Count Bassy

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1326555831' post='1498800'] It can be done but once you do it you will be faced with another issue, gauge wise, you need to appreciate that the heavier the string the flappier, [/quote] Surely, all other things being equal, the heavier the string string the higher the tension required to achieve the same note?

I have the same dilemma re 4 or 5 strings. I know that a 5 string can do everything that a 4 string can, and I need the B string for some stuff in the current band, and plying it all on 5 strings saves swapping instruments mid set etc etc. BUT I still love my 4 stringers. Perhaps I need to get a better 5 stringg!!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1326283082' post='1494829'] [i]Apropos [/i]of nothing at all, if you search Google Images for "furry strings", and as a direct result of this topic, one of the first things to pop up is Count Bassy's avatar photo, followed fairly quickly by that for Deep Thought. Presumably to be joined shortly by a Dancing Spiderman ... [/quote] Fame at last!

Classically sound proofing comes down to mass (I could have proved this mathematically 35 years ago), but I think techniques have moved on since then, so dampening materials, air gaps etc. all have a part to play. You can get high density plaster board which will help some (mass again), but you can also get double skin plaster board with a 'guey' layer between, which is supposedly very effective., One of the bands I play with practice in the back of a prefab garage which has had the studding and heavy weight Rockwool treatment, and it is very effective. Remember to seal all the gaps however, and around doors. If there's a gap the sound will find it. Then remember to open the doors every now and then to refresh the oxygen supply!

I think some here said in another thread, some time ago, that had Neo not been available then ceramic magnets would have been developed to meet almost the same performance by now anyway. An far as I'm aware the biggest application of Neodymium is in electric servo motors, and with electric cars bound to happen the demand is not going to drop, unless superseded by something else.

I had some problems with Hipshot a few years ago. First it was incredibly slow delivery (it was a catalogue item, but not a stock item), and when it came the screws in the saddles did not line up with the grooves in the base plate. Got resolved eventually: They sent a complete replacement bridge and threw in a custom spacer to raise it for my particular bass. So they did stick with it and resolve it but it was about 4 months between ordering the bridge and having one I could use.

Just remembered that I lent this to a pick player on a few occasions. Would that be why the coating had peeled off?

New set of D'addario Nickel round wounds fitted and the instrument is transformed! Hard to be sure (its me age you know), but I think it sounds better than it ever has. So what exactly is the point of coated strings then? Seems to me that you have an inherently tough string of stainless or nickel, and then decide to cover it with a thin layer of weak 'plastic'. Is it meant to preserve the zing longer or something? (not a sound I like - hence the nickels) The count.

Just found this review and totally agree. MY gigging rig is one of these into an old musicman HD212 ( 1x12" + 6") this is an 8 ohm cab but the volume is still staggering, and this amp could run four of these. And of course you've got the 4000 watt peak power (most 400 watt amps would peak at 800 watts) One correction if I may: it is not class D amp (ie switching mode). What it does is have two power supplies. Normally one power supply does all the work, but if it detects a big peak it switches in the auxiliary power supply briefly. Hence its 10:1 Peak to RMS ratio. I believe this is called a class H. Superb bit of kit though!

Started playing melodeon (Button accordion) when I was about 20 , then took up Anglo concertina as well when I could afford one. Only seriously started bass about 5 years ago (and still crap). Oh - and I took (and passed) trumpet grade 3 when I was about 47, but have barely picked it up since.

Contrary to all the negative comments this is something that I've actively considered myself (but not done yet due to time limitations). My only caveat would be that I'd probably start with a a £150 bass rather than a an £800 one (for the first one at least). As per the OP, subject to detailed measurement, my idea would be to buy a 4 string headless 34" and lop off one or two frets, retaining the 1st/2nd fret as the zero fret of the new configuration. I would then re-string it as a narrow spacing 5 string (obviously the bridge and string anchor would need changing). However having played fanned fret recently I have modified the idea to start with a 34" fretless and convert it to a fan fretted one with a 34" B and a 32 ish G string, using individual bridge tuners like the status. The only problem with this idea is that I'd end up with several hundreds of pounds of new hardware strapped to cheap bits of wood. Problems with truss rods etc can be overcome. Pickups can are only ever at a sweet spot for a one particular fret position anyway, so unless you absolutely hate the sound of your bass when fretting at the second fret this will not be problem. At the end of the day it's engineering, not some sort of voodoo black art, despite what people would have you believe. Give it a go and let us know how it goes. The count

This just illustrates that Bass players , including Jaco Pastorious, are pretty much a minority interest in the wider world. I'd never heard of Jaco Pastorious until I discovered this site (and I'm still not a fan).

The strings on my Ibanez SR505, which are the ones fitted when I bought it (second hand), have gone furry! I assume that they were coated strings and that this is the coating dying and coming off. The strings also seem to have gone very dull sounding, with poor sustain, which I assume is related to this. Is there anything I can do to make these playable again? Is there a way to get the remaining coating off and would this help anyway? Do I just need to fit new (non coated) strings? The Count

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1325465942' post='1483487'] +1, and that's another reason why even rating amps with watts is of dubious value. They should be rated by voltage swing, just as light bulbs should be rated by lumens, which completely removes the fudge factor. But that's very much diametrically opposed to the goals of marketing. [/quote] And current capacity. A 100v voltage swing is no good if it can only deliver 0.1 amps! But then if you talk voltage swing and amps you're quickly heading back towards watts, or VA at least, and then are we talking peak voltage swing or RMS voltage swing, and so on, and round we go again!!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1325556966' post='1484441'] Personally, I don't think a 112 is enough for anything but quiet practices myself... and they wouldn't work for me, so I am always prepared to run two. since you don't drive.... man-handling 2 x 112's doesn't seems a good idea to me so you may be forced to go 212. You may be lucky in that your situation might work with a 112 and it would be a cheaper entry with the choice to add another later. If you don't gig atm..then this route makes sense. 2 12's are better but your options of moving them don't make this easy [/quote] I know someone who has a Vanderkley 1 x 12, with a smallish Markbass amp, and the sound and volume is stunning, easily enough for a pub gig I would have thought. I'd be after the same rig myself if I thought my playing warranted it (The speaker is £575). I notice that the Bass direct site recommends two of these for 'maximum' efficiency, but from what I've heard one is well loud enough for most of the gigs that I'd be interested in. Clive EDITED TO ADD: I see that they also do a 1 x12 600W cabinet, but that's £700. I guess that small and light can do loud, - if you can afford it.

Stand by me

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1325438100' post='1483145'] Whichever way you look at it Dingwall make great basses and if you want a fanned fret p bass then there's not much out there so [/quote] Exactly what I was going to say! I actually spent about 90minutes jamming on a Dingwall last night and have got to say that the fanned frets felt natural very quickly, especially at the head end. Got slightly confusing at the dusty end where the amount of 'fan' actually gets more than the fret spacing, but still got the hang of it by the end. The other thing I noticed is that although the G string is 34" the stretch at the dusty end seems easier than with parallel frets. Almost felt like a 32", which is what I normally play. What I really want to try is a fanned fret 5 string where the G string is 32"! Do Dingwall or anyone do such a thing?

I have a Westone Quantum (32" headless) with the 'Magnflux' pick ups. Staggering output level - equal to my active basses, and an excellent range of tones from two pick-ups, two volumes and a shared tone control. Probably the favourite tone of all my basses.

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1325179417' post='1480673'] That amp has been bridged to run at full tilt.... the dip switches relate to each input and nothing to do with the output stage [/quote] That's not how I would read it. IMHO it looks like they've just linked the two inputs together so that its working as two separate channels from the same signal (i.e. two channels mono). As someone has already said, they haven't read the manual (possibly didn't have one) as there are switches specifically to do that. Not quite sure what the 'bridge' switches do here, unless they simply invert one input signal against the other so that the outputs are anti-phase to get the full voltage swing for bridge mode. If in doubt RTFM.

32" scale 5 string with 16mm spacing, but cheaper that the Status Mark King 5 string with the bendwell. (Headless is not compulsory, but not a problem either). I could then sell off most of my current basses. Does anyone out there make a fan fretted 5 string where the G string is 32" (and the narrow string spacing)?

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1324664435' post='1476897'] Were you able to try your head with another cab? [/quote] Yes, I tried through my old Musicman Audiophile HD212 (8 ohm, 600W, 2 x12" + 6"), and it sounded pretty sh*tty and distorted (This cab normally sound beautiful with my DBS 7400). To be honest. it was probably that test that made my mind up that it had to go back.

So does this men that the existing head is actually only 300 Watts, and in the 5110 combo it's only putting out 150 Watts? If so that would go some way to explaining why I was a bit disappointed with the volume I got from mine, although my main complaint was the horrible clicking noise it made when the volume was turned beyond 1/3, and the fact that it wasn't that loud at that point. Alternatively I guess that may have realised that the speaker in the combo can't take 250 watts without making the above mentioned clicking, or of course it could be that they are using a different power module so that they can drop the price. For anyone who was following my other thread on this, mine has now gone back to 'Rockem Music' to go back to the distributor for assessment /fixing. I should hear something in the New Year. I've told Rockem that if it is faulty and it comes back fixed then I'll be happy, but if it's not faulty and this is just how it is then I'll be wanting my money back (and I'll pay the return courier).

[quote name='JakeFoordBass' timestamp='1324252679' post='1472347'] Cool, out of interest what bass did you use them on? [/quote] That was on a Fender Urge Mk1 (32" scale).

I've tried D'addario ground wounds as I was tired of the zing and twang of the round wounds. Initially I really liked them, but after a few months went back to round wound. Now about a year later I'm thinking of going back to them again. The Daddario one's do feel weird at first. Quite rough on the fingers, (left and right hands) - almost like the grinding process leaves lots of little burs. That seems to go after a week or so, but whether that's them actually changing or just me getting used to them I don't know.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1324051884' post='1470338'] Cool... that's good to know. All I would add is.. if I set the input gain to the clipping threshold, and the master to 10 o'clock, it would be LOUD...! Is yours loud, too? [/quote] Well, it's slightly louder than my Marshall B65 combo (65 watts) at the point where it becomes unusable due to the 'clicking'. I know that perceived volume as a function of watts depends on many factors, but all the same I would have expected significantly more volume from 250 watts (its stand alone/8 ohm rating) than from 65 Watts, and at over £500 I would expect it to deliver. From memory I suspect that a Roland Cube100/120 would be significantly louder. I really hope that it is faulty and that it comes back delivering the promise as I fundamentally like the unit, and it is compact. If this one isn't faulty and this is just how they are then this isn't the right combo for me and (IMHO) its not worth £515. I'll let you all know what transpires, though I guess that will now be in the New Year. Thanks for your interest folks. The Count.