Lfalex v1.1

You guys are right. It is all about maintaining the interest of a student. That, and being flexible to both their wants, needs and ability. I had a tutor once. It didn't last long. He could sight read, his theory was strong, and his technique good. But he couldn't learn/play by ear, or play straight "rock" numbers! I asked him for some pointers on slap technique (etc.) and he flatly refused (?) He could slap, too, so it wasn't that. I quit there and then. I still can't slap on any of my basses (but most are tightly spaced, and me thumbs is HUGE!)

[quote name='dood' post='127630' date='Jan 25 2008, 11:25 AM']Guys.. you'll love this.... in an emergency, I once recorded acoustic guitar using....... the cartridge and styles from a turntable!! You have to get the stylus to rest gently on the bridge, unhindered by the cartridge (in the same way that it does on a record.) Depending on where you sit it, you'll have a multitude of different tones available. I found that the treble side of the bridge was good. The only downside to a great guitar tone, was that the pickup will pick up every tap and scrape from the top of the guitar. - The cartridge was a pretty good one too ;o) - You don't need an RIAA phono preamp or anything, but a channel strip will do fine to get the gain up.[/quote] In fact, I once amplified my Westone through a phono stage on a hifi amp. The RIAA eq doesn't help much (!) Oakbear, I reckon the reason EUBs are less susceptible to noise from "contact" is the fact that the piezos are under the bridge, and get a good signal to "contact noise" ratio. Also, the EUB is mechanically earthed through its spike or endpin, which may be helping.

[quote name='Oakbear' post='127113' date='Jan 24 2008, 05:30 PM']Thanks very much for the replies folks! I'm thinking of attempting a fretless 6 self build soon (possibly semi-hollowbody), and had considered either a piezo system or a dual magnetic and piezo combo. I like the idea of an extra bite or ambient resonance for that upright sound. Now i'm taking my time on this one, but am aiming for making as much of it myself as possible, for as little as possible Purely for aethetics i also really fancy the idea of a smooth top with no pickups visible! On paper piezos (even the cheap buzzers) have a great frequecy reponse. I like the sound on cellos or uprights, but have only heard it on an acoustic bass, and then through a preamp. Any more recommendations?[/quote] Hmmmm. Just a thought; On a Semi hollow, perhaps having a thin front face of good quality timber (Spruce? Maple?) with a chambered body beneath. leave the area under the strings free of internal obstructions, and fit however many piezo elements you fancy under the "top" by bonding them there. Allow acces from the rear for maintenance/ further mods Leave a solid chunk of wood for the bridge to screw into (assuming you use a clunky metal one, not a nylon piezo "bar") Presto! There's your smooth top, at least!

[i]Dave[/i] Muad Dib? Shouldn't your name be Paul? Good luck with the Kustom. Just don't get any sand in it!!

I'm no expert, but Piezos require contact with the string. That means integrating them into the bridge saddles (as per implementations used by Fender, Ibanez, Musicman, Warwick etc) OR attaching them to the bridge/ top of acoustic instruments (Just about all electroacoustic instruments!) Even if you have the engineering capabilities, I would still doubt that the elements and crystals in a cheapo buzzer would be as good as or have the right frequency response for this application. What instrument did you have in mind for this mod? Lots of basses with Magnetic pick-ups AND piezos just use the piezos for a bit more bite, and couple them to passive tone controls. (Electro)Acoustics often have only the piezo, and this is a full-range (frequency-wise) system usually coupled a pre-amp to give more tonal control. Check out; Ovation Status (Electro model) Musicman Stingray (W/Piezo!) Fender Power Jazz Basses Ibanez EDA 900 / 905 (now discontinued)

No worries. I like P deluxes. The last one I played was very nice indeed! There's only one of my instruments I rarely gig. The rest share duties according to my mood! I keep them in the case until we go on, put it on, play and it goes straight back in its case afterwards. The only damage I've sustained is miniscule headstock dings from guitarist collisions. Hope the practice, gigs and screwdriver twiddling goes well. One other thought! Measure how far the strings are from the pick-ups at the moment (before you start) so you've got a rough idea what the factory set-up is. That said, the only issues you'll get from extremes of pick-up height are; [u]Too high (close)[/u] Loss of natural sustain with pick ups with beefy magnets Intonation issues (ditto) Strange, unnatural overtones, harmonics or wolftones Strings hitting polepieces - Not good! [u]Too low (far away)[/u] Weak output Poor signal / Noise in noisy environments Weedy tone!

I can't comment on the eliminators, but I cure the dimmer switch issue by turning the lights up full and moving away from the light switch! Failing that, I turn the main lights off and put a lamp on! I assume that this is a domestic/practice issue. Not wany people have dimmer switches in their live pedalboards. Although I've heard that they can be converted to make a good Wah.... Edit- Are any basses or settings worse than others? I find Single Coils are (naturally) most susceptible. Humbuckers seem fairly immune.

Precision Deluxe, Sir? Lovely. Just a couple of thoughts; Are all the strings okay? Does a re-string improve matters? Otherwise... Adjust one pick-up at a time- Blend out one completely and ascertain which of the pickups is causing the issue. From the pics, it looks like the bottom half of the "P" is tilted downwards quite a bit. Flattening it out will restore any imbalance between the G and D strings. Once you've done this (so that G and D produce equal volumes) try raising the half such that G/D give a similar output to A/E The bridge HB can only be tilted as a single unit One good tip: Keep a pencil and paper handy so you can jot down how many turns/ half turns you take on and off of each screw. That way, you can "reset" the instrument to its current state (should you wish to do so!) Take plenty of time and experiment. If your pick ups can be pushed down into the body, do so gently (with one hand) and strike the relevant string/s. This can at least demonstrate the changes that lowering the pick ups can give. Do remember that the relative height of the neck / bridge pick ups can play a part in the overall tone of the instrument. I've a rip-snorting Squier VM Jazz which has its bridge pick up very high and the neck considerably lower...

Isn't the Musicman Silhouette a Baritone, too?

[quote name='nash' post='125458' date='Jan 22 2008, 02:20 PM']only one truss rod on the bongo 6er. dont 6ers normally have 2?[/quote] My Streamer LX VI only has one 'rod. It does, however have two non-adjustable reinforcing rods (one either side of the truss-rod) IIRC! That said, it's got a Wenge neck, and they aren't apt to being unduly troubled by humidity/temperature variations. I guess it's also a function of inherent neck stability- If the neck's stable/ adjustable enough with one rod, why complicate it with two? More slender necks may well need two rods. You're right, it's not uncommon. I'm fairly sure I've seen twin rods on Conklin and Yamaha 6-ers, and a lot of customs seem to have them.

[quote name='gafbass02' post='124786' date='Jan 21 2008, 05:06 PM']cooooooooool porsche[/quote] See, the 70's weren't a total wash-out!!

Yep. Liking the Bongo. Already got an SR5, so the Sterling's only really an aesthetic alteration to me. Still nice, though. I don't like gold hardware. No matter how well I care for it, Gold and Brass suffer dreadfully from my sweaty paws.

It's a pity that both the blue label designs use the same p/up configuration. I'd have preferred more variety. The Green label designs are far better, but twice the price! The Europa isn't uncompetetive (price-wise) with a new T-Bird, but £1100 for a P-J and £1200 for a Jazz is steep unless they're [i]really[/i] special to play and sound amazing. Then someone will turn up with a modded hot-rod Squier or a CIJ/MIJ Fender. And possibly make you want to cry...

At last! One I can make it to! Ummm... Dunno what I'll bring, bit it'll be [i]interesting[/i] Will probably eschew a stack in favour of my headphone set-up for anyone who wants a quiet try-out of anything. Yes, Ped, I will bring the Vigier!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='124205' date='Jan 20 2008, 10:11 PM']...On the other hand you could always add another £1000 and order a Status Streamliner. Played one at the factory last month & it was a stunning bass in all respects.[/quote] Don't even go there! I was already suffering mild GAS over these. AND I will soon have that sort of money. Money. Hole. Pocket. Burn. (In no particular order!)

[quote name='gafbass02' post='122352' date='Jan 17 2008, 06:14 PM']the GT40 is exactly what i had in mind[/quote] I was thinking more of... A Porsche 917. Some basses definitely echo their contemporary car counterparts. Fenders, Musicmen and G&L all often echo the looks, and engineering philosophy of the American auto industry. Didn't Broncos or Mustangs have a competition stripe option? Furthermore, witness naming policy; (various manufactuers, both instrument and auto) Corvette Stingray Bronco Mustang Jaguar (Aston) Martin?! Infinity (Infiniti) Viper Barracuda and so on. Furthermore, in addition to the iconic status of some colour combinations, I doubt (with a few notable exceptions) that sponsors would use or permit unpleasant colour combinations, or even ones that didn't "work" visually/aesthetically. Finally, it's not uncommon for (painted) instruments to be finished in precisely the same paint as cars, and I'll wager there must be a few Americans with vintage cars and matching guitars/basses! In short, a perfectly valid association IMO. Which does nothing to explain my collection being largely black or natural!! (Except I think good feel & tone are more important than finish colour!)

I have a B2A 5 stringer. It's my "traveller"... Bought new 8 years ago for £249. Pros; Fits in a guitar case Small, light, manoeuverable. Good for tiny stages! Stands on its (twin) tail strap buttons. Difficult to knock out of tune. Cons Slightly flaky EQ, quality-wise. Lack of mass seems to hinder the tone. It's woody enough, and otherwise okay, it just lacks weight in terms of tone, and th EQ can't put back what was never there! (noticable on the 5 when strung BEADG. May be okay on 4s or high 5s! String availability. Onc your get used to it, you may want a real one (Steinberger). I do

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='119496' date='Jan 13 2008, 01:42 PM']I tighten mine gently with a cycle 'cone' spanner, perfect for the job if you have one handy. Just nip them up a little more than finger tight so they don't vibrate loose.[/quote] They're also ideal for Schaller straplock nuts, too (although threadlock is a good idea if they come undone lots!)

Fortunately, very nearly. And on my third effort (and my first 5 string) A decade later, I've finally found some strings that really make it sing and allow a stupidly low action. The instrument in question is a 1996 Vigier Passion 5 (Standard, Series III), now strung with my favoured DR FatBeams (45-125) In fairness, I do have 12 other instruments to keep it company, and I'd not part with many of those, either. That said, it's definitely the best player and the best all-rounder, too.

I'm a bit confused, then! Bridge to the fore on the Squier 70s VMJ with a BadAssII strung with DR FatBeams. Neck to the fore on the 2004 MIA Jazz S-1 strung with Fender 7150s Talk about chalk and cheese. You'd barely recognise the respective sounds as coming from two instruments with the same basic design. In other words, do what sounds best to you!

[quote name='TheBigBeefChief' post='116238' date='Jan 8 2008, 02:29 PM']Because they treat the wood with a chemical that turns you into a git.[/quote] Is there a cure? I own a Fender, a Stingray 5 and 2 Warwicks. All 3 are well put together and sound good/play well. Don't rule out G&L, Ibanez, Lakland, Sandberg, Yamaha, Status, etc. though! +1 for trying before you buy. It's a must. If you can take your mate who plays, then do! He may well be able to help. Good luck with the purchasing!

FWIW, I have two basses with 18v electrics. My Vigier Passion V (S3) Has two single coils and a Pan pot. If run "flat out", its output is too spiky, and can upset preamp stages. As a result, I turn its volume down to about 75%. This smooths out the output, and softens the tone a bit. My Iceni Zoot Chaser has a (naturally hot) SD Basslines MM humbucker and just a volume (and three tone controls + series/parallel + active passive While it's hotter (on "average") it's less peaky output doesn't upset input stages as easily (primarily because it doesn't tend to surprise you with monster peaks if you dig in) Finally, I have a Yamaha Attitude (passive, of course) with the 2 DiMarzio Willpower humbuckers. This has 2 vol, 1 tone. I have to watch the gain on my input stage with this. In spite of the fact that it's a passive instrument, it's as hot as the Zoot! It's not just a problem for active instruments! It's perfectly acceptable to calm down hot instruments by easing off the volume on the bass itself. It can affect the tone, but not necessarily in a negative way. Use the clip indicators on your input stages to help set the input gain, and [i]listen[/i] to what's coming out of your stack/monitors/headphones/in-ear systems for the onset of distortion and back off the gain. Then there's the matter of compressors and how they [i]may[/i] help... But that's another thread!

[quote name='stewblack' post='113785' date='Jan 4 2008, 10:00 PM']Here's what they used to think the future would have looked like in the past. Um. (note "The bass you can take on a bus" !) Picture from [url="http://www.junkguitars.com/stories/czech.html"]here[/url][/quote] OMG! So that's what it is! I bought one of these from a Secondhand shop. For £80 It's kind of tatty, but sounds really good. 41" Scale That Humbucker is HUGE (no piezos here!) Bass of the future? Er. No.

[quote name='chris_b' post='112716' date='Jan 3 2008, 09:05 AM']In my opinion there is more to a 5 string than a low B. I hardly ever go below D but I can play across the neck... ...If you lean towards playing high or soloing then a 5 doesn't do much for you, but if you want to rearrange internal organs (as I do) then a 5 is the only bass for you.[/quote] Unless you tune your CGDAE or (quite usefully) down a tone from that to BbFCGD. The latter really is quite a useful Jack-of-all-trades.

Could also be mechanical noise of the knackered bearing variety, in which case, a replacement fan is needed.