matski

[quote name='dub' post='801537' date='Apr 10 2010, 08:57 AM']Has anyone had the chance to compare a musicman with through body strings to one without? In theory it should be brighter, but what's it like in practice?[/quote] Ooh! Me! Me! I have 2 pre EB Music Man basses: my '79 StingRay is through-the-body, my '83 Cutlass is through-the-bridge. For reference, they are both slab bodied, both have 2 band EQ, both have brass nuts, and both weigh about 9lbs (at a guess). So almost the same, apart from the fact that one has a maple neck and one has a graphite neck. I usually fit 'em with EB Slinky strings. The difference in the sound? The StingRay has more bottom-end fatness, and the Cutlass has more top-end zing. Any help at all?

I need to change strings on my Rickenbacker for the first time since I bought it... Have no idea what strings are currently on it, and tend to go for DRs these days, so was wondering if any of you blokes have fitted DRs to a Ric. If so, which ones float your boat - Lo-Riders, SunBeams...???

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='804789' date='Apr 13 2010, 12:44 PM']Sorry to sound like a w***er, but apart from the bridge and headstock, i'm having a tough time distinguishing between the cutlass and a standard sort of stingray?[/quote] They're pretty much the same instrument, but the Cutlass has a carbon fibre neck.

I've always had a bit of a thing for black basses, so consequently my line-up is in the majority all a bit 'Darth Vader' Here for your viewing pleasure are my black beauties: '78 Fender P [attachment=47176:78_Fender_P.jpg] '79 MM StingRay [attachment=47177:79_StingRay.jpg] '82 Fender JV P57 [attachment=47180:Fender_JV.jpg] '83 Aria SB B&G I [attachment=47178:Aria_SB_B_G.jpg] '83 MM Cutlass I [attachment=47179:Cutlass_I.jpg] '00 Kubicki ExFactor [attachment=47181:Kubicki_ExFactor.jpg]

I got my 'big Fender small Squier logo' JV P-Bass for £50 from a 'bloke down the pub' back in 1984...

[quote name='Quatschmacher' post='782383' date='Mar 22 2010, 10:27 AM']The 5-string classic ray is what they should've done all along, it looks great. The normal SR5 look OK but I always thought they should've called it something else as it doesn't look like a ray.[/quote] +1 to that! The headstock of the SR5 has always bugged me though - somehow the position of the lower tuner just looks wrong. In my opinion the Classic SR5 should have a headstock more like the Sterling 5...

[quote name='clauster' post='777731' date='Mar 17 2010, 06:47 PM']American Guitar Centre in Tonbridge?[/quote] There's a decent guitar shop in Tonbridge now...??? Wonders will never cease. When I used to live in Tonbridge there was just a crappy general music store at the bottom of Quarry Hill - they probably did more business selling recorders to school kids than anything else

[quote name='Stingray5' post='773762' date='Mar 13 2010, 06:51 PM']At least no one came up afterwards and said, "hey man, that was great - can you do it again?!" [/quote] That actually did happen to me at a gig in Brighton back in 1986. I got a bit tangled up in cables without realising, took a step backwards, fell straight down on my arse. The accompanying 'kerlangggggg' and feedback were quite impressive...

I was playing in a band that used drop tuning for 30% of the songs in the set - however I only have the one 5-string so had to get a little creative. I kept the 5er in the regular tuning of BEADG, but put the bottom 4 strings from a set of 5s onto a 4 string and dropped the tuning to ADAD. Gauges were 130, 100, 80, 80. The strings didn't sit in the grooves on the nut but on top, so action was a little high, but it was better than trying to retune one bass 5 times a set...

Some joker is pretty hopeful... Could be yours for the ridiculous price of £1100!!! [url="http://www.allegro.pl/item946132361_fender_squier_jazz_bass_83_vintage.html"]http://www.allegro.pl/item946132361_fender...83_vintage.html[/url]

Sounds like crap. No wonder he bungs so much fuzz on...

Let's face it, if you want 'your' sound when you play live you have to use your own rig. I found this out the hard way.. My previous band was booked to play a major gig in a city square here, which was also due to be broadcast live on national TV. It was part of an annual charity event and consequently there were 4 or 5 bands due to play. We were assured by the organisers that there was no need to bring our own backline as 'professional level' gear would be provided. Now, call me pedantic but I don't call some tiny 1 x 10 '100w' Hartke combo really up to the job... Especially as the material I played required the use of 5-string bass droptuned to low A!

My home-recording set-up is remarkably simple, yet highly effective. I use a MacBook Pro 17" laptop on which I run Logic Express. Plugged into the Mac is an M-Audio NRV10 mixer/audio interface. The really handy thing about the NRV10 is that as it plugs directly into the laptop using FireWire there is no latency (or 'lag') when recording, and also the NRV10 allows you to record 6 tracks of audio simultaneously. It also has onboard effects which are ok, but I actually don't use them during recording as Logic has much better built-in effects. Also the NRV10 works really well in a live situation. Say, for instance, that you want to use a laptop for 'backing tracks' when playing live, you can assign audio tracks from your sequencer software (or DAW which is the technical term) to separate channels on the NRV10 and therefore control parameters such as output volume via the mixer's faders, pan, eq, drop-in and out etc., etc. It really is pretty good. So it's this simple: instrument > NRV10 > computer Job done.

[quote name='Sean' post='761028' date='Mar 1 2010, 07:31 PM']I play that bassline every Saturday night and some Fridays and it's just great. Nothing sad about that at all and if you can get near the tone in this video below, it's just fabalas, mun.[/quote] There's some guy selling one o'them Ovation basses over here. He wants 800 quid for it though....

"So just don't" That's a classic!! Davo, I'm surprised you can't shift that fretless P Bass. Got any piccies of it...

Thanks for all the words of wisdom, guys. Very much appreciated! Weightwise: I didn't weigh it, but it didn't feel particularly heavy to me. And yes it is a 3-bolt neck jobbie.

Fellow BCers I am seeking advice from all you Jazz bass buffs out there. I have a chance to buy an all original 78 USA Jazz, but am wondering what a fair price for it would be. Pros: it has a good straight maple neck with mother of pearl (I think) block inlays, all the electronics are original and work perfectly, and it plays well. Cons: it's missing the ashtrays (not a big problem, admittedly) but the major sticking point is that it has been badly refinished: at some point in it's history some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to paint it black with what looks like aerosol car spray paint. So what do you guys reckon it's value to be? The seller is looking for the equivalent of 1250 pounds. What would you be prepared to pay?

Just buy it! Then strip it and paint it black.... Finding decent '76 StingRays these days is hard work. From personal experience the pre-EBs sound way better than post-EBs - much fatter in the lower end, and not so 'clacky' with the treble dialled in. I have a '79er and as soon as EB started production back in the 80s I bought one as a live back-up bass - the sound sucked compared to the '79 so i sold it about 2 months later...