EssentialTension

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1068550' date='Dec 24 2010, 10:08 AM']OK, I understand how the Ostrich guitar works. What I don't get is WHY?[/quote] Drone?

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1068405' date='Dec 24 2010, 12:14 AM']Interesting, must have been a 60s thing. I can understand it more chordally for guitar though. It's a funny thing with forums - some people apologise for dragging up old threads & yet occasionally people post new threads on subjects that have been covered before and almost get corrected for not using the search function first. Ya can't win, I tells thee [/quote] Maybe my apology was tongue in cheek or head in sand.

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='1068346' date='Dec 23 2010, 11:05 PM']Nuts - I thought I'd just practice on a 5 string tonight and give the detuning a miss. My 5 string was slightly out of tune so being lazy I just used my tuner and forgot that the thickest string on a fiver is B not E - SNAP !!!! Wished I'd just detuned my 4 sting now [/quote] Sorry to hear that bad news but see what happens when you don't do as you're told.

Apologies for resurrecting this slightly ancient thread but .... .... on the subject of tuning all the strings to E (or any other note) I accidentally discovered this today: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich_guitar"]Ostrich guitar[/url] so there it is for anyone who's interested.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1068238' date='Dec 23 2010, 08:59 PM']Obviously if someone tunes differently to the standard, that makes them idiots to one degree or another. It's not like it's a creative art forum we're on, we should all stick to the standards. /sarcasm.[/quote] I can't see why tuning differently would make someone an idiot to any degree - people can tune their instrument how they like, and indeed they do. However, I can't see what's creative about a band [i]insisting[/i] (as the OP puts it) that the bassist tunes in a particular way - they are demanding he sticks to their standards. I've played with several blues or country guitarists who used a range of different tunings - usually open tunings of one kind or another but also other non-open dropped or lifted tunings. They would commonly have several guitars, one set up for each of the different tunings. However, I've never been asked and certainly no one has [i]insisted[/i] (as the OP puts it) that I tune my bass any way other than how I want to tune. I have on occasion been asked for a low Eb or low D and have supplied it but I'd be resistant to being told what tuning to use.

Double bass. That's it.

[quote name='jonnyfastfingers' post='1068055' date='Dec 23 2010, 06:19 PM'][url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?aid=120663178427&sv=120663178427"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?...sv=120663178427[/url] For a synth pedal?[/quote] They are fetching more than that regularly. Personally, I'd rather buy a bass or a rig.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1068080' date='Dec 23 2010, 06:38 PM']I predict you would hate Pyramid Gold flats which have a lilac or pale violet colour to the silks. Even the metrosexual Happy Jack thought they looked camp on my Precision![/quote] They look good on my translucent burgundy Decade though - I must take a pic.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1067925' date='Dec 23 2010, 04:41 PM']Guitarists do this because they heard SRV and Hendrix did it. That is pretty much the sole reason.[/quote] There's rarely a good reason - IME.

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='1067903' date='Dec 23 2010, 04:26 PM']I have only tuned my bass EADG but last week I was playing with guys who insisted that I tuned down a half step. I did this but as I'm not used to it I find it confusing as I have to play a fret higher than what I'm used to , so for example a G is 4th fret on the e string rather than the 3rd fret. So is there any point to it other than allowing me to play E flat. It seems a lot of effort just to get to one note, particularly when I can get to it on a 5 string ! Or is there something else which I'm ot getting . Help ![/quote] I don't myself think people should be insisting on how you tune your bass. If the songs require a low Eb for some good reason then there are other ways of achieving it: i.e. D-A-D-G tuning or just use a drop tuner on the E string or as you say a fiver.

I like the silk wraps but I do think some colours don't look good on some coloured basses. For example, red silks look fine on a sunburst bass but bad on translucent burgundy. IMO

Interesting but $919 might look expensive when it gets to the UK. Is the Hellcat VI being phased out?

Tried lots of effects - didn't like them. Occasionally I use a Tech 21 VTBass or an EH Black Finger to shape tone. But that's it.

There's already a thread on this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=115286&hl="]RIP Captain Beefheart[/url]

Anyone know where I can get some Gretsch style knobs as below but without the logo?

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1018902' date='Nov 10 2010, 03:46 PM']That is a good cd but look for a Wynton Kelly cd called Blues On Purpose. It was recorded around the same time as the Smokin' lp and is really strong. PC does a 10 chorus solo (12-bar blues) that just lifts and lifts and has the audience really whippedu up and he takes it further that any other solo I have heard him play (and I have heard hundreds and hundreds)[/quote] Having managed to access a copy of the Blues on Purpose CD (thanks Rob) I have to say the comment above is absolutely correct. Wow.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1059072' date='Dec 14 2010, 10:15 PM']I think this band's problem doesn't stop at the guitarist [/quote] I wanted to slap the singer for a start.

[quote name='Paul S' post='1051474' date='Dec 8 2010, 11:08 AM']I had one for about a year a while back. Not a skinny neck at all on mine, it was a real baseball bat neck - wide AND deep - like the larger Fender precisions. Weighed a tonne and a half, too. Beautifully built thing from quality components, spoilt me for cheaper basses. IMO better quality than a Shergold. Limited sounds at your disposal, though. Biggest problem I encountered with mine was the bridge, which is perspex and, in my case, cracked. Fortunate enough to find a NOS one to replace it with but that was a fluke. All things considered it wasn't for me but they are good quality British built piece of kit and becoming collectable. [attachment=65930:me.jpg][/quote] I had one of these from new in 1974 - cost me £120 if I remember correctly. I'd agree that the neck wasn't skinny and the bass was heavy but after I traded it for a 1976 Fender Precision that was equally heavy I wasn't sure I'd done the best deal.

Sold John some bass books, very straightforward as always.

I voted flats but then I always do. TIJFs on my fretless Precision

[url="http://www.guitardaterproject.org/fender.aspx"]Guitar dater project[/url] says 1978-1981 for that serial number. You'll need to take the neck off and check the pot codes.