Count Bassy

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1355133478' post='1894352'] I have a closest of marlowdk s jazz bass as my wallpaper, and I often bring my bass in (in a gig bag) when I have a lunchtime lesson. So they probably know. One did say "have you brought in a guitar?" Answer "no, it's a bass" [/quote] Answer should be "Yes, it's a bass guitar".

[quote name='Green Alsatian' timestamp='1354538774' post='1887058'] Loctite 242 is ideal for this - it doesn't lock it up so tight as to be immovable, but certainly stops the grub screws from working loose. [/quote] I was just going to say to be careful which thread locking compound you go for. They come in different grades. For example "stud lock" is designed to stop a stud coming out even when you deliberately undo a "thread-locked" nut from it. You probably wouldn't want "stud lock on your bridge adjustments. The one you describe would seem ideal.

Beck is obviously a brilliant guitarist, and when he plays 'Rock' I love him. Unfortunately a lot of what I've seen him do lately (only on the telly, and not that much then) seems to be crappy 'faffing around' 'Somewhere over the rainbow', anyone?), which does nothing for me.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1353945623' post='1880057'] I agree with you---but I was just pointing out that its not fair (or just plain wrong) for us bassists to suggest that a guitarist should never turn up to a gig with a 100W stack because a "mic'd up 15W combo is more than enough...". I'd have no issue the guitarist in my band wanted to use two 100W stacks, so long as he kept the volume at a sensible level! Just to reiterate: There is no such thing as inappropriate [i]power, [/i]only inappropriate[i] volume.[/i] [/quote] Or to sum up .... It's not how big it is - it's what you do with it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1353367240' post='1874407'] The late Boz Burrell, Bad Company. Many stunning songs. [/quote] hear hear!

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1352972750' post='1869878'] Eh?, different instrument, the same as a Strat is a different instrument to a Telecaster. The point was, and as examples, the Stratocaster you buy today, is the exact same format and construction as it was in '54, and still the best selling guitar, how many brands can say that they are unchanged since their first production model?, the same can be said for the telecaster, jazz bass, precision, and even most of the early amps. Your reference to the stingray?, obviously he couldnt go and make another precision after he left, as that was a Fender product, so he had to do a variation on a theme, take the pickguard of a stingray, put in split coil bucker and a precision pickguard, and its almost identical, including body and neck shape. He experimented with electics, circuits, and pickups because he was an inventor, thats what they do. But the instruments he made in the 50's are still made today, and are still the best selling, and instrument of choice of the vast majority of players, both guitarists and bass. That was the point, and its a fact, not my opinion. [/quote] Yeah I know, I was just sort of making the point that "perfect" is an absolute, and has to taken in context. One man's perfect can be another man's useless. I play a five string at the moment, so the original P bass, Jazz or Stingray would be perfect for me, however good they might be. Perhaps I should have sprinkled some smilies around.

[quote name='thinman' timestamp='1352926959' post='1869543'] These were fairly new Neutriks - they certainly didn't come with ferrules. [/quote] Actually, thinking about it, you're right. The newer ones have a sort of leaf inside the holes, so the screw does not make direct contact with the strand of wire.

Be careful with the specs. All par cans of the same physical dimension (even with the same LED count) are not equal. Even the power consumption is not necessarily a good indicator since the efficiency varies widely (but is probably better than most). You really need to compare the light output in terms of lumens, assuming that this is available and that the manufacturer hasn't lied. Also take account of the beam angle. Do you want floods or spots? For the same power a spot will give higher brightness, but over a smaller area obviously. At the very best current LEDs are 10 times the efficiency of a filament bulb,so a 16 watt LED unit like you mention will, at best, be like a 160 watt conventional bulb in total output, although that output will be more concentrated.

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1352929147' post='1869577'] Like most things Leo was involved in, he got it right first time, if it ain't broke...... [/quote] If that were the case then surely the jazz and the stingray need never have existed.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1352894178' post='1868874'] Some people on here just like to moan and think they are superior to others etc. It gets boring after a while we we are all used to it. [/quote] Agreed. One of the few negatives about BC.

Excellent song - still being played after almost 50 years. Ignore the musical snobbery you find here - play it, see the punters' eyes light up, and enjoy the moment. Wish I'd written it.

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1352819296' post='1867810'] If you're struggling and want to keep the exact bass part then I'm sure there's someone on YT who's nailed it note for note. Failing that,[b] do your own thing![/b] It's a great bass line, but the solo is anything and everything between E, D and A. [/quote] This. - just keep the groove going

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1352724270' post='1866494'] Bring back the Old Grey Whistle Test! [/quote] Definitely this.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1352732052' post='1866642'] I love the ritual of vinyl---and the larger artwork etc---but I don't try and kid myself that it sounds "better" because it doesn't. Some genres that I like (reggae, dub, jazz) sound good on vinyl but I think thats because the analogue recording and scratches/pops etc add something to the atmosphere, not because it makes it sounds "better". Yes a lot of modern music is horribly compressed but thats a choice made by the producer, not a limitation of the digital format. Properly recorded, well mixed music sounds amazing on digital. [/quote] +1 Pretty well exactly what I was going to say. + the fact that however good vinyl is/was it starts to deteriorate from the first time you play it. CDs are not indestructible as once claimed, but relative to vinyl there get pretty close to it (and that's speaking as one who used to take incredible care of vinyl). Also CD is pretty much limited to the music - a 12" vinyl 'Album' was far more than that

[quote name='thinman' timestamp='1351938095' post='1857031'] Agree - I prefer speakons but it's worth periodically opening them and checking that the screws remain tight - I've had some of mine loosen up as the conductors relax away from the screw with time and vibration. [/quote] And if fitting them yourself make sure that you use the copper ferrule that is supplied with the plug.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1352144289' post='1859373'] First I must repeat I haven't heard the difference. That said, on a bass I imagine it's hardly for the open B-string, but for strings fretted at the first few frets. The higher the nut, the more tension you create in the string when fretting close to the nut, and the tone frequency goes up. As a result, for perfec intonation, you'd need most compensation on the thinnest string, and least on the thickest. I also seem to remember thinner strings are more prone to this effect in themselves, but please correct me if I'm wrong. If memory serves the theoretical picture is troubled somewhat by string stiffness depending on construction and thickness, in such a way that some strings would not reverberate in their entire length. I think they do not reduce the compensation of nuts for those aspects, and why should they. It'd only interest geeks, and for no practical reason at all, I believe. best, bert [/quote] I played around with a temporary compensated nut, basically being a bit of bent wire slid under the strings thus acting as an angled zero fret. Got to say that the overall effect was impressive. Set up the nut first, based on intonation over the first few frets, then set up the bridge intonation based on the normal harmonic/12th fret thing. - Intonation all up the neck was notably improved. Tried it on a different bass and it had less effect, though still some (perhaps the nut was cut lower?) Didn't proceed with it as a permanent thing because I didn't fancy making permanent mods to the bass, and ideally it would need to be adjustable for different strings/gauges etc. - but as a principle then it seems great.

Just to try and take the view of the other band members: If I were in a band and someone said "we need another set - what do we fancy doing?" , then fine. If someone said "We need another set and here are the 12 we're going to do" my gut reaction would be 'Who the f*** does he think he is'? Sounds like you wanted different things to the rest of the band. None of you are wrong, but they should have said clearly if that's not what they wanted to do. They may not have been lying as such, just not able to fit in what they thought they could.

[color=#A4A4A4][size=3]Posted 03 November 2012 - 02:55 PM[/size][/color] [color=#282828][size=3][b][url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1852236"][/url]Count Bassy, on 29 October 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:[/b][/size] [size=3]or a compensated nut![/size] No, [i]you[/i] are! [/color] [color=#282828]Damn - I've been rumbled.[/color]

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1351684582' post='1854090'] A guitarist I played with many years ago always tuned down a semi-tone and then capoed the first fret as standard. He reckoned it gave better intonation up the neck and avoided the need for subtle retuning if he re-capoed further up. Steve [/quote] It probably would help with intonation, effectively being a zero fret, so you don't have that sharpening when going from open string to the first fret.

I would change everything to Speakon if it was me. Far more robust connections, and almost impossible to touch or short out the connections accidentally (and speaker voltages can be enough to make you jump a bit). Jacks originated (AFIK) as telecoms connectors and were never rally designed for speaker type currents. Speakons are. You can get speakons which also take a jack connector if you want to keep your options open.

[color=#A4A4A4][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3] Posted Today, 06:37 PM[/size][/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=4] [size=3][b] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1852234"][/url]Count Bassy, on 29 October 2012 - 04:54 PM, said:[/b][/size][size=3] There's a non-sequitur here. There are bands that play the original lines and arrangements but are still crap, and there are brilliant bands that 'do their own thing'. The two classifactions, i.e. Crap/Good and Original/Non-original, are not intrinsically linked.[/size][/size][/font][/color] [quote name='witterth' timestamp='1351535854' post='1852341'] no there isnt, and no there are not. there are however just good bands out there [/quote] Well you obviously disagree with me. That's OK - you're perfectly entitled to be wrong. That's a joke by the way ! Perhaps we've just seen different bands.

With reference to another thread: As far as I can see it's a cover version and they haven't even bothered to learn the original lines very well. - a bunch of 'can't be arsed' lazy toe rags hiding behind the pretence of 'doing it their own way'. Disgusting I call it.

[quote name='andyjingram' timestamp='1351516079' post='1851990'] Measuring scale length as 'nut to 12 fret x 2' is for the simple reason that the saddles are moveable. Any bass with it's intonation set correctly will have each saddle a different distance from the nut. A bass with very high action might have them much further from the nut than one with very low action, or the bass may just not be intonated properly. Bottom line, string lengths for a given scale will not always be the same- the distance of nut to 12th fret ([b]unless you have some [i]serious[/i] bass problems[/b]) will be the same on any bass of a given scale. [/quote] or a compensated nut!

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1351527564' post='1852209'] Pah! You don't believe that for a second. You're not trying to tell me you haven't heard a band murdering a song because they're doing in their own way and not wanted to clout them with a nearby piece of furniture for being crap. If you are, you've gone down in my estimation [/quote] There's a non-sequitur here. There are bands that play the original lines and arrangements but are still crap, and there are brilliant bands that 'do their own thing'. The two classifactions, i.e. Crap/Good and Original/Non-original, are not intrinsically linked.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1351329825' post='1850095'] I love the Dingwall multi scale, 34 to 36.25, all in four strings! No problems changing mid-gig to a normal 34", either. [/quote] I wish Dingwall would do, say, a 32 - 34" ish five string.