Lfalex v1.1

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1323422461' post='1463071'] Until I know what the awful or wonderful thing is, it's difficult to say how it would affect me and my musical activities. However because for me music is the best and most important thing in my life I would do my best to ensure it wasn't adversely affected. [/quote] I'd really struggle without both of my hands....

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1323433516' post='1463285'] It's going over to Destiny entertainments in Thurrock. They'll have a showroom in their industrial unit sometime early next year [/quote] Destiny Entertainments? Sounds like an Anne Summers off-shoot! Edit- If you say "Thurrock" as fast as the locals do, it sounds exactly like..... Oh, nevermind.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1323433161' post='1463277'] It depends on how much you care, I suppose... [/quote] Currently, less than you could probably imagine....

Eh? Thought BM was closing down on Saturday?

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1323429938' post='1463216'] In my lifetime, I've broken strings a couple of times, and had a pickup die on me mid-song once. The first time it happened, I didn't have a backup. I learned quickly. If I'm playing to 200 people who've paid a tenner each to get in, it's my responsibility to make sure I can do what I'm being paid to do. [/quote] And what if I'm playing to 200 people who've paid a Tenner each, and I'm NOT getting paid? That's happened enough times.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1323378701' post='1462819'] When I was gigging I only ever took one bass with me. [/quote] This.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1323276107' post='1461488'] Extract of whale liver-oil leaves a lovely shiny finish on almost anything. And makes a tasty hot beverage too! [/quote] I haven't the TIM for any more of your [s]blubbering[/s] blabbering. WD40 has been ok for mine.

[quote name='BB3000S' timestamp='1322864818' post='1456934'] How about this: or this: or even this: [/quote] Lots of Asses of Badness going on there...

Not Graffiti Yellow.

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1323112662' post='1459493'] [color=#2A2A2A][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=3][size=5][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]....snip[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color] [color=#2A2A2A][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=3][size=3]£1,000 to £2,000 – Professional. Gains in tone, range and exotic finishes/woods, etc. Playability no longer an issue for most people & situations. In tune and intonated all over the neck. Studio quality tone and signal. High standard of fit and finish.[/size][/size][/font][/color] [color=#2A2A2A][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=3][size=3]£2,000 - £5,000 – UK/EU custom band or top of the range US factory-mades – whatever you want to a very high standard – either yours or someone else’s name on it[/size][/size][/font][/color] [color=#2A2A2A][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=3][size=3]£5,000 plus – US custom/hand-made band/fashion market quirks/collectables – fit, finish, tone and playability improvements purely subjective. Note some quirky designs and vintage instruments in this bracket can be back in the lower bands in terms of finish, playability and signal quality but hopefully they’ll make up for it with some sort of mojo.(Note: Opinion only – no experience of buying or playing instruments from this range!...)[/size][/size][/font][/color] [/quote] A reasonable generalisation until I thought a bit harder. Both my Status Streamline (with factory mods and re-wound pick-ups) and Vigier Passion S3 V were under £1500 new. They're both handmade in "Europe" to phenomenal standards (and both with excellent QC and customer service) They both incorporate a few strange quirks (quasi-parametric EQ. Lack of truss-rod. Headlessness. Carbon Monocoque construction) Whilst both very different, there are no basses I've played that are actually better, just different again. There are a few consistent exceptions out there, and let's not forget how depreciation as a bass enters the S/H market skews the value equation further in favour of the new owner... For example,I bought an Ibanez EDB600 for £80. It was absolutely superb, capable of bettering most basses at or around £500 new.

Tony Levin Colin Moulding - XTC Tony Butler - Big Country John "Rhino" Edwards - More for his work with Judy Tzuke than Quo Graham Maby - Joe Jackson

The strap locks I put on my SR 5 didn't rip out. They never even needed tightening. I assume you're using Schallers... As for the amp eq, I'd use it to compensate for the room environment, and modify your "tone" using the on board eq. That's by no means the only option, but it's a good starting point.

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1322586375' post='1453181'] For some time I had one of my guitars tuned in fourths all the way across (I got it from reading an interview with Big Jim Sullivan, but I think quite a lot of people have done it at one time or another). All such alterations make you think more about what you're doing, and that's never a bad thing for any musician. [/quote] If I took up guitar, I'd tune it in 4ths, precisely because I could relate fingering patterns to the bass ones. I'd tune it FCGDAE. Based on that line of thought, I can see where the OP's coming from. As for cello scale length, I always thought it was about the same as a bass guitar. Maybe it's the string length we're confusing it with (given the extra distance from the anchor point to the bridge on a cello)?

I ought to do this with one of mine. I've considered it, but never got around to it.some nice chordal options available as well as thelarger range...

Er... No expert on such matters ( I don't use FX) but I notice that setting a pitch-shifter back to "flat" gives an awesome semi-chorus. It reproduces the input note again with the delay caused by processing time. That'd give you the sound of the 2nd and 3rd courses, all you need is something (another pitch-shifter?) to give the octave "up" without too much latency (good luck with that at low pitches if not using midi!) Otherwise, the Variax has 8 and 12-string models (one of which is based on a Hagstrom IIRC) I was meddling with one in a music shop and put it onto the 12 string model and cracked out a well-delivered opening few bars of "Jeremy" That made a lot of people turn round! (not my intent! I was just trying it out!!)

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1322489906' post='1451390'] I don't know about anybody else but my high-end basses are made out of equal quantities of Carbon Fibre, Aluminium and Wood. [/quote] You are not alone. Except the proportions of the above materials vary with differing basses. And on an "insane attention-to-detail" note, I bet few manufacturers have their company logo etched onto their circuit board and then coated with solder. Makes me smile every time I open the control cavity of my Vigier to change the batteries.... Even more pointless than the umbrellas that pop out of Rolls Royce rear door edges, but does demonstrate the care and attention that goes into "high-ish end" instruments. If they're [i]that[/i] obsessive, you can imagine what the rest of the build quality is like. You guessed. Amazing. (What follows is not an attempt at justifying an expensive instrument (because I don't actually have to) but hopefully an alternative way of looking at how the costs of owning a high-end bass (don't) mount up) Unlike many of the metaphors previously used (cars, golf clubs etc.) I think a good instrument represents good value for money. Instruments are [i]generally[/i] well cared-for, and prove to be more durable than (for example) an expensive car. My Dad's replaced his club/s more often than I have bought basses (alright, he doesn't have 9 full sets, but you get the idea...) and I'll be damned if he plays golf for 14+ hours a week! My Vigier is 16 years old in Jan 2012, but is still a superb instrument. No more durable than a Squier, but it's still as good as it ever was... When you spread the "increased" cost of ownership over that sort of time period, expensive instruments start to look like quite good value! Have I had £81.25 worth of entertainment each year out of it? Certainly. Has it incurred any maintenance costs besides new batteries and re-stringing? No. Is my smile broader when I play it than when I play other basses? With the exception of my Streamline, measurably. And though your basses may vary, I suspect you enjoy your best bass just that little bit more, too. It wouldn't be your best otherwise, would it?

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1322480032' post='1451196'] [indent=1]If you use the clamp system and snip off the excess with pliers, then you will eventually draw blood ...[/indent] [/quote] True, unless you are very careful about cutting the ends such that they run beneath the grub screws but don't extend beyond the end of the headpiece. I used a pair of bicycle brake cable cutters. More than a match for even the heaviest gauge of string, and a nice clean cut, too. edit - still haven't answered the OP's question! Sorry! No. there's no discernable change between single or double ball-end. The Zero fret pretty much helps take care of that, as it governs scale length and string height at the head end (in the same way as a nut does on a non-zero-fretted, headed bass) The clamp grub screws are well up to the job. A good size, and will easily take enough torque from an allen key to properly secure the string. If you examine them carefully, you'll see that the bottom of the grub screw has been machined flat into a round pad. This helps to exert a good deal of pressure on the secured part of the string, and spread it over quite a large area (relatively). Mine hasn't caused me any problems since I did it, and I'm still getting the same sort of tuning stability as before (excellent) Hotwires are pretty okay, and not too expensive. I'm surprised that Nickels aren't available, as they do Hotwires in every gauge under the sun in round, ground and flats. I've just put Overwater steel rounds on the Streamline (.038 .058 .078 .098) and they're very good indeed. Rob has said in the past that experiments have been done with round-cored double ball-ended strings, but the windings come undone for some reason. The clamp would fix that, so I might put DR Hi-beam/Fatbeams on next time out (though TI Power Jazz remain tempting) I don't think I'd put Sunbeams on, though (Nickels), as I think Steels seem to suit it better (for my preference, anyway) What strings were you considering?

If there was a one in five chance of leaving a music shop with a P, is out safe to say that the other four were; Jazz 4001 EB 0 / 3 Thunderbird ?

I've just put some single ball ends on my streamline. Works well enough with the clamp. The main issue was with the bridge saddles. The E and A were taper cored on the original hotwires, and plain gauge strings sit too high, so either ensure your new strings are t.c. or it may be that the file will have to come out.

A power amp is a good way to go. One caveat, though. Try (together) before you buy to ensure that the amp's input sensitivity is high enough for the SansAmp to drive it properly. It's an issue that I encountered with a Hartke VXL and QSC PLX1202 (connected by XLR) It might not even occur via the jack connections... Worth checking. If it's overdriving the power amp's input, you can always turn down a bit. If the signal's too weak (from the pedal), cranking the power amp might help, but could leave you vulnerable to noise.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1322134050' post='1446868'] Do I read this correctly? The guy who built this instrument didn't fit any apparatus for adjusting the height of the pickup? No springs, no silicon tubing, no foam bed? So, if you wanted a super low action, or a super high action, the pickup couldn't be adjusted to suit? If so, then the guy's an idiot. For optimum performance, you have to be able to adjust the height of the pickup. That's electric bass design 101. [/quote] I've had a bass from a well-known luthier come with no means of height adjustment (as defined above) it (Seymour Duncan MMHB) was just screwed into the body. I put a bed of foam rubber under it after the polepieces retreated out of the cover when I loosened the screws to raise the pick-up a bit to improve the output/string volume balance. Surprised that suomething like that had been omitted? Yes. Impressed? No.

Sorry?! which is this? The philosophy of economics or the economics of philosophy?

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1322324452' post='1449445'] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]They're not worth it to me, but these basses are not made for fun. They are made to sell and they do so that's fine by me. [/font][/color][/size] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]I've played Mustang Sally on a Wal but I guess that Alembic, Ritter and Fodera should be used by a different category of player.[/font][/color][/size] [/quote] That's an interesting perspective. I'd have [i]hoped[/i] that the makers of any bass made them to be played. They are, after all, a tool to do a job. In an ideal world, we'd not be too hung up on whom is playing which tune and with what instrument.

Some are monumentally good, but anything with a mega price tag run the risk of being "bettered" or matched by less expensive basses (Statii, Vigiers,Shukers, zoots, etc.)

Bankruptcy? Seriously, though, if ain't broke, why fix it? Still, it won't hurt to try a few out.... That's the best way to find out if you're missing anything you can't live without.