bremen

[quote name='spiritchaser' post='335317' date='Nov 24 2008, 09:57 AM']The tonal range of a WAL ... OK, so you need a Stingray sound - just a flic of the electronics and you're there. You need that tin-like, hollow Ricky sound - same. Fender? Wait just gimme a few seconds - there it is. You need a piano-like Ken Smith-sound? no problem. And you have your DI out at hand for recording or in any live mixing-console situation. It just takes some time to become accustomed to the electronic possibilities of this instrument and on a dark stage looking for the right pu-setup can be a problem. It's the versatility in tone, the perfect playability and the perfect craftsmanship that makes a WAL a WAL in my view. And they just look and feel great. My MK I fretless 4 string was my first fretless bass ever and I didn't have any problems with intonation at all. I felt at home right away. Some say the WAL necks feel chunky - well try one of those Warwick stems and think again. WAL necks feel like those of normal Jazz-necks to me. Also, try to get that low action you can achieve on these chunky necks on a Stingray and you will fail. My MK II fiver's low-action playability is perfect from the lowest up to the highest fret. These basses just play like butter. And they re-sell like Mercedes Benz cars just because they are that good, extremely rare and built with a lot of love to detail. tc Oliver[/quote] I'm beginning to regret turning down the WAL fretless I was offered for £150 a few years back. 'I've already got 2 basses, why would I want another?'

[quote name='OldGit' post='335193' date='Nov 23 2008, 10:36 PM']Would that be this, Chris? [url="http://www.pleasuremenow.com/ProductImages/Internet_Enabled_Rabbit.jpg"]http://www.pleasuremenow.com/ProductImages...bled_Rabbit.jpg[/url] [/quote] ouch!

[quote name='Beedster' post='334727' date='Nov 23 2008, 09:37 AM']I think we all want to know the answer to that. Most likely he won it himself....[/quote] 'he young son bid on it'

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='334990' date='Nov 23 2008, 04:57 PM']It's a very interesting point John and I tend to believe that over the years, more great music has been created by bands/artists/writers when there is an element of what you call 'the fractious environment of members not quite getting on' Being a fan of Roxy Music, I was always fascinated by the well-documented 'creative tension' that existed between Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno in their early years. Many fans, me included, would say it helped inspire the band's best work. There's lots of similar stories about The Beatles along these lines too...[/quote] Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey...Glen Matlock and the other Pistols...

[quote name='markytbass' post='334643' date='Nov 22 2008, 11:12 PM']yea, starting at 99p hmmmm.[/quote] I just emailed him asking what happened to the guy that 'won' it for £400.

Does it stay in tune as it warms up?

[quote name='Delberthot' post='333741' date='Nov 21 2008, 11:51 AM']My gold Warmoth has a mahogany body so I never noticed any neck heaviness. My newest one has a swamp ash body so i took the precaution of getting a set of gotoh resolite machines.[/quote] I have a Warmoth dinky P (ie a slimmed-down P) swamp ash with a maple neck and Schaller BML lightweight tuners. The whole thing weighs 3.4kg and has no balance issues. For comparison, the 79 Fender Precision I released into the wild was 4.5kg and the Mighty Mite/Mex P is 4.2kg.

[quote name='Sibob' post='333709' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:58 AM']The Warmoth necks do seem to have a lot more about their construction, in that they are steel bar reinforced with two way truss rods etc. As a result they're apparently quite heavy, so bear that in mind![/quote] This is true.

[quote name='simon1964' post='333687' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:39 AM']I like the Mighty Mite neck. Seems good quality, and good fit. I would have said its pretty much equivalent quality to a Fender standard neck. I've never used Allparts or Warmouth so can't really compare. You might want to have a look at a US ebay store called, I think, Stratosphere. I can't post the link as ebay is blocked at work, but he has a huge range of genuine Fender necks at reasonable prices. I've bought a couple of things from him in the past, with no hassle. Tuners can be a problem, but really only on vintage spec models - I think the current models are all the same size (although do check - I could well be wrong on that!).[/quote] I wonder whether it was my mex P body that was odd, rather than the neck. I'll make some measurements if you like. regarding tuners, I've found that only the position of the screwholes varies between vintage and modern P, to accomodate the various plate shapes. I've never had trouble finding the appropriate pattern to match a neck that's already had the screwholes drilled. Delberthot posted a series of links to Fender-a-like tuners: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=32082&view=findpost&p=332805"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=332805[/url]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='333675' date='Nov 21 2008, 10:24 AM']Very usefull reply Simon, cheers. How did you find your mighty mite? I see allparts and warmouth about too. The warmouth stuff just looked in another league, although I have no experience of any. Are they all US imports? Would my standard Fender tuners fit all three. cheers.[/quote] I had some trouble fitting a Mighty Mite to a mex P; I had to sand the neck pocket slightly to make it fit laterally and then when it was fitted it was so high above the surface of the body that I had to choose between shimming the bridge or routing the neck pocket deeper. I did the latter and it's now a fine instrument (though the resale value is probably a bit knackered). Warmoth necks are beautiful. I have a maple P neck and it's deeper from fingerboard to back of neck than my Jap Fender P or the Mighty Mite. I haven't tried fitting it in a Fender but it fits the Warmoth body so well that it hardly needs screwing on. Virtually an interference fit. Yes, standard Fender/Schaller/Gotoh tuners fit all three. I have an unused set of Gotoh, want them?

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='333440' date='Nov 20 2008, 09:35 PM']Maybe it's me being a bit thick but I clicked on the link for the audio interface and I am a little puzzled as to where the guitar lead plugs in to it ??[/quote] It's got phono sockets. An active bass would just about work without a preamp, a passive hardly at all. I've only ever used it with a preamp so it might be me that's being thick by assuming it'd work. I just edited my post to say 'you WILL need a preamp with this'.

[quote name='Clarky' post='315117' date='Oct 26 2008, 03:52 PM']I am using passive P and J basses, albeit with hot pickups (DiMarzio, SD Quarter-Pounders) so assume this would not be a problem for me. Nevertheless can't see me getting hold of a Trace as none FS on interweb or the Forum.[/quote] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRACE-ELLIOT-SMX-DUAL-COMPRESSOR_W0QQitemZ200277958098QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Access_RL?hash=item200277958098&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRACE-ELLIOT-SMX-DUA...A1%7C240%3A1318[/url]

[quote name='thebeat' post='332756' date='Nov 19 2008, 11:34 PM']It is indeed and it's been on and off my basses almost as much as a whoors knickers.[/quote] You keep a whoor's knickers on your basses???? Suppose it soaks up the beer...

[quote name='uptonmark' post='333205' date='Nov 20 2008, 03:55 PM']what i want to do is record my bass AND whatever track i am jamming along to, and save it on my pc have done so before with windows sound recorder but quality not to good, bit of fading in and out i am guessing what i need is a sound card if so, would this be easy to use for a non tech-head like me also, if it is what i need, i would prefer an external one .....any recommendations (nothing too expensive) cheers[/quote] These work for me: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_ucontrol_uca_202.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_ucontrol_uca_202.htm[/url] For use with anything other than a very high output active bass you also need a preamp; I haven't tried these but they get good reviews: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/art_tube_mp.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/art_tube_mp.htm[/url] Passive basses have a high impedance output that doesn't really match the sort of low impedances you find with line-level solid state gear like soundcards. I don't get commission from Thomann by the way! good luck!

[quote name='YouMa' post='333193' date='Nov 20 2008, 03:43 PM']I think jaco had real style,i like his dress sense,im still trying to get my playing to sound like his early bass on little beavers i can dig it baby ,sounds like an easy line but when you come to play it,aarrghh.I love love that song it is so sleazy.[/quote] Yeah, he's great. Here's a band called Setanta, football fans I guess :-) [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2BrLEuzVCVQ"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2BrLEuzVCVQ[/url]

I'd never heard of this guy, where is he from? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCwH3amLaU&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCwH3amLaU...feature=related[/url]

[quote]To paraphrase, a gentleman is a man who can play a bass solo. And doesn't. Jon.[/quote] [quote name='Musky' post='333082' date='Nov 20 2008, 01:08 PM'] That is so going in the quotes thread![/quote] And here:

[quote name='thebeat' post='331941' date='Nov 18 2008, 10:56 PM']The hum made by jazz bass, single coil pups is only audible when one or the other pups is at higher volume than the other, when both are at the same volume...no matter what that volume is, no hum is heard. Conversely, when the front pup is at a volume higher than the rear pup...or vice versa...hum can be heard.[/quote] Got you. The 2 pickups are out-of phase. Foil shielding won't make any difference in this case. How come the sound isn't horribly thin then? Switching my PJ to out-of-phase the tone is useless.

[quote name='gafbass02' post='332587' date='Nov 19 2008, 07:53 PM']that's good to know, well i'm still alive and the shielding has really helped. So just to check it's ok that I wired the earth plate thing to the pot?[/quote] Yes, that's fine. Happy to hear you're still buzzing, and the bass isn't :-)

[quote name='thebeat' post='331787' date='Nov 18 2008, 08:48 PM']Still think it's just the fact that they're single coil pups ....what do you mean when you say 'If it was due to the lack of humbucking in the pickups it'd get louder as the volume was turned up' ? Do you mean when he turns the amps gain or output up? If so, he hasn't said that this doesn't happen. Most of the time the most obvious answer is the correct one.[/quote] Because if it was because they were single-coil the noise wouldn't be dependent on the setting of the bass's volume controls. I may be wrong but the way I read Geek's post it was only a problem when they weren't fully on.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='331743' date='Nov 18 2008, 07:46 PM']An old Hondo or Encore precision copy. I'm going to need a fire.[/quote] They're made of plywood, burn really badly. You need bubinga or birds-eye maple. With an ebony fingerboard.

This is probably due to lack of screening. If it was due to the lack of humbucking in the pickups it'd get louder as the volume was turned up. As it is, the volume controls show a high impedance to the amp when turned down, allowing capacitive (ie through the air and the wood of the body) coupling. It's the same sort of effect as using a non-screened cable between bass and amp. Fully lining the cavity with copper tape, and grounding this tape to the metal plate, should fix it. Ground loops are not an issue when there are no heavy currents flowing. They are hugely significant in power amps and systems where multiple mains-powered devices are interconncted, but it really doesn't matter how the ground connections are arranged within a passive bass, so long as the connections are all there. The metal plate of the Jazz should be fine as a ground return (so long as the pot bodies are connected to the ground wires of the pickups and the bridge).