Count Bassy

Unfortunately I don't have an input jack on any of my basses. All of mine have output jacks. Doh.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='946628' date='Sep 5 2010, 08:26 PM']It's no bother mate. Yes as the wire (or whatever) is invariably forced into making physical contact with the metal spade. It's possible when soldering to join components without them making actual contact instead the solder bridges the gap. This may be ok in the short term but as the solder dries out the joint will fail. It is especially important to make metal to metal contact when you are dealing with audio.[/quote] Solder is a metal alloy and does not 'Dry out'. Solder is also a good conductor so it is not nessecary to have the wire to lug direct contact as long as the solder is properly bonded to both parts. The main purpose of the lug with the hole in is to physically retain the wire while you solder it, thus it is a useful aid to making a good joint, but not essential. A dry joint is where the solder makes mechanical/electrical contact, but is not actually 'bonded' to the surface. The mechanical contact may be an adequate electrical contact when initially done, but sooner or later, especially with vibration or any movement (eg from thermal cycling) the joint moves and it no longer makes contact. However the joint always was dry, from the day it was made.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='964670' date='Sep 22 2010, 05:11 PM']I have a problem with reasonableness where music is concerned. It leads to mediocrity. Give me arrogant passion any day. [/quote] I would hope that passion and reasonableness are not mutually exclusive. Certainly have passion for what you do, but use a little reasonableness/ balance with regard to others (when I say 'you' I mean 'one', but using 'one' all the time sounds a bit posh). Also, is it not possible for someone to be passionate about playing Mustang Sally etc. as you (and I do mean 'you' here) are about jazz and improvisation?

Very cute, but couldn't listen past 20 or so seconds.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='963183' date='Sep 21 2010, 12:12 PM']I can totally understand how some people will refuse to play songs they dont like. Ive no problems with that at all and respect them for it. But i do think that at some point you do have to, especially if you are there to entertain a room full of people. We all slag off songs like MS, BEG etc but i get the impression from my gigs that while we might not like them, 100+ people are dancing to these songs, so who am i to say a song thats obviously popular is crap. I may not like the song for my own reasons but that doeskin mean a song is rubbish. I sometimes get the feeling that certain people think they know best and are better than others, even when their eyes prove otherwise. Do what you feel is right, but dont put others down or belittle them for doing something different is how i feel about music. Just saying. Not aimed at anyone in particular.[/quote] Plus lots (except that I don't slag off songs like Mustang Sally etc.). If only everyone took such a balanced view. PS: never played Mustang Sally in my life, but would given the chance.

Is the head a separate piece of wood on these?

[quote name='JTUK' post='961206' date='Sep 19 2010, 02:33 PM']I'd want to see the band do something with the songs....if they are just going to try and rip the record..and probably do it not so well, I can go and play the record.[/quote] But taking that to the limit you'd never go and see anything live that was available on CD, - not even the original artist.

[quote name='The_D' post='958237' date='Sep 16 2010, 12:54 PM']And there is the point. We hate playing them because they are played to death either on the radio or by other bands. The thing is though, they are over played for a reason. People like what they know and love to sing along.[/quote] + many. Whenever this type of thread comes up I always sense an undercurrent of musical snobbery. Many of these songs have stood the test of time and are still popular with the audiences, so as entertainers we should have no qualms about playing them when appropriate. Instead there is almost an attitude of 'its popular so it can't be any good'. Sure, everyone is entitled to not like some songs, but please let that be based on genuine musical tastes rather than snobbery, or (dare I say it?) envy. How many people here would not like to have written Mustang Sally, All Right Now, or Wishing Well etc. Honestly? I'd happily have written any of them, and I'd be both considerably richer, and proud of having done so! Audiences in pubs up and down the country love to hear thes songs, and it's almost arrogant for us to think that we know better. As it happens my current (covers) band doesn't do any of those mentioned, so I've not got an axe to grind here.

[quote name='Bobby K' post='956593' date='Sep 14 2010, 09:43 PM']Is this the same as the outer mesh stuff you get on coaxial cable? When you say [i]expand it to fit[/i] how do I do that? Could I not just link the two cavities through the hole using a normal bit of insulated wire, soldered to the copper screen on both sides? Sorry for all the questions, we're nearly there now.... :blush:[/quote] Well you could just link the two with a bit of wire, especially if the wires from pickup are themselves screened, which they are on a lot of modern style pickups, However the 'hole' in the screening where the wire goes out is a hole in the screening where noise can get in. If the cables are not screened than you'd still be better off lining the hole/ screening the cables in some way. You might well get away without doing it, but if there's still some noise left after all the work you'll be left wondering if that's where it's coming from!. (Rather like soldering - its easier to get the technique right and make sure that each connection is good as you make rather than throw it together and then have to go over it all again trying to find the one dodgy joint that's causing a problem.) Re the braiding - yes use some braiding out of a good cable ('Woven' rather than wrapped around) - something out of a good microphone cabel etc would be good. After removing the braiding you'll find that it will narrow down as you stretch it, so you can poke it through the hole (depends how big the hole is), and then compress it end to end again to make it expand width ways again, against the sides of the hole. Then splay out the ends and solder to the copper foil. It is fiddly and a lot depends on the length and diameter of th hole. I've also considered using thin walled copper tube (like you get from modelling shops) to pass down the holes, but never actually don this. Please note, however, that I'm pretty pedantic about some of this stuff. You might get away with, or get an acceptable result without going to these measures! Two screened cavities linked by wire will be far better than no screening at all - its the old diminishing returns/Parento thing, i.e. 80% of the improvement will be achieved by 20% of the effort. However my attitude is that if you've got all the electrics out anyway you might as well do the best job you can while you're in there. Good luck with it. Clive

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='956203' date='Sep 14 2010, 04:39 PM']There is no need as it already is a ground wire and carries no actual signal. [/quote] Not totally true as the wire can act as an ariel and conduct noise into the screened cavity! But in practical terms your probably right, after all this wire goes to the bridge and hence to the strings, which act like ariels anyway and I can't think how we'd screen those! However, solder this wire to the copper screening close to where it enters the control cavity, dont take it to the jack socket earth, or the back of a pot etc, as any of this wire inside the cavity has the potential to re-radiate what it has picked up from the strings, which can then get into the signal path.

In industrial applications the current recomended practice is to earth everything* to the 'earth plane' as many places as possible. Reckoned to be far more effective for high frequency noise that you get these days (from dimmers, Telly's, PCs, switch mode power supplies etc). In practical terms this means line your cavities with copper foil, and if possible line the drilled holes between cavities (its tricky). You could pass a bit of braided cable screen through the holes and expand it to fit, and then solder it to the copper screen at both ends if you wanted. Then bring your incoming earth on your jack socket to the copper screen, and take any screened metal parts (eg back of pots) to the copper screen as well, with short bits of wire. As people have said above, you then need to keep your signal common separate from the screen earth, except where you connect onto the jack socket. Ideally you'd keep the screen earth and signal 'earth' separate all the way back to (and inside) the amp, but the ubiquitous use of coax cable for instruments generally prevents this. *Obviously when I say 'everything' I mean everything that isn't part of the signal path or 'live'.

I guess it depends how much you want the gig. Giving an auditionee (?) a bit of prepartion work to do might be the band's way of eliminating those who aren't actually that interested, though that won't catch those who are not that bothered but happen to know the songs already.

I've used them a few times and had excellent service from them.

Oh La La - The Faces Especially if you sing along at the top of your voice.

Only just seen this. Never knew him other than through these pages, but stunned that he has gone. One of the few who here who knew what a melodeon was. Terrible news. RIP.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='939664' date='Aug 29 2010, 10:42 PM']Fair enough. I own a USA G&L and a EBMM. Both kick Fender® butt. How about that? [/quote] I'm not disagreeing with you. As I say I haven't owned an MM or G&L so I can't comment on the relaitive strengths and weaknesses. Just saying that he, or anyone else in a similar situation, would hardly say anything other than 'this is the best'.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='939614' date='Aug 29 2010, 09:30 PM'][url="http://www.gotoguitars.com/"]gotoguitars[/url] As for G&L? Leo said it himself "G&L Guitars are the finest instruments I ever built". Nuff said. [/quote] Not intending to cast any doubts on his integrity, or on the quality of G&L guitars, and I've no experiance to iether agree or disagree with him but, from a purely commercial view point, what else would he say? "These G&Ls are OK, but not as good as Fender or Musicman"? - I suspect not.

[quote name='neilb' post='937471' date='Aug 26 2010, 08:12 PM']Budget approx £1200k[/quote] You should get something quite good for £1200000, or was that a typo?

[quote name='Faithless' post='935836' date='Aug 25 2010, 12:14 PM']That HB thing doesn't look very reliable for me.. But I wanted to share this, haven't spotted this before, maybe it's a new thing from Ibanez?: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_p5210_promethean.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_p5210_promethean.htm[/url] Very much 'TCElectronic', right.. For 739 euros, looks good. Shame, that it doesn't have wheels..[/quote] It's a light weight 2x10, so I wouldn't have thought wheels essential, however I would like to see a handle one side as well, to keep it clear of the floor when carrying. Anyway, when are the P5112 and P5212 coming out?

Two: four string fretted (Used for 20%), five string fretless (80%).

Thanks for all your thoughts so far chaps. I'm not at all set on buying new, in fact, on principal, I was assuming that I'd be buying second hand! I haven't got a specific budget in mind - it's not so much what I can afford, but how much my level of ability/activity justifies. £200 would not be a problem £600 would be too much. It would be so much easier to justify if the band was gigging regularly and earning small amounts of money. The ideas you've suggested gives me something to think about, both performance wise and whow much I'll need to spend, so thanks. Clive

Thanks for all your thoughts chaps. I'm awaiting some info from the supplier, who is actually talking to Bartolini's about it, and will let you all know the outcome. Hopefully I should be sorted in a few weeks. Re the Ibanez Pickup in the GWB35, I can't really judge if it's any good or not, as I have nothing to compare it with - I've always stuck with the stock pickups (and electrics) on my basses until now. Is this the start of a new GAS avenue? In an ideal world I guess I'd upgrade the electrics first and then decide if I want to change the pickup as well, but as I'll be ordering from the States I might as well get it all in one go and save postage. This will also give me the chance to do an A/B comparison on the two pickups and see what the difference is (and report back here). Any have any specific thoughts on putting a 'Neck wound' pickup in the bridge position? Thanks again, Clive

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='912381' date='Aug 2 2010, 12:15 AM']EBS Neoline 212. Best cab ever. Light. 600w. Amazing tweeter. Sounds fantastic. 4ohm. Problem solved![/quote] Thanks for your quick reply. I'm sure that they're great, but just looked them up and 'ouch' - £800 worth of ouch (new), and the aquilar 'equivalent' is £700. They're probably worth every penny, but I don't have that many pennies at the moment.

I recently bought a Marshall DBS7400, but don't yet have proper bass cabs to use with it. I've played it through one of my PA Cabs (15" + 8" + Tweeter) and the sound is montrous, even though its an 8ohm cab and the amp is designed to deliver its 400Watts into 2 ohm. Anyway, I seem to really like the sound of 12" cabs (more than 10s and more than 15s), and have been looking around for something suitable. There was a Marshall 4x12 cab going (7412), but this was montrously heavy (74 KG - almost 11 Stone!) and even then was only 4 ohm so still not getting the max out of the amp. So what I'm ideally looking for is a 2 x12" 4 ohm cab, able to take 200 - 300 watts continuous, with very high peak capability (The DBS 7400 can peak at 4000W into 2 ohm) Then I want another one exactly the same so that I can have one on its own, or 2 stacked to give me a 2 ohm 4x12 4-600 watt continuous rig, according to the requirements on the night. I'm guessing that two 2x12s would be a lot easier to handle than one 4 x12, and would also allow me to phase my expenditure. Also being 2x12's it wouldn't have to be lightweight stuff and hence might be cheaper. Marshall themselves used to do '7212' cab, 400W at 4 ohm, wighing in at 32Kg each, so a couple of these might be ideal, but I've never seen one for sale. Anyone got any suggestions (I haven't got a huge budget) Thanks in advance Clive.

Well, I've been in self imposed exile from you lot since March 4th. I have been lurking though and while occassionally tempted I have managed not to post and thus saved myself an awful lot of time. However, I now have a decision to make and these pages seem the obvious place to pick brains, so I've allowed myself back in for a while. Anyway: I have a GWB35 and am on the point of upgrading the pick up and preamp (I've talked about this before, but now it's going to happen). Probably going for a Bartolini NTBTG 918 preamp, or even the prewired loom for this (HR2.2AP). The logic for this choice, which is not nessecarily sound, is that it's one that Ibanez use in the GWB1005, and if it's good anough for Gary Willis.... Also it's a preamp that allows adjustable overall gain (many don't it seems), so I can match the output to some of my other basses. Probably also going for a Bartolini BC5BC pickup. Again the logic for this is not particularly sound (but I've got to start somewhere), but is basically that Bartolini they make the pickups for the GWB1005 (I know that it's not this pickup), and it's the only one of theirs that will fit my existing route. And so to my specific question. The BC5BC comes in neck and bridge variants. The route on the GWB is pretty well in the classic Jazz bridge pickup, which might suggest using the bridge variant, but I'm guessing that the neck pickup, even in this position would give a bit of a rounder/richer tone. So which do I go for? Anyone got any experience of this particular upgrade?, or any comments in general on my plans? Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Clive