LITTLEWING

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1385917889' post='2293599'] Wireless ? [/quote]Most low-enders don't stand any more than 2 metres from their rig. Why would anybody want wireless at 200 squids a go?? Jeez!!

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1385910651' post='2293474'] I want one. Can I have a link to the Fender one you bought please. Les [/quote]Hey Les, check out Fender Koilkord on Ebay, there's loads on there as little as £9.00 free p&p.

Wow!!! I haven't used or trusted curly leads for years, but as I kept treading all over my straights I thought I'd try out a new version, so I bought a nice white one by Fender for less than a tenner and used it last night. FREEDOM!!! No more trampling on leads, getting caught round a cymbal stand or having to keep flicking it behind me as I wander around like you do. The new ones are quiet, don't crackle or pick up local radio stations and are nice and secure using modern tech strands and connectors and to my ears didn't compromise the tone to any degree. There are dearer ones on the market but I'll see how this goes. I am a happy bunny!

Yeah, lighter fluid works a treat, no damage to anything. Gets all grime and beer/snot/jizz off dead easy. Personally I then follow up with a decent car polish but only one where you dampen the cloth first. Comes up like a mirror. Where necessary, any scratches or swirls can be taken out beforehand with a mild car paint renovator. (Autoglym is good stuff). NB. ALWAYS,ALWAYS,ALWAYS use a new clean soft cloth. If you ain't got one, then DON'T. You WILL be sorry, guaranteed.

Can't beat a complete cavity shield with copper tape. The pots should be already fitted onto the 'guard on a section of shielding. Yours appears to have none. Remove the pots and jack socket and stick copper tape on that complete area right to the 'guard edge and ensure the cavity shielding has enough of an overlay on the body to contact when screwed down. Make sure that cap's legs aren't touching when refitted. Guaranteed everything will be as quiet as a mouse.

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1383389340' post='2263887'] A cautionary tale ..... In my recent new found confidence at nut-filing , I ended up filing the E slot too low on my main bass. The problem was completely caused by inexperience and not using the right tools. I was using the welding tip cleaners, which are significantly narrower than the E, A and D strings. I ended up filing a "waisted" slot on the E. So the string was sitting on the waist, and I was filing the slot underneath it progressively deeper, but each time I checked the string it was too high because, of course, it was sitting on the waist, not at the bottom of the slot. So once I cut the waist out, the slot was too low ! This would not have happened with the correct size nut files (which I seriously considering buying) which cannot really cut a waisted slot. But also, having done this once, I will not do it again, even using my "incorrect" tools. It's a brass nut, and I have bodged it back up to height with a superglue/kitchen paper mush, which sets amazingly hard. I tried at first with solder (as it is a metal nut) but the solder was too soft. The superglue mush sets much, much harder and seems very firmly attached to the brass. Sonically, I cannot tell the difference but the longevity of the repair is clearly going to be a doubt. I will change the nut at some point. So, the moral of the story is that if you are trying to do the job without the ideal tools, take it very, very slowly, and check that there is no daylight under the string when it is settled in it's slot each time you re-check it. Also, things can be nicely resurrected with superglue and kitchen paper, at least temporarily, if you botch it. [/quote] Ha! Must be something to do with the Fawley Fumes. I just did my first ever brass nut recently on an old Westfield Precision with a set of Draper needle files and thought I'd got it right until a week or so later when it all settled, the E had sunk a tad too low and was buzzing open string on the first fret. A small shim of plastic cut from a drill bit pack and a smidge of No More Nails took it up where I could start again with a bit more patience and new-found knowledge. Happy to say although I've left it a gnat's nob higher than I'd like, it's playing like a Custom Shop. I'll give it till New Year and see how things are looking and then maybe take it (very slowly and carefully) down to about 0.015 and that should be the biz.

Don't know how old mine is, the headstock decal says Westfield Guitar Makers. Nearly every other one I've seen just says Westfield. (see pic) [attachment=148022:Westfield decal.JPG] Anyone have an idea?

Yeah, I was surprised too. They've been going a while up there. Check them out. [url="http://www.westfieldguitar.co.uk/westfield/index.asp"]http://www.westfieldguitar.co.uk/westfield/index.asp[/url] Don't know what they're like now, the headstock shape's changed, could just be new design.

[attachment=148013:Black westie.JPG] I just picked this baby up as a project for a crazy £20 on Gumtree not knowing what to expect. Spent a couple of quid on black hardware, brass nut and new pots/socket and a few hours with a spray can and cutting polish from a car shop, and a mate levelled and dressed the frets. Ooh, mama..... they are so underrated. Plays and sounds better than a whole load of sub £1000 poorly set up basses they try to palm off in shops. Made in a little factory in Scotland apparently. Just going to let it settle down and I'm definitely gigging it New Year.

Absolutely genuine guy. Had a few problems totally out of his hands with the Royal Snail losing and fortunately finding a package. Took nearly two weeks to get to my door but Stevie kept me updated all the time chasing it up. Definitely buy from him again, no problem.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1370368786' post='2099872'] I used an 8x10 for every gig I did for the last 10 years, pubs, clubs, festivals, inside and out. one of the easiest cabs I've ever had to move around, much easier than a 4x10. Takes up the same amount of floor space, or less, than a 4x10. Being taller, you can hear what you're playing and you can also see the controls on your amp a lot better. I do however use a van to get the band's gear about which is an advantage. Easier to wheel it in and out of a van than to coax it into a Golf. Oh, and I never had a Landlord complain either. [/quote] Couldn't agree more, bud. Best sound I've EVER had, does the job everywhere.

This may be a tad long winded, but someone out there may have a solution. I acquired a Fender Strat (I know it's not a bass!) in a cream colour and there is evidence of (I assume) a circular sticker which has left a lighter patch about three inches across. I don't know if the finish has aged darker before this was removed or if it was in the sun for a period of time 'tanning' the colour just as we do in the sun. Or would the sun fade colour?? My way of thinking is to cut a circle out of a piece of card and carefully 'burn' the light patch in gradually on a sunny day to match the rest. (or would I be going in the wrong direction and make the patch even whiter??) Help!!

This may be a tad long winded, but someone out there may have a solution. I acquired a Fender Strat (I know it's not a bass!) in a cream colour and there is evidence of (I assume) a circular sticker which has left a lighter patch about three inches across. I don't know if the finish has aged darker before this was removed or if it was in the sun for a period of time 'tanning' the colour just as we do in the sun. Or would the sun fade colour?? My way of thinking is to cut a circle out of a piece of card and carefully 'burn' the light patch in gradually on a sunny day to match the rest. (or would I be going in the wrong direction and make the patch even whiter??) Help!!

'Scuse my higorance here, but all this pish about good and bad tuners, how can a tuner gear (unless it's really a ten pence far East item) actually let a string go out of tune? A string needs retuning because you've just stretched the tits out of it with a bit of enthusiastic playing for a while, surely. My Squier VM Jazz has had no tuning issues in a year and a half. In fact, each time I take it out of it's case it's exactly the same as I left it, as does my Yammy BBN5. If I'm seriously missing something here, I'll sit and humbly take it all on board and happily digest new found knowledge.

I must admit, I'd love an Ampeg rig if I had the money (the 100w 1 x 15" combo in our rehearsal rooms is awesome). But since acquiring an Ashdown Mag 8 x 10" to partner my Ashdown EVO 2 300w head, I'm more than happy each venue we play at. Very rarely do I have to alter any EQ, the sound is huge, heavy and crystal sharp and certainly not 'wooly'. I find the trick to the sound is both low and high buttons 'in', low bass on 3 o/c, mid bass on 12 o/c, mids on 12 o/c, mid treble on 3 o/c and the high treble on 3 o/c. I have the input meter just clipping the red on the B string and final volume at 2 o/c. We're a three piece rock covers band and simply using the tone on my bass does everything I want. This setting even works on my Ashdown Compact 1 x 15" very nicely at praccy. The bottom line is Ashdown cabs need to be driven, not tickled. BTW, what exactly does anyone get from the 'sub' button??? To my ears it's a totally nasty sounding, unwanted, waste of "technology". Yuk! Sorry!!

Thanks for all the replies chaps. I've wired the speaker up as white for positive anyhoo and everything sounds nice and punchy. Cheers again guys.

Just a quickie, I took the amp section out of my Squier 15w combo to make a 12" praccy combo and in between weekends of messing about I've forgotten which way the speaker wires go. There's one black and one white but I can't remember which is positive and negative. I'm assuming black is neg but things are never simple in 'ampworld'. Anyone have an idea?

At the end of the day, how often if ever is anyone going to find the need to remove their neck? Why not just glue the thing in once and for all? End result, one solid guitar.

Just to say, I have Prosteels on my Squier VM Jazz and Elixir Nano's on my Yamaha BBN5Mk2 which seem as though they were made for it, nice round 'middle' tone. I had Nano's on the jazz but found them a bit unbalanced in volume, especially the B which seemed to 'boom' rather than resonate, and so I tended to use the Yammy more. As soon as I put the 'steels on the Jazz I fell in love with it again and the now have the Yammy as a home noodler and a spare on stage.

Been using these for years. Never had any noises or any problems. Check out the artists that use them. Good enough for me! [url="http://www.award-session.com/cleartone_cables.html"]http://www.award-ses...one_cables.html[/url] (I use OBBM's amp to cab cables, totally brilliant. Haven't tried bass to amp cables though, probably should!)

I just fitted a set of five D'addario Prosteels to my Squier VM Jazz and recalled reading somewhere on BC about pushing the string down on the playing side of the saddle to make a slight 'break' angle rather than a useless 'arc'. I was a bit concerned that the 'steels weren't ringing as I thought they should and decided to give it a go. OMG, what a difference! They're ringing like a piano on all five especially the B. My only hope is now that this hasn't encouraged string breakage. We'll have to wait and see. Anybody else do this as the norm or am I the last to know???

We've all been here!! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYlsSWW0rPI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYlsSWW0rPI[/url]

The trouble with pubs/clubs is that they're all different sizes, stages/playing areas etc. added to the fact of people coming, going, a bunch that gets up and goes out for a cigarette, all changing the overall sound all the time. The mix you start with when you set up early evening will be totally different by 10 o/c. The best thing we do as a three piece is for me to set a comfy clean level with the drums then bring up the guitar to a sensible listening level along with the vocals. A bit of fine tweaking for 5 mins with bass mids and cutting bass off the guitar is the best you're going to get unless you're mic'd up to a decent engineer. A quick stroll left to right with a long lead as a final sound check and we've never had any complaints yet. In fact we get a lot of punters saying how good we sounded and not blasting the windows out like the last night's band.

While my Squier VM Jazz 5 string is an incredible piece of gigging tool for the money, I can't help thinking the bridge could be letting the sound quality of the B string down a tad. I'm using Elixir Nano's just now. What would you guys recommend as a good bridge replacement?