Lfalex v1.1

I kind of did this a while ago with the original strings still on my Hohner B2A V. They're about 2 decades old, and are, of course DBE. I could have ordered some Hotwires from Status, but instead dug out my Ultrasonic cleaner, filled it with stainless steel cleaner from a spray bottle, coiled the strings and did them one at a time for 2x3 minutes. They came out spotty brown rather than solid brown (MMMmmm!) And the cleaning fluid looked like a tramp's urine sample! Put them back on, and they sound and feel acceptably good. If only I'd cleaned them after only one decade, not two, then the corrosion might not have been so bad...

Most of mine have been mentioned, but anyway... Oxygene 2 & 4, First Rendezvous and Equinoxe 5 - Jean Michel Jarre. Fanfare for the common man ELP (Well, Aaron Copland) Axel F- Harold Faltermeyer Orion 1&2 - Metallica Frankenstein- Edgar Winters (and even more so, the Overkill cover) Apache - The Shadows Let there be drums - Sandy Nelson On the Rebound - Floyd Kramer Unsquare Dance - Dave Brubeck Most but not all of these have had a single released. Can't say how well they did, though. And I'm tempted to add Crime of the Century by Supertramp, but it does have just the one verse at the beginning 😔 Edit- I've deliberately avoided theme tunes and non-orchestral film scores or I'd be typing all day.

Options? Bridge replacement, which may require that the recesses for the original be filled in. Cut the string posts down- removing material from the bottom to allow them to sit lower. File the string slots deeper to the same effect. Make / Have some shorter posts made. If you've access to a brass rod, a hacksaw, some files, a vice and some taps/dies then it might be a DIY project. I think I'd like the last option best, as it's reversible if you keep the original components. In any event, its all a bit of a faff. Hope you manage to find a sensible solution. (There's a guy on TB with the same issue- see if you can find the thread and see what he did..)

According to some other bass site, yes. The barrels/domes DO screw up and down to allow height adjustment. You'd hope they'd allow sufficient adjustment to permit correct string height for everything from a high C to the various designs of low B string on the market. Somewhat Similar designs are used on later Chapman Sticks and Vigier Series III with Kahler Bridges. Some people don't like them as the grooves only align correctly once every 180° and that this limits the precision with which the height may be adjusted. Conversely, it allows precise alignment for the angle of the string in the plane in which it nominally vibrates, and they're more impervious to unwanted sideways motion than BBOT Fender bridges or similar. To adjust the bridge, slacken the string in question, lift it gently clear of the slot, and screw it in or out to set the desired height. Note how many turns you made in case you wish to re-set it to its current state for any reason. Re-tune the string and I guess it's time to re-do the intonation... Looks like there's a locking screw you loosen, slide the saddle by hand and re-tighten. The image I found wasn't that clear in this respect, though.

Likewise. I'm fond of his description of himself as being "A poor writer with lots of good ideas" (Runs off to listen to Black Blade, Veteran of the Psychic Wars and The Great Sun Jester...)

I'm sure they're lovely, but not for me at that price!

That is frighteningly complicated. I'd not know if I was coming or going!

Her catalogue contains one of my favourite performances, too. The song itself even polarises my own opinion; The lyrics are quite clever in their use of metaphor. The bassline and bass playing are superlative. And yet the song as a whole is perhaps somehow less than the sum of its parts. Babooshka.

Don't know them all, and can play maybe half of them to a reasonable standard. Not only do I feel for any potential vocalist, but if your drummer can do them justice.. That's Paice, Ward, Bonham, Torres (?) (That I can think of !) Yikes!

The Reflex, I think, if you include the switching.

I like the pre-amp on the Big Al... but it's concealed by the body. Which is.... uh... not so great?

I had a 1990 Stingray5 Fretless. Wonderfully made, lovely thing. But it never gelled properly for me- retrospectively, I think my choice of strings were poor. I moved it on at zero loss after a decade and stuck my neck out, buying a second- hand NS5 CR EUB with the funds. That's the sound I was looking for. And I can still use chorus (!) It just sits there on its tripod, ready to go whenever I feel like it. (Much smaller footprint than a DB, easier to store and transport, plus no mic'ing, volume or feedback issues) I always have at least one fretted hanging on the wall, also ready to go, and rotate them to ensure they all get played occasionally. Edit- I might get back into fretless eventually, but it'd need to be a special instrument indeed!

I've used- Korg Pandora A Cheap mixer NUX Mighty Plug They're all perfectly serviceable solutions. The Pandora did well for having a built in tuner and effects. The mixer has the greatest flexibility, and is a generally useful item to own. The NUX wins for portability and the fact that it reduces cabling to just a headphone cable. All are perfectly adequate for silent home practice, but any battery powered unit will be better for use away from the home environment. I use a mobile phone to supply music. It has a headphone socket so can be connected to other devices via an Aux cable. The files are stored on the phone, so I don't have to rely on Internet availability to practice.

I seem to recall having played a fan- fretted bass at some point. There doesn't seem to be a very consistent approach in terms of scale length; For example a 5 string Dingwall is 34-37", whereas their Super P4 is 32-34.5". Surely there's an approximately optimal length for any given string/pitch as determined by maths/ player consensus. The latter seems to favour about 32" for a G string and around 35" for a B string. I don't think I've seen a (5 string) design that seems to embrace a short scale approach for the higher pitched strings and a slightly longer than long scale (34") for the lower pitches.

(I have no connection to or affiliation with Newtone Strings) I mailed Newtone with a query about Chapman Stick Strings. Neil replied with the precise measurements relating to my query... 2 minutes later. Wouldn't normally make a big deal about such a thing, but excellent service should be recognised. I'll check the measurements tonight, and I'll be placing an order straight away.

No one in that demographic! Which raises an interesting (albeit tangential) question; What is the bulk of the bass-buying demographic, and does it shift dramatically with manufacturer and style of instrument? Relevance here; who is buying the Joe Dart? Under 30's? I'm much older, and I only know of him from threads like this...

It's not like Flea or Tony Levin got one (other than TL's OLP) Surely they're two of EBMM's more prominent long- term users?

Beginning to look like a Mike Dirnt, but with a more contoured body/ different scratchplate. Can't comment on pickups, mind.

I just don't think that recordings can do justice to every aspect of a performance (or even series of notes) at once. Irrespective of methodology, something gets lost, even without compression, EQ etc. in play. Maybe it's just the shorter signal path. Maybe it's the complication of ADC/transcription/DAC (assuming digital recording) then replay equipment.

Which is infinitely better than sledgehammering a carefully placed (land) mine..

^^^ I have a 5 string (Vigier) Passion... (I've never gigged it- Studio use only!)

Must've missed this one! 🤣 I'll probably never be good enough. I expect to continue improving, even after 30 years, but as bass playing is a leisure activity for me, I'm not going to force the pace of that progression. I find it much more worthwhile when I happen upon something (be it techinique, theory, technical) for myself than when I'm introduced to it by other means. I had lessons briefly, and really didn't like being just shown what to do, although I acknowledge that it probably has stopped me developing some bad habits. I then reflect upon all the things that my tutor didn't really cover that well/ at all that I've learned subsequently (mainly technique related), and find more value in them as a result.

Like trying to bake a cake with lead shot. It always ends up too low in the mix.

Proper flight case. Insure it to the hilt. Just because it's now virtuality indestructible, it's not so large that they can't lose it, nor inadvertently send it to the wrong hemisphere.

It wouldn't put me off. If an instrument feels/sounds good and can be set up to play well, that's (more or less) enough for me. I've owned basses with Phenolic, Maple, Rosewood, Ebony, Pau Ferro and Wenge 'boards. All I've discovered is that I don't seem to be that great a fan of Maple.