Beedster

Well known fact that LBs don't work on string through bridges (several posts on this forum and I think a statement on the string packaging).

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1387623260' post='2313853'] Cripes - couldn't agree more - the following simple adage normally applies to selected owners of the six string variety of guitar (not bass) - but obviously applies to some bassists as well. 'Some people should not be allowed to own guitars!' This crime is akin to removing the engine of a Classic Ferrari and replacing it with a souped up Ford Anglia engine. Hope you manage to get it back to former glories. Wouldn't Wal be willing to do it? [/quote] It's going to be restored to former glory in many respects but with a more personalised touch in that I wasn't a huge fan of the Wal circuit or of two PUPs. I'm leaning towards the Wal/ray configuration above at present. Had really helpful replies from Bass Doc, John East, and Martin Sims re this bass, no reply from Wal as yet so I'm guessing Paul's still in shock having seen the pics

[quote name='SlipperySquid' timestamp='1387559035' post='2313401'] Hi again all! Thought I'd hit you with an update! So managed to go to the shop on my dinner break (really hate missing my lunch....so was not in the best of moods on arrival!). Managed to take said poorly re-fret dressed guitar with me. Now the shop assistant that I saw that day was more than apologetic about what had gone on, looked over the guitar and said he would like to send it back to the luthier to get a better job done. I (as most of your good selves would) refused as I didn't want the said luthier anywhere near it. This went on for about ten minutes with me pointing out what was wrong and him trying to explain what happened. (the luthier would sooner leave a divet in the fret then have to file it down as he'd have to file all the others to compensate which could take a few years out of the life of the frets, to which I said, why not replace the fret?) As to the poor setup of the guitar etc he said that he probably hadn't done it as he was not told to. I showed him the receipt which showed all the work I wanted carrying out, poor chap didn't have an answer. Anyway then I went on to say how I didn't expect to be lied to by the other assistant and that when a shop says it will call you back it should. He agreed. Then the fun started when the owner of the shop appeared! Of course he was sticking up for his assistant as any good boss should, but unfortunately didn't have a clue what the problems where and just jumped in. He said that they had offered to send the guitar back what more did I want? I said that I didn't want the want the guitar to have to go away again nor did I want the luthier to work on it again. He then turned and walked off muttering a comment, then I lost my sh*t. Told him what I thought of his customer service,his attitude and what a great show for his employees and customers (there where a couple of people in the shop obviously embarrassed). Anyway he stormed back ask me what I wanted, I said refund so I could take it to a competent luthier that would get the job done first time. He said give him it....and stormed off, not before I got his name and confirmed he was the owner. He didn't seem to understand that I was pissed off and it was more my fault then there own? as they had offered a resolution.....but not my I say an apology. At the end of it all, I have the amp back that works and the guitar will be going to another luthier in the new year to get a full refret and setup (no point messing about) The assistant giving the refund said he totally understood where I was coming from and I apologised for having him in the middle of something that was not personally his fault. Anyway, about 20 mins later I had the owner phoning me and apologising saying what he did was inexcusable. To little to late for me I'm afraid. So anyone that visits the good old city of Hull, please remember to not visit Antone Guitars on Beverley Road. Nor should they talk to the owner "Tony" or believe anything the assistant "Phil" has to tell you as he's more interested in surfing the net. The other lad (can't remember his name) that tried to help me on the other hand is a good lad! I really will be buying online from now on. Sorry for the long post, Merry Christmas to all! [/quote] Well done for getting the right outcome. Doesn't sound like the shop has long for this world anyway if that's how they operate. The owner of a music shop ranted at me a few years back for having the audacity to buy an old bass on eBay and then bring it into his shop intending to pay for a decent checkover, setup and rewire (he didn't appear to understand that I wasn't interested in buying any of the £100-£150 instruments in the shop). He performed his rant on a Saturday morning about a week before Christmas and in full view of about 6 potential customers and their mums and dads, all of whom left sharpish. He went out of business a few weeks later.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1387532898' post='2312941'] .....and I doubt he'd have made it fronting the average pub band (I'd like to have have seen him fronting the Average White Band though, that would have been something? [/quote] As it's Christmas, anyone know of any Ian Dury & Blockheads or AWB tribute acts. I feel like arranging an interesting gig

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1387536957' post='2313024'] you think that's bad, went to see Sham 69 once, no Jimmy Pursey, no announcement, we thought the replacement singer was a roadie, the other week Sham were advertised as being on in Derby, no Pursey or Parsons, just a couple of guitarist who played with them before they made it, I don't mind not seeing the original band as long as it's made perfectly clear on the promo material, if it's not it's a con [/quote] Ha ha, once again - and in similar vein to the question over the Blockheads with/without Dury - one is forced to ask whether the absence of Jimmy Pursey could ever be considered a bad thing

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1387527400' post='2312870'] TBH The Blockheads without Ian Dury (never mind NWR) seems a fairly pointless exercise to me. [/quote] [quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1387527676' post='2312872'] I remember seeing them in the 70's and thinking the opposite [/quote] [quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1387532101' post='2312930'] It does to me too in 2013 but in the 1970s The Blockheads were a great band even without Ian Dury. I saw them loads of times in pubs in London and they were up there with the best of them at the time. [/quote] I think that's the point I was making. IMO Ian Dury was outstanding, but so are many poets/songwriters who don't make it. The Blockheads made him for me. The rather surreal counterpoint of the extraordinary technical skills of the band and the monotonic vocals (albeit with some clever lyrics) was the magic of the whole, and I doubt he'd have made it fronting the average pub band (I'd like to have have seen him fronting the Average White Band though, that would have been something ). And whilst there are moments of genius ('What a Waste' and 'Rhythm Stick' being the obvious examples), there is a catalogue of very average songwriting and mediocre vocal performances that without those moments of genius would probably never have surfaced. Alongside Ian Dury and AWB, I'd love to have seen the Blockheads with someone equally mercurial but perhaps a little more vocally adept; Tom Waits and the Blockheads would have been interesting?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1387527400' post='2312870'] TBH The Blockheads without Ian Dury (never mind NWR) seems a fairly pointless exercise to me. [/quote] I remember seeing them in the 70's and thinking the opposite

Thanks guys, the above makes sense so far (i.e., going back through my my PMs they're sets I've bought to try but not got around to trying yet). Sets 2 and 5 still elusive, I'll take a look at the threads you've identified above Cheers Chris

I've acquired a few strings over the last coupe of years and whilst I know what most of them are, I'm a few that are a mystery, all appear to be steel. I've got a few guts lying around also, I'm guessing there's not a lot of chance of identifying those? Set 1. Red silks at both ends. Set 2. Green and yellow silks at tail, red (G), yellow (D), black (A) and green (E) silks at head Set 3. Green and black silks at tail, brown (G), red (D), black (A) and green (E) silks at head Set 4. Red and black silks at tail, no silks at head Set 5. Red silks at tail, no silks at head Set 6. Blue silks at tail, red (G), yellow (D), blue (A), and green (E) silks at head Many thanks folks C

[quote name='shippo' timestamp='1387470720' post='2312385'] I'm not trying to have an arguement with anyone here, I just need a "Cheap and chearful" solution please. [/quote] Ha ha, if you don't want an argument, don't come onto a musicians' forum I think £70 probably is cheap and cheerful? I might be wrong.

'77 or '78, the most stunning Precision I've owned, and I've owned a few.... [url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/78Precision1_zps53b65159.jpg.html"][/url]

[quote name='shippo' timestamp='1387462578' post='2312230'] Hey all The entire Ampeg SVT-15EN only goes for about £125, so it really not worth spending £100 on a new speaker, nor is it worth getting it reconed etc. [/quote] They retail for over £500 new http://www.dv247.com/guitars/ampeg-svt15e-bass-guitar-extension-cabinet--49922 so I wouldn't class them as a cheap cab, I certainly don't class mine as such. Wind 'em up with some Ampeg tubes and they're rather impressive actually

Nice one Ashdown, great to see such a quick and helpful response Chris

[quote name='chardbass' timestamp='1387363052' post='2311025'] I love this thread. [/quote] It's gonna cost me isn't it...?

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1387357899' post='2310951'] Aaron Armstrong made them. They are just a couple of MM5 shells, because the one which was in there already was an MM5. The J ones should be in where they need to be. The P will be slightly spaced out and it is an experiment but it will work, even if it is not "pure P". I have put an Armstrong P5 into my MTD Kingston which is in the MM spot, and in the thick of a live band I have not felt that the position being a few mm to the left of where it "should" be is an issue and it still does "P". I was originally going to put one big cover in with multiple magnet options in there but because the original rout was MM5 with ears it would have to have been the size of a bus to cover all the holes. If you are putting a new block of wood in the middle, then you could put a large one piece cover in - like the monsters you were considering earlier, just with your own configuration in there. [/quote] Very interesting, another option to add to the mix, many thanks Owen. Seasons greetings to you also mate C

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1387354641' post='2310922'] I am in the process of changing a single pickup instrument into a double pickup. I wanted the best of both worlds so have gone for 2 x humbucker pickup covers with 1 x J and half a P in each. They are mounted fairly close together and that way I can get either 2 x J, 1 x J or P options running. Just an idea. [/quote] Interesting idea Owen, but the PUPs would surely have to be extremely close together to get a decent PBass tone (even reversing the order of the two PBass PUPs so that the treble side is closer to the bridge than the bass side makes a substantial difference to the tone)? Will having them that close give you sufficient separation for the J-PUPs to give a true J-Bass tone. I guess what I'm asking is whether it allow any of the PUPs to sit in their respective sweet spot? Having said the above, who's making them for you, I'd like to see how they look? C

Thanks for your input folks. I've given this project - especially the PUPs - a lot of thought, and I've come to the conclusion that I need one thing and one thing only, versatility OK, joking aside, what I want tone-wise now may not be what I want tone-wise in 5 years or even next year, so I will be essentially looking for 2 PUPs Active circuit Wal-like aesthetic (i.e., humbuckers, ideally black) Relatively low cost (£400 total) Thoughts? C

The more I think about this....... Cockups and equipment failure, fair enough. Lying to a customer about what they were doing with his legal property, property that he had every right to expect was being legitimately repaired under warranty but which was in fact being repaired by someone who may not only invalidate that warranty but - if the fret story is anything to go by - could leave an unsafe piece of electrical equipment....... It's a job for Luca if you ask me. [attachment=150623:lucabrasi.gif] Again, name and shame

I'm in the lucky situation of having bought a mutant fretless Wal that I'm going to fix up/restore to my own specifications, likely with an East pre-amp although I'm undecided about PUPs. I loved my old MK1 to play but wasn't the greatest fan of the tone, which was to my ear a little synthetic. Perhaps I simply never got to grips with the pre-amp?

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1387300939' post='2310473'] Are they an authorised repairer for the amp? If they did a dodgy fret dress I'd be very worried about them repairing a £1,000 amp and voiding the guarantee. [/quote] That's the real problem. I would go in there with a pickaxe to be honest, and then get Watchdog involved, and then put a horse's head in the managers bed. And then I'd really go to work on them. Name and shame and save others the pain?

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1387298645' post='2310439'] [pedant]Un coulis is a preparation, somewhat liquid, normally fruit, poured over a desert (un coulis de framboise sur glace à la vanille...). Les couilles du chien are part of their genitalia. Just sayin' [/pedant] On topic, and simply my tuppence-worth... To get o/p valves to give their crunchy overdrive sound, they need to be driven quite hard (depending on the circuitry...). This normally means high volume, hence Marshall stacks, cranked. The 'classic' way of getting [i]that [/i]sound without the volume involves placing the cab in the next room, or face down on carpet, or a 'power soak'. A 200w valve amp, pushed into 'crunch', will start cracking concrete. There are valve amps that break up earlier (Orange, Matamp...), but it's still damned, ear-bleedingly loud. If you really want [i]that [/i]sound, so be it (and the tinnitus that eventually goes with it...), but you'll not be popular in many pubs. I use such an amp (Hiwatt...), but with the opposite 'need'. I want to stay 'clean' for ever; my KT88s will not break up at any humanly-sustainable level. I don't play that loud, of course, I just have headroom to the sky. For 'grit' I would use pedals. Be sure of what you're really after. If you want 'clean', then 200w is magnificent. If you want o/p valve 'grit', then 200w will cause physical damage to buildings in the vicinity, and lasting damage to ears. Subject to correction, completion and/or contradiction from others. [/quote] Spot on, Dad3353, with my old 300w all tube Ampeg I could play Glastonbury without leaving North Wales. Even my current 100w Ampeg is way too loud for nearly any small-medium venue clean, let alone when it gets gritty C