JapanAxe

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1396109400' post='2410039'] I've had to botch up something like this - the lugs were broken off a pickup which was brought to me. The underneath of the pickup was flat, so I cut a suitable piece of old pickguard material and used epoxy to glue it onto the base of the pickup. This gave me enough overlap to put the screws though. It worked fine and is functionally invisible. Since you are most likely keeping the originals in case you want to restore them, I'm assuming that you wouldn't mind grinding the lugs off some after-market pickups and glueing a new base on them. G. [/quote] Hmm that sounds like a plan! I could always get an ultra-cheap eBay set of coves on which to perpetrate the butchery.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1396008089' post='2408912'] Plus I looked like a pensioner having a stroke while wearing gardening trousers at a chimps tea-party, .... [/quote] And that wasn't the look you were going for?

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1396085370' post='2409728'] Your shopping fee is wrapped up in the cost of food. Booking fee pays for the infrastructure of the website, databases, staff etc. [/quote] Of course you are right. In my youth, venues handled their own ticket sales, or (somewhat straining my memory here) you could get them from some of the independent record shops. I'm not certain whether these shops charged a fee on top of the face value, I think they took their commission out of the face value, or else acted as agents in return for the increased footfall. Ticket-selling then was mainly a local activity, whereas now the Internet has made it global. To me, the worst of it is the lack of any serious attempt to enforce anti-touting measures. A venue is not going to implement any system that slows down punters coming through the door and flocking to the bar to buy overpriced beer in flimsy plastic glasses. I believe Glastonbury has an effective system, although I've never been. I wouldn't mind so much failing to get a ticket if I were 'competing' against other genuine potential gig-goers; in fact the competition is with loads of people buying simply to make an instant mark-up. A while back I tried to buy tickets for a one-off small gig by Robert Plant. I knew my chances were slim so I wasn't too surprised when I didn't get any. I went on eBay straight away, and sure enough immediately found a listing for a pair of tickets at twice the face value. The listing was quite lengthy and detailed, so the seller had obviously prepared it beforehand, then started it running once they'd obtained tickets. People can now become touts in the comfort of their own home! I didn't buy the tickets btw, but they went pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the chances are slim for any legislation (or even a worthwhile industry code) to address online touting. The present government will not do anything to restrict the 'free market' (never mind that it is in fact being distorted) and the industry players are doing quite nicely thank you very much. Fortunately, Swindon has some decent live music venues (Wyvern Theatre, Arts Centre, Riffs Bar, the Vic*) where you can enjoy live music without being shafted on the ticket prices. You may not see the big names there, but since when has that been a guarantee of a good time? [see [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/233118-i-dont-like-watching-gigs/"]this thread[/url]] *[size=2]except for the shocking PA sound[/size]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1396046039' post='2409524'] Indeed. Food politics is a massive issue, from animal welfare to governmental nutrition 'advice'. A lot of vegetarians and vegans, and macrobiotics, who make that choice because they they believe animals should not be eaten don't often realise the human suffering that goes into fruit and veg production. I love meat, but I am also highly concerned about animal welfare. [/quote] And don't get me started on corn syrup!

That is a pants-wettingly good-looking bass

[nostalgia] When I were a lad I would get the bus into Sheffield, go to the City Hall or Top Rank ticket office, and pay for my tickets at face value. [/nostalgia] Cut to present day and 90% of the tickets are snapped up online by professional scalpers, scumbags who have no intention of going to the gig and immediately put them up for sale at double the face value. If you are lucky enough to buy a ticket in your own right, you will get stung with a 'booking fee'. Sorry, what is that? A fee for the privilege of buying a ticket! Rarely can you simply buy the ticket at face value from the venue. Imagine getting to the till in Asda with your shopping, and they add on a £5 'shopping fee'.

Cheers! Watching it now...

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1396038545' post='2409419'] Just bought a TC Hall of fame, Dolphin music are doing them for £109 including free postage . [/quote] That's a steal!

Probably the most tweakable reverb pedal is the TC Electronic Hall of Fame. You can download toneprints(TM) devised by famous players, or make your own using the free software, and beam them to the pedal via your smart phone held against one of your pickups. There are quite a few toneprints specifically for bass, including some by Gary Willis, Mark King, and Marlowe DK. I think there is one for sale in the BC Marketplace too.

Wickes sell pre-cut lengths of electrical cable that have soft plastic caps over the ends to stop people stabbing themselves on them and then calling AmbulanceChasers4U. Sometimes these might fall on the floor...

1st April is fast approaching...

OK, found the specs for the Seymour Duncan SPB3 on their [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/dimensionpages/spb-3.shtml"]website[/url] and the 'body' of each part of the pickup measures 2.25in x 1.09in. The corresponding Yamaha part is 2.20in x 1.09in, so pretty close - the SD is 0.05in (i.e. 1/20in) wider. These are external dimensions of course, so I still don't know whether the SD innards would fit in the Yamaha covers (or indeed whether SDs are that bit fatter than Fender originals on account of the chunky pole pieces). Also brought up the [url="https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/dimensions/bass/p_bass.pdf"]Bareknuckle[/url] specs. They give external dimensions of 88.50mm x 25.44mm, which must be wrong as it is 3.48in x 1.00in - I reckon the first figure should be 58.5mm, making the dimensions 2.30in x 1.00in. More usefully, the bobbin dimensions are given - less usefully, these seem wrong too!

Tight playing and nice sound but like so many of these vids, that is tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome waiting to happen!

Hi folks I have a 1984 Yamaha BB400S with a reverse P-type pickup thus: I am looking to try something else in its place. The fact that it is 'reversed' (i.e. closer to the bridge on the EA portion rather than the DG portion) is not a problem; the issue is the [b]mountings[/b]. A Fender P-type pickup has a single mounting screw either side of each of the 2 parts. The Yamaha has 2 on one side and 1 on the other, and both parts sit in a Z-shaped mounting ring. Also the Yamaha parts have plain rectangular bodies, as against the lugs running almost to the top of the Fender units. It is therefore not possible to fit a Fender P-type pickup without butchery of the [s]ring piece[/s] mounting ring, which I don't want to do. The alternative seems to be to pop the innards out of the plastic cover and swap them over, but this will only work if the innards are the same size. I am going to measure the internal dimensions of the Yamaha covers when I change the strings, but I don't currently have access to a Fender P pickup to get the corresponding measurements. Does anyone have a Fender or like-for-like replacement P pickup, and the means to take accurate internal measurements of the covers? Or are there technical drawings on the net than can give me this information? Finally, are BC-ers aware of any after-market P pickups where a gut-swap would be difficult or impossible because of (for example) wax or resin potting? I remain your humble servant, JapanAxe

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1395996488' post='2408693'] can put up with crap acoustics and crap venue and crap beer and all manner of other crap things but the one thing that really grips my sh*t is trying to see through a sea of smartphone screens [/quote] Pea-shooter and supply of small ball-bearings?

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1395930685' post='2408096'] [center]The Welsh National Theatre presents a play in one act:[/center] [center][size=5][b]Dos i chwarae efo dy nain[/b][/size][/center] [i]Scene: A cottage kitchen. A tin bath hangs by the door. The mantelpiece is dressed with Welsh dolls. On a wall hangs a portrait of JPR Williams. An elderly man with a beard like a hedge is whittling scrimshaw at the table.[/i] [i](SFX: Male voice choir rendering 'Men Of Harlech' to - fade)[/i] Enter Myfanwy: Myfanwy: 'Allo, Da. Da: (Grunts) Our Myfanwy... Myfanwy: Da ... I dunno 'ow to tell you but ... Da: It's that shinach, Evans' boy, intit? Giving him a swydd chwythiant behind the wine bar, were you, like the strumpet you are? God be thanked yer Ma is gone this ten year, she'd die of shame, look you. Myfanwy: No, Da. It's the PA. It's gone again. Sounds like a fel rhech jet. Da: Pwdin blew! Were you letting that lembo of a bass player use it? I've told you before it's a Dynacord. A precision tool designed to accommodate only the female human voice. Anything below your range and it'll be cacging planciau in its fuse-box. Myfanwy: Well, he's gone on the inter-Llweb, see, and these people reckon its something else and you're an interfering old corris. Da: Dammo! My bluff's been called. Sit down, love. It's time for some truth in this house. Myfanwy: (worried) What is it Da? Da: When I told you I'd been the soundman with Showaddywaddy and I'd nicked your PA from their storage after The Aberystwyth Incident ... well ... I lied. Myfanwy: Oh, Da! Da: No. I knocked your PA up out of some winding gear, a one armed-bandit and a pit-pony. That's why it's dim gwerth rhech dafad Myfanwy: But why, Da? Da: After your Ma died, well, I just wanted to do everything for you but you went off to the bright lights of Surrey and I was ashamed Myfanwy: Oh Da, I love you. Da: I love you too, Myfanwy (They fall sobbing into each others arms) [center][i][b]Curtain[/b][/i][/center] [/quote] Sir, I sincerely hope you have not missed your vocation

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1395878940' post='2407649'] It seems they are as careful with their customers details as they are with their guitars! [/quote] Too right! Look what happened to my password when they sent it back to me:

[quote name='ken_white' timestamp='1395961164' post='2408542'] Quick update on the audition I had tonight.. In their words "I blew them away" Now that's a decent enough comment to inspire me :-) [/quote] Well done mate - go for it! It sounds like your bro-based band is in a very deep rut, so have fun with something new, but don't burn any bridges.

At the risk of returning to topic, I have tried both D'Addario Chrome flats and D'Addario Half-rounds, on both my Sandberg and my G&L, and I didn't find the half-rounds to be much brighter than the flats - they just felt stickier!