BottomEndian

[quote name='cocco' post='958895' date='Sep 16 2010, 10:27 PM']Haha ok that's a fair point. Although I'm a p/j toting heavy Ampeg 8x10 lugging stuck in the 70s although I'm only 23 type.[/quote] Takes all sorts to make a bass forum. Anyway, the tone controls on the average passive bass are simple low-pass filters. They're not preamps, obviously, but the basic principle's the same. A filter-based preamp just refines the concept somewhat.

[quote name='cocco' post='958534' date='Sep 16 2010, 04:56 PM']I think bass players on the whole fear change[/quote] Really? I'd say the opposite is true, compared to (for example) guitarists. We embrace our active circuits, fretlessness and lightweight amp gear. Anybody here play with a guitarist with an onboard preamp? Fretless guitar? Neo speakers? Chances are they're toting a Strat/Tele/Les Paul/SG, into a heavy 2x12 combo. Sweeping generalisations there, obviously, but there's an element of truth IMO.

The other beauty of floating thumb is that it allows you to keep the same RH shape as you move across the strings. You don't tilt or stretch for the upper strings; you just move the whole hand across. This lets you keep a consistent feel across all the strings.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='958028' date='Sep 16 2010, 09:31 AM']Chromes are a flatwound tape and not ground or polished.[/quote] From [url="http://store.daddario.com/category/145852/ECB80_Set_Long_Scale_40-95"]D'Addario's own website[/url]: [quote]The strings are wound using an outer flattened, "ribbon" wire [b]which is then polished to an incredibly smooth finish[/b].[/quote] (My bold, obviously.)

[quote name='pete.young' post='957761' date='Sep 15 2010, 10:04 PM']Work in intervals, not in notes![/quote] Indeed. If a melody/bassline/whatever suddenly jumps deep into leger line territory from within the stave, even experienced pianists will have to do a bit of deep concentration to pick out the first few notes... but when the line leads gently off the stave (as so many do) it's easy to follow. That said, as a pianist you get to know by sight at least the first octave of leger lines outside each stave pretty quickly, because it's common territory once you get past the Classical era.

[quote name='brick' post='957501' date='Sep 15 2010, 06:23 PM']barre the three lowest strings with the side of my thumb[/quote] So the side of your thumb's just resting on the lower strings? Sounds like "floating thumb" technique, and it's what I do.

[quote name='tauzero' post='957276' date='Sep 15 2010, 03:13 PM']Or possibly bouncing the string on the bridge saddle, or maybe even the string rattling against the fretboard. EDIT: Just to clarify, by mechanical, I meant anything involved in the physical side of the string's causing the piezo to distort and thus generate the signal, rather than the electrical, which is any distortion caused to the signal by the circuitry that it travels through.[/quote] Yep, I get you. Although in my case, the string rattling against the fingerboard is generally a [i]good[/i] thing. Mwaaaaaaahhh!

[quote name='tauzero' post='957252' date='Sep 15 2010, 02:52 PM']mechanical distortion.[/quote] Taking the piezo material itself beyond its working limit? Now there's something I hadn't considered. These piezo things are still kind of voodoo to me.

[quote name='Bigwan' post='957153' date='Sep 15 2010, 01:12 PM']I remember GarethHughes did some clips of a fretted custom he had for sale with ghs brite flats on it and I thought they sounded really roundwound-esque...[/quote] I've always wanted to try some of those, but I don't think they do 5-string sets. Or if they do, they don't bring them into the UK.

[quote name='tauzero' post='957083' date='Sep 15 2010, 12:13 PM']The signal coming from a bass is of the order of 100-200mV p-p[/quote] [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/rick-turner-piezo/mar-05/3368"]According to Rick Turner[/url], a piezo pickup can have transients exceeding 12V. Don't know how true that is, but I can certainly push the 9V onboard pre in my Skelf into distortion if I really dig the hell in.

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='956572' date='Sep 14 2010, 09:27 PM']aww,,, amazing pic. The wee fella looks so happy[/quote] Cheers. He was indeed. Now he's 3, he's a little more... changeable.

[quote name='Clarky' post='956979' date='Sep 15 2010, 10:29 AM']I think most flats are wound with flat wire/tape, whereas Chromes (and Status too?) are ground down to be flat. Probably explains the slightly different characteristics[/quote] I could be really, really wrong but I think Chromes are proper flats, wound with flat, wide ribbon wire. It then gets heavily polished (but not ground), which could contribute to the clank. And "clank" is definitely the word I'd use for Chromes.

[quote name='fretmeister' post='956975' date='Sep 15 2010, 10:27 AM']Anyone tried half-wounds or groundwounds? The D'Addario's look interesting.[/quote] I found the D'Addario groundwounds unbearably "sticky" under the fingers, and it didn't wear off even after a few weeks of heavyish playing. Status half-wounds, on the other hand... awesome. They're currently adorning my fretless SR5. Thump aplenty, but still with growl and zing. And cheap too!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='956009' date='Sep 14 2010, 01:49 PM']Not all Warwicks. I love the look of the '80s Streamers with the [url="http://media.photobucket.com/image/warwick%20streamer%201990%20fretless/rehanceral/1221338805.jpg"]darker stripes[/url]. [/quote] That's a lovely look.

Realised I've yet to post in this thread, so here's me in the woods with the firstborn: It's about 2½ years old (the bairn's 3 and a bit now, and he's got a little brother too), so there's now less hair and even more weariness.

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='954751' date='Sep 13 2010, 01:56 PM']Heh, I'm having fun browsing your bookshelves.[/quote] Me too. I'm baffled by the presence of two copies of Dickie Bird's autobiography (one paperback, one hardback). Is one of them signed or something?

[quote name='johnbiffa' post='954620' date='Sep 13 2010, 12:39 PM']Check out his work by seeing the EB3 at a Proper Boys gig, www.theproperboys.co.uk[/quote] Weren't you at the Angel in Corbridge on Friday? Bugger. I would have popped up had I known there was a BCer on bass! I only live a couple of hundred yards away, on the other side of the bridge.

[quote name='obbm' post='954582' date='Sep 13 2010, 12:09 PM']This one: ... Now waiting for the new custom hardware and the sycamore fretboard.[/quote] Yep, that's the one I was thinking of. Simple, clean choices. Lovely. Keeping a close eye on that one, because I'm quite tempted to get Alan to build me a fretted 5er after my fretless is finished, and I'm just getting into the idea of headless. Yours could be just the inspiration I need.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='954552' date='Sep 13 2010, 11:47 AM']Surely you mean [b][i]Presciscion[/i][/b]?[/quote] "You taking the pisch?"

[quote name='obbm' post='954479' date='Sep 13 2010, 10:42 AM']Last year I was considering a Sterling 5HS but really could not justify the outlay so I opted for a custom ACG headless Harlot 5HS with the same string spacing and similar neck profile. It's now on the radar, as in Alan has started showing pictures, so hopefully it will be with me before the SE Bash.[/quote] Is that the one with ebony top and ash body? Laaaarvely. But not going for Alan's asymmetric profile? Interesting. I think it says something about EBMM's pricing (and also how reasonable Alan's is!) when you commission a custom build because you can't justify the outlay on the Sterling.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='954408' date='Sep 13 2010, 09:40 AM']Why is it spelled wrong anyway? [/quote] Fender bought the V.C. Squier string company, which was named after its founder, Victor Carroll Squier. It's just the guy's surname. Check out the thrilling history of Squier: [url="http://www.squierguitars.com/news/index.php?display_article=99"]http://www.squierguitars.com/news/index.ph...play_article=99[/url]

[quote name='bartelby' post='953848' date='Sep 12 2010, 07:00 PM']Got a new case for my little set up. Still experimenting with signal path and positioning. Next purchase is a Dunlop DC Brick. [attachment=58633:P1000045.jpg][/quote] Sorry if I've missed this earlier on, but... please explain the heavily modded Crybaby! TC Polytune: I'm sure it's a great tuner and everything, and I'm sure we'll be seeing it on a lot of boards, but... well... no offence intended... it's a really ugly m*****f***er, ain't it? The "bulge" around the display is just unsightly, and it kind of reminds me of...

Ah, hold yer horses -- we're fast drifting into the realms beyond my knowledge (which isn't hard to do ). Nut replacement is certainly outside my comfort zone. I would say your best bet would be to take it along to a local guitar/bass tech who [b]does[/b] know what they're doing, and see what they think. Could be something really simple and obvious to them when they've got the bass in front of them, and they can give it a full proper setup while they have it. If they let you stick around and watch, you can learn loads of useful things to help you maintain your own instrument. Or maybe someone else here could take a different guess as to what the problem might be.

[quote name='Chris2202' post='953254' date='Sep 11 2010, 11:45 PM']There ya go [/quote] Ah, splendid. Looks well wound on the tuning post. The nut slot on the E does look a little spacious compared to the string though.

[quote name='Chris2202' post='953250' date='Sep 11 2010, 11:40 PM']I did what you said applying light prrssurse to the bit of string but it made no difference, I can't upload pics atm as my Photobucket isn't working but when I restrung it I did what you said above about working downwards, what is your diagnosis?[/quote] Hmmm. If there's a decent "break angle" at the nut (i.e. the string's pulling downwards enough after it's passed over the nut towards the tuning post), which there should be if you've got a few full windings on the tuning post, then I have one more question... Are the new strings the same gauge/weight/thickness (whatever you want to call it) as the old ones? If they're lighter than the old ones, the nut slot may be too wide, leading to a buzzing rattle in the nut slot. The string needs to ideally sit in a slot that's almost exactly the same width as the string. As a quick fix, you can try shimming the nut slot by wrapping a small piece of paper around the string in the slot. If that [b]is[/b] the problem, the only permanent fix is to get a new set of strings the same gauge as the old ones, so they fit the nut properly... or get a new nut. If it's not the break angle or the nut slot, then I pass over to those with more expertise than me (I just happen to be the guy reading this thread at ten to midnight on a Saturday ).