4-string-thing

Just my opinion (so probably worthless) but I would never touch anything with the names Ampeg or Peavey or anything with just 10" speakers either! The Eminence 15's are probably brilliant though....

[quote name='bassman2790' post='858536' date='Jun 5 2010, 11:07 PM']Are they the newer Peavey's? or the original TNT's? [/quote] The ones in the top pic, not sure which models, but they have all seemed to have a distorted, poor tone and in one case it kept cutting out and farting at me!

I have only used Peavey combo's in various rehearsal rooms, and to be honest, they have all been rubbish. Its put me off ever buying any Peavey gear.

I took my girlfriend with me when I went to buy "a cheap bass to use for gigs in seedy pubs" I was thinking Squier , Ibanez or Warwick Rockbass. After trying a few sub £300 basses, she pointed at an oil finish Corvette and says "do you like that one" "Yes", says I..."then get it" It was almost £700. No arguments from me, but I still need a cheap bass for seedy pub gigs!

[quote name='Johnston' post='851332' date='May 29 2010, 06:40 PM']HAYNES MANUAL - THE REAL MEANINGS For those of us that have ever used a Haynes Manual (or Clymer or Chilton equivalents) in attempting home maintenance of a car or motorbike. For those who havn't used a Haynes Manual, these are the books aimed at those who want to fix their own vehicles and which keep qualified mechanics in paid employment putting things right afterwards. They are chock full of photos, diagrams and step-by-step instructions which are obvious if you are a fully qualified motor mechanic, but which are frighteningly sparse on detail for the average Joe in the street who wants to change a set of spark plugs on a 1981 VW Polo .... Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise. Translation: Clamp with molegrips (adjustable wrench) then beat repeatedly with hammer anticlockwise. You do know which way is anticlockwise, don't you? Haynes: Should remove easily. Translation: Will be corroded into place ... clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with a hammer. Haynes: Remove small retaining clip. Translation: Take off 15 years of stubborn crud, it's there somewhere. Haynes: This is a snug fit. Translation: You will skin your knuckles! ... Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with hammer. Haynes: This is a tight fit. Translation: Not a hope in hell matey! ... Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with hammer. Haynes: As described in Chapter 7... Translation: That'll teach you not to read through before you start, now you are looking at scarey photos of the inside of a gearbox. Haynes: Locate ... Translation: This photo of a hex nut is the only clue we're giving you. Haynes: Pry... Translation: Hammer a screwdriver into... Haynes: Undo... Translation: Go buy a tin of WD40 (catering size). Haynes: Ease ... Translation: Apply superhuman strength to ... Haynes: Retain tiny spring... Translation: "Jeez what was that, it nearly had my eye out"! Haynes: Press and rotate to remove bulb... Translation: OK - that's the glass bit off, now fetch some good pliers to dig out the bayonet part and remaining glass shards. Haynes: Lightly... Translation: Start off lightly and build up till the veins on your forehead are throbbing then re-check the manual because what you are doing now cannot be considered "lightly". Haynes: Weekly checks... Translation: If it isn't broken don't fix it! Haynes: Routine maintenance... Translation: If it isn't broken... it's about to be! Haynes: One spanner rating (simple). Translation: Your Mum could do this... so how did you manage to botch it up? Haynes: Two spanner rating. Translation: Now you may think that you can do this because two is a low, tiny, ikkle number... but you also thought that the wiring diagram was a map of the Tokyo underground (in fact that would have been more use to you). Haynes: Three spanner rating (intermediate). Translation: Make sure you won't need your car for a couple of days and that your AA cover includes Home Start. Translation: But Novas are easy to maintain right... right? So you think three Nova spanners has got to be like a 'regular car' two spanner job. Haynes: Four spanner rating. Translation: You are seriously considering this aren't you, you pleb! Haynes: Five spanner rating (expert). Translation: OK - but don't expect us to ride it afterwards!!! Translation #2: Don't ever carry your loved ones in it again and don't mention it to your insurance company. Haynes: If not, you can fabricate your own special tool like this... Translation: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Haynes: Compress... Translation: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on, swear at, throw at the garage wall, then search for it in the dark corner of the garage whilst muttering "bugger" repeatedly under your breath. Haynes: Inspect... Translation: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a loud knowing voice to your wife "Yep, as I thought, it's going to need a new one"! Haynes: Carefully... Translation: You are about to cut yourself! Haynes: Retaining nut... Translation: Yes, that's it, that big spherical blob of rust. Haynes: Get an assistant... Translation: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of someone you know. Haynes: Turning the engine will be easier with the spark plugs removed. Translation: However, starting the engine afterwards will be much harder. Once that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach has subsided, you can start to feel deeply ashamed as you gingerly refit the spark plugs. Haynes: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal. Translation: But you swear in different places. Haynes: Locate securing bolt. Translation: Remember that worrying noise when you drove along the A38 last summer? That's where you'll find the securing bolt. Haynes: Prise away plastic locating pegs... Translation: Snap off... Haynes: Remove drum retaining pin. Translation: Break every screwdriver in your box. Haynes: Using a suitable drift or pin-punch... Translation: The biggest nail in your tool box isn't a suitable drift! Haynes: Everyday toolkit Translation: Ensure you have an RAC Card & Mobile Phone Haynes: Apply moderate heat... Translation: Placing your mouth near it and huffing isn't moderate heat. Translation #2: Heat up until glowing red, if it still doesn't come undone use a hacksaw. Translation #3: Unless you have a blast furnace, don't bother. Clamp with adjustable wrench then beat repeatedly with hammer. Haynes: Index Translation: List of all the things in the book bar the thing you want to do! Haynes: Remove oil filter using an oil filter chain wrench or length of bicycle chain. Translation: Stick a screwdriver through it and beat handle repeatedly with a hammer. Haynes: Replace old gasket with a new one. Translation: I know I've got a tube of Krazy Glue around here somewhere. Haynes: Grease well before refitting. Translation: Spend an hour searching for your tub of grease before chancing upon a bottle of washing-up liquid (dish soap). Wipe some congealed washing up liquid from the dispenser nozzle and use that since it's got a similar texture and will probably get you to Halfords to buy some Castrol grease. Haynes: See illustration for details Translation: None of the illustrations notes will match the pictured exploded, numbered parts. The unit illustrated is from a previous or variant model. The actual location of the unit is never given. Haynes: Drain off all fluids before removing cap. Translation: Visit bathroom, spit on ground, remove baseball cap in order to scratch head in perplexity. Haynes: Top up fluids. Translation: Drink 2 cans of beer and call out a mobile mechanic to undo the damage. For Added Haynes Fun, go to the first section "Safety First" and read the bit about Hydrofluoric Acid. Would you really trust the advice of a book that uses this form of understatement? The best one I encountered was how to change a brake sensor in a Ford Fiesta Popular Plus. The photo showing the location of the unit failed to mention the crucial detail of whether the item was located in the engine compartment or inside the car ..... and the helpful photo of what the thing looked like didn't give the reader any clues! THE CONDENSED HAYNES MANUAL All makes and models post-2000 For a modern car chock full of electronics, all that's in the Haynes Manual (aka "The Haynes Bumper Book of Jokes") is: Routine Service: Take it to a main dealer and hand over a large amount of cash. Advanced Service: Open the bonnet. Decide all that stuff is far too scary. Proceed with routine service (see above). HAYNES GUIDE TO TOOLS OF THE TRADE HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer is nowadays used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit. MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing seats, motorcycle jackets, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use. ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but it also works great for drilling mounting holes just above the brake line that goes to the rear wheel. SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short. PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters. BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs. HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes. MOLE-GRIPS/ADJUSTABLE WRENCH: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand. OXYACETELENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a brake-drum you're trying to get the bearing race out of. TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity. WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for for the last 15 minutes. DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying. WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar callouses in about the time it takes you to say, "F...." BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge. HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering car to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the jack handle firmly under the front wing (fender). EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack. TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters. PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbour to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack. SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-doo off your boot. BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit. TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup. TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you may have forgotten to disconnect. CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle. BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring sulfuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought. AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw. INSPECTION LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate as 105-mm howitzer shells during the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading. PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads. STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws. AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a fossil-fuel burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 30 years ago by someone in Dagenham, and rounds them off. PRY (CROW) BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part. HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short. DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling 'DAMMIT' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.[/quote] Ha Ha, as someone who has built 3 kit-cars with the aid of various Haynes manuals over the years, I know exactly where you are coming from!

Does anyone want to buy my Landrover Freelander and my girlfriend, so I can buy this? Peggy is my hero (met him a couple of times) and The P is my favourite bass..... PS: if anyone off here buys it, any chance of me coming round for a butchers?

Not sure if this is relevant, but any electrical wholesaler such as the one I work for, will be able to sell you all sorts of fuses and give you good advice on slow blow and time delay fuses etc. You could try glass fuses instead of the ceramic ones you normally get for 13a plugs, these are obviously see-through and allow you you to see if the fuse has melted or blown. If there is still fuse wire visible inside the fuse (just broken in the middle) then the fuse has melted, usually caused by overload, ie, the fuse is rated too low for the current drawn. If there is no visible fuse wire and the inside of the glass looks burnt or brown in colour, then it has blown, usually due some kind of short circuit. If it's just melted, you could uprate it by a couple of amps and try again, if it's blown it would be best to get it looked at.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='834199' date='May 11 2010, 01:32 PM']Resistance and impedance are not the same thing, and what you are measuring is resistance. Impedance varies according to, among other things, the frequency of the signal sent through the speaker.[/quote] I also believe sticking an ohmmeter across a speaker is not a good idea (I stand to be corrected on this though)

Years ago, bread used to come in poly bags with a plastic tag to seal it...they worked a treat, think I still have some in my bass case....

I'd definitely be up for this provided the date fits in with work etc, or there was enough notice to make arrangements.....

maybe you just hit that perfect combination? My band usually rehearses in an expensive large complex in Leicester that has all sorts of expensive rigs (Ampeg and Markbass) Last week, we couldn't get in there so ended up using a little place in Coalville. The last time I went there they had a crappy Peavey combo that kept cutting out and I feared the worst, so took my "spare" rig (Ashdown) Anyway, we got in and they had replaced the Peavey with an Ashdown combo and 4x10 extension cab. What a brilliant sound, way better, in my view, than either the Ampeg or Markbass rigs I had used in the other place! Probably just the combination of bass, amp, cab, room etc. I've not really had chance to use my own Ashdown yet, but at least I know it'll give me the sound I want, when I do.

could you not install a new pup, pre amp and pots onto a new scratchplate then fit the whole thing to the bass, thus leaving the original intact? To be refitted if you ever do sell the bass.

I'm toying with the idea of using both of my Acoustic cabs together (a 1x15 and a 2x15) this would give me 3 aligned 15's and 2 ohms. My Acoustic 220 head runs at 2 ohms ok (according to the Acoustic forum) so, the only problem I can see is that I may need a step ladder to alter my settings.

Ah, go on...name and shame, go on, go on..... Some other poor sod on here might get the same treatment if you don't.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='819433' date='Apr 26 2010, 02:35 PM']Can't believe this isn't up already: [/quote] At last, something with the name Ampeg on it that I would actually want to own! (Ducks and covers head with hands)

I was in a band in the mid 90's and we paid well over £200 to play a gig in London. The promoter gave us the gig on the proviso that we brought a crowd with us. We hired 3 mini busses and got all our mates to go (monday night, 100 miles each way) The deal was, we would get any door money if they handed in our flyer, of course they all forgot to hand them in. We had to buy our mates beer all night and then pay £25 for the engineer! Great gig though, in front of the same 20 mates we used to play to in Leicester most weeks! I now play in covers bands.....

Ashley Hutchings, Dave Pegg, Danny Thompson, Jack Bruce, Greg Lake and practically every other bass player I've ever seen playing live!

Richard Thompson, Captain Beefheart, David Byrne, Tom Waits, Tom Verlaine, Bob Dylan.

Yup been there...in fact am in that place right now! I left a folk-rock band that I started after 4 years due to various reasons. After a while it was pretty obvious that There weren't many people around that were into this sort of thing, so I decided that any band was better than no band. I'm now playing in a sleazy/glam/ 70's rock 'n' roll outfit called Iron Python, and I have to say, I'm loving it! Not the kind of thing I would ever listen to out of choice, but I love learning songs I've heard before but never played. And we don't take it too seriously, so its all good fun. My thoughts? Try it, you might like it!

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='817566' date='Apr 24 2010, 08:42 PM']And what about this one? [/quote] I've seen Richard play this live loads of times and its really good, just goes to show that any song can be made to sound great if you mess about with the style its played in. A good song is always a good song. Anyone seen John Otway do 'I will Survive' in a Bob Dylan stylee? Not only hilarious, but it actually sounds like Dylan could have written it!

Been with "Blondie" for over 30 years, but last year met a younger, leaner model.... despite the excitement, I keep coming back to my first love!

I have to say I don't like the sound of new strings either. I recently changed the strings on my P and the previous set had been on at least 10 years, probably nearer 15 (I can't actually remember when I last changed them) On hearing the bass for the first time, our drummer declared it "the best sounding bass I've ever heard" It took about a month before the replacements started to sound anything like what I want. I say, if they sound and feel ok, put 'em back on! I'm still trying to get my head round the concept of cleaning a guitar.......

In my (limited) experience, harsh is the only word I could use to describe Trace gear. But, they do seem popular, probably due to those tempting prices!

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='809644' date='Apr 17 2010, 06:14 PM']They've gotta be good for something I suppose! [/quote] Damn! Beaten to it....

[i]I've gigged for almost 10 years with a 150w 1x15, now I'm using a 320w 2x10 and it's probably not even as loud as the 1x15.[/i] Agreed, I've used my Acoustic 220 (125w @ 4ohms, 175w @ 2ohms) for 30 years and its always been plenty loud enough with the volume control never above 3 or 4! Mind you it was built in the days when 125w really was 125w..... My 300w Ashdown, is certainly not any louder. A smaller amp into more efficient speakers will always sound louder than a bigger amp into rubbish speakers, IMHO.