henry norton

[quote name='jdstrings' post='599474' date='Sep 15 2009, 07:20 PM']But no, thoughts of Jack Bruce et al quickly dissapated as the headstock slowly sank towards the floor! Hmmm, I thought I won't be playing this on the gig tonight... I guess the lack of balance is at least partly due to the fact that it was originally concieved as a short scale bass and by lengthening the neck by almost 10cm does throw the basic design out of kilter. Now, back to Jack Bruce...[/quote] The long scale EBs were introduced way back in the early 70s. 34.5" scale yet still with no extended upper horn - obviously nobody actually played the prototype before it was OK'd for production! Given that the Thunderbird was introduced in the mid 60s they've had a long run of badly balanced basses, yet people still blame their lack of popularity on the sound. (I've never tried an EB-1 but it looks pretty badly balanced to me). If it's any consolation the short scale EBs dont balance that well either - my Precision feels more comfortable than my EB in spite of weighing about a pound and a half more.

There's no harm in time off. There's also no harm in selling on irrelevant gear (ie. an SVT and 8x10 for practising in your bedroom). Don't let other people tell you how crap they think you are though - they usually do it 'cos they're trying to cover the fact that they're s##te. I contemplated giving up, sold most of my gear and concentrated on the rest of my life, but 10 years on I still pick up my bass and have a play - funnily enough not normally for more than 10 minutes at a time but I find it much more fun than I did when I was a 'serious musician'. Give it some thought and decide what [u][i]you[/i][/u] want, not what the crap guitarist wants.

I never used to care 'til I got into short scales and hollow bodies. Now my relatively light alder bodied Precision feels like a tonne weight. Strangely enough it still feels more comfortable than my SG bodied EB becaust it doesn't drag on my left shoulder due to neck dive.

I meant does the Model 1 sound better than the original Squier pickup????

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='597400' date='Sep 13 2009, 04:05 PM']The poles are too narrow spaced, so it looks wrong, but sounds fine.[/quote] If it's any consolation my EB-0 came [i]new[/i] with the entire pickup 'offset' by nearly 4mm and that still sounds fine. It's probably a feature you wouldn't find on an Alembic but a little offset doesn't seem to do any harm. Has it made much difference to the sound?

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='597565' date='Sep 13 2009, 07:36 PM']Sort of, its [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnico"]AlNiCo[/url].[/quote] Alnico magnets usually have an iron content in them too - maybe 'cheap' alnicos (or cheap magnets in general), have more iron content and less of the more expensive metals, meaning they're more likely to rust. More on topic, I found using felt buds dipped in metal polish on my Dremel worked a treat on rust and didn't wreck any nearby plastic either.... Never tried the axesrus kits before. You could buy all the components you need elsewhere for a few quid less but what with the free postage and lack of hassle it looks like money well spent.

Yeah, I remember the walnut Fenders. Gibson 'walnut' finishes were just that, a brown stain on maple or mahogany. I think both are pretty well coveted by collectors now. Warmoth do walnut necks and bodies (I think) and they're supposed to sound pretty good, balanced half way between maple and mahogany tone wise.

I like cheap(er) basses 'cos I like to tinker with them. Most pre CBS Fender owners would give up playing before they let anyone near them with a replacement pickup - especially if it required a rout I think you can get yourself a bass that's more or less as good as a name 'pro' bass for a fraction of the cost if you're careful about the instrument you start with and what you replace. There seem to be far fewer appallingly bad instruments for sale these days - most seem reasonably well made and are often let down just by the crappy strings and stiff tuners most budget basses come with out the box. What you won't get are exotic facings, thru necks and (usually) unique body shapes. Not forgetting the kudos of having that name on the headstock. For some people this is the whole point.

[quote name='ezbass' post='594918' date='Sep 10 2009, 06:16 PM']I've never understood why there aren't more adjustable pole piece p/ups for bass. One of the reasons I prefer a P to a J is that you can get a better string to string balance because you're only ever tilting the p/up between 2 strings (assuming a 4 string bass). Quite like the indicated tonal characteristics DiMarzio reckon those Model Js have.[/quote] I've just looked at the DiMarzio on my Precision - I never bothered with the adjustable pole pieces but looking at the angle between the two coils, I'm not surprised a J pickup would benefit, especially in the neck position.

Seymour Duncan charge allot of money to put 'authentic' dust, rust and general crud on their vintage pickups, why do you want to devalue your bass???

I've used a DiMarzio P in my bass for the last 20 odd years and still think it's one of the best P pickups you can buy. I have a Schaller J in the bridge position which gives a good contrast - very smooth and bright to the grit and growl of the DiM.

[quote name='Shaggy' post='593670' date='Sep 9 2009, 11:48 AM']That's damn spooky - I could have written that. You're not me are you? And I used to have an old Triumph ('66 650 Trophy)[/quote] Could be! Mine's a '65 Bonnie with a '66 engine, so maybe you're my slightly more pragmatic long lost twin. Now, if I could find a 1965 Thunderbird for the same money as my bike's worth I may take up cycling.... I'm more than happy to be you so long as I get to keep your collection of basses. In exchange you can have my half finished barn conversion and my 3 kids

Used to be a Fender & MM man (MusicManMan!) All bolt on maple necks, but now getting into set neck Gibson inspired instruments - especially hollow bodied short scale and non reverse long(er than a fender) scale Thunderbirds. Don't know why, I suppose 23 years of the same old thing can end up pushing you the other way. (I hope my wife doesn't read this thread....)

Yeah I was quite surprised when I saw how small the actual working parts of the model 1 were - especially after being used to the behemoth Gibson originals. Could you attach it to a new modded scratchplate? ie. make a scratchplate the same size, shape etc. but with a smaller hole to fit the model 1 gubbins and 4 holes with which you attach the pickup using short bolts and nuts. It seems simpler in my head than it sounds in writing....

Superglue is too brittle to fix something like a nut. Epoxy resin (Araldite) is a better bet and is effectively what the woven graphite of your Status neck is glued together with. Worth a trip to B&Q....

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='589605' date='Sep 4 2009, 01:54 PM']I think the exchange rate may have had an influence too i.e. Thomann prices have shot up.[/quote] Agreed, although the pound's looking a bit stronger than it was a month or two ago so there might just be a better deal to be had in the UK now. I always haggled over prices of new gear - you're in a good position if you have the money in your pocket and are ready to spend.

[quote name='nash' post='589062' date='Sep 3 2009, 09:18 PM']cheers dudes. i forgot to say. my dad has a car buffing machine. he said it's sheeps wool[/quote] Just be careful with that, especially around the edges or you'll polish right through to the wood!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='588810' date='Sep 3 2009, 05:23 PM']Only Behringer would be so desperate I wonder how much of the R&D on this amp involved a competitor's product and a photocopier? Alex[/quote] A saucer of milk for you Alex I couldn't agree more BTW

In spite of what the write up says it [i]does[/i] look like it's "just about the power". Any write up that uses the word 'ultra' is bound to be a let down. Gimme 100 watts of EL34 power anytime....

Thanks BigRed, they're more reasonable than any originals I've seen.

I'm looking out for pickups that sound like the original Thunderbird but as I don't want to re-mortgage my house I can't really afford a set of originals (especially not at Ebay prices). I've seen Bartolini do them but in my rather limited experience with Barts, I'm worried they'd be too hi-fi. Has anyone else been down this road?

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='581191' date='Aug 26 2009, 12:49 PM']You can make a fibreglass mould from a wood-body blank and then use that mould for making geetar bodies, so thats not a costly or lengthy process at all if you're in the GRP industry. Only good for half a dozen runs though. So for proper commercial mfr, a hugely costly cnc-milled metal mould may be required.[/quote] You can use rubber moulds which can last a good long while for glass, kevlar or carbon reinforced plastic. I guess most people regard most plastics as 'cheap', unless it's hi-tech materials such as woven carbon. In fact you could make a pretty good neck from glass fibre reinforced resin - it's just the majority of the cost is in the time spent laying it all up so in the end it wouldn't be much cheaper than a Status or Modulus graphite neck, and nobody would buy it 'cos it's 'glassfibre'.

[quote name='umph' post='577520' date='Aug 22 2009, 01:59 PM']IC's are alot easier to run[/quote] Slightly off topic but on the odd occasion I've looked at on board pre amp bits all the very best quality, lowest noise ICs tend to draw a huge current. As most people don't want to change their batteries every other week most pre's use ICs chosen for their low energy use rather than performance. Maybe more use should be made of pedalboard mounted power supplies - Alembic is the only bass I can think of that uses them.

[quote name='Rich' post='579070' date='Aug 24 2009, 03:05 PM']I have never managed to get a good sound from an Ashdown rig without EQing the hell out of it.[/quote] I thought the whole point of having an eq was to use it....