3below

Even the most well intentioned KPIs have unintended consequences, my profession has suffered the consequences of them since 1992. I frequently take comfort from the quote "We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."

Solved - f*** off and do as I told you (this is an advanced form of management and leadership technique that took years of experience to develop and codify)

pmd

Just bought a Sansamp Paradriver from Dave. In excellent condition, just as described. Excellent communication and the pedal arrived as quick as was possible.. Deal with confidence, a credit to BC.

I like this method, another one to file away (pun unintended) for future use.

Is this one string (B would be my suspect) or all of them?

Thanks for reply. I would not worry about intonation errors of a few cents, different finger pressure, hand position, vibrato and temperature will also come into play in a gig. Just to add to the fun, in one musical genre I played in, tuning slightly sharp improved the overall band mix. I have no idea why this should be.

I have found getting the intonation 'spot' on with my 5 stringer B string has been a compromise. Bass is a G&L, nice new strings (both TI and Chromes flats tried). The notes fretted do change pitch slightly from slightly sharp on the initial attack to correct pitch in the 'steady state'. We are talking cents here. I also found that the floppiness of the B string results in finger pressure being a factor in tuning. My compromise was to balance the open B, octave B and fretted at 3,5th & 7th intonation, based on me mainly using 3,5&7 on B string. My take as a Physicist is that initial plucking of the string causes the tension to increase significantly , hence increase in frequency (pitch). As the string amplitude decreases with energy losses the frequency drops. It would be interesting to measure these transient frequency changes (This surely has been done) and how well a string remains tuned over the lifetime of a note. I have the kit at work and may take a quick look in the near future.

The other 'dimension' to throw into this is 'portliness' which has certainly crept up on me with age. For some reason I am not the same slimline shape I was in my 20s and 30s. I find the SG strap button (back of the body) in conjunction with my body shape works really well in helping tilt the body away from me. Top horn buttons are not as good for me. The more upright bass position mentioned by DoubleOhStephan also helps significantly. I aim to play with about a 90 degree elbow bend and my wrist/ hand 'straight on' to my arm, no wrist rotation. YMMV but I find this comfortable, 3hrs+ playing is no problem.

I could cause some envy by admitting what I got mine for on BC - 2011 ish I think Mine has a nut that is held down by an Allen bolt. However it would be interesting how the nut has been turned round or adapted on the 'well known internet auction site' one. Whatever it is, it can be sorted. At the opening price it would be a worthwhile buy with the view of getting a body made for it (DMZ4001 style which is nicer IMO). If you did, make the upper horn much longer and get the strap balance better.

Have played mine in a brewery in winter (yes really) which was a vast hanger type industrial building. Big temperature changes as the industrial sized heating powered on and off. Not a problem with tuning. The sound is different: clarity of notes, evenness of response and no dead (or super live) notes on mine. Disadvantages - it is heavy and a neck diver.

Like Shaggy I am fortunate to have a Kramer Alu neck bass. IMO Cheap Kramer Alu, not these days unless you are very lucky! Great basses, hard to explain but mine just 'plays itself', the string response is unlike any other bass I have (in a good way). Keep looking, you may get lucky.

At one point I suffered left wrist tendinitis, 20 mins bass playing gave me major wrist pain / inflammation. I thought I was going to have to give up bass playing (after some 20 years or so). I then stopped playing seriously for about 2 years for a variety of other reasons and then started again. Can use the same basses and have no problems in the last 20+ years (including 3hr+ gigs). I have found the shape of bass neck I prefer (find easier) has changed over the years. I also now use my SG bass as weapon of first choice. This bass rotates the neck away from my body and results in much less wrist rotation angle and flexure stress and I find it very comfortable. I have no idea why my wrist played up or why it does not now. I do find (being older) it is very easy to lift / pull / twist heavy things and cause wrist/elbow damage. Consequently I now think before doing stuff that 15 years ago I would have just 'piled into'.

Had a two pickup version of this. Good quality build, lightweight. Pickups seemed very low output. Sold it for the money suggested above.

The wood, never mind that the wood may be sourced from the same forests, the tone imparted by good ol' boy USA CNC machines is far superior to that of Mexican or Japanese CNC machines. In all seriousness I am not really sure anymore. I have a range if basses from the USA, Korea, China, Germany, Taiwan, Czechoslovakia, and India. Quality is not a function of country of manufacture or price would be my conclusion. Chowny Indian made bass quality is everything as good as my USA G&Ls. My Chinese Warwick Rockbass is superb and apart from the gloss finish and wood choice is on a par with my German one (both of those are preferences not quality issues).

Mid Wales Music, Newtown. Great 'traditional' music shop. Good range of interesting s/h and new kit at variable prices (some bargains, some fair, some ???). It has been going a long time, I bought one of my basses there in 1990, bought most recent two years ago. Phil has done well to compete against the rise of the internet stores, long may it last. One thing that works for it is being in Mid Wales, if I travel to West Mids or whatever to a large music shop the costs and time become significant. Disclaimer - I have no connection other than buying kit over the years.