leschirons

You could buy a set of 5 strings and use the lower 4 but you'd have to file out the nut so maybe a cheapy fiver would be the answer. Must be loads on here for sale, or ebay.

Used to use Hi-beams but they are a bit restrictive due to price. They last and stay pretty bright but it's still all down to cleaning right after playing and not leaving your bass out of the case at home or in the studio. You can kill a set of strings by leaving the bass out for a month even if you don't play it. I now use Elites on the 4 (good value for money IMO) and exposed core F bass on the 5.

Any £12 metronome comes with an ear piece "out" nowadays. Just plug your iPod phones into it. A drummer I knew way back recorded me some drum grooves for me to practice to. He said he'd given it a "live" feel. Hmm, thin line between "live feel" and out of f***ing time.

Hi Dave, Thanks for the info earlier. Took out the two power tubes and turned it on after fitting another new 1.5 fuse. Lights up and, stays lit up after turning standby to play position. Thanks again, hopefully, it will be a pair of tubes. Regards, Keith

Makes you wonder if Foderas would be the price they are if they did not have some of the best names in bassplaying endorsing them. Now, there's two sides to every coin so.... If you saw a Fodera in a shop window having never seen or heard one before, would you rush in to try it out? There was a time in all of our bassplaying lives when none of us had ever seen one in the flesh or heard one. What probably draws us into looking at them in the first place is hearing, seeing, or reading that someone like the big Vic or Anthony Jackson uses one. It sounds great, 50% because of what it is, and 50% because of how good the player is. You're all probably thinking at this point that if those artists use them, then they must be great. True, however, they don't pay for them and the builders at Fodera are building it to their exact spec. Therfore, it's perfect for that player. Buying a Vic Wootten Ying Tong Yiddle I Po is always going to be a compromise of some sort if it wasn't built for you, to your spec. I recently bought a BN5. A fabulous bass that I'd always wanted. It's superb but it wasn't perfect. I don't mean the construction, quality or sound, the quality is second to none. I mean the feel. No way could I afford a personal build. I mailed George Furlanetto and asked if it would void my warranty if I took the back of the neck down by 1mm. He being the guy he is, mailed back with instructions on what, and what not to do the achieve what I wanted without a warranty problem and understood why I wanted to do this. So, I did, and now it's perfect for me. Bottom Fodera line is, if you love it and have the money, then it's worth it. To you.

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='447154' date='Mar 27 2009, 01:43 PM']I know this is Dave's place to reply, but... Is it possible that the detached speaker cable shorted and then blew the fuse and is it the mains fuse or the HT fuse? I had a short in my Laney LC30 which blew the mains fuse, which I subsequently replaced with a quick-blow fuse - which blew, as did the next, and the next and the next. Turns out it needed a slow blow fuse, presumably because there is some kind of surge when you turn the power on and I would assume that slow blow fuses are used in most amps. Actually, just checked the mains fuse in my Minimat and that has a 'T' (presumably for [b]T[/b]ime-delay) fuse fitted. I daresay my Mesa is exactly the same. Check the replacement fuse in your Deville and see if it's T marked.[/quote] Thanks for the advice, I'll check it tomorrow morning. (Too late now as I just got in from a gig) Thanks again, Keith

[quote name='DHA' post='447631' date='Mar 27 2009, 08:23 PM']If the speaker wire was shorted out then it will not be good news I am sorry to say. Try taking the output valves out and then see if it blows the fuse when powered up. If it does not then it might just be the valves that are dead, if it does then I expect the output transformer is toast. Good luck Dave[/quote] Thanks for the advice. I'll try that first thing tomorrow morning. I only assumed that the speaker wires had toched the chassis as the little mounting board had become detached. I tried another fuse today and that blew immediately the standby was turned off. All the valves did appear to light up and glow although one power tube was noticably brighter at the bottom end. I'll give your test a go in the morning. I assume if the output transformer has gone it's ahefty bill coming my way. Thanks for all your help. Keith

Hi, I have a Fender 60 watt 2x12 Blues Deville in my studio that I let our guitarist use for rehersals. Last week, he forgot to turn it off and I discovered this 3 days later. (Standby was also off, ie, amp would have produced sound) Now, it fires up on the power switch but when the standby is turned off, ie, ready to play, it blows the 2.5 fuse. There was no smell of burning but I did notice that the speaker connection plate on one driver was floating and had become detatched. If the speaker wires (copper ones to the coil) had inadvertedly touch the chassis of the speaker, could this be tripping it out? or, is it a repair shop job? Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Top guy, very helpfull and patient. Great deal. Would deal again if ever I find myself 600 miles west of here.

Having had 4 proper Jazz basses now (the current one is a luthier built custom shop) I have always had the same problem but usually only between the 3rd and 7th frets on the G string. This is now recognised as a failing of the Jazz bass. My current one has Sadowsky Pick-ups and it's still the same. I use a Markbass 103H 3x10 combo and no amount of EQing will sort the problem without a major compromise of the rest of the tone. I think it's something you have to live with as it appears to be the bass construction and not your pre-amp or amp. I know of friends who have changed necks with no difference although, I had read a review on the Mark King Jazz (which didn't last too long) that on that model, the problem did not exist. The only time I've owned a jazz type bass that did not have the problem was when I had a Fender Roscoe Beck V as they have a pair of Graphite rods running through so, maybe, try out a RB 4 string. Best of luck.

Just sold my Roscoe Beck V a few months ago and if I could have afforded to keep it, I would have. Mine was a 97 in Red and played like a dream however, it sadly had to go to fund another bass. As mentioned before, the tonal variety is huge. Despite being passive, it could handle any genre of music. Marcus slap to Bernard Edwards and everything in between. Funnily enough, the only sound I hated on that bass was when I heard Roscoe Beck live, twice. But, that is personal preference. I suppose, any bass that is capable of getting every great sound is also capable of getting loads of crap ones as well. Just goes to show that it does it all. Superbly balanced and a really easy neck for a five so the four must be sh*t hot quicker. Apart from the pickup switching, you also get the mid cut option with a pull out knob. It's possible to get the action down to Rizla dimensions and once in tune, it never needed correcting if kept in the hard case. Really stable and great build quality. Didn't even seem to get affected by temperature change either. I would guess, if you are a Jazz bass type of guy, you could quite easliy find yourself never picking up another bass. You do need to wind the preamp gain up a tad but it remains noisless and was great for recording DI'd

My two current gigging basses are a Korean Aria passive 6 string (£140 Ebay) and an F Bass BN5 (Lots more from a long way away) Labels are not the issue. It's what you enjoy playing and if I can get it for £140, I will. I have a luthier built Jazz also. Lots of dosh but can't be arsed with it.

Owned 2 Status basses, a 4 and a 6er, both headed. Usual Hyperactive electronics. I was in a function band at the time and managed to cover everything from Chic to Deep Purple with them. Great basses, great build quality and not just a slapper's delight (although they do excell at that if you want. If you love the weight of your Jack, try to find an old headed energy (not the energy artiste) Cheap as chips for what they are and weigh nothing.

I would go for a head that takes 2 cabs and delivers full power into 4 ohms simply down to the reason that 8 ohm cabs are plentyfull and, with more choice, you get cheaper prices. I used to use my Eden 500 head bridged with one 4x10 8ohm cab to achieve full power but most amps don't have that option. My only other alternative would have been to buy two 4 ohm cabs and that would have cost a fortune.

There was no mute on the front of my Eden WT500. I just used to connect the Tuner out to the "In on the tuner and that was it. Only problem is, most tuners, if they are battery powered, will be switched on when the jack is inserted even if the tuner is in the off position so you could drain batteries if you leave it connected for a whole gig. The tuner out on the Edens works great for putting another signal to a second rig for a bi-amp set-up. I used to take the signal to a second Eden (CXC300 2x12) to get the desired bottom end sound and then use the main rig (4x10s) for the middle and top end.

I bought a secondhand Zoom 507B (or something like that) for about £15 off Ebay. That has loads of synth patches on it. I managed to find one that captured the Ghostbusters sound pretty well.

Just bought a secondhand MAG 400 off another BCer and to be honest, it sounds great and it feels solid and well made.

I think it's an ampere charging meter from a 1954 Austin Healey

I understand the plan at Markbass was to actually make an amp that gives you the sound of your bass when all controls are neutral. I don't touch mine, just the VPF. Any other tweeks are on the bass. (And I can lift it, heaven)

A mate of mine has the 100 watt 1 x 15 version of that and it weighs a f***ing ton. Pick it up in the shop before you pay for it. Sounds great though. May be worth checking out the lightweight Genz Benz stuff. Bass Direct had some really good deals on those and then just pick up a 2x10 or a 1x15.