BottomEndian

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='477565' date='May 2 2009, 10:06 AM']Funny how folk can't spell "ferrules", isn't it?[/quote] Oh, [i]ferrules[/i]! I thought I'd be needing some dead meteorologists: That's all the Ferrel I need, baby.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='476312' date='Apr 30 2009, 07:12 PM']Yes, there's one on Ebay in the basses for sale section. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-BRIDGE_W0QQitemZ280340358273QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item28034035"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-BRIDGE_W...sh=item28034035[/url] There you go.[/quote] I love you and everything about you. Ta!

Anybody know where I might be able to get a replacement bridge like this? The bass is a Hondo Deluxe 830 (except mine's black with black pickguard... and an EMG-P... and it's a righty) bought from our very own cd_david a few years back. Obviously, it strings through the body, and I haven't been able to find a replacement bridge that's anything like it. The finish on the bridge is getting pretty knacked, and I'm going to be putting a Mighty Mite fretless ebonol neck on the bass, so I'm [i]ideally[/i] looking for a black bridge to complete the stealth look, but it's not the be-all and end-all. None of the big names in hardware seem to make anything like it.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='474959' date='Apr 29 2009, 12:19 PM']I picked this up the other day. It was.. innaresting for a quick read. However - the level of apostrophe abuse on show was far, far worse than you get on signs at the local town market, even.[/quote] Yeah, the usual raft of typos, but the review of the Fender head uses the phrase "high frequenciess", which I really like. I love the onomatopoeia of the double-S. I might adopt it in all references to high frequenciess. Might make me sound a bit too Gollum...

[quote name='TMB' post='474947' date='Apr 29 2009, 12:08 PM']Please help by relpying to this with a randon, obscure little know bass, guitar or drum related fact. You'd be helping out loads b coz i have to set up a quiz for a bunch of v enthusiastic and knowledgable students......they r good too.... very good.....help??[/quote] How about some of these: [url="http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Music/Guitar-2885.html"]http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Music/Guitar-2885.html[/url]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='473769' date='Apr 27 2009, 10:03 PM']Giz a shout when it lands...![/quote] Why aye man, nae bother! (This response gains added hilarity when delivered in my own slightly posh Yorkshire/Welsh/Geordie/WTF accent... )

[quote name='alexclaber' post='469240' date='Apr 22 2009, 07:34 AM']The first one will be going to the far North-East so if you're up around there at any point there may be an opportunity! I'd be very curious to find how they differ.[/quote] The far North-East? I'm only level with Newcastle! Surely the far North-East would be Aberdeen? Mind you, to me everything below Leeds is "The South". Anyhow, yeah, the first Vintage will be mine (when it's finally finished!), and if people want to try it out, I'd be happy to try to sort out meet-ups with it. I'm sure I'll be posting here with first impressions when it makes its way into my grubby paws.

[quote name='owen' post='472675' date='Apr 26 2009, 02:01 PM']Is it possible to put purchases made lets say on this coming Wednesday back into the tax year that has just finished? I realise that this is a stupid question, but I cannot stop myself from asking it.[/quote] If you can get your supplier to fraudulently date the invoice such that it falls within the financial year just finished, then that sorts it. The key word here is "fraudulently"!

[quote name='bassace' post='471829' date='Apr 24 2009, 08:17 PM']Yes, it's caught me by surprise as well. Not very well trailed as far as I'm aware.[/quote] Indeed. It was originally mooted in the 2007 Budget, then set in motion in the 2008 Budget, buried under mountains of other stuff. It's hard to find even on the HMRC website. This might help: [url="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/company-tax/brief6608.htm"]http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/company-tax/brief6608.htm[/url] I've never liked the way it's "plant and machinery". If you delve into it, that's defined as pretty much every possible asset except cars. If I were a pro musician, I'd hate to think of my instruments as "plant and machinery".

[quote name='dj150888' post='471703' date='Apr 24 2009, 04:56 PM']Its been said already, but I just don't see the advantage of a 35" scale, I find that every advantage gained on the low B is lost on the D an G strings, its an insignificantly small difference on both to these ears however. I'd go so far as to say I think its impossible to tell by listening to a recording what scale length is being played between the two.[/quote] Entirely agreed. But if, like me, you spend most of your life on the B and E strings (occasionally venturing forth onto that wild land known as the A), you don't mind sacrificing a bit of punch and zing from your D and G. And it would surprise me if [i]anyone[/i] could tell the scale length from a recording -- the 35" is all about feel for me, not sound.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='471696' date='Apr 24 2009, 04:53 PM']Thats very interesting I shall look into it. Thanks[/quote] No probs. I only know about it because I've set up a new business in the last financial year, and I'm [b]very[/b] happy to be able to claim back all £10k+ of the shop-fit, EPoS system, etc. etc. etc. rather than it trickling back over the course of its lifetime. I may be misremembering, but I think the AIA also includes some sort of "amnesty" on asset pools of less than £1k. If you've got a written-down asset value of less than £1,000, you can take 100% as an allowance. I think. Don't quote me!

[quote name='jakesbass' post='471423' date='Apr 24 2009, 12:35 PM']I'm also self employed and if I were to buy them they would not be capital with a WDA (writing down allowance or percentage claim) I would claim the full amount as an expense. Also FWIW instruments are not tax deductable in the sense in which I think you mean (correct me if I'm wrong), tax deductable as expenditure is what you spend in operating the business (i.e strings fuel costs office etc etc). Your instruments are capital investements and you are allowed 40% of their value in the year of purchase and 25% on the diminishing value in subsequent years. Thats how I understand it, the two things are in separate places on the tax return although it's arguable that it's all tax deductable[/quote] I could be out of date but as far as I know, as of 6th April 2008, businesses have an Annual Investment Allowance, meaning they can take 100% allowance for the first £50,000 of assets purchased in the financial year. I'm not sure what the caveats are in the AIA scheme, but I think instruments, amps, IEMs and the like should be allowable -- as long as they're solely for business purposes, of course! So in terms of profit and income tax, it doesn't make any difference if you claim them as an expense or as a capital investment. Either way, the whole amount's tax deductible! I've noticed that HMRC don't seem to have made a song and dance about the AIA, to the extent that some accountants are still unaware of it!

For me (as someone who's learning how to play bass fingerstyle after 5 years of pick-only), other people's tunes are a useful gauge of how far I've progressed. If I know my stupid right hand couldn't play a certain riff a few weeks ago, and I can play it now, I know I've come on a certain way with my technique. Simple but effective. I know that once I can physically play [i]Rhythm Stick[/i], [i]Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes[/i] or [i]Rubber Shirt[/i] (Zappa), I'll feel a real sense of achievement, but I'm not interested in them being the only things I can play, and I'd never play them in public. I'd feel like Peter Griffin in that episode of Family Guy where he can play amazing piano arrangements of TV themes, but only when he's drunk.

[quote name='7string' post='470111' date='Apr 22 2009, 10:14 PM']I think low F would be a low F# a fourth below the low B found on some/most 5 and 6 string basses. There are guys who go down to C# a fourth below the F#.[/quote] Yeah, I guessed they might have meant F#. Certainly makes more sense. I love the look of your bass, but my left hand saw it and ran away to hide in a cupboard. Poor thing suffers enough on a 5-string...

[quote name='iamthewalrus' post='469970' date='Apr 22 2009, 08:18 PM']I think Overwater even do a 36"?[/quote] According to their website, they'll do 38": [url="http://www.overwaterbasses.com/price-list.htm"]http://www.overwaterbasses.com/price-list.htm[/url] Any ideas what they mean by "low F"? You're supposed to tune F-Bb-Eb-Ab?

[quote name='yorick' post='463049' date='Apr 15 2009, 03:01 PM']One of these... Ibanez Roadstar II [url="http://www.uglybassplayer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11048"]http://www.uglybassplayer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11048[/url] :wub:[/quote] Hmmm. That would be quite lovely in a different colour, but the combination of purple finish, gold hardware and white binding really sets my teeth on edge. :wacko: Each to their own.

[quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='461430' date='Apr 13 2009, 07:24 PM']Never been a big fan of Ibanez, but I do like the look of the BTB770PB.[/quote] I've got the BTB775PB (same, but 5-string). Gorgeous to behold. Kind of like a stag beetle mated with a tree: It's a big bass, and it's pretty heavy, but you can feel [i]everything[/i] resonating through your very being. The 18V active circuit is awesome -- the EQ's really powerful, so you can get pretty much any sound you want out of it, and it's got the highest output I've ever experienced from a bass. You have to be prepared for the 35" scale, though. It's a bigger adjustment than I thought it'd be. Especially if I've spent an afternoon fiddling on the Ashbory!

[quote name='RhysP' post='462258' date='Apr 14 2009, 04:38 PM']Ignore me then - I always thought they were tuned the same as a violin GDAE. [/quote] Well, it's GDAE if you're upside down...

[quote name='RhysP' post='462054' date='Apr 14 2009, 12:54 PM']No they're not; they are Bass [u]GUITARS[/u], hence the EADG tuning.[/quote] I may be missing your point here, but double basses are tuned EADG too.

[quote name='endorka' post='458031' date='Apr 9 2009, 01:14 AM']Scott Walker = genius. I'm going to listen to Tilt right now. Do I hear... 21?[/quote] I'll give you 21... 21... 21... Quite simply one of the best albums ever. And I've said it before, but I'll say it again: outstanding bass work from Mo Foster on [i]Climate of Hunter[/i]. Back to the Walker Brothers... yes, superb, love them. My favourite could probably come under the "secret shame" thread, it's so cheesy: We're All Alone. The ultimate proto-power-ballad.

[quote name='tauzero' post='445705' date='Mar 26 2009, 09:26 AM']Only if you've got really really girlie hands. I've got fairly girlie hands (glove size - 9. Mrs Zero's glove size - 9) and I can do OFPF in 2nd position (I have no need to do it in first but I'm sure I could).[/quote] Sir, them's not girly hands. I'm a glove size 7. Thankfully, years of piano-playing have paid off with a huge stretch between ring and pinky (plenty of Rachmaninov helps), so I should be able to work up to OFPF, even on my 35" scale.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='443575' date='Mar 24 2009, 11:35 AM']Logos are here and the first one has been fitted - looks best near the bottom of the grill, centred left to right.[/quote] Damn you, Claber, photos! PHOTOS!

[quote name='tauzero' post='440139' date='Mar 20 2009, 11:37 AM']Considering the carnage that would have ensued had they typed ' instead of ", it's fairly minor.[/quote] Now there's a challenge. 43' scale length. That's 29 inches from nut to first fret. Try playing one-finger-per-fret on that. I can't even manage OFPF in first position on 34"...

[quote name='neepheid' post='439263' date='Mar 19 2009, 02:16 PM']I wouldn't before you check how much you might get for selling the Ibanez as is and then picking up a Squier VM fretless Jazz or something. If the fretless thing doesn't work out then you'd probably manage to get most of your money back on the Squier (especially if you bought it second hand in the first place) and then you're not much out of pocket. Otherwise you could be left with a bass which you've just ruined the intrinsic value of by ripping the frets out.[/quote] +1 A 1993 SR1000 went for £300 recently on eBay (see [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110358168512&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm38%26_nkw%3D%2B110358168512%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1"]here[/url]). That could get you a brand new VMJ fretless and a very heavy night out.

[quote name='johnnylager' post='439209' date='Mar 19 2009, 01:27 PM']Congratulations Alex, that's post # 2000![/quote] And 3447 posts on Talkbass. Where does Alex get the time to build cabs, play bass, eat, drink, sleep..?