Annoying Twit

For guitars, there are a selection of cheap but reputably quality pickups such as Irongear and ... and ... those made in Australia pickups. There seems to be a much smaller range of cheaper "name" pickups for bass. EMG Select pickups being one example, but the reviews I've read seem very mixed. Otherwise, Wilkinson pickups are widely available and are cheap. Available for 5 and 6 string basses too. But, how good are they?

[quote name='Musky' post='327942' date='Nov 12 2008, 09:06 PM']Nah, that one's a snip. Check out this one [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRUNO-GUITAR-ROYAL-ARTIST-Vintage-1970-With-New-Case_W0QQitemZ370095078885"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRUNO-GUITAR-ROYAL-A...emZ370095078885[/url][/quote] I received a very odd reply from the seller when I asked how they could justify $3500 for it. "It's on earth that this guitar is." ?????

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='280125' date='Sep 9 2008, 06:11 AM']Another option is to go down dedicated bass controller route. You can find systems by Peavey MIDIbass or Cyberbass. They're fitted with the same fret switching system that was fitted to Wal basses - Peavey bought the patent from the original Australian designer, Steve Chick. This system was also originally fitted to Wal basses (the MB-4 or MB-5). You'll need to make sure you get the rack mounted conversion unit with the bass as well. The advantages are a pretty quick conversion time, the disadvantages are that you won't have any kind of pitch bending facility unless you do it with a pedal or other kind of separate controller. You can also get quite a few false triggers if you're used to doing stuff like tapping the strings along with the bass drum when you're resting in any phrases.[/quote] As an engineer with some knowledge of pitch tracking, I'm disappointed to hear this. There shouldn't be any particular difficulty in tracking pitch bends even with a fretboard pickup system. If any sort of pitch tracking is being performed, and something must be at least tracking the volume from the string. Since computing power is now cheap, I'd expect there to be pitch tracking in the system somewhere. The errors in pitch tracking are (for standard techniques) usually gross errors such as octave down, octave up, etc. If you have information from fretting, then I'd expect tracking to be fairly good, and for pitch bending to be easily tracked by such a system. But I personally believe that MIDI is a bad choice for stringed instrument synths. The data format of MIDI forces decisions on note identity to be made much, much, too soon. I have some ideas about ho this can be solved and have the skills (if not the time) to implement bass synths from scratch. Maybe some day I will, or get a student to do it.

This is a lot of money for a single string. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Warwick-Black-Label-single-F-175-Bass-Guitar-String_W0QQitemZ370041079284QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item370041079284&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Warwick-Black-Label-...A1%7C240%3A1318[/url] Though, a 0.195 low C# string from Conklin costs even more, as does (I think) their 0.165 low F# (isn't that a bit skinny for a low F#?)

It seems that he found some of his friends. More history here too. [url="http://www.kentgigs.com/musicbiz/Mick%20Allen%2020%20years%20band%20history.htm"]http://www.kentgigs.com/musicbiz/Mick%20Al...d%20history.htm[/url]

I wouldn't be planning to buy one, but are there any recordings with the stagg available online so that I can hear it?

How about Robert Fripp and Tony Levin?

Given the responses here, and some other thinking I've done, I might go for a single high C. My new ebay 6'er has two high G strings, and no C. For £60 I won't complain. I thought it might be an idea to buy a nice set of strings, and Warwick strings of all levels are available in six string packs, it seems. Is it reasonable to save £££ while experimenting by buying single strings. So I end up liking the A string more than the E, so I go with those in the future. I tried looking for a low F# 0.175 string, but it seems hard to find unless I buy a £40 Warwick dark lord four string set, then spend even more money buying D and G strings. (Or keep the ones I've got). On a £60 bass, this might be overkill. Not to mention that I might have to modify the nut. By the A'addario 6 set, does a previous poster mean these ones? [url="http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=3478"]http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=3478[/url] I have been told that nickel wound strings are more mellow than steel strings, and I like mellow. Is this likely to be true?

I would like to try a set of new, quality, strings to see what they are like. Are the Warwick black label strings considered good quality? I'll be buying a six string set, hence the cost is non-trivial. So far my only experience has been using whatever unknown strings came on the second hand basses I've bought. I would like to have a benchmark to compare things from. But I don't want to spend huge amounts for boutique strings.

Not that I claim to know anything in particular, but I like the way that Keith Strickland mixes his guitar with (nowdays session) bass players and keyboard bass.

[quote name='Musky' post='327942' date='Nov 12 2008, 09:06 PM']Nah, that one's a snip. Check out this one [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRUNO-GUITAR-ROYAL-ARTIST-Vintage-1970-With-New-Case_W0QQitemZ370095078885"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRUNO-GUITAR-ROYAL-A...emZ370095078885[/url][/quote] Someone made an offer on that which was declined. I wonder how much the offer was for.

This evening the first thing I did when I got home was to tune it up. The strings were tuned to way crazy notes. At first when I saw that the E string was tuned to a A or summat, I assumed that tuner must not be picking it up properly. But no, it was that far out of tune. After I tuned the bass, the action seems to have lowered. At least, it is much more playable. I have got some scope for lowering action at the bridge, so I'd like to try that. Trying it this morning, the neck did seem quite wide. But this evening after playing it a bit more, it feels quite comfortable. But the top, normally C string, seems to be the wrong gauge. It is the same gauge as the G string, and to tune it to C I need to REALLY tighten it. On HC I'm told that La Bella make a "175" (I don't understand the units) for tuning to low F#. Since I'm in an experimental mood, I'd like to try this. Does anyone know where I can buy one in the UK?

[quote name='BOD2' post='327515' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:48 PM']Unfortunately it's [b]pretty much trial and error[/b] to get what you want, although the adjustment available in the bridge gives you a fair amount of leeway.[/quote] This illustrates one advantage of having a cheap bass to work on! The [b]error[/b] part is not so scary

Thanks for all the answers. My Shine six string arrived this morning. While I only had a couple of minutes on it before I had to leave, the action is high. Now that I have two basses, one of which was mega cheap, I want to start .... doing things to it. I'm pretty sure I won't get the action down just by adjusting the bridge. A cereal packet? I have two "free swim" tokens removed from cereal packets that I'm p'd off about because I then found the pool wouldn't accept them except at 2am on a Sunday or whatever. So maybe they'll have a use after all. Also, I should have posted this in the repairs/modifications/whatever it's called forum. Apologies.

According to "Ask Gary Willis", you can shim the neck of a bass in order to lower the action. He recommends using a business card folded and trimmed.Is a business card really enough to significantly alter the height of the strings?

[quote name='Buzz' post='327011' date='Nov 11 2008, 06:57 PM']^^ I was going to suggest pretty much any modern pop-punk band, 95% of them are singer-guitarists when they're three piece's.[/quote] Dare I say that Bob Mould's band Sugar did the "modern pop-punk band" sound a decade or more ago, except that Sugar had much better songwriting than I hear from the copyists. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ku23nZkukE&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ku23nZkukE...feature=related[/url] Sugar was a three-piece, and their debut album is full of cracking tunes.

When I first saw this, it was £62. If it had gone for that when I've just paid £60 for a Shine, I would have been slightly .... I dunno, annoyed. Though, I haven't played a fretless yet, and note some of the other comments on this forum about there being intonation difficulties with fretless. Still looks like a bargain to me, and my immediate thought is that someday I may be ready for an instrument such as this, and there might be another similar affordable ebay bargain.

[quote name='stuh84' post='326809' date='Nov 11 2008, 03:00 PM']Looks decent enough, as long as it gives an authentic enough fretless tone, it could be what I'm after, thanks dude [/quote] I noted that on the Warwick forums (where I've posted about twice), that a number of members had fretted Warwicks but fretless Rockbasses. They seemed to think this a very good strategy. Though, that Thomann price looks very, very, high to me. Surely you could buy a fretted Rockbass, even the two pickup Streamer standard, and have it defretted for much, much, less than that price. And look at this fretless 6'er that's just gone for £132 on ebay. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120328421068"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120328421068[/url]

Was this not a bargain? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120328421068"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120328421068[/url]

This is not an answer, just a follow on question inspired by the original question. Don't Squier do a fretless Jazz bass Deluxe V? There are fretless 4 string vintage modified jazz basses, and fretted Deluxe Vs, but I didn't see any fretless Deluxe Vs.

Cancel order and buy this one? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=29789"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=29789[/url]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='326047' date='Nov 10 2008, 04:20 PM']I just bought a Squier Deluxe V for £200. If it worked the other way they'd just send me a bass plus 200 quid. [/quote] I considered buying a Squier Deluxe V after playing a Squier Affinity Jazz Bass V and liking it. But eventually decided I wanted to learn on something cheaper. But, just out of curiosity, could you write a few words about what you think of the Deluxe V?

There seem to be a number of high end basses going on ebay and gaining no bids. They are beautiful looking instruments. One at least I recognise from here. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140279281953"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=140279281953[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=270295199879"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270295199879[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140279142131"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=140279142131[/url]