solo4652

I had an american-made 1980's Peavey Fury which sounded absolutely marvellous. Thin neck didn't suit me however, otherwise it would still be here. High-quality, well-made bass with all the jazz features, made in America. Sold it for £150 - complete bargain. There's one on ebay now, I think.

[quote name='BassBunny' post='689224' date='Dec 19 2009, 05:12 PM']Steve the "tone" control is purely a Bass or is it Treble "cut". As it's passive you can't boost anything.[/quote]


Hello Stuart,

I was being a little facetious, of course! The tone knob doesn't really seem to cut or boost or alter much at all (in comparison to, say, the G&L's tone controls). It's not actually a problem - I find I don't change the tone settings much after the first song - I'm far too busy concentrating on playing. By the way, the Precision has strips of metal across the neck. My Stingray doesn't have them at all. What are [i]they[/i] for?

[quote name='Rayman' post='689119' date='Dec 19 2009, 03:05 PM']Piece of cake mate, honestly, I'm useless at stuff like that too. Litteraly undo all the guard screws, undo the nuts that hold the two controls in, lift the plate off, put the new one on and screw it all back up again, really simple I promise. 10 minute job, and you'll be so glad you did it.[/quote]


"undo all the screws"?..."undo the nuts"?...."lift the plate off"?..."screw it all back up again"? I just knew it - things have got technical.

Yes, but to change the pickguard means I'll have to unscrew screws and suchlike. Massive undertaking for me, that.

Initial impressions:

The strings needed changing, so I offered up a set of Status halfwounds, my current favourite strings. But, they're too short for the the through-body stringing option. So, just for now, I've strung them from the bridge. The action was unbelievably high, with the saddles standing on tippy-toes. So, down they came. Higher notes sounded more rounded and boomy than the G&L and the lower notes sounded a bit more woody too. Perhaps that's the difference between the active G&L and the passive Fender? Bit of fiddling with the amp EQ soon produced some gloriously rich tones.

What is the tone knob for on the bass? Doesn't seem to do much at all. I have no intention at all of changing the bridge - I have no DIY skills at all and, besides, I'm already hugely impressed with the sound of the bass.

Then I started playing a few songs. I kept hearing "wrong" notes. Hmmm, must be out of tune already I thought - but no - tuner said it was bang-on. The problem is with the Fender that the notes are soooo clear! Already, it has forced me to check the accuracy of some songs because it's so easy to hear what you're playing. Easier to hear the bum notes too, however.

So far, so good then. I'm very pleased with the richness of the tone and also the clarity of the notes - I'm not getting muddiness at all, quite the reverse in fact. I'll keep fiddling with the action over the next few days. Already looking forward to trying it at next rehearsal on Monday (partner's birthday - am I in trouble, or what).

Steve

Couldn't wait until Saturday, so I went to see it this this morning. Looked "as new", neck felt lovely ( a bit shorter than the G&L) and,well, it's Christmas. So I bought it. My other half hasn't been home yet today, and I've got 3 hours to think up a justifiable reason for buying it.

Steve

Great! Sounds like a runner, then.

I'll take my G&L Tribute for an A/B comparison. To justify buying it, the Fender is going to have to be noticeably better then the G&L, with the G&L on just the front pup, set to "Valve" on my Roland amp. Should be interesting...

Steve

I'm looking at this on Saturday. I am by no means a Fender expert and I just thought I'd ask for people's opinions, please:

[attachment=38474:DSC00019.JPG]

[attachment=38475:DSC00021.JPG]

[attachment=38476:DSC00023.JPG]

The serial number dates it to 2008. Seller says it's "as new", with case and case candy. Seller says it's been played fewer than 10 times. I reckon I could probably get it for under £500.

Worth a punt?

Steve

Hi,

I'm looking for some simple, free songwriting software so I can capyure this flaming song that's rattling round my brain. What are people's recommendations, please?

Please remember that I am definitely NOT an IT expert!

Steve

Seriously folks - what do we think of this? Seems extraordinarily cheap for such an early bass. Has anybody contacted the seller? Anybody actually seen it?

On my Stingray, I felt I needed a thumbrest, but I didn't want to "spoil" the look of the bass. Because all the knobs and pickguard screws are chrome finish, I bought a chrome-finish mirror-mounting screw and positioned it above the E string. It blends in pretty well with the pearloid scratchplate and could almost pass as a (curiously-sited) extra control knob. I'd be pretty lost without it.

Here you go:

[url="http://buy.vivastreet.co.uk/instruments+romford-rm2/vintage-1952-fender-precision-bass-guitar-serial--0289/19818493"]http://buy.vivastreet.co.uk/instruments+ro...--0289/19818493[/url]

Gone already. Just up the road from me, too. I'd have been very tempted at that price.

[quote name='Bottle' post='678925' date='Dec 9 2009, 11:35 AM']Just thought I'd share some thoughts on the Neutrik Silent plugs.

Works fine with both of my current passive basses, but I've used a couple of active basses, including an Ibanez ATK305, which was temperamental with the R/A version of the plug, because of the reasons outlined above. I also found that the sleeve didn't always disengage when removed from the bass, resulting in a nasty squealing sound from the amp (urghhh, 'orrible ). Apparently, Neutrik have redesigned the jack so that the sleeve is better now, but YMMV with active basses.

I've kinda put my Silent cable out to pasture, I'm using a regular Neutrik R/A plug and rely on my tuner for muting.

HTH

Ian[/quote]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Because it's unclear whether the silent lead will work with my basses, and because the silent lead is £20, I've decided to play safe and go for the bog-standard "noisy" cable. Have to make sure I can get at the mute switch on the amp in that case.

I/we were having this problem. With "Fever", the rythm guitarist insisted on playing all the chords, loudly, when the song is basically vocals, bass and some drums. The way we managed to get him to put the guitar down was to put him in charge of organising the figer-clicks from himself and the lead guitarist. We'll need to have a similar discsussion about Stand by me and That's not my name (Ting Tings).

See:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Precision-Bass-Guitar_W0QQitemZ160384769751QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2557ad5ed7"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Precision-Bas...=item2557ad5ed7[/url]

I've asked the seller if there's a serial number on the bass. Reply: "Not that I can see".

[quote name='Paul_C' post='677031' date='Dec 7 2009, 07:19 PM']it's telling you that the silent bit won't work with an active bass, and you have two active basses - what's not to to understand ?

there is a switchable Planet Waves jack that works - [url="http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=3892"]http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=3892[/url][/quote]


Two points in reply:

1. Thanks for the link to the switchable Planet Waves lead.

2. Your comment "...what's not to understand? " is a little curt, I feel. I didn't understand the phrase "bass guitars which have a tip-ring-sleeve tap to activate the power supply". That's why I posted the original question.

Steve

Hi,

I'm in the market for a silent-jack neutrik instrument lead. I've spotted on on the 'net which comes with this warning:


"Please note:

The signal will not be muted with active electric bass guitars which have a tip-ring-sleeve tap to activate the power supply."


Errrr, what? I have a Stingray and a G&L Tribute, both of which are active. I'm not sure whether this lead will work with these basses. Can anybody enlighten me, please?

Steve

[quote name='BOD2' post='671665' date='Dec 1 2009, 10:34 PM']Yes, that would do (it mentions 2-core screened cable in the blurb).

The connectors are a bit on the cheap side. This would be better -

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Deluxe-10m-Microphone-XLR-XLR-Cable-Neutrik-Connectors_W0QQitemZ310184576060QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item483871043c"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Deluxe-10m-Microphon...=item483871043c[/url]

Anything with "Neutrik" XLR connectors is a better buy as they are much more robust and will outlast cheaper cables. You might be able to find something cheaper, I just did a very quick search.[/quote]

Thank you. I was wondering whether "Neutrik" connectors were different again from XLR. You've answered the question. Thanks again,

Steve

[quote name='BOD2' post='671650' date='Dec 1 2009, 10:20 PM']An XLR cable has two insulated cores and and braided earth.

An instrument cable (i.e. a guitar cable) has a single core and a braided earth.

For a balanced connection (XLR) you need the two-core and earth cable, not the instrument cable.[/quote]


So, will this do for what I want, please?

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XLR-to-XLR-Pro-Mic-Cable-Instrument-Lead-9mt-30-Foot_W0QQitemZ390123460288QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Music_Instruments_Microphones_MJ?hash=item5ad52b96c0"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XLR-to-XLR-Pro-Mic-C...=item5ad52b96c0[/url]

I'm sure this question's been asked umpteen times. Sorry in advance.

I need an XLR cable to run between the balanced out socket on my amp to the mixing desk. I'm finding "instrument" cables and "microphone cables". Are they the same? What do I need, please?

Steve

I'm shortly to go and have a look at a used Vintage V940 unlined fretless - bubinga body, Wilkinson hardware, new Hiscox case. Like this:

[url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Vintage-V940-Fretless-Bass-Guitar-Natural/5CT"]http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/...tar-Natural/5CT[/url]

This would be a back-up for my fretless Stingray.

Harmony Central reviews are pretty good. Anybody got one and can offer some honest comments, please?

Thanks,

Steve

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='662603' date='Nov 23 2009, 01:08 PM']I'd keep an eye out for a Squier/Vintage/Aria etc. bass cheap on eBay, you can pick these up for around the £50 mark.

If you want to sell the neck, tuners and pickups on they'll have a higher value than Johnny Brook parts, Squier for the Fender shaped headstock alone

Squier Affinity P-Bass for £50 + p&p here:
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar_W0QQitemZ180435663664QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2a02cdbb30"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bass-guitar_W0QQitem...=item2a02cdbb30[/url]

I bought an Aria Jazz for £45 and it sounded heaps better than the usual budget stuff. I've played a very nice Stagg natural Jazz too[/quote]

Blast it! That Squier on Ebay was about 10 miles from my house. Looked a bit too bashed-about though. I'll keep looking...

Ah - well there's a clear consensus emerging here. I'll not be getting a Johhny Brook or a Jay Turser or anything else like that. I'll look out for a Squier. Thank you to everybody for your thoughts.

How about an OLP body with a an unlined fretless neck? Do/did OLP make such necks?

Steve

You can buy one of these new for £50

[url="http://www.johnnybrook.com/product.aspx?prod=jb100"]http://www.johnnybrook.com/product.aspx?prod=jb100[/url]

I'm considering one as the start point for a fretless bass. Buy this, drop in a Mighty Mite unlined fretless neck, add some Tokai pups I have. Any thoughts? Waste of money? Get-what-you-pay-for? Bargain start-point?

Steve