Marc S

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1432130748' post='2778434'] ....If the gig in question calls for a P bass - why not a PJ? I've found PJ's - especially those with regular pickups (not overwound) and a P pickup that's not set too close to the strings (so It has roughly the volume balance of a JJ pickup setup, like in a Jazz). [/quote] I'd say the PJ is the best pickup arrangement It's just that bit more flexible, I find However, cutting holes in the body of your P bass may not be what you had in mind.... I've got a Delano pickup on a bitsa P/J and I quite like it Bags of output, and quite a bit of grunt from it... I've heard a lot of people rave about Entwistle pickups They're cheap, so it's easy to experiment - the PBXN's come out good in reviews I recently heard a P copy bass with the basic Entwistle pickup fitted, and that sounded great Good luck, and let us know how you get on

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1431789307' post='2775038'] OK, the final update, I manged to get lucky and get an 8.1lb 78 Precision. So it`s 78s all the way for me, and am going to sell off all others in my herd to pay for it. Thanks for all the comments peoples, it`s been much appreciated. [/quote] Great news Enjoy your new bass

Yes, Ikay is quite right You risk the soundpost falling over Beware of this, as without the special tool, you can't get them back into position again And if you try to re-string it without soundpost in place - BAM! The tension on the bridge will make the front of the bass cave inwards apparently.... People recommend putting the bass on its' back while re-stringing But I think you will need to move the bass about a lot while sanding / planing the fingerboard Have you got an old set of steel strings you can put on the bass while sanding the neck? Just a thought - maybe put the bass on its' back, and have maybe 2 old steel strings in place to keep the tension, while giving you a bit of space to work with? Just a thought - but again, keep the string tension up and keep the bass on its' back.... The finish which is coming off, is there to help protect the fingerboard too Though I'm not sure it's doing a good job in this case So you might want to think about applying something else, in place of the material coming off... Let us know how you get on anyway mate ... and good luck

I used to wonder why people mentioned the weight of a bass But as the years advance, I now fully understand I used to own an old Fender P, and it weighed a ton (well, not literally, of course!) Comfort is all part of playing, and if you have a bass you've enjoyed putting together and more importantly, it doesn't give you back ache - great and don't worry about it being a Squier - there are some great Squiers around My VM series P/J is really lightweight, and a fab bass I have a bitsa which has a MIghty Mite neck on (last owner put a Fender Logo on that too) Like me, you'd obviously never try to pass it off as genuine when / if selling, and I think that's important I'm impressed with the Mighty Mite neck on my bass It's quite lightweight, very playable, and has a nice feel to it You've done a nice job there Love the grain of the wood Looks great

Hope they've got it early enough and hope he's OK..... A terrible disease !

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1432109444' post='2778130'] Try just wiring the P pickup to the jack socket and see how it sounds..... ....Just be methodical and eliminate one potential issue at a time, and remember that KiOgon of this forum is probably the best person to ask for an expert opinion. [/quote] Definitely try this. I've got 2 P/J basses, and I love the sound, and the flexibility the arrangement gives you I recently heard a cheap P copy, fitted with an Entwistle pickup - sounded great But maybe you have a faulty one? Good luck in getting to the root of the problem Once it's sorted, you won't look back

[quote name='nugget' timestamp='1431683089' post='2773884'] Come have a go on mine, I live in worcester [/quote] What a kind BC'er I would invite you to have a go on mine, if you're ever a bit further south (I'm in South Wales) I think the option of hiring one might be a good way forward However, that may not be possible, depending on who hires them in your neck of the woods My 1st foray into the wonderful world of DB, was the purchase, for a very reasonable sum of a Stagg EUB. However - EUB's, although they look like DB's are a tad different You can pick up a second-hand Stagg for a very reasonable amount of money and if you don't get on with it, or decide to upgrade, you'll pretty much get your money back After playing the Stagg a while, I wanted a "proper" acoustic DB, and found there weren't many for sale in my neck of the woods. I was lucky to meet Sarah Thomas, who sold me a lovely DB I've upgraded both bass and EUB since, and I have to say, I'm smitten Although I currently play more Bass Guitar than I do DB (due to the bands I'm in nowadays) I love DB - there's nothing quite like it. You may need to be patient, and defo get some lessons and don't try to play exactly the same basslines as you do on BG Certainly initially anyway Good luck in your quest Enjoy the journey, and let us know what you decide

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1431592575' post='2772827'] It does, and my Stack-Knob 1960 Limelight Jazz was a heavy relic too. I'm negotiating to get that back, by the way... [/quote] Ah, that feeling of "wish I'd never sold that!" Good luck with that discreet ..... and if you do get it back - don't let it out of your grasp again!

I've got an Ibanez Electro-acoustic bass, that I absolutely love It sounds a tad different to other bass guitars And feels quite different in many ways.... The deep body, with it's hard edges can tend to "dig" into my forearm a bit But my real problem with it, is when playing finger-style playing There's nowhere to rest my thumb I sometimes use the E string, when playing the other 3 strings and I sometimes use the heel of the neck I don't want to go drilling into the hollow body of this bass It looks superb as it is.... and I don't want to risk ruining it by drilling holes... Anyhow, my question is this; I'm sure I've seen self-adhesive type thumb-rests But can't find any for sale anywhere (I have searched ebay) Anyone know where I can get them? Or should I just get some self-adhesive pads, and stick a thumb-rest on? Cheers Marc

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1431591932' post='2772811'] Nice Jazz, I think that's one of the lightest 'relics' I've seen on a Limelight. [/quote] Yes, I think it's the lightest Relic Limelight I've seen I think it's quite subtle, and all the nicer for it ... mind you, Lemon Cello's highly distressed Purple P bass looks stunning too....

Yes indeed Bradwell I answered one ad, where the band cited the Kinks, The Beatles and Rolling Stones as their influneces the ad also stated "Age not important" I messaged them, and they asked how old I was I firstly ignored this, thinking "if they're the bands' influences - why would that matter?" We then exchanged phone numbers, and I was asked immmediately "How old are you?" - I replied that the ad said it didn't matter And the guy said "Well, it doesn't, but we don't want no 16 year old, nor a pensioner, like someone over 40" So I replied "So if Paul McCartney or Bill Wymann turned up for the audition - you'd tell them to f*** off, would you?" The phone went silent, apart from the whirring of cogs - so I hung up! The flip side lately is, I've worked with some great musicians some of them much younger than me, and who have no problem working with musos of any age The folk band I'm in now range from early 60's to late 20's ... and it's all the better for it Perhaps the example I mentioned first, has put me off meeting bands via online methods?

Looks stunning Andy Cracking light level of relicing, discolouration, and that red / brown tort plate looks fab When I made some enquiries, Mark did say he could put a more modern shape, narrower neck on to either a P or a J bass And I wanted the narrower neck personally.... I recently bought a US P, made in 2008 The neck on that is not as deep as a vintage P, nor quite as wide, I think But it's slightly wider than my RW Jazz, and my Bitsa P.... and it does take a bit of getting used to - but I'm sure you will get comfy with it I have said many times, that the 2 Limelights I've played have fab necks They really feel "worn in" somehow - I don't know how Mark manages to get the look & feel of a vintage neck But he does it superbly IMO Lovely bass - enjoy and thanks for sharing

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1431418517' post='2770973'] You've got 2 things to decide. You don't want to sell the 78. . . . . so don't. You need the 2010 to sound better so focus on making that happen. New pickups and maybe pots/cap would transform this bass. Then, when you haven't played the 78 for a long time, you you can decide to sell it without any pangs. [/quote] Pretty much what I was thinking. I used to have an earlier P (I think 72) years back Thing weighed a ton, sounded good, but neck was very chunky I now have a 2008, and it's far more playable, IMHO. Lovely bass Try some new pickups on your 2010 I'm not sure of your age, but I never used to bother about the weight of a bass, and I'm discovering, as years advance weight can become more of a factor, And although your shoulder is fine ATM, the extra weight of the 78 may cause problems in future... Of course, you could always keep both, mainly using your 2010 and using the 78 as backup, or at home And hopefully, your shoulder will be fine, despite the extra weight of the older bass

I met a few musicians and bands needing a bassist, via gumtree and joinmyband However, most of those people were timewasters - maybe it was just a bad period to look for a band at that time? Or maybe it's just the musicians and bands locally to me? I met loads of musicians and joined a couple of bands, as a direct result of going to a local folk club And they're not all necessarily "folk" musicians Met quite a few at open-mic nights too On recent visits to music shops, I don't see many ads posted the "old fashioned way" any more... Good luck with your search

Yes, I agree the tape is great stuff I gave a piece to a guitarist pal on the weekend He'd been gigging for several days, and had a nasty blister on one finger He couldn't believe how well the tape protected the blister, and allowed him to continue jamming / working out a song Let us know if you get some of the tape, and what you think Marc

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1431077862' post='2767520'] If you use rounds, like EXL170BT daddario's then there's no change in tension I found, but they will feel looser under your fingers compared to your SH sigs! [/quote] Thanks for that James I mostly use Rotosound rounds, heavy gauge I do like the sound from my SH sigs, but they do feel quite high tension .... must check out those TI flats....

I'm not an experienced U-bass player by any means I had an Ashbory, which is fretless It produced a great sound. But I found the intonation very tricky This was partly down to the strings - they were very "rubbery" and had quite a lot of drag But I think the tiny differences between notes, higher up the neck were also proving difficult for me Last week, I tried a Kala fretless, and then a fretted I have to say, I really liked them both The strings were much better than the ones on my old Ashbory (which I think were Aquilla Thunderguts) But overall for me, I think the fretted was that bit easier, intonation-wise I didn't particularly experiment with sounds and bending strings But I was hitting the right notes more often on the fretted Of course, with practice, this should improve I would point out, that I play normal long-scale bass guitar, and Double Bass So maybe the smaller distances between notes are more problematic for my fat fingers? Loved the sound of the Kala though So I'm seeking one out this very minute It's going to be good for busking, for travel and for open-mics and a folk club I regularly jam at

Hmmm, Interesting..... I've played in front of some fairly big crowds But in different situations.... I tend to get slightly nervous before a gig, and I quite like that A bit of adrenaline can really help. Too much can be a problem too, of course Some small crowds have been tougher than bigger crowds, yes But these tend to have been either free gigs (oddly enough, as the crowd are getting a free show) and at a couple of the few open-air gigs I've done, the crowd have been slightly "cold" on a couple of occasions A couple of recent gigs, the crowd wasn't huge, but the place was packed and the atmosphere seemed much livelier, and better, cos more folk were dancing So if you can get a bigger crowd either dancing or singing along, or both - yes, a bigger crowd can be better ... but not always I've had some great gigs in front of small crowds too EDIT: I've also had a couple of really good open air gigs too, where the crowd was great - just to balance that earlier point

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1431385515' post='2770845'] 14 songs in 3 days? Impressive [/quote] Impressive indeed! How many cups of coffee were consumed? Nice collection of gear there Looking forward to hearing it too.....

Mrs S is luckily, very understanding Double bass in the lounge (she says the place looks empty when I'm out gigging it!) Ashton battery powered busking amp in the lounge too (small and fits under table-unit-type-thingy) Bass guitar also in lounge! (for noodling, rehearsing with MP3 / Cds) EUB in spare / box room Basses under bed, plus fretless in corner of bedroom! Amp gear in garage (2x10 combo, 4x5 cab PJ Valve head, plus 200W 1x10 combo) Gosh, as I'm typing this, I realise just how lucky I am Mind you, she's quite a hoarder with it Not hundreds of pairs of shoes, but quite a few And she has 3 double wardrobes and a trunk full of clothes (plus plastic storage boxes under bed) and in the garage, alongside my amp gear, she has what I can only describe as baskets full of dead twigs, which have been sprayed gold.... I've never figured out what these are for, and they can't be "decorative" because they're essentially in a very big cupboard But if she complains about my stuff, I always reply "When are you going to do something with your dead twigs then?" I'm not quite sure what her reply is, as I never quite catch it all

Yes, it certainly looks lovely But as others have said, only you can decide on whether it's worth the price especially as you can't identify the maker But most importantly of all, you really should play it first Give it a good try-out, just to make sure a). It's a good quality instrument . It is worth the money c). It's right for you Good luck anyhow and let us know what you decide

I haven't tried a Tanglewood personally But I wouldn't mind giving one a whirl I had an Ashbory, and didn't really get on with it It sounded good - much beefier than it looked But I didn't like the rubber strings, which also seemed to continually go out of tune I had gone off this sort of instrument, until I played a Kala U-bass the other day It handled much better than the Ashbory, and I much preferred the strings on that The ones on the Ashbory were thicker, white in colour and felt far more "rubbery" Whereas the ones on the Kala were not quite so thick, and stayed in tune better and felt less rubbery and easier to play I think these can be quite useful, sound a bit like a double bass and are very handy to cart along to open-mics and such.... Edit: depending on how good the Tanglewood model is, of course