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Obrienp

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Everything posted by Obrienp

  1. Obrienp
    Just flicking through the Bass Direct website and they have a used Mensinger Cazpar 4p 30” with twin Delano SBCs for £799. Beautiful looking with an olive wood top and what looks like a maple fretboard, although the description says Ebony. That sounds quite a good price to me but others may know otherwise. Fortunately, I don’t need it and can’t afford it…. Really, I don’t need it and can’t afford it. Might be of interest to somebody on here though (I have no connection to Bass Direct).
  2. Obrienp
    @Smanthbelated happy birthday! 🎉🎂🥂 Let us know how you find the TMB35 when you get it.
  3. Obrienp
    Perhaps it’s because that is what sells. It takes a lot to beat a precision pickup set for all round versatility. There are some notable exceptions though: Ibanez EHB1000s has Bart soap bars, Sterling Stingray SS and Vox Starstream H have MM humbuckers, various Gibson shorties and Epiphone copies have humbuckers, Nordstrand Acinonyx has single coils but they are very different from your P or J single coils, even the Gretsch G2220 pickups are quite different, then you have the Hofner (and copies) with humbuckers. Those are just the reasonably priced ones. If you go up market, you have the likes of Mensinger and Mullarky who have soap bar and humbucker options, not to mention EBMM. Actually, now I list them, there are quite a few. I forgot Chowny!
  4. Obrienp
    Yes, I can’t even pretend that B and D are close together on the keyboard! Old age I am afraid. Weight wise: it seems both peoples’ perception and actual weight varies. I would have thought that the bodies are knocked out cookie cutter style but perhaps the wood blanks vary in density. Might be worth trying a few. Definitely worth putting on the short list.
  5. Obrienp
    @SmanthHi S’manth. I had the TMB35. It is a really nice bass for the money but it does have a pretty chunky neck, which doesn’t suit everybody and my example (at least) was quite heavy for a shorty. It was also quite noisy out of the box but a bit of copper tape shielding sorted that out pretty easily. On the plus side the stock precision pickup was OK (the bridge Jazz was a bit weak) and the B string was useable right down to open B. Just corrected typos!
  6. Obrienp
    Oh, well. Maybe I have been lucky with my 34” scale basses then. Three Fenders and three Ibanez all very well balanced.
  7. Obrienp
    @KateWantsToPlayBassI agree with everything previous contributors have said but I am wondering about the problem of neck dive with short scale basses. If your nephew has a leg brace, I guess he is going to be sitting to play a lot of the time. Neck dive can make some shorties awkward to play when sitting. A full size bass tends to balance pretty well when played sitting down. I can’t remember having a full scale bass that neck dived (somebody will prove me wrong).
  8. Obrienp
    Not wishing to hijack the thread but I fitted the Warman with the 3 way switch and Alpha pots. It all worked well and is a really good, fairly cheap mod. I am sure it is not up to Bartolini standards though but it certainly gave the Jaguar a few more tone variations. In the meantime I had given the original Squier pickup to my local luthier to see if he could convert it to four leads, as I liked the tone. It turned out to be quite a task because the manufacturer had used a lot of resin haphazardly, without actually potting it, which probably explains why it was so noisy. Anyway, he managed to do it and then potted it with wax, which has made it very quiet. Unfortunately, he lost the piece of paper he had written the colour assignment on, so I had to do quite a lot of experimenting to wire up the three way switch. It turned out to require a completely different wiring to the Warman, including which pins on the switch to connect with a shunt. Anyway, I finally succeeded and it sounds pretty good. It is massive in serial mode (Squier standard) but the single neck coil sounds really good, like a hot Jazz with that single coil clarity. Parallel mode gives a good mid-scoop with a fair amount of punch. This is what the control plate looks like with the mod:
  9. Obrienp
    The control route in these is tiny. I couldn’t fit full size pots into it when I rewired it, so you would have to enlarge it to use the full length of a bigger plate.
  10. Obrienp
    The Boss WL-20 and 50 automatically seek the best of 14 channels. I have never had a clash happen with the WL-20. The WL-50 receiver will power other pedals as well when you are using the power adapter (it can also run on batteries). They claim the rechargeable batteries in the dongles will last 12 hours. I have certainly got over 6 hours continuous use out of my WL-20 (I’ve never tried to go longer without recharging). Worth considering IMO, if you can’t source the Line 6.
  11. Obrienp
    I like the body contours on that HB. Definitely an improvement on the original Mustang design.
  12. Obrienp
    I think I would go for a stacked vol/tone and a blend but it means a bit more complicated wiring job. Come to think of it, why not two stacked vol/tone like an old Jazz bass.
  13. Obrienp
    I’ve been using the Boss WL-20 for about 4 years. I’ve not had a problem with it, even with three of us using different systems simultaneously and a cheap wireless IEM system. The range is pretty impressive too and the charge seems to last 5-6 hours in constant use. It even seems to be OK with some active basses (but not the Ibanez SRH500). Boss do a version with a pedal board receiver called the WL-50 as well. They are not cheap though.
  14. Obrienp
    Mark bought my Hofner Violin bass. The transaction could not have been easier and it was a real pleasure doing business with him. I would say he is the ideal buyer. I also enjoyed nerding out with him about various basses 😀. Thanks for such a smooth transaction Mark.
  15. Obrienp
    Continued clear out of surplus gear. This is a Gear4Music dual bass gig bag. It takes two standard scale basses e.g. a Jazz and a Precision. Perfect for gigging. Take your main and back-up basses in a single compact and easy to carry bag. The full description, including dimensions can be found here: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Dual-Bass-Guitar-Gig-Bag-by-Gear4music/1II6. The highlights are: 15mm padding, neck retaining straps, two decent sized front pockets and one discreet slip pocket on the back, padded shoulder straps. Condition wise: I think I have used this twice to take basses to gigs but I now play short scale, so it is a bit over-sized for the job (wish they made a short scale equivalent). It has no rips, pulls or compression of the padding that I can see. It is a little dusty but I will give it a hoover before handover/posting. Selling it at half the new price, so grab yourself a bargain. Collection would be preferable but I am sure I have a box large enough to post this at buyer’s expense. Unfortunately, most couriers seem to price on volume rather than weight, so postage may be disproportionate. I can meet up within 50 miles from Fakenham, Norfolk.
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  16. Obrienp
    Thomann sort that, or at least they did when I bought a bass from them in January. I didn’t have anything extra to pay but I did have to be patient.
  17. Obrienp
    If my experience recently is anything to go by, 3-4 working days is optimistic. At least Thomann sorts everything for you. You are not suddenly going to get another bill for customs duty. You need patience ordering from Thomann these days! Deep joy!
  18. Obrienp
    I always say that 🤣. Also try to stick to a one in, one out rule. Succumbing to GAS means that I have to sell something I would rather hold onto and then I regret the sale, get fed up with the bass that replaced it, and start the whole cycle again.
  19. Obrienp
    Nice one. I like an umptee-bumpty in the set😀.
  20. Obrienp
    Yeah, that is the problem but that Brice looks a lot of bass for £300!
  21. Obrienp
    Bass Direct have a 32” Mensinger Cazpar 6 string. I am sure you can order a 30” version on the Public Peace website, or via BD.
  22. Obrienp
    Replied 👍
  23. Obrienp
    Not as far as I am aware. The diameter of the bolts holding the strap buttons on is much larger than standard strap button screws and they also secure the outer ABS moulding to the inner (wooden) body. I think @scrumpymikehas come up with a way of fitting standard locking buttons using a metal extension. I just use those rubber washer strap locks: a bit awkward to fit but they do the job. The location of the original buttons may look odd but they work well and balance the bass nicely.
  24. Obrienp
    Just looked at the Vox UK website to check out a claim made by somebody selling a Vox Starstream bass on a FB forum. He said they were no longer available and rare as hens teeth. It turns out that all 4 models are available on the Vox website and furthermore they have a sale price of £299 on both the passive versions, which seems like reasonable value to me. The active versions are both £799, which is a different proposition but still reasonable given the quality of the hardware. They have also got the teardrop basses greatly reduced but still pretty expensive IMO for such a niche product. Anyway, no vested interest, apart from owning a passive 1H, which I reckon is a pretty good bass in the ‘Ray mould. The sale price smarts a bit though!
  25. Obrienp
    Played our third 3 hour gig this year in a pub in Dereham yesterday, with the blues band I play in. They had a remembrance event and lunch for the Royal East Anglian regiment beforehand, so I wasn’t sure how we would be received but it turned out with enthusiasm. We also had enough of a following locally to get people to turn out on their Sunday, which was gratifying. I noticed a few members of other local blues bands checking us out. For this one we had the benefit of a sound man, so it sounded great out front. The singer/guitarist has recently got himself a wireless system and has taken to walking around in the audience, which seems to go down well. As we all have wireless, we are thinking of doing a 3 man conga at future gigs. All in all a good gig.
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