hubrad

Went through the Reset Password mud.. is something set so if your password isn't considered Strong you just can't come in? Now I just have to remember the new shiny password to log back in on any other devices!

Afternoon! Is anything untoward happening today Weds on the login side? My phone still appears not to be a problem, but the laptop hasn't been able to get in all day. All the details are correct, but the page says no. Any ideas?

I have had my AH250SMX since new in early 90s, which is probably all you need to know(!) Not actually heavy, extremely versatile head and can be very loud depending on cab choice so good for practice through to gig. I mostly leave it turned fully to valve preamp, but you can blend them. The one modification I made was a TE-supplied transformer to balance the XLR DI out, which was originally not balanced. Still love it and use it.

The tc corona chorus is great, especially if you liked their tone print. Also tc, sum'n'up for octaves up and down plus some really interesting things.. I get an almost organ-like tone from mine! Sounds like you're sorted for reverb. I can't comment on drive, as I never use it. Phaser, I use an oldish mxr phase 90.. perhaps a tc to complete the set, or even one of their multi fx boards? Iirc there's no drive, but an insert for that purpose. Good luck and fun in your quest!

I have a Cort A5, which presumably has a very similar or same preamp, deffo the MK-1 pickups. I agonised for ages over getting some USA Barts into it, but at a fair old price(!) Then a secondhand Aguilar OPB-3 pre came up on here in Marketplace at a good price, so I went that way instead. Transformed the bass! I've since seen on reading round that the preamps in Cort and Ibby actives are often considered less than musical in their operations. My vote is get a good pre first. Alternatively, completely remove the current pre so you can hear the pickups alone. If you're happy with those then go for the new pre.

I looked at this listing.. appears to be a total bargain if you can live with that appalling 'relic' job. Tempting but I really can't justify it right now.

If you're seriously concerned, deffo the above. Get someone who knows hands to look at it. Even before the current state of affairs and waiting lists, however, I rather doubt you'd be getting to see anyone that knowledgeable in the two weeks before your next gig, so for the time being plan on it being what we all hope, just a one-off or a bit unfit. Do exercises and warmups before playing (actually a good plan for us all, especially as years advance) and analyse just what's going on with your hands and arms while you are playing. Can't do any harm, and you might help yourself in the long term. A mate of mine carries a hair dryer to actually warm his hands up pre-gig. Sounds unusual but works brilliantly for him. I hope it simply doesn't reoccur!

Great.. now Ebay are suggesting I might like to make an offer for it! "Needs strings".. then some.

If it's of use or interest, we'll be in Surbiton tonight Tuesday 9th.. https://www.stevetilston.com/upcoming-shows/

Hilarious! oh, wait..

Every now and again someone will suggest to Steve Tilston that he should steer clear of politics in his music. His most usual response is that if they're just complaining about such a thing now then they obviously haven't been paying much attention to his last 50-odd years of songwriting.

Haha, brilliant!

Jings, that headstock really has been, errr.. modified, hasn't it?

Curiously, I've never actually developed much by way of callouses. I can't remember where I got this style from, just kinda osmosis as it fitted in, although a mate in Leeds loosely described it once. I think of it as a sort of jazz-slap. Works for me! If anyone's up for a bit of a Zoom session I'll show you the basis of it if you like. I occasionally get down to Bristol with Steve, as he lived there for a fair while. Do you locals know a brilliant harmonica player, Keith Warmington? They go back a long way, and I love getting to play with him as well!

Reading the above, are you actually after more of a bassline with percussive accents? I know a couple of guys who are awesome on the ratatatat rockabilly slapping, but it's not where I wanted to be. Anything like this?

Excellent! My next suggestion was going to be to double check all the connectors were the right way round. Glad it's sorted. 👍

I'm assuming you have the EMG pots among the kit? Quite different values at 25 or 50k as opposed to 250/500. I've used loads of EMG over the years, and done alot with wiring, and not had this problem with them.

Couple of things spring to mind.. the 4 pickup is a little smaller than the 5. Under the 5 plate, between the pickup and controls, there's routing for controls, look at the switch. I'd be inclined to do some mockups in cardboard, then once finalised you can give that/those to someone who makes plates for a really neat job. That's unless you have those cutting and chamfering skills yourself, in which case the world is your oyster*. *Other shellfish, and vegetarian options, are available.

Revive.. I just realised the photos went the way of history, probs in the site change a few years back. I'll see if I can find them on a storage drive somewhere.

Eyup Mick, My first reaction is let this guy get away to re-form with ex-drummer and find yourselves a singer who's up for working as a band. Painfully more work short term, but most likely less pain long term, fingers crossed!

Eyup Smanth, When I converted my Ibanez Roadster to 5 string headless (I think the build diary is still on here from tidying it up a couple of decades later) I used the bridge and head string anchor from my B2V. A little later i fashioned a clamping thing for single ball strings; the choice nowadays is luxury compared to 30 years back! I only had hand tools, so the holes aren't perfectly straight, but you get the idea. Maybe you have a friend who is better than I was at engineering diy? The only thing I found against the idea was that once you cut off the leftover bit of the lower strings they can unravel with no warning, so even though the outer windings remain clamped the inner pulls through, leaving a very slack string! Super glue in the trimmed end proved to be the solution to this. Hope this is helpful.

My tupporth.. I got a Cort 5 string with those MK-1 pickups and possibly the same preamp. Sounded OK, but on the harsh side. I did alot of reading round on forum threads, and most folks were critical of the pre. As am experiment I bypassed the pre and got a significant improvement in tone just from the Barts, so cast around and here on BC found a second hand Aguilar OPB-3. Way better than before! Change or bypass the pre before changing the pickups is my vote.