skankdelvar

While passing through New York recently, I was invited to a quiet little dinner party by my dear old chum UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. "Just bring some beer and a dessert - maybe a raspberry ripple" he chirruped in that funny way he has. Thus equipped, I arrived to find myself sat next to Sir Paul. Over the soup we started talking and he got onto the subject of 'Macca-hate' on bass guitar forums. "Y'know, Skank La, I jus' don' gerrit, like" he opined mournfully "I lairn to play a left-cacker, I write some of the biggest hits of all time, I big up James Jamerson as a fab cat, give my cash away for music schools and save the Buddy Holly back catalogue while Jacko's using the cash from [i]my[/i] publishing to build kiddy-trap theme parks. I marry a tofu-muncher which means I can never have another bacon sarnie [i]ever [/i]. Then she dies and a one-legged psycho takes half me cash in the divorce and [i]still[/i] them BassChatters don't like me. Why is it?" I dodged a bread roll thrown by Hillary Clinton (Jesus, that woman can drink) and pondered. "Well, Pazza, me old mucker, it's simple. It's because you're not John Lennon. If someone had blown your brains all over the pavement thirty years ago, you'd be up there on a pedestal. 'Stead of which, people whom you've never met sit around and have colossal arguments over whether you're a twat or not." Sir Paul stared into his nut crumble. "Not a lot I can do about that, is there?". I nodded. "Short of throwing yourself under a bus, no, not a lot. Pass the butter, could you?"

[quote name='Spoombung' post='895802' date='Jul 15 2010, 05:23 PM']I prefer contextually necessary undergrooving with a hint of minimal UN-sanctioned plod[/quote] That could be me you're describing, my dear 'Bung. I like plod almost as much as I like groove. M'mmmmm, the mouthwatering flavour of full-fat, creamy plod. Now available in Classic Original [i]and[/i] All-New Cheese and Chive flavour.

IMO that's a pretty useful blog for beginning groovers and contains some handy reminders for the more 'exuberant' experts. Anything that might reduce the amount of contextually unneccessary overplaying is good for a Nobel Prize. Personally, I'd try to get the 'articles' to read chronologically top to bottom. Reading these things in reverse order can be a bit confusing for old men like me. Either way, nice effort (good comic / newspaper analogy) and ta for posting the link to it.

[quote name='JackLondon' post='885386' date='Jul 4 2010, 12:17 PM']3. I will do a open back so do I use any sort of foam lining inside the cab or is it pointless ? Also is it a good idea to attach the grill to the back where the gap is to protect the speakers from possible damage etc ?[/quote] Foam? No point. Don't put a grille on the back. You'll find it gets in the way when you want to put your leads, pedals, sandwiches, stash etc in there for easy transportation. [quote name='JackLondon' post='885386' date='Jul 4 2010, 12:17 PM']4. Birch Ply is apparently the best but what thickness ? Is 12mm enough or should I go for 15mm?[/quote] Myself, I've used 15mm and 12mm. Opinion varies on this one, so I'm keeping out of it. [quote name='JackLondon' post='885386' date='Jul 4 2010, 12:17 PM']5. Is it possible to wire some sort of a switch into the cab to swap between the speakers being wired in series or parrallel ? To have the option of either 4 or 8 Ohm ?[/quote] Given you've said you're buying two 8 ohm speakers, your wiring options using both wired together to a single input jack are: * parallel = 4 ohms * series = 16 ohms If you [i]really[/i] need a 4ohm / 8 ohm option, you'd could go with switchable option of one one speaker out of circuit (8 ohms) and both speakers in circuit (4 ohms). OTOH, if your amp has two speaker outputs and supports 4/8 ohms, you could always wire the speakers in 'stereo' - ie two jack sockets on the cab. All sounds a bit fiddly to me, but hey, let's push the envelope.

[quote name='discreet' post='885753' date='Jul 4 2010, 08:05 PM']It depends entirely on whether or not you like chocolate.[/quote] Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like chocolate.

[quote name='flyfisher' post='885264' date='Jul 4 2010, 09:54 AM']Isn't that a universal truth?[/quote] That's why I like it. It's universal and it's da troof. What could be finer? FWIW, at my last support gig, I turned up with my £150 Brandoni kit Jazz with added Gotoh 201 and forgery logo. Headliner (mate of a mate) had a proper US jazz in the same colour, same black scratchplate, hi-mass bridge. We put them both on stands next to the bass rig and stood back. From 3 feet away they looked identical. We stood quietly and pondered, as men do. Later on, in a fairly average mix, the Jazzes sounded pretty identical and there's a certain wry pleasure to be derived from that. But I still know which I'd rather have.

[quote name='smudge' post='884930' date='Jul 3 2010, 05:21 PM']What makes a Jazz bass made by Fender made in the USA more desirable than a Made In Mexico Jazz bass or an oriental made Squire?[/quote] You raise some good points, but let's focus on this one. Imagine I showed you a picture of three apparently identical bars of chocolate. * One is made from 'traditional ingredients' in the same factory where they've been making it for years. It's quite expensive. * The second is made in the country next door with some ingredients shipped in from the original factory. It's a bit cheaper than the domestically-produced chocolate. * The third is made in a faraway nation where there's a fair bit of labour exploitation and the sourcing of the ingredients is a bit opaque. It's ludicrously cheap. Knowing that, but without tasting them, how would one rank them in terms of 'value' and desirability? Commonsense would suggest the original would come out on top. Now let's assume one has tried them and they [i]all[/i] taste pretty good in their own way. So you buy the one that best satisfies your budget and your personal tastes. Ultimately, it's matter of preference and financial resources.

[quote name='JackLondon' post='885127' date='Jul 3 2010, 10:57 PM']... the amp is Crate Powerblock ...[/quote] Very useful little amp, that, and quite capable of delivering a relatively clean signal, IIRC. Y'know, you could always make the tweeter switchable. That way, you could use the cab: 1) 'Tweeter off' for electrics with distortion, etc. 2) 'Tweeter on' if you ever want to run a clean electro-acoustic instrument. The 12 incher won't be ideally voiced for this application, but useful enough at a pinch. Sorry if I'm harping on a bit about this - it's [i]your[/i] project and it's great that you're giving it a go. Post some images when you're done.

Jack. It's always difficult to spec gear for other people because personal taste, amp type, musical genre and task-specificity all has a part to play. And I'm not sure what your ultimate aim is for this cab. And I don't want to labour a point others have made... But! In 99% of conventional electric guitar set-ups your combination is probably going to sound [i]incredibly[/i] horrible. And for £110 you could buy a lovely Weber that would kick the arse off most speakers for tone and output, so it's relatively cost-inefficient too. Unless it's for an acoustic instrument, or your intention is to provide a 'hi-fi' style platform for a modeller through a clean power amp, you [i]really, really[/i] don't need a tweeter / crossover. The whole point about guitar speakers is their relative [i]inefficiency[/i] and mid-biased coloration. For a proj like this I'd go for 1 or 2 basic little eminence 12" patriot or redcoat types (or cheap celestion at circa £30 ea.) in an open-backed plywood box screwed and glued from B&Q offcuts. Bellwire for the cable and a £2.00 speaker jack. Maybe even splash out on a handle! OTOH, if spkr & tweeter is what you really want to do and you've got a specific purpose in mind, then best of luck with the project Coverings (tolex in all colours, camo) are easily available off the web - check out Tube Amp Doctor as a starting point. Glueing tolex is a bastard - involves softening the material with heatgun / hairdryer for tight corners - but done carefully can look great. Grilles / grille cloth likewise check TAD - frankly I'd use cloth over a simple wood frame as it's easier to work and doesn't rattle! Circular steel speaker covers and other hardware - handles, rubber feet etc - are available at Maplins.

[quote name='OldGit' post='882463' date='Jun 30 2010, 09:27 PM']Anyway .. for the audition generally it's best to play less rather than more in da bloose bass.[/quote] Indeed. Particularly if there's more than one guitarist, or some keys or harp floating around too. OTOH, if it's just you, a gtr and a drummer then there's a bit more latitude at this stage. For a fair few numbers, you probably want to be just sitting tight with the drummer, thudding the roots with a fair bit of mute. Open it up to ring a little and fill out under the solos, then back to the visceral thud when the guitarist has finished their 108 bars of 'self-expression'. If you get the feeling they're a bit unimpressed by your rootsy Shamanic pulse, just ask them if they want things busying up a bit. They probably won't. Once you've got the gig, slowly phase in the interesting stuff over a period of weeks and be ready to default back to simplistic thudding. It's quite satisfying in a trance-y sort of way.

...and you may wish to check this out (if you haven't already): [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:choosing_your_first_bass"]http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:cho...your_first_bass[/url]

I've only got two. So I call them 'That one' and 'This one', depending on which I'm closest to. Sometimes I'll move to a different part of the room, just to 'freshen' things up a bit.

We [color="#FF0000"][size=3]♥[/size] [/color]the Bass Doc

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='815454' date='Apr 22 2010, 08:56 PM']Gawd that's terrible. I've owned dozens of pre-CBS Fenders over the years and NONE of them have aged like that.[/quote] Ah, but the seller's in Coalville. Lots of coal there. Hence the 'coaly' nature of the neck wear. Well known occurrence in that part of the world. They call it 'Neck Blacking', though it comes out a sort of dark grey. Astonished you didn't know that, man of your calibre. Quite shocking, really.

Not wishing to heap coals on the OP's head, but, IMO, I'd rather have a simple 3 liner like that than pages of mimsy crap containing 423 uses of the words WOW, RAER and V1NTidGE and a puff-filled spec pasted from the mfr's site. But that's just my 2p and one's MMV. I went on to view his other items, because I'm sad like that. Only one spelling mistake, AFAICS - and he's also selling a jar of tomato ketchup (for a laugh, as he puts it).

[i]"...suitable for classical, jazz and rock n roll"[/i] If you're 3 foot tall.

Do a deal with the Bass Doc. Leo Fender shook the Doc's hand - the Doc's hand touches [i]your[/i] scratchplate - instant Mojo and £100 on the value of the bass.

[quote name='silddx' post='816707' date='Apr 23 2010, 08:58 PM']I simply CANNOT BELIEVE NO-ONE HAS SAID FRANK ZAPPA!![/quote] Classicists aside, that would have to be my vote. Though I enjoy the work of many of the names mentioned so far and I don't even much like Zappa's stuff.

Should be able to pick up a s/hand Squier Precision somewhere for £130. Get the 'Standard, rather than the Affinity. Stretch your budget a touch and you might get a new one. Or spend £130 on something s/hand from the Basschat 'Basses for sale'

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='814890' date='Apr 22 2010, 12:35 PM']"Plays like [b]Butler[/b]!" What the *hell* does that mean?[/quote] Fixed.

Hi-di-Ho Fat Rich and welcome From the tenor of your post (Jap fenders, Status, leaky batteries, Hartke rig trapped in the spare room, desire to broaden your horizons) it sounds like you're one of us already. Enjoy the forum!

I'd be quite interested to know where he got this weird notion of logo-ing up the backline. Is it some [i]modern[/i] thing?

[quote name='Sean' post='810208' date='Apr 18 2010, 12:11 PM']Don't wait for time served to make you better - look at what you're doing in detail and make it work for yourselves now.[/quote] This post should be merged into the 'Good Rehearsal Guide ' Wiki. Nice one, Sir.

...and it's the bloke from Gallows who's selling it. Which is nice.