henry norton

[quote name='Daquifsta' post='1098640' date='Jan 22 2011, 02:35 PM']Is it likely that there will be chrome plating underneath the gold plating then? (I don't know the process: I've never gold plated anything myself) Because I would have thought it would just be the base metal under the gold, probably brass or something?[/quote] Yes most all gold plate has to be gold on top of chrome because the gold is soooooo thin it needs a good, smooth, hard surface to sit on. That's the reason gold hardware costs more - it's not the price of the gold so much as the extra process the hardware has to go through, basically chrome plated then plated with gold on top. The amount of gold on gold plated hardware is absolutely miniscule.

I would pay a couple of hundred quid over and above to get an amp made with better quality components by people paid a living wage in a democratic country - that's asides from the environmental issues of having heavy, delicate shipped half way across the world. Most markets are flooded with Chinese made stuff and it's heartening to see a company like Ashdown bringing it back home. Good on 'em and I hope we see more of it.

Yeah a good hard polish with the Brasso will bring up the chrome plate underneath the gold a real treat. You might find a better price for Hipshot hardware on Ebay.com (as opposed to the .co.uk version - it's dependant on exchange rates, post and stuff like that but in my experience it usually worked out cheaper.

[quote name='mart' post='1095356' date='Jan 19 2011, 05:50 PM']Why is it so important to have both volumes up when you're in series?[/quote] Because having the pickups wired in series is basically running the output of one pickup through the other one, whereas parallel runs them both individually. If you turn down one pickup in paralell you're still listening to the other one but if you turn down one of the pickups in series - you can end up with no sound at all!

+1 on all the above - I was assuming you had a bog standard mono power stage solid state amp - running one speaker with two sides of a stereo amp (effectively two seperate amps) is asking for trouble. Either way, at the very least you'll gain nothing and at worst you'll gain a wrecked amp.

[quote name='Old_Ben' post='1094920' date='Jan 19 2011, 12:10 PM']As in the topic description I was wondering that if I plugged my amp into my cab using both the connections as though splitting the amp into 2 cabs but plugging it into one then would it give me more wattage going into the speaker, and if so would it explode into oblivion? Thanks Ben[/quote] No, it wouldn't make any difference. All you're doing is giving the signal (very very) slightly less resistance through the cable, which wouldn't make much difference unless your speaker cables were a mile long and as wide as a human hair. When it reaches the speaker it'll still have the same nominal resistance as with one cable. Nice try

What a cool build thread. Considering the broken truss rod and the body, hardware, pickups etc. left over from the donor bass I'm just wondering whether you looked into having an entire replica made? Considering most luthiers don't bat an eyelid when asked for a carbon copy of a Precision or Jazz I would have thought you'd have found one or two who would have copied a Rick. By the way, if your donor truss rod is the same as a real Rick it should be fairly simple to get a new one in.

At last, a Gear Porn thread that I can contribute to! My P, JV Squier with Schaller 3D bridge & J Pickup, DiMarzio P pickup, Schaller straplocks & LHN Born epoxy coated maple fretless neck - original Squier fretted maple neck mothballed for now. Set off nicely against my Marshall 4150 if I say so meself.

[quote name='Beedster' post='960364' date='Sep 18 2010, 01:26 PM']Walked through the centre of town with my DB last night and, as was consistently remarked on by the guys in the band, the double bass has the same affect on women as a small baby or Dalmation puppy, just makes go all kinda weak at the knees! Seriously, the level off attention it was quite remarkable Chris PS I'd like to stay and chat but I've got to take the DB for a walk[/quote] I dunno about that - I've got 3 kids and used to drag a DB around and women never give me a second glance - that said they're all over my son like a rash, which is a bit of a worry for me....

You could always ask for the cash

[quote name='fjbarton59' post='1092460' date='Jan 17 2011, 02:35 PM']Now that's a fair point. The guitar you are converting to bass. I have axactly the same guitar except for mine is painted red. That's an idea though. For the neck, where did you find the dimensions and what wood did you use?[/quote] I'd have preferred a proper Fender or Squier as this one really was a cheapie with a narrow string spacing, 3 way switch(!) and no trem, but it's a start and will prove the concept. The wood's just bog standard slab sawn hard maple (I used an old bit of maple skirting board I'd kept in the shed for years), the same wood you'd find on any Fender neck. I got the dimensions by measuring 29.75 inches back from the bridge saddles - that gave me the length of the board from the nut to the end of the heel. Add the headstock to the end and you have a layout for the complete neck. This is just an experiment I'm working on when I find a bit of time but considering how close to a bog standard Fender Jaguar the Bass VI was I'm pretty certain I can get a Strat Bass VI to work.

I can't see how it wouldn't be possible to convert a long scale 4 to a 6 if you use really light strings but after you've taken care of all the woodwork and hardware changes needed you'd probably be better off getting a cheap six string bass to begin with. I'm working on a short scale Bass VI conversion in my spare time [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=108555&hl=bass+vi"]Here[/url], which was the only really practical way of doing it.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1091741' date='Jan 16 2011, 08:51 PM']Just changed the neck on my P/J and it looks awesome. That is all. Before After [/quote] Looks like the neck change has had an interesting effect on the body colour too

[quote name='Spoombung' post='1090741' date='Jan 15 2011, 07:48 PM']The Wal people used to give that as a reason for making their big, fat, uncomfortable, chunky necks. I found that such a perplexing idea and it had me scratching my head. I always think if you need to play a series of notes you should move your hand into a position to access them (whether it's 'correct' or not). I don't think the design of the neck should 'educate' the hand as such.[/quote] Well if it wasn't for pioneering musicians sticking two fingers up at the 'proper technique', music wouldn't mean anything like what it does today. It does seem a bit of a strange excuse too - it's like saying "only formally trained professionals need apply". I think most players are more adaptable than they think, but trying a new neck shape or board radius for 5 minutes in a shop won't give even the most intuitive player time to get used to it. It takes time but we can get used to just about any shape.

[quote name='eude' post='1090664' date='Jan 15 2011, 06:30 PM']Indeed they have. I meant that radiused boards on guitars, classical guitars, at least ones that more recently predate leccy guitars, where flat, and the radiused boards came along not long after. Eude[/quote] Violins, DBs etc. have a tight radius because they need to be bowed, not because it's more comfortable. If the strings were flat you wouldn't be able to bow individual strings! I started out on classical guitar with a six string bass width, flat board and strings a mile off the frets and never knew anything different for years. I think a flat board prevents the baseball bat neck grip and helps players position their hands better - you know, thumb opposite middle finger in the middle of the neck, fingers spread over 4 positions, all that crap....

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1089958' date='Jan 14 2011, 11:48 PM']People believe this because (as consumers) they want to.[/quote] +1 on that, or moreover, a manufacturer like Fender would want a buyer to think the woods used in their expensive (US) ranges are sooo much better than the woods used in bulk by indifferent factory workers churning out Squiers in China. Same as someone who spends 3 grand on a multi laminated custom thru neck will want to 'hear' a big difference between that and the 200 quid production bass they used to play. It's mostly in the mind - mostly.......

[quote name='Rich' post='1087948' date='Jan 13 2011, 02:36 PM']Yup [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=31247&hl=fanned"]peted's bass[/url] [/quote] Cool. No offence to jayblaze but it's refreshing to see a custom build with a maple board and solid colour on the body - especially one that's not a Fender clone. I'm prefer the double cut body shape he's going for though.

[quote name='jayblaze' post='1087537' date='Jan 13 2011, 07:50 AM']I had a Dingwall abz five and it was a good bass but I didn't really get on with the angled pickups. Just put my hand in a weird angle. I've only ever had 35" basses and they feel normal to me! I've heard alot about Jon, I'm sure it will be a hog. I believe he's made 36"ers before :-)[/quote] It's interesting that you had more of a problem with resting your thumb than you had with the constantly changing angle of the frets. Does Shuker do fanned Frets???

[quote name='gilmour' post='1085708' date='Jan 11 2011, 05:56 PM']I play upright as well as electric, I was just a little surprised that 35" felt different. By no means am I saying the OP shouldn't get a 36" I can really see the logic in it especially if tuning to Bb - just think it's a good idea to try one first.[/quote] Yeah, s'a fair point - I used to go from DB to fretless Precision and nowadays in my old(er) age I go between the Precision and a 30.5" EB. I try to practice on both and as each has a very different sound and feel it's easy to treat each as a separate entity, almost like a different instrument. I figure if you can keep a sense of seperation you should be able to play any scale within reason. That said, if I had a 36" 5 or 6 all I'd ever do was play the low B

I'm surprised so many people think over 34 is too long for comfortable playing, especially considering most DBs are over 39" and generally have a higher action and much higher tension, yet many DB players aren't giants. Yeah I know it's not the same instrument but with the difference in sound a longer scale gives, maybe a different approach is needed, making more use of the good sustain and piano like lows rather than tearing up and down the board. I also find the stretch is less noticeable when you have a range of scale lengths and practice on all of them, building on their own particular strengths. Now I'm off the soap box, looks like it's going to be a really nice bass by the way.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' post='1079999' date='Jan 6 2011, 04:48 PM']Like other posters, I think there's a gap in the market in between small studio amps of 30 or so watts, and 300 watt big-venue gigging heads. So somewhere from 100-150 watts would be great for the size of venue most of us actually play. And a good DI out is essential.[/quote] +1 on that - my main amp's an old 100 watt valve combo which is plenty loud enough for just about any venue I've played that doesn't have a PA you can't DI your bass off into. There's a niche worth filling, especially if price falls significantly short from SVT & Hiwatt levels.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1079787' date='Jan 6 2011, 02:15 PM']You don't have to make it big just because it is toroidal. Aside from they are round so their form necessarily takes up a bunch of space. Small transformers just pass less power and cut low end, really not a win for bass. It is like using inefficient speakers so you can crank the amp more without loudness. Have a look at Umph's build thread where he ordered a transformer to go down to 50hz (not considered that low in the scheme of things, higher than the E string fundamental), it is huge.[/quote] Yeah I was following umphs thread but unfortunately nothing's happened in a while. What I meant by using either a largeish toroidal or a relatively under rated EI, was this could be an opportunity to build an amp that has a better distorted sound than most bass amps out there or a better, louder, clearer clean sound (toroidal's are relatively compact, so you've got the option of getting a bit more iron and wire in the same space). Most amps are a compromise - especially valve amps - and this amp will be competing with Orange, Ampeg, Matamp, Hiwatt, Ashdown, Marshall and a whole load of boutique and garden shed builders, so there's a fair number of very nice but fundamentally very similar amps out there, so if you're going to do it, maybe you should look at what the others don't do so well.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1079718' date='Jan 6 2011, 01:17 PM']No avoiding modern feature that are better just because it isn't how old amps were done (like using toroidal transformers, because they are plain better, even though they don't look like drakes/partridges).[/quote] From what I understand a fairly large part of true overdriven 'valve sound' stems from the output transformer saturating, which would lead to the question, do you want an ultra clean, hi-fi sounding valve amp, in which case you might be better off with a largeish, modern toroidal output transformer, or do you want classic output trans saturation, in which case maybe an under rated laminated core trans would be better? You could include both on the chassis as switchable options, but with two output transformers you'd probably need a fork lift to get it on top of your 8x10

[quote name='paddy mcbride' post='1079476' date='Jan 6 2011, 09:26 AM']Hi I have a CMI jazz bass from 1970's which I love. I recently started playing it again after leaving it to sit in a corner for a year. The issue I have come across is that the music I'm currently playing in requires the strings to be tuned CGCF and I cannot get the bass to intonate correctly. I assume this is because it is a shorter scale neck than my Warwicks. Could someone please advise me if a new neck would solve this issue or is there another option available? Thanks Paddy[/quote] No, intonation doesn't have anything to do with scale length, (isn't it 34 inches anyway, just like most Warwicks?), so a new neck won't help. Have you tried adjusting the bridge saddles and the action, both of which affect the intonation as well as maybe fitting some heavier strings which certainly help playability with down tunings. I've found that if the strings on a down tuned bass are too light I tend to squeeze them too hard onto the fret and bend them sideways, which means the note is always sharp.

The pickup on the Epiphone EB-0 is very different sounding to the Gibson version, lower output and more trebly, presumably to make it a bit more user friendly. Also, on the issue of neck dive the Korean EB-0 was mahogany necked and balanced very well whereas the Chinese made version was (is) maple which adds nearly half a pound to the weight of the neck alone and therefore doesn't feel so well balanced.