skankdelvar

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1323661' date='Aug 1 2011, 10:59 PM']alright guys. I got a thrashed yammy rbx170 im a novice learner, playing metal fingered bass, never use plecs and i'm a girl so have pretty small hands, reccommend me some strings that would suit and wont break the bank and hopefully reduce the raw-ness of my hands lately[/quote] Elixir nanowebs - 040 .060 .075 .095. They've got a slightly slippery-er feel under the finger, which is good. Pricey, but you get your money back because they last for months. Make sure your bass is set up for a low action, even if it rattles a bit. As time progresses and your fingertips harden you can try some other string makes and jack your action back up a bit.

[quote name='chaypup' post='1322767' date='Aug 1 2011, 09:05 AM']You offer sex as part of the deal? Does that work? [/quote] Every time. People get nervous and chip 10% off just to make me go away. [quote name='Ross' post='1322784' date='Aug 1 2011, 09:32 AM']Realistically you just don't like haggling because you're bad at it.[/quote] Depends on who you're 'haggling' with. In my job over the years, I've done hundreds of long-term negotiations. Some were enjoyable, some were soul-destroying. The worst ones always involved a client buyer / specifier / procurer who 'liked a haggle' and treated it as a testicular growth function. Though annoying, they were usually the easiest people to turn over. Because it was never about the deal, it was about them making themselves feel like Charlie Big Potatoes. The best sellers / buyers are usually the quiet, considered type with no ego to feed. In a way, Shockwave would probably make a good pro dealmaker. [quote name='bassman7755' post='1322803' date='Aug 1 2011, 10:02 AM']I think its very underhand and manipulative to try to renegotiate at the point of purchase unless the item has a significant previously undisclosed fault or something.[/quote] Quite right. Gazundering is a shithouse trick and the mark of the hobbyist.

[quote name='Shockwave' post='1322668' date='Aug 1 2011, 12:18 AM']I really dont like haggling and I hate saying no.[/quote] You make a very, very good point. And the refund thing you mention does you enormous credit. Good idea on the 'firm' pricing strategy. Definitely takes some of the heat out. Some people adopt an ebullient approach to transactions which others can find grating or intimidating. TBH, I fall into the loud, jolly, "fancy a deal and how's-yer-father" school and often forget that not everybody's the same. The lowball offer > offence thing I kind of get, though. Lobbing in a cheeky one at - say - 50% of the stated price is either going to put someone's back up or convince even the most of sanguine of sellers that you're a bit of a chump and therefore unreliable. The most useful advice I was given applies both to sellers and buyers: [quote]"Open realistically and move slowly."[/quote]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1322156' date='Jul 31 2011, 02:19 PM']My question is, what are the audible differences between different years of Fender's original manufacture ? are earlier ones noticably different from later models ?[/quote] Weird, innit? Gigantic worldwide aftermarket guitar p/up industry. Loads of stuff and myth and money. PAF's and Nocasters and staggered polepieces and Filtertrons and Abigail Ybarra and scatterwinding and 'facemelting' and Alnico 3 vs Alnico 5 and Seth Lover CuNiFe Widrange H/B re-issues at £200 a pop for your Mex Tele. For bass? Vintage. Hot. A bit hotter. Different Fender years? Nobody cares but us

Hi Emanuele and welcome Hope your gear gets here soon. If I had to do a year without my stuff, I'd be climbing the walls Enjoy the forum!

As surprisingly few schoolboys know, egregious rapid-fire slapping in a retail environment is a sure mark of the hobbyist dilettante. Simply approach the offender, moisten one's fingertip and push it into their ear with a to-and-fro circular motion. Peace will be restored.

First off - welcome Beefyeggo Next up - try re-posting your query in the 'General Bass Discussion' section - there's more traffic there and you'll get a wider range of replies. Before you do, try searching some terms like newbie or beginner - you'll find some previously posted threads which could be useful. To answer your q. briefly - yes, you could buy a beginner kit, set it up and play along to some tunes. It's how many of us started. And these days there are some quite reasonable basses to be had for very little money. TBH, you'll soon discover the limitations - the bass will probably need a set-up tweak, though there's lots of info on here on how to do that. And cheap, tiny amps have a tendency to fart out at more than TV volume, but that's all you need to annoy the missus anyway. If the bug bites, you can chop your beginning stuff out in the Basschat for sale sections for probably not much less than you paid for it. Then go shopping for something a bit nicer. The cost to step up isn't too drastic either. TBH, from £200 up, you could get a s/h bass that would keep you happy for a long time. Enjoy the forum.

Thank you brensabre. Any more for anymore?

Oh, that's outstanding. I'm really rather jealous.

I'm a medium. The money's not great but you get to meet lots of people and make them happy.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1315964' date='Jul 25 2011, 05:15 PM']If you're in the audience, off-axis, and the main sound source is your rig rather than the PA the difference will be quite obvious.[/quote] If one is out there amid the audience and one can perceive it then, yes, it might indeed be obvious.

Ghastly to bring it up on a bass forum, I know. But I keep blowing up 12AT7's in the reverb socket of an old Silverface Pro Reverb (Ed Jahns UL transformer / MV type). Before I hoick the offending Fender off to a solder-covered gnome bloody miles away, does anyone have any recommendations for a seriously heavy duty 12AT7? That way, if it blows, I'll know it's probably a fault rather than crappy tubes. Thanks in anticipation.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1314642' date='Jul 24 2011, 12:11 PM']...the Brasenose Arms in [b]a little village just north of Banbury[/b][/quote] That would be Cropredy. [i]The[/i] Cropredy. Brasenose has an excellent rep and its a great place. I'd planned to swing by for your gig but herself cornered me into a stereotypically awful dinner party miles away in Bagshit, Surrey. Glad it went well, though.

In common with many topics here, cab stacking is ultimately a matter of taste. One can doubtless prove the science of the matter, which is to the good. One may experiment. But thereafter it all depends whether one perceives a difference and - if so - whether one 'likes' the difference. Some may. Some may not. It is beside the point to assert that the ability to perceive a difference or 'not liking it' may be down to years of brainwashing or a faulty appreciation of tonal 'goodness'. Too late. One hears through one's ears alone and one likes what one likes. Attempting to persuade a distant basschatter that their taste is in some way 'wrong' is a shoal upon which many have perished. In any event, it's a wonderful world with a flavour for everyone.

Some excellent advice above. There's another perspective, though. It might be a question of goals and 'fit'. In deriving inspiration from players you admire, you may be trying to play stuff you're never going to competently deliver. There might be other music / styles / lines you could play better. I read somewhere that the stuff you don't - or can't - play will define your unique voice with as much validity as the stuff you can. By all means try out the advice that others have given you. If it doesn't work, play along to some really simple jam tracks with your brain switched firmly off. Don't ask yourself how someone else might play it. Don't think about theory. Just let your motor skills and your sub-conscious do the work for a change. You might not end up sounding like your musical influencers, but you might be the best bass player of your kind. Being unique is a good thing.

No. Though they might have.

Top tip! Having been contemplating a leather strap, I shall purchase a cheapo mouse mat and devote the balance to entertainments of a 'transactional' nature.

Black. Black as the King of Hell's waistcoat.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='1310445' date='Jul 20 2011, 03:38 PM']It's the mechanics of the thing and how you play. Starting off on bass it's gonna be one note per string and maybe a lot of sliding about on the E string. With guitar you're gonna be learning chords (playing more than one note at a time) and maybe trying to learn a bit of lead. Of the two without great technique the bass is initially easier. Also without great ability, the bassist has a better of being able to play a part in a band.[/quote] I think progress and development is initially easier on a bass. Then it gets more difficult as you come to realise the possibilities. Thereafter progress comes more smoothly. Guitar is initially more difficult because of chords, becomes easier with all the obvious cliches - and then you hit a very steep learning curve if you want to really develop your own voice.

[quote name='lautoledodo' post='1306288' date='Jul 16 2011, 11:21 PM']One day I discovered that 3 of my favourite bass players were called John (Entwistle, Paul Jones and Taylor), so I set myself the task of finding as many as I could and see if there was something that could be pinned down with those two coincidences.[/quote] 'John' was the most popular first name given to male babies between about 1940 and 1970. Law of averages. That might explain it. Have a lovely project.

Well, we seem to have established that - in varying listening circumstances - some basses might sound different from (or similar to) other basses. And that such basses might sound subjectively 'better', 'worse' or 'as good as' depending on the listener's taste, etc. Life is a wonderful thing and there's a flavour for everyone.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1303405' date='Jul 14 2011, 12:15 PM']They weren't Mesa valves that he was sold from HotRox[/quote] Quite right. I meant "replacement valves for Mesas but not branded as Mesas".

From the OP's description, it's an issue of string choking not a dead spot. A quick fret dress and set-up at a decent luthier will almost certainly sort this and will probably cost far less than the OP's £150-200 replacement bass budget. If he / she is any good, the luthier will be able to identify any problems far more accurately than we can. Should dead spots be present, it will be a lot easier to find them when the bass is playing properly and sounding cleanly.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1302120' date='Jul 13 2011, 11:27 AM']And I have never used a chorus pedal, WEM copycat or octave divider![/quote] You should. Makes fretless sound much nicer. Get a deep rate going on the chorus and you cover up the fluffs. I've got a nice 1968 Copicat. Proper tape job. Come over and give it a go.