Lfalex v1.1

I'd endorse this; And immediately repel at least half the population.

If you ever see me on stage with a laptop or PC, it'll be in a pose similar to the Classic Paul Simonon/ Clash "bass-wrecking" shot. Except I'll be swinging a bass at it and not the floor.....

The principal trick with the FatFinger is to prevent it from fouling tuner (and de-tuner) mechanisms.. If you experiment with brass weights, then the world is your oyster. Ideally, the closer to the body of the bass, the better, if only to stave off neck-dive. Not round-cored, but Status Hotwires are available in 30-90. They may even be able to accomodate 25-85, as they make up their sets from single strings. They do a good few variants, too - Rounds, Flats, Half-rounds, Single and Double-ball ended in most "regular" gauges (ending in 0 or 5!) They're not top expensive, either.

[quote name='jonannlou' post='1300817' date='Jul 12 2011, 11:42 AM']Never seen one of those before!! - £30 odd quid? Gits! Is this a common flaw of basses with small headstocks? My Status 1000 never had a head and didn't do this, or my series 1.... Does it genuinely work? Any thoughts on the string tension anyone? All this makes my bass sounds like its knackered, but its a great little player!![/quote] I have two. Yes, they work, but can be unpredictable. One is permanently fixed to my Fortress MasterMan V, where it just "focusses" the tone. The other floats from bass to bass. It makes my Yamaha Attitude into the sonic equivalent of a Bunker-Buster bomb, but robs it of a degree of resonance- It's just all out armour-piercing! It ruins my Warwick Infinity. Kills it dead. Try before you buy if at all possible. Works a treat for some basses, not for others. Billy Sheehan likes such devices, but he uses a small G-Clamp on the headstock. They certainly aren't £30, but may be a bit of trial and error to get the weight right. Final thought- Got a string tree on the bass? Thru-neck? Probably not. Try attaching (carpet tape?) a small piece of brass to the back of your headstock. Try different weights. Find a weight/location that does the trick, drill it and screw it onto the headstock. Washburn used to do it on some of their instruments. Do be aware that there's a bass and guitar version of the FatFinger (different masses) As for string tension, try round cored strings. They are more compliant for a given tension, and feel softer under the hand. I favour DRs- Either FatBeams (for steels) or SunBeams (for Nickels) All a bit "suck-it-and-see", but there's nothing to be lost by [b]fully reversible, semi-permanent[/b] experimentation. (Except time and effort, I suppose!) Hope this helps. Alex.

[quote name='cytania' post='1300604' date='Jul 12 2011, 08:12 AM']Thanks Graham, the audience has danced like billy-o every time we've played it.[/quote] If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[quote name='blackmn90' post='1301267' date='Jul 12 2011, 04:41 PM']he has a rat upon his upper lip.......[/quote] Which by virtue of his own logic, he should shave off as it is a pale [i]imitation[/i] of my 'tache. Jeff can be a bit of Silly Billy sometimes. If you're a bassist Just let your playing do the talking please.

I wouldn't accept an endorsement from anyone except DR strings. i) No-one is going to tell me what gear I can and can't use for the next [i]X[/i] years. If I want to play ii) They are the one of the few products I've encountered that I really have faith in. Never had a duff string etc. And they make a good range of products for a variety of uses. Good as some of my basses are, none are perfect all-rounders.. Endorsements of products by artists doesn't influence my gear choices. That's down to product performance. "Signature" items (primarily basses) are a different proposition, however, and seem to force people into four groups; "I want one- I Love artist so-and-so" fanboys/girls "I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole because so-and-so plays it" detractors "It's a necessary evil- I'm in a xxxxxxxx tribute band, and we need to look and sound like them" "That's actually a well-thought-out instrument with some useful plusses IMO, and I don't care about the associations" There are some good signature instruments out there, the development of which has been influenced by the player in question, to positive effect. I'd include- Fender Roscoe Beck Fender Urge Ibanez Gary Willis Fretless Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Yamaha Attitude Modulus Flea Bass [u]Status[/u] Buzzard Dingwall Leland Sklar These are just examples, but they offer a different take on what may be a familliar instrument. There are loads of others, but I'd not include Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Fender Steve Harris Precision Chris Squire Rickenbacker Sure, they're [i]nice[/i] basses, but not different enough from their parent instrument to be worth buying one because X endorses it alone. Sure, if it's a good bass and you like it, then that's fine, but the endorsement doesn't really add anything.

This has given me an idea for long-term string storage. You know those "JML suck all the air out with a hoover and it squishes yer clothes" bags. Bung 'em in one of those with a sachet of silica gel. Suck the air out, and I reckon they'd last indefinitely. Coated strings (hopefully) won't suffer so much. I only have to stare at Rotosounds or Slinkys and they go dull.

Take the "amp" out of the combo- have a look inside. If it's anythinglike my old SMX, it'll have push-fit spade connectors in it all over the place. These weren't (aren't?) soldered. My bet is that something's worked loose. That's what happened to mine.

[quote name='Wil' post='1299000' date='Jul 10 2011, 02:57 PM']I'd really like an SBV800MF. Rare as hen's teeth though, the only one I can recall seeing up for sale was when Paul C sold off his SBV collection some years ago.[/quote] Commission a custom build? It'll be expensive, though. Or build your own if skill allows?

Even if they do wear more rapidly, would it be an issue? I've never needed a re-fret. In fact, I've never even needed a stone & level... (Edit- I don't own a CV, I was thinking in general terms) When re-fretting, either spec harder frets (stainless steel!!!) or bigger ones that'll take the wear better?

And I now want a lefty SBV. Rotate that image through 180 degrees.... doesn't fulfil the remit of "Reverse offset", though!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1298885' date='Jul 10 2011, 11:52 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-SBV-550-Bass-Guitar-/150630160715?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item231241d94b"]Yamaha SBV[/url] [/quote] Second one I thought of after the Fret-King offerings... Both of which I thought of [i]before[/i] reading the thread. Thinks of new online acronym; [b][u]RTFTFBR[/u][/b] Read The F'ing Thread First Before Replying. Nice to see a bit of a consensus forming, though!

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1298823' date='Jul 10 2011, 10:47 AM']I can't see a nut wearing down from just the force of the string sitting in the slot on its own. If you maybe tuned up and down aggressively for an hour ever day so the string acted like a file, then maybe, but that's highly unlikely.[/quote] But wouldn't fretting do the same to a lesser effect? It stretches the string, causing windings to be drawn through the nut, as you release it, it goes back again. Sure, the impact on the nut is minimal, but over time it might open out the nut slots. Things that will mitigate against this issue; Just-a-nut Flats Nickels Coated Strings Zero frets Harder Nuts (!); Brass and so on. And finally... The Pencil graphite trick. Edit for- And maybe locking nuts?

Been playing for about 17 years, the first two without an amp... High points- The whole learning curve thing, new instruments. Headlining at The Garage and getting paid a reasonable amount. Playing in front of >1000 people in a Church yard at Hitchin Music festival, without a drummer. Low points- Now. It's too expensive to sustain the whole travel/rehearse/travel/gig thing without paid gigs. That and looking after the kids until 7pm every night. I'd never make it to any gigs in time. The complete dearth of decent bands out there at the moment that I'd actually want to join. Having to pass up a potentially serious "professional (signed) touring band" offer. Wife and two young kids- It wouldn't have worked. Am I really going to have to wait another 12 years before I can gig again? Being interrupted [i]every[/i] time I strap on a bass and put on my headphones. There have been occasions on which instruments have been destroyed in sheer frustration. Looking at the imbalance of high and low above, I think I just made a good case for packing it in Can't see any improvements coming soon either

[quote name='Danimal' post='1298299' date='Jul 9 2011, 04:03 PM']Captain Pugwash theme tune.[/quote] Awesome tune. (As is the theme to Inspector Gadget and Portland Bill and many others. What is it with 70's/80's kids TV themes?) Edited for- Extra points for anyone who can cross-handed tap both the bassline and melody of "Airwolf"! That'd be truly phenomenal. And probably impossible.

[quote name='Davout' post='1296844' date='Jul 8 2011, 09:40 AM']I think they are what's called Medium Jumbo frets. Get some flatwound strrings. They will reduce fret wear. Tony.[/quote] Even Nickels, Coated strings or Round-cored Round-Wounds are kinder than Hex-Cored Stainless rounds. Just in case you don't like [s]punctures[/s] flats.

[quote name='charic' post='1296287' date='Jul 7 2011, 06:58 PM']Yeah.. that's got a Jazz bass neck on it. Weird! [/quote] And note the Non-Standard bridge (can't see what it is) and some sort of switching- What do [b]2[/b] switches do on a precision? Series/parallel, maybe. What's the second? On/Off?

[quote name='MythSte' post='1297342' date='Jul 8 2011, 03:41 PM']I have a 424 and the J on its own is plenty meaty enough. If you're used to 70's positioning then I can understand your hesitance. I'm pretty sure this is slightly further from the bridge resulting in a really tight but still useable tone.[/quote] Not nomally too fussy, but Must....have...Pan Pot....!

[quote name='cycrowave' post='1298073' date='Jul 9 2011, 11:11 AM']about time someone ripped off an asat. im still hoping gl release a tribute model[/quote] And that'll be a +1 to both statements...

I own 3 Warwicks; '97 Streamer LX6 '97 Fortress MasterMan5 '02 Infinity SN4 The Infinity is similar to the Thumb in some respects, but has a longer/higher top horn which aids balance a bit The Streamer weighs a ton, and the neck's heavy, too, being Wenge and LARGE. In both cases, I tried all sorts of straps, and ultimately modified a pair to suit the basses better and address their respective problems. The Streamer has a 55mm wide padded leather strap with a cloth backing which grips [i]very[/i] well. The other part of the deal is that I wear it only 80 cm long, which holds the bass tighter to my body, stopping it from misbehaving. The Infinity has a longer strap- if I strap it on too tight, it seems to kill some of the resonance in the sound. I have padded a leather strap myself- cut some 10mm thick foam rubber to size and superglue it to the back of the strap. You'll need to "score" the foam widthways across the strap or it won't curve neatly over your shoulder. This works well, too. The Fortress has no balance issues, but I still use the "Streamer-Strap" with it. BTW, I use a Planet Waves woven nylon strap on the Jazzes, and a Comfort Strapp on the rest, except for The Streamline, which bounces around too much and has another, different Planet Waves nylon item.. It's important to match the strap to the bass to you. I hope I'm not alone in using different straps for different basses.

[quote name='Wil' post='1297185' date='Jul 8 2011, 01:33 PM']Try rolling one of your pickup volumes down a touch - due to a quirk in the wiring, when both pickups are up full the mids are scooped a bit. When you roll back the volume slightly on one of the pups you get a little low mid bump that can add a lot of definition.[/quote] Rolling off the neck pick-up a smidge should do the trick. I nearly always have the bridge volume higher- YMMV, of course..

+1 on the Korg Pandora PX4d. I have a second-hand one (Ebay!), and it's great. Wires? Yes. 3. 2 of which you'd have to have on any such device; i) bass input ii) headphone output iii) for another input (mp3 player/mobile phone etc.) I use a big pair of Sennheiser HD 415 mk1 closed-back headphones. Plenty of proper bass (not the psychoacoustic trickery purveyed by your average in-ear item) and little sound leakage in or out. It's my home practice set-up. No "Amp" required. Does even my best instruments justice. [u]Pros[/u]: Small. Discrete. Works well. Plenty to fiddle with if you want, good plug & play ability if you don't.[b] It has a tuner built in[/b]. Handles active and passive basses. [u]Cons:[/u] A little costly. Mains adapter is extra, otherwise it's batteries- I use 1200mAh NiMh rechargeables and they last ages. Can you lock your server room, and are you the only one with a key? The Pandora/MP3/Headphones would fit in a desk drawer...

I still quite like my Streamer LX6. Nice neck (Wenge, too)... But it's bloody heavy. All that Maple....

I really like these, even down to its cheaper stablemates such as the 414x etc. There's just one thing that stops me getting one. Why oh why does it have the 3 position switch? Who uses the J on its own? Really?! If it were VVT or had a pan pot, it'd be fine. I could mod it, but my soldering skills suck, and my soldering iron's rubbish. I'd have to factor in the cost of parts, solder and a new iron. Suddenly a 414x doesn't look so cheap anymore