henry norton

[quote name='tischbein' post='613048' date='Sep 30 2009, 04:45 PM']Anyone ever have one of their basses defretted... I mean a good job, no home-made crap.[/quote] There are probably allot of people on this forum who could do a very nice defretting job at home... It's probably worth asking their opinion too.

Thanks for the replies. The reason I want a flat, uncoloured sound is because I want a clear idea of the differences changes to pickups, electronics and hardware/construction really make. I think at least some build aspects of bass guitars have come about because of half truths, assumptions, guesses and hearsay, so if I'm working with a flat, wide response, I know I'm listening to nuances of the instrument rather than the amp & speakers. PA gear asides, could something like a SansAmp be able to produce a flat response - maybe into a set of studio monitor type headphones???

I'm getting increasingly into the science behind the design and construction of bass guitars and whilst I love using my vintage valve 4x10 combo, I don't think I'm getting an accurate, flat response from it. In short, I'm worried it's making my basses sound better than they really are (or worse!!!). I have a Behringer V-Bass as well, but that doesn't give a flat response either. I heard MarkBass are good for a pure, flat tone but you often hear moans about the speakers they use. I'd go the head/cab route if need be, even a pre & power setup. Anyone got an opinion????

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='612357' date='Sep 29 2009, 08:24 PM']My £0.02 worth... I've owned painted/lacquered and natural/waxed Warwick Streamer basses and the finish HAS had an affect on tone. I accept that it it could be said this could be down the the individual instrument and or my change in playing style/approach to each instrument BUT I am talking about a sample of over 20 Warwick Streamer basses owned over the last 25 years and they have without exception had a different tone [u]dependent upon finish[/u]. I will add that I know full well that each bass has had some difference in tone (mainly dependent upon pup manufacture) but without exception the painted/lacquered basses had an overall tone that differed from the natural finish. Just my experience of a particular bass manufacturer but hey... the OP asked for opinions. [/quote] Was there a general trend with the solid colour/lacquered? ie. brighter, punchier? Does the the construction or choice of woods differ with solid finished Warwicks? Less neck laminates, cheaper varieties of wood, that sort of thing. If so, that could have a big effect.

I think alot of people 'hear' what they want to hear when it comes to instrument mods. I also think the change in appearance can make people play differently, more aggressive or maybe more sensitively. Maybe making your instrument look woodier made you play in a more 'woody, mellow, warm way'. Not in a 'wooden' way by the way After all that work you'd want to 'hear' an improvement after all. I'm pretty sure taking off a thick layer of polyester will have some effect on the sound but after the strings, pickups, wood, construction and electronics have all had their say, it'll be tiny fractions.

There was a kit a few years back that converted the P into a 5 string. It had a different bridge & nut of course but the only other mod was a tuning peg in place of the string tree to take care of the extra string. The spacing was fairly narrow but not unplayable. It didn't convert it to 35" scale though!

There's a huge difference between the Epi EB pickup and the original Gibson ones in my experience. The Gibsons are allot bassier and less defined. Difficult to say what to do but you could sell the Gibson pickup and replace it with a DIMarzio Model 1 which will give you the output you want but with more definition. You'll also have some change left over to get the pots looked at.

I've just checked my EB-0 and that's 4mm. I know what you mean when you talk about needing a T handle (presumably on the end of a long shaft).

Bienvenue Lapaju! Welcome to the forum. I am working in France at the moment, (near Limoges) and your English is much better than my French.

A friend of mine recently started on double bass after playing a fretted Precision, (and guitar and mandolin!), for the last 20 odd years. He bought himself one of those clip on tuners with a red/green backlight so he still had to work on positioning by feel and sound but he had the 'green light' in the corner of his eye when his intonation was dead on. It was only about 20 quid from Ebay, and he didn't get reliant on markings.

[quote name='mrcrow' post='610274' date='Sep 27 2009, 08:54 PM']my guess the bridge stuff is low on stress capabilities...compression especially and i mentions precipitiation since that is why aluminium structures have a lifespan...it suffers from fatique so a bridge which needs to fly 30,000 hours with 2 million stress reversals will not be as good as a copper/zinc competitor hence the new airbus is cost a lot of brass to produce..[/quote] Compression won't cause a piece of aluminium too much duress - no more than the zinc most 'chunky' bridges and machine heads seem to be cast from - I really wouldn't worry too much. As for Airbus, these days a fair proportion of a commercial aircraft structure is made from Composites. I'm waiting for the first Carbon Fibre bridges and machines to appear (probably for ridiculous prices on Ebay, just like the Titanium bridge parts discussed on the forum a few months ago....). Oops, I'm just off to the patent office again

Look at the FAQ's on the Hipshot website - it outlines the difference between brass, ali & maybe steel bridges.

[quote name='silddx' post='608084' date='Sep 24 2009, 08:56 PM']Good lord, I had no idea.[/quote] With that kind of neck dive how could it have started out as anyhing else??? Funnily enough - and rather more on topic - don't they just add more weight, or do you counter that by snipping off the excess string once they're locked in place? Sounds incredibly anal but I've recently discovered the delights of lightweight tuners on an erstwhile neck heavy instrument. Lightweight, locking machines, I'm off to the patent office........

Thomann do them (Thomann.de/gb) They're pretty quick getting it to you as well. Not sure they've got the whole range but it would be worth a look.

Greco. Most seasoned (original) Thunderbird players'll tell you the 60's and early 70's T Birds were a world away sound wise to the current crop of copies. Asides from the shape, the original T Birds had very hot, mid biased pickups that made a Precision growl sound like a kitten in comparison. The newer reissues and copies all use far weaker, wider range soapbars so you'll have more or less the look but not the sound. Greco made some very faithful copies in the early 80's, pickups and all, that will normally go for around the £400 mark on Fleabay. If you can stretch to that and are happy buying old and used, it's the closest you'll get to a 'proper' T.bird this side of 3-4 grand

[quote name='jmsjabb' post='607119' date='Sep 23 2009, 10:22 PM']I suppose I find the neck part the more precise bit. Mess that up and you have a problem. My idea is a 50 / 50 split maple Walnut body and my aloud thinking has me no wondering about a bolt on neck. Still mulling things in my head[/quote] Carved bolt on necks with a paddle head (just a square, blank headstock you cut your own design from) are quite easy to get hold of (Warmoth do them). I can understand why you'd prefer a thru neck though - I feel the same way about Gibson style set necks, there's just something about them. Maybe a guitar making course is in the offing.... BTW, Melvyn Hiscock makes a thru neck bass in his book 'Make your own electric guitar'. It's probably worth a look even if you only plan to do bits and pieces of the build.

Assuming you're into glueing up, body shaping, neck carving, routing for electronics and suchlike, exactly what part of the process are you unwilling to do? Gluing up a few neck laminates and installing a modern (flat) truss rod is actually quite easy in comparison with what you'd have left to do yourself. If you don't like the idea of cutting fret slots for instance, you can buy ready slotted fingerboards from places like Touchstone Tonewoods and David Dyke - so long as you want a 34" scale length. I bought the wood for a 3 piece thru neck from David Dyke and he sawed it up for me there and then, let me choose the nicest figure and even marked out what way round they needed to be for maximum strength. Bear in mind a fretted 'rough' neck will still have to be carved, smoothed, finished, have the frets levelled, re-crowned and polished. Then you have to set it up. I'm sure there are a few luthiers out there who'd gladly take your hard earned for this, but I do think you're paying someone to do the easy bit.

I'm pretty sure that within the relatively narrow range of adjustment most basses have it wouldn't make a huge difference unless you move a magnetically powerful pickup too close to the strings, choking them. Maybe an experiment could be done with a pickup handheld over the bass and run into a compressor to even out the volume. The closer you can get to the strings without choking the better, as it's in the best position to utilise its' frequency response by keeping it closer to the weaker, higher harmonics. I'm Finished! You can wake up now!!!!!

[quote name='alexharvay' post='605600' date='Sep 22 2009, 03:14 PM']It looks like the SG equivalent of a Les Paul Junior. If it's anything like my LP Junior it'll be fantastic.[/quote] Yeah I think the TV was basically a Junior but without the cherry finish, (too reflective for TV studios or something like that, hence the name). SG, LP, LPSG, I'm not too fussy, I'd have either, preferably all....

[quote name='Tait' post='605041' date='Sep 21 2009, 10:43 PM']now i'm looking at SGs, even though i think theyre fugly! however - oh yes! best looking SG i've ever seen! EDIT: crap that pictures MASSIVE! any help resizing it without havig to save it to my pc?[/quote] That's the 'TV' model I think - just about the cheapest one they ever made (in the US of course). I'd have one

I always liked the theory of Alembics - advanced electronics, luthiery(?) etc. but in practice I don't understand why they didn't apply a bit of that thought to making them lighter and better balanced. There again I couldn't ever imagine having a spare 4 grand burning a hole in my pocket so I couldn't say I never would. I'd want alot of other things first though, and not just bass related stuff

[quote name='spongebob' post='603657' date='Sep 20 2009, 05:19 PM']I'm a bit worried abut the MIM Fenders..... I play through a Markbass amp....with a pick, but... after playing a Ged, the general action, bridge, and quality issues have concerned me about about the MIM Fenders![/quote] I'd get a decent second hand Jap Fender (or Squier). The 80's versions are generally regarded as better quality than the US equivalent. I also think the majority of the sound is in the feel and the way you play it. (I use a valve combo by the way, I'm not some Digital fiend). Good taste BTW Spongebob - Isn't the intro to Hanging around one of the best sounds ever?

[quote name='bassmachine2112' post='602710' date='Sep 19 2009, 09:43 AM']hiho,this might sound daft but you seem to be happy with your p-bass and your forever havin to eq your amp. Might I suggest that 300 quid might be better spent on gettin a good amp set up ?.Just a thought ,it can make a serious difference.A good pre amp can be a good investment as well. I,m goin to get shot down in flames here but here goes,try a behringer bdi21 s/h they are cheap and if you don,t like it not much lost but will transform your sound and if you like the direction it,s going then sansamp,hartke bass attack,mxr di80 and others are worth considering and you can use them as a DI box for PA and recording.You also have the option of goin ampless through a PA,no more heavy lifting. I know it will not satisfy the GAS but worth considering.[/quote] +1 on that. I mess around with a Behringer v-bass when I'm playing my EB-0. That gives a pretty big range of sounds if you prefer to forego the finance on a Sansamp. Mine cost 60 quid! I know everyone here hates Behringer but at that price....

If I had 300 quid to spend on a bass for all occasions I'd look for an early Japanese Jazz bass (early 80s Tokai, Squier or mid 80s Fender Japan). You probably won't find one within your budget on Ebay but you can sometimes find them in local ads. Instead of getting suspect wood and electronics made in China you'll be investing the money in an instrument that is (in many peoples opinion), better than the US built Fenders. Just thought, you could spend the money getting a really good preamp, (ACG Filter, Aguilar or suchlike) and/or J or MM pup fitted to the bridge position of your Mex. Precision. Preamps are moderately useful on budget basses but you won't get a huge amount of control on a bass costing less than 300 quid.

3rd string 6th fret, 2nd string 6th fret, 3rd string 4th fret, 3rd string 6th fret, 3rd string 4th fret, 2nd string 4th fret, 3rd string 4th fret, 3rd string 6th fret, 2nd string 4th fret, 2nd string 6th fret. I think... It's difficult because the keyboard is doubling the bassline and mushing it up a bit. Who needs tablature eh?