NancyJohnson

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1497092092' post='3315792'] You can buy the chrome pickup covers and rings on the net. They're not that expensive (£10-15 or so, IIRC) [/quote] It's pretty well documented that the chrome pickup covers don't really fit over the pickups. You'll need to remove the black plastic outer casing (and risk damaging the inner workings) and/or make the body routs larger to accommodate. All in all, it's probably more feasible to purchase new units. Trust me.

Well, I've ordered it. Might be about five months. Need to sell some stuff (hint hint).

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1497027602' post='3315446'] [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Tech-21-Geddy-Lee-Signature-1u-RackMount-PreAmp/1UOM?origin=product-ads&utm_campaign=*PLA+Shop+-+All+Products&utm_medium=vertical_search&network=google&adgroup=**All+Products&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=86422d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=41477300408&gclid=CjwKEAjwjunJBRDzl6iCpoKS4G0SJACJAx-VmtM8OKOWGQjToTd-WyJ4Jd2fOh6Yx04tJX3kI6WWwhoC337w_wcB"]http://www.gear4musi...6WWwhoC337w_wcB[/url] [/quote] There might have to be a flash sale of a few surplus pieces of my Tech21 gear over the weekend...

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1497017586' post='3315345'] Yeah, but they're all stacked upside down. Don't know if I'd trust a factory that makes those kind of mistakes. [/quote] Australian market.

Hubba bubba. Tech21, I heart you. I heart you lots. Just make sure at least one of these is wired for 220/240v and makes its way over here. P

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1496934429' post='3314822'] If you're gonna go for one, I'd really recommend the TC spectracomp pedal. 1 knob and sounds great even in it's 'standard' / 'out of the box' setting.. [/quote] I never really got the [i]menage-a-quatre [/i]or gain/release/ratio/threshold...none of them seemed to do anything. I am a one knob kind of guy. Cough.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1496934964' post='3314830'] Out of interest, what do you regard as "recent" and "vintage"? Was there a point where Gibson changed their pickup specs in the T-bird? [/quote] Thunderbirds have been produced in three periods; vintage would best be applied to the 60s run (1963-69), the Bicentennial run (1976-79) and the current (or last) run (1987-2016). Bear in mind that the original Thunderbird pickups were units leftover from lapsteel production. The 70s pickups, I don't know, could be new or old...you wouldn't put it past a company like Gibson to uncover a box of old lapsteel pickups and produce a load of Bicentennial basses rather than throw them in a skip, but I just don't know. The last run dispensed with the chrome and went with plastic casings. The final production year saw the introduction of the EB series pickups.

[quote name='dyerseve' timestamp='1496912736' post='3314612'] couldnt you just reverse the pickup by extending the wires between the two halves (and probably the output wires as well) so no chisels would have to be involved? [/quote] Misinterpreted...I was looking to swap the pickup around (a la the Mark Hoppus signature bass). The 'bass side' E&A stays where it is, the 'treble side' D&G goes closer the to the neck, where in theory the different position gives the strings different tonal characteristics. [quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1496912052' post='3314601'] Don't know if you use effects, but it sounds like a bit of compression will go a long way to help you out with that... [/quote] I had a EH Black Finger compressor; a bit Emporer's New Clothes to me. May investigate a Boss BC-1X.

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1496909557' post='3314572'] Entirely possible but the two side of the pickup will then be wired in parallel rather than series which will sound different to a regular P (more polite, less grunt). Have you tried tweaking the EQ at your amp end to get a better balance? [/quote] Tried everything, pretty much! Different amp/cab combinations, different pre-stages, balanced set strings (and so on). It's not my main bass, but I love to use it. I was considering getting a new scratchplate so I could reverse the pickups, but that would involve getting the chisels out. It just hit me that I could try a VVT set up and retrofit a stackknob pot to have some independency over each side of the strings. I had an old Fender P and that suffered as well...D&G were too quiet/lost.

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1496909703' post='3314574'] Very tasty looking. But quite pricey too, esp once you factor in mounting plates and an extra 50 quid for a case. Duo 17 would be north of 150 quid! I think a secondhand PT Jr will answer my needs. Hopefully one will come up in the classifieds in the hear future/ [/quote] I had two PedalTrains before the TempleBoard...I think everyone goes for PT because it's the easy option, a little like supporting Manchester Utd. Once in a while, I need to run a two-channel setup and trying to get everything in the right order on the PT board just didn't cut it for me...I was going to get a bigger PT a couple of years back until a guy in New York suggested I investigate the Temple Audio gear. Glad I did. It's well worth the investment. I might add a couple of XLR outputs at some stage, but for now all is good.

Have you got a link to the advert?

I've got an old P-bass copy (an Aria Primary bass) that's got a Delano pickup in it. It sounds great in isolation, but the D&G strings get lost in the mix when we play...I've tried raising/lowering the pickups, but to little avail. I got to wondering whether I could split the pickup into its two sides and route two signals into a stack-knob to try and balance things out. Possible?

If you're looking for an viable alternative, check out Temple Boards (https://templeboards.co.uk). They're great boards, loads of modules that can be added to the end boards to handle power and output. No Velcro!

While the seller might be 100% genuine, the pursuit of products via Gumtree/PreLoved worries me intensely. Too many scammers. You might be better off hitting up someone here who lives locally to handle purchase/shipping. I've done it a few times for members here.

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1496741710' post='3313505'] Elixirs look to be very pricey! D'Addario Pro Steels look like a more affordable option, if indeed they do last longer. Probably worth a punt for next time. They claim brightness, although that's not the be all and end all of course. [/quote] I've been using Elixir Nanoweb (#14077) sets for a while now and they do last for yonks. The set I've got on my Lull went on on 4th November 2016 and seven months later they still sound bright. OK, yes, they're c.£35 a set, but I'd have been on my third set of Dunlops/D'Addario by now (and maybe my fifth set of Rotosounds...hehe). If you want very cheap, but decent, check out Soldier branded strings on Amazon. I needed some cheapies to do a set up on something and paid £6.00; they're perfectly fir for purpose. They're pretty good if you want to swap strings every couple of gigs.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1496825890' post='3314039'] Slightly off topic but they've become masters of social media marketing, completely hit the ball out of the park. Mind you, it's taken them 8 years, as it would anyone in their shoes. Occasionally I've contributed a bit of silliness to Lee's facebook posts and sometimes he's responded. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, which I'm sure is why they're doing so well. [/quote] Felt the videos used to be fairly quaint, but now not so much, they're just churning them out. I used to really enjoy the bass stuff when it was Lee Anderton and Nathan King; I'd sit through anything they put out as there was a degree of gooning about and definite chemistry between them, but the King/Voss ones (starting off with the Spector videos 7/3/17), all that kind of disappeared. As an aside, I am eagerly awaiting the return of Phil X and The Drills to the Fretted Americana channel. Damn you, Bon Jovi.

Never used them, but... Reckon that if you want to go the backing track route the key words here are [i]discipline [/i]and [i]rehearsal[/i]. There is no recovery when things go awry. We played with a band who did use them; credit to them for trying but it was all a bit hands on as they were firing them off via an iPod nano. It was a disaster in the making really...the drummer was pushing play but clearly didn't have enough time to drop the iPod [i]and [/i]do a four count, so backing vocal and keyboard backing tracks were coming in at the wrong time, plus the drummer didn't seem to be able to play to a click, so timings were going up and down. Just to throw something else in, their lead guitarist had a bit of a look-at-me thing going on and was changing guitars every song to accommodate different tunings; the rhythm guitarist just used a capo. Go figure. On the last song, the lead guy had the wrong guitar, tunings were off [i]and [/i]the backing vocals and keys were coming in early as well. Terrible.

I'm not going to go starting a new thread, just curious...any date set for the 2017 bash?

We played at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester. It was a benefit for the Swindon Rockets wheelchair football team. Good cause, but all a little ad-hoc...we turned up, bands were literally pulling straws for their place in the running order (we pulled the shortest, so were first on). Too much gear on the stage, too many surplus people on stage ('Could your wife perhaps stand elsewhere with her arms crossed, rather than in the way of everyone?'), too many people a bit too keen to ensure they had their guitars in racks right where you needed to be (you just wanted to shout, 'Yes, I know you have a Rickenbacker, sir, it's very lovely, but if you leave it there it's most definitely going to get dinged.'). Needless to say, we didn't get a soundcheck, but I was told retrospectively we played to the most people. So, wooyay us. That said, it was a pinch-yourself-you-can't-believe-it amazing place, they've filmed Poldark there: This is us (yes, I know, there's some noise on the image):

We gigged Saturday and a couple of the blokes in the band were talking about Ringo Starr. Our wisecracking drummer would only go so far as to say he was great in Thomas the Tank Engine.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1496609734' post='3312735'] Cheers, Blue, people will definitely take notice of you with the Thunderbird. We'd all like to think it's our technique, musical ability, and personality that gets us noticed, but I increasingly think it's just down to the impact we make on stage. The look of the bass and the player makes a real difference. [/quote] I would concur that in the circles I play in, the Thunderbirds always garner attention. No one really cares about Fenders (etc.), as they're ten a penny. Strap on a Thunderbird and I'd guarantee positive comments. Look, I've said this before. I'm a slightly podgy bloke that's now pushing 50. When I'm using a Thunderbird, I feel like the rake thin guy I was in my 20s. It takes years off you. It takes pounds off you. They're like magic. That said, someone buy one of mine in the For Sale area..

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1496421901' post='3311344'] I was right, its a Troll. The Dave Clark comment is the clincher. Go and play somewhere else. [/quote] You know, I had a teacher at school who said once that there's always a bully in every playground.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1496391371' post='3310958'] Or I have just fallen for an almighty Troll. [/quote] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Nope, sorry it's just an opinion. Simply because I'm not a fan of The Beatles (aside from the handful of songs that I knew already), it doesn't entitle me to an opinion. This isn't anything about the type of quote (now attributed to Jasper Carrott) or that line in Red Dwarf where Holly says:[/font] [font=courier new,courier,monospace]HOLLY: Well, for instance, in this universe, it could be that Hitler won the Second World War. It could be something even more incredible, like perhaps Ringo was a really [i]good[/i] drummer. [/font] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I only listened to SPLHCB yesterday and again last night. With the exception of Within You Without You, it's a decent listen, it really is, the musicianship/vocals are great, but my immediate thought was what the hell is going on with the drums. [His] approach is almost child-like; the sort of thing that my 10 year old nephew would do when prompted to come and play along. I do wonder what The Beatles would have sounded like if someone like Dave Clark had drummed for them.[/font] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I don't buy into the Dave Grohl comment above that he was 'a f***ing badass' just because he could get a crowd going by playing consecutive hits on the floor tom and kick. It was The Beatles! For the love of god, Ringo could have just farted in a paper bag and the crowd would have gone crazy. It's the same kind of mindset that voted Danny Bonaduce the second most famous bass player behind McCartney.[/font]