bnt

After seeing that video, I hate Paul Gilbert. Not for any music-related reason, but because he's in his mid-40s, yet looks like a teenager. Grrr... :wacko:

Another podcast: This American Life. An episode called [url="http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1256"]The Break-Up[/url], which is about... never mind. In the first segment, a (female) reporter is obsessing about the Phil Collins song [i]Against All Odds[/i], and decides to write her own "breakup song". So she gets Phil on the phone (not easy), and they end up commiserating about their respective breakups... awww.

Absolutely - it happened to me after I came back from a 3-week trip, a couple of years ago. Don't just take my word for it, I'm sure I remember one of Stu Hamm's Bass Player columns recommending a break, too.

When I heard that Rob Trujillo was joining Metallica, I didn't know what to think - partly because I knew who he was, and have albums by his two previous bands (Suicidal Tendencies & Infectious Grooves). I thought he could potentially boot the other guys back in to life - but I also wondered whether he'd be permitted to. I have no idea how succesful this experiement was, because I've heard almost no Metallica since then, just the occasional YouTube live video that seems to indicate he's having fun.

One Drop, mon - try the old Reggae trick of not playing on the One. The occasional minor or major 6th (8 or 9 semitones above the root, depending on the key) can liven things up a little, I think.

Ugh. I've sent that link to [url="http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/"]Photoshop Disasters[/url] - they love that kind of thing.

That's Marco Minnemann on drums - he's been busy with [url="http://www.keneally.com/"]Mike Keneally[/url] too, as reported [url="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20080720-9999-1a20viewm.html"]here[/url]. From the comments, it seems that the bassist is [url="http://www.linusofhollywood.com/"]Linus Of Hollywood[/url] - who isn't really known as a bassist.

Nah, not a problem. It was late, anything goes after 1AM. No idea what I was doing up at that time.

While searching for something else, I stumbled across a name I haven't heard for years, and (surprisingly) can't find mentioned anywhere on BC: [b][url="http://www.auerswald-instruments.com/"]Auerswald[/url][/b]. Jerry does mostly guitars, including Prince's famous "symbol" guitar, but does basses too. Some use a "sustainbow": headstock physically connected to the body, [i]a la[/i] Roland G-707. His website's a bit of a mess, but Ed Roman has [url="http://www.edroman.com/guitars/auerswald.htm"]a page[/url] on the Auerwalds he's had, including such beauties as these: Prices? Ed says Auerswald is charging up to $40,000, with a 2-year waiting list. edit: here's where I heard the name first: Adam Clayton's PopMart Rocket basses, fretted and fretless:

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='266750' date='Aug 21 2008, 01:12 AM']Also, I've just downloaded audacity, but can't work out how to get the EFFECTS to work, nor can I loop a sample. I can cut& paste as many times as i want, but surely there's a "loop section" shortcut?[/quote] re getting the effects to work: it's usually as simple as i) make a selection, and ii) apply the effect. If you want an effect on a whole track, you must first select the whole track. (At least, this is how it used to be. In the version I have on my Linux machine here (1.3.4 beta) it now selects the whole track if there was no selection first.). I think the "loop section" option you're after is the one called Effects / Repeat in the menu. If you want more specific help, you're going to have to tell us what you [b]are[/b] doing, and what [b]is[/b] happening. All you've done so far is tell us what [b]isn't[/b] happening.

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='266750' date='Aug 21 2008, 01:12 AM']Hey! I'm having some trouble downloading the wav files. it just downloads a file labelled 'Index' and not the sound clip. I'm using a mac, if that makes any difference... [/quote] First things first: what WAV files are you asking about? Got a link? It may be that the site uses some kind of redirection, which means that you should not use any Apple+click & "save as" or whatever Mac use. Just click on the link normally and see what happens. Either that or the site is broken.

I kinda wish there was some "right of reply" after all this. Does anyone here know someone in the Bass Cellar management? If they learned just how bad their shop's reputation has become, they might want to do something about it...

I've only been in the Bass Cellar once, but I had a different experience. The young lady there at the time didn't mind me trying two different basses, though neither was as expensive as a Stingray. I suppose that, if you work there, you think it's normal to have that many basses in the same room, and you know them all. If a customer's travelled there from the sticks, however, it can be a bit overwhelming for them, and it takes time to get your bearings. I would have to try dozens of basses to get a feel for what I want, which is not an option in any current shop. (Yes, I know: Bass Bash.) No, not even the Bass Gallery. I've been there once, too, but I won't go back there until I'm ready to buy. Martin was very polite, but I could tell he wanted to get back to the workshop to build basses.

If I was a moderator, I might be offended by the original post: it implies that they aren't running this forum properly, don't think about this kind of thing, and need someone else to come along and [b]SHOUT ORDERS AT THEM[/b].

I thought people came here for advice - and IMHO that includes advice on selling, even regarding the price. If I put something up for sale, I would like to know if other people think I'm asking too much or too little - and that actually has happened to me already, here. This is part of what makes this a community of bass players, and not a marketplace like eBay or Loot. edit: I would make one suggestion: please think before rushing to reply to a "for sale" post. It should not be a "first come first served, at the stated price" situation - allow some time for discussion about the item and the price. When I tried to sell my Stick here, I got the price wrong at first, and got the impression that some here were rushing to take advantage of my inexperience at selling. I'm not a professional seller, and don't want to be.

I think it would take a little electronic investigation to make sense of the Moon situation - to see whether it's the pickups or the active circuit. For example, it may require bypassing the circuit and running the pickups passively, if there isn't already an active/passive switch.

If that ESP really is a "Bottom Bump", then I guess the Tune basses are ... "Top Bump"?

[quote name='Cernael' post='262311' date='Aug 14 2008, 12:05 PM']The problem with the last one, as before is that the pots aren't individual volumes. I THINK they actually need to be connected to the pickups in parallel, when the pickups are in series.[/quote] I think you're probably right about that, and I'll look in to that later if I can. It was 2AM, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. PS: if you have access to Microsoft Visio, I'm finding it's a great tool for this, though I don't know it that well yet. For example, you can change the position of a switch or pot by changing a parameter - I didn't have to re-draw anything once I got the basic layout right.

[quote name='Cernael' post='261893' date='Aug 13 2008, 08:27 PM']Ah, but that one doesn't include the volume pots. They were what I began to ask for, before I got carried away. ... Hope that's clearer.[/quote] Not really - a discussion like this really needs pictures! It's late, but let me see if I can throw something together with Visio. Firstly, I've had a go at redrawing your original diagram: does this look right? [attachment=12100:S_P_1.gif] If so, I think I see where you're coming from. Forget what I said about standard volume controls - they shunt the output to ground and aren't going to work here. Let's say you have the switch closed, so the pickups are connected serially. With both pots at maximum (highest resistance), you'd have both pickups at full, as you'd expect: [attachment=12101:S_P_2.gif] (If a pot was turned to the other side, that would bypass the pickup, silencing it.), However, if you were to flip the switch at that point, you'd have this: [attachment=12102:S_P_3.gif] which would be a problem. Each pickup would be in [i]series[/i] with the potentiometer at max resistance, and after that the pickup-resistor combinations are in parallel. In effect, the volume controls are reversed, and you'd need to turn each all the way around if you wanted any sound from either pickup. (That's my reading of it.) The idea I had was to combine that diagram I linked to before with volume pots in series, like this: [attachment=12104:S_P_4.gif] A bit more complicated, I know, a DPDT switch and more soldering, but it's the best I can do at 2AM! I'll have another look tomorrow.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='261897' date='Aug 13 2008, 08:33 PM']Low End..Anybody heard of these. Or played?? They look very wide at the top of the neck.. Bloody nice mind..[/quote] Is this an advertisement? Those are the pictures off the [url="http://www.lowendbasses.com/"]website[/url], down to the file names. You could have just linked to their [url="http://www.lowenddistribution.com/lowendbasses/gallery.html"]Gallery[/url].

Nah - I think you're looking at more complex wiring to get the effect you're after. If you look at the diagram on [url="http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/tips/serpar.htm"]this page[/url], it's labeled as a humbucker coil series/parallel switch, but the principle is the same. Just don't get the phase wrong: it will help to remember that both "hots" go to one side of the switch, after standard volume controls, and both grounds to the other side.

[quote name='danlea' post='259558' date='Aug 10 2008, 09:41 PM']I've implemented a slightly round-about way of controlling the treble leakage. Switch centred (off) is no cut (~250k), down is moderate cut (~23k) and up is proper dub.[/quote] - with the switch centred, what is the effect of the 240KΩ resistor and the capacitor in the circuit? In general, using 500kΩ pots will give a slightly brighter sound, since they place less of a load on the pickups.

[quote name='finnbass' post='260506' date='Aug 12 2008, 12:27 AM']My strap is called Brian...[/quote] It's a few years since I could be called a "strapping young lad"... I call my Tune's strap "Ernie Ball", for some obscure reason. The Tune is called "Tune". If I ever get a cat, I'll call it "Cat", I suppose.

Oh yeah - search this forum for "Tennessee" to find more BC reaction to these monstrosities. Some finished auctions (e.g. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/15-STRING-BASS-PERCUSSIVE-CHAPMAN-STICK-TECHNIQUE_W0QQitemZ180249836567QQihZ008QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]this[/url]) have better pictures, where you can experience the full horrors of the pickup layouts, or the alleged bridges.

I agree that "perfection" is subjective, but how do we evaluate players anyway? By what they can and can't play, and I still think that "perfection" would be a player who can play anything and everything, without limitations. However, just because you [i]can[/i], don't mean you [i]should[/i]. I used the example of Geddy Lee earlier: I think that what he does is "accessible" to the likes of me. I bet Geddy's fellow Canuckian, Alain Caron, could fill in for Geddy on the bass (though not on vocals!), while I would not say the opposite is true. Which makes Alain a little "closer to perfection" as a bassist, in my opinion, but less accessible and inspirational to other bassists. It's like Formula One racing: fast, dangerous, yet somehow uninvolving. These days we look beyond the driving itself for interest e.g. to the fact that Lewis Hamilton is British, or the technology of the cars. The Olympics has the nationalist interest too, but also an amateur feel to it: you don't need massive financial and technical backing to take part (though it does help). Apart from that, to be honest, I'm not too bothered about getting people to agree with my definitions. It's more important to be happy in your playing, and find inspiration wherever you can; regardless of one's technical level, however you chose to define it.