to go on regular holidays to enjoy smooth fast Spanish roads that we paid for... Alex[/quote] Or just eat their cheap tomatos.

[quote name='setekh' post='133920' date='Feb 4 2008, 09:49 PM']on a different note - does anyone know of similar (cool) basses with a price tag of under €1000? [/quote] Eastwood Classic? They go for £350-ish over here.

Straight off gumtree - [url="http://www.gumtree.com/london/36/19010036.html"]http://www.gumtree.com/london/36/19010036.html[/url] £1900 from a central London seller.

I'm with Jean Luc on this - they'll work but you won't get the bottom end. I used a Marshall 200w guitar cab, with an amp knocking out up to 175w through it, for years without any worries at all. Mind you, I was using a Rick on the bridge pickup so I wasn't exactly shaking the foundations with the bass.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='132632' date='Feb 2 2008, 04:14 PM']Okay... I'm a bit fick. Explain your point in idiot's language.[/quote] I think (and forgive me if I'm wrong, ARGH) it's not so much an extolling of ERBs or widdlesome technique, more that he's drawing comparisons with developments in bass playing and developments in musical styles. In the way that slap has defined so much modern funk and detuning is so prevalent in metal.

I think there's a lot to be said for your argument ARGH, though I think it's rather in the nature of instrument rather than simple conservatism. There's only so much you can do with a stringed instrument, no matter how many strings you add to it, and essentially all those things have been done. We can add strings, detune, add effects or try new ways of attacking the strings, but fundamentally we're stuck with the same instrument. A lot of experimentation with bass just leads to replication of sounds available guitarists of keyboards. Nothing wrong with that of course - it keeps us as bassists in business - but it's nothing really new. And ultimately someone has to hold down the bottom end - it might be a keyboard player or a second (or third!) bassist, but it's likely to be us. Of course, nothing really new in rock has happened for quite some time (I wouldn't even call Grunge new). Pop has (long ago) eaten itself. But all the really new sounds are coming from the dance scene - which of course doesn't really use bass guitars. I think we ought to recognise that we're working within what is now quite an old cultural form, and one that's not likely to be the dominant one forever. Given the way instrumentation changes with genuinely new forms of music (or is that the other way round?) I don't think we need fret (ouch) too much progression of technique. Like the piano, the bass is what it is.

[quote name='evilLordJuju' post='131380' date='Jan 31 2008, 04:30 PM']A bunch of us Gibson fans have got together to order a bach non-reverse thunderbird style bass. see here [url="http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1408"]http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1408[/url] I'll be getting one for sure - will post pics when they arrive. As far as I know, Bach will make you anything, if you can get together an order for 25 of them....[/quote] €160 for the Thunderbird? What's that - £120? That is ridiculously cheap. I wonder what they'd want for a Rick 4005?

Got to agree with bassboy really, though the Ashdowns are a bit marmite - some people love 'em, others hate 'em. The Laneys I've tried (not any of the RBs) have been ok but don't seem to have any character of their own - nothing to really love or hate about them, just ok. There's a good deal on the profet 5.1 [url="http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=warprofet51basshead&gclid=CNqUnaKrgJECFQwwlAodJmv6-A"]here[/url] at the moment. Insane price - £208 including delivery (be quick - it's a January sale!).

[quote name='jono b' post='131008' date='Jan 30 2008, 10:36 PM']Going by the age what model would you say it was? I'd message him but he seems like such a tool that he probably couldn't tell me[/quote] It's got a CN serial number which is a Korean Squier made by Cort, so it's probably about the age he reckons. The first number after the prefix might be a 5 or 6, though it's a bit hard to see. It's just the standard squier that was available at the time, so could go anywhere from £100 to £150 (if people don't mind the scratches). The way he's listed it I'd expect it to reach nearer the bottom end of that.

[quote name='bremen' post='130624' date='Jan 30 2008, 01:07 PM'][url="http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/mains.htm"]http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/mains.htm[/url] : "Member countries of the European Union are presently striving to achieve a common mains standard. From 1 January 2004 the mains supply should be 230V (-6%, +10%), 50 Hz (±1%). ie a range of 216.2 - 253V This replaces the UK's former specification which was 240V ±6% (ie a range of 225.6 - 254.4V) Variations should still be anticipated in some areas as the voltage will drop during periods of heavy demand and rise during periods of low demand."[/quote] That's true, but notice that there's scarcely any difference in the upper limit. So in practice electricity suppliers have made no change, and still remain within the EU rules. As Gbase says, it really doesn't matter - these rulings weren't really intended to affect suppliers, but the people who design appliances (who now have a range of voltages that they know their equipment should work under).

My first thought was a Squire VM as well - either the Precision or Jazz. But I'm afraid you're probably going to get a lot of different suggestions from here as well, as everyone has their own priorities of what to look for in a bass. For what it's worth, there have been plenty of people on here that have recommended Yamahas and Ibanezs as a first bass and the odd suggestion for Schecter as well, besides a whole bunch more (Peavey and SX spring to mind). In the past my default answer has been, go with one like your favourite bassists use. Besides looking the part (which let's face it is pretty important), it's also likely to get you on the way to achieving the same tone. So the next questions have to be, what kind of music do you like and who are your favourite bands?

[quote name='Hamster' post='130203' date='Jan 29 2008, 06:33 PM']UK voltage is now actually 230v AC to bring us closer to the rest of the EEC which is 220v AC. Hamster[/quote] As far as I'm aware supply voltage hasn't actually been changed in this country. The EU specified a range of voltages which encompassed those already in use across Europe. There's always some variation in supply voltage, and in practice the change in nominal supply voltage just meant UK suppliers had to keep more of an eye on the upper limit.

[quote name='bassboy115' post='129807' date='Jan 29 2008, 09:42 AM']ok cheers i just would have expected the headline bands amp to hum aswell if it was bad electrics?[/quote] The are a lot of variables with hum - there may be a fault with one socket and not another, plugging power supplies and amps into different sockets can cause ground loops, faulty power or extension leads, or a fault within the amp. If you're not getting the problem with the same set up elsewhere, it points to a problem at the venue.

There's always the Bass Cell... Oh yeah, I see what you mean.

If it goes away when you touch metal parts it indicates an earth problem. Active pickups have lower inductance and are far less susceptible to interference, which could be why you're not getting any problems with your active basses. If your passive basses are grounded properly then it points to an earth problem in your amp, power lead or mains circuit which will need sorting pronto. If you've got other amps or mains leads you could try swapping them (as well as any extension lead you might be using), and the mains can be checked with a Martindale tester.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='129184' date='Jan 28 2008, 11:52 AM']I'm sure its a Framus Star Bass - look at the body shape & headstock on this one. The only difference I can see seems to be the pickguard: [url="http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/modells/instruments.php?katID=4622&instrumentID=388&modellID=83&cl=DE"]http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/model...ID=83&cl=DE[/url][/quote] Spot on! The clue is just a bit further down the page where elom found the first picture

I was just about to refer you to the sticky on this, only to find it has been unstickied! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42[/url] As for the humming, you'd normally expect noise to increase if you up the gain but I wouldn't expect any extra hum when upping the treble (that's more likely to increase hiss). Was it somewhere you'd played before? It might have been a problem with the lighting there, or even an earth fault in the power circuit.

Heh. "I AM TIERD OF PEOPLE ASKING IF THIS IS A FAKE PLEASES STOP ASKING THAT QUESTION ANY MORE AS I SAID I BELIEVE IT TO BE A RICKENBACKER 4001 I SWAPED AND ALTO SAX FOR IT 3 YEARS AGO. It was up for sale at £1500 and i swaped my sax for it iv had 3 music shops say its real and have compaird it to a real one and its identical!"

I googled this guys email and came up with this: [url="http://en.netlog.com/clan/guitar_and_bass_players_unite/photo/photoID=121044#photos"]http://en.netlog.com/clan/guitar_and_bass_...D=121044#photos[/url] Presumably thats his '1970's fender p-bass'.

Any bass is only as good as the use you can make of it. I think I'd lose the G&L if I were in your shoes. If you prefer the sound and feel of the Squire, go for it. It rather sounds like you don't like the tone of the G&L at all, which is good enough reason to get shot of it. If it's just the name on the headstock that's bothering you go for a second hand Japanese Fender, though by all accounts the VMs are good basses in their own right.

[quote name='Sean' post='127687' date='Jan 25 2008, 12:51 PM']Just come back from Aldi in Cheltenham and they haven't got any. [/quote] Yeah. I tried picking up one of these when Aldi's had them last year, and they sold out double quick. I think a lot of people use Aldis as a cheap source for ebay items.

Like tayste says, it really depends on what you have in mind. A band I used to be in managed it with a midi foot controller and a sampler, though you could equally use a synth workstation. Old samplers can be picked up for a pittance, and are quite usable live in conjunction with an external hard/zip drive.

Least we forget this thread: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-Bass-4001-vintage_W0QQitemZ300193359818"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-Bass-40...emZ300193359818[/url] This seller claims to "believe this to be a 4001", but posts up a picture making it very difficult to figure out exactly what it is. The tuners are definitely not Rick though, and look like the sort of generic ones that a lot of Mats used to sport.

Great review Matt, thanks a lot for clueing us up. For those who didn't know, the Mondial is based pretty heavily on the old Supro/Valco/Airline designs, borrowing the shape/construction from the Res-o-glas Belmonts and under bridge transducer from the Pocket Bass. Although they never produced an instrument quite like the Mondial the heritage is pretty clear. The Italias have been around since the late nineties, but seem to have been without a UK distributer for the last few years. One question though Matt - what's the battery access like?