NancyJohnson

Hi John You can argue this until the cows come home. Sometimes it's not about tone, coolness, the name on your headstock etc. it's about, 'Hey, you muthafunker, look at me, I've got a Gibson and it sounds amaaaaazing.' I know in these politically correct days, where everybody has to win a prize (even if you're the fat kid who comes in last - and believe me, I've come last a few times), a world where it's frowned upon to brag about what you have or where it comes from, but just this once, just this once, I want to give these people the finger and shout, 'Look at me. I've saved damn hard to buy this and it sounds better than great, it sounds awesome, and hey, look it's a Gibson, a real one, not a copy with a Gibson truss rod cover.', rather than standing in the shadows afraid to say anything in case you upset the guy from the support band who is playing an Affinity Precision bass. Is a Gibson five times better for five times the price? No, of course it's not. It's infinitely better for five times the price! P

As a Thunderbird user and the guy who sorted out White Cloud with the Epiphone, I suppose I have some qualification as I had both basses in my possession for a while. Let's start out by saying I'm running three Gibson reverse models along with two other derivatives (a new NR reissue and a Hamer FBIV) and all of these are fitted with Hipshot Supertone bridges. I am, as past posts will support, no fan of the Gibson three-point bridge. All the Gibsons are from different years and even these differ from each other. By way of comparison, the bolt-on Epiphone has a similar look (headstock is slightly different); the neck is a close facsimile of the Gibson (slightly fatter profile), it hangs pretty much the same, feels pretty much the same and with a decent set up will play nicely enough. Tonally though, all my Gibsons are a country mile ahead of the Epiphones, but this is simply a personal preference, what I think sounds great may not be what someone else thinks is nice. I concur with Shylock to a degree, although a decent Gibson can probably be picked up for about 800 notes, if you can afford it, go for it. As I've posted previously, Gibson TBs are like magic. I'm a slightly overweight guy closing in my 40s. Strap on this baby and I turn into a lithe guy in my early 20s. It just makes you feel different about yourself and your playing! P

I was having a clear out in my garage (like you do) and found three mahogany boards...each roughly eight feet long, a foot wide, inch thick. I forgot they were in there. My father in law gave them to me; they were from a university that were breaking down their old science labs and he procured them rather than them going into landfill. I was wondering whether these are enough to consider a build project of some kind. There strikes me as being enough wood to actually make something with, maybe a couple of basses. I haven't considered building anything for a while - too happy with what I've got. So a question. Are these planks worth much? If I did decide to approach a luthier to build something (it would likely be a Thunderbird style bass), would the worth of this wood reduce the price of the project? Opinions? P

I find it reassuring that a 17 year old is quoting Specimen in an advert. That alone deserves a thumbs up. What a band. New CD out too! P

Have you not got those pots yet? I posted them from work on Friday. P

Just picked up Lee's M-Audio 18/14 Firewire. Lovely job. P

...and just to ram this down your throats, let's have a spot the difference competition:

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1366100609' post='2048204'] Just about everything is different. So much so that it's easier for me to ask you to open the following web pages and compare for yourself. [url="http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Bass/Thunderbird-IV.aspx"]http://www.epiphone....derbird-IV.aspx[/url] [url="http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Bass/Thunderbird-Classic-IV-PRO.aspx"]http://www.epiphone....sic-IV-PRO.aspx[/url] [/quote] Can I just make one thing very clear here. The image on the second link ISN'T the Classic IV Pro bass. That my friends is a Gibson Thunderbird that was Photoshopped with an Epiphone truss rod cover. P

I just put a set of Elixir Nanowebs on my NR. They feel nice. Two rehearsals next week, gig on the 7th. We'll see how they hold up. P

In my experience, a POD 2.0 into a bass set up doesn't work so well. In isolation (ie at home) the sound was good enough, but in a live context there wasn't any throw...it sounded very tame. Maybe due to the cabinetry. My little Spider IV sounded way better/louder than a POD through a very large Ashdown/Hartke stack. P

I seem to recall there being trim controls under the plate on the Jazz model, maybe I'm incorrect. You can adjust these with a small flat head screwdriver. P

We've used some very old [edited] recordings of both Teddy Bear's Picnic and the Housewives Choice theme. P

I have three or four Gibson three point bridges, one of which I'd be happy to contribute to this worthy cause. They're all black though...so you'd need to sandblast/chrome. P

I've tried EB Cobalts; they did last a bit better.. In all my years, I've never tried Elixirs. Next month! P

I'm getting a little tired of spending a fortune on strings each month...especially considering my D&Gs rarely get played and come off my basses relatively fresh, so I've been giving some thought to just buying E&A singles. Anyone doing this? eBay cheapest? I tend to favour either Slinkys or D'Addario XLs. P

I've got an Aria Primary Bass. I got it as part of a stupid cheap Gumtree deal ('Three guitars and a practice amp for £50'). On the downside, the pots were broken (those knobs were resting on there for the photo), and while it sounded OK, the pickup was quite low output. A previous owner had fitted a set of Schaller machines. I swapped out the pickup for a Wilkinson unit that I had about the house, put in new pots and chrome knobs, Dunlop Straploks. It's a very, very nice bass. P