Grand Wazoo

[quote name='thebassman' post='930871' date='Aug 20 2010, 01:11 PM']I have always used Deoxit gold g5, i ain't cheap but i works really well. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Deoxit-Gold-G5-Contact-conditioner-%26-protector---14g-_W0QQitemZ180236903885QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=127284764911&rvr_id=127284764911&cguid=2352c2c512a0a47a0537f487fff5bf41"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Deoxit-Gold-G5-Conta...537f487fff5bf41[/url][/quote] Thanks for that so where do you spray it to be effective, should I lift the knob and spray it on and around the pot shaft?

Hi peeps, what is the required gear / spray to use that would cure a crackling pot on an amp, and why do amp have this problems? Even new amps like my Mark Bass does it, I then have to wind the gain pot on an off a few times to clear it but I would like a more permanent solution. Is there a recommended spray for this? Cheers

You've got 3 choices depending on how deep is your pocket and how vintage you want it to sound: Duncan Antiquity: [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/antiquity/bass/1104412_pickup/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/anti...1104412_pickup/[/url] Lollar: [url="http://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LGP&Product_Code=207&Category_Code=pbass-pickups"]http://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/merchant....e=pbass-pickups[/url] Lindy Frailin: [url="http://www.fralinpickups.com/bass.asp"]http://www.fralinpickups.com/bass.asp[/url] Whichever set you chose I also recommend that you replace all pots and wiring with this vintage correct kit: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WIRING-KIT-FENDER-PRECISION-BASS-HIGH-QUALITY-/270624270198?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WIRING-KIT-FENDER-PR...tar_Accessories[/url]

Knowing him.... whatever he wants this week, he'd have gone off it next week, and he'd be after something else. I have never seen anyone like him in terms of gas and "wants" lol

Well the Dingwall has passed the test on all accounts, it's a great lil' bass, very comfortable, plays well and records well too. This ABZ is passive but the only thing that reminds you it's a passive bass is the lack of an onboard preamp by means of Treble / Middle / Bass controls, whereas all you have is a very effective tone control which I tend to favour as close as possible to 1 or 2 max. The best sound comes from both pickup in series or the bridge soloed. Has anyone tried one of these, I think I've found a little diamond in the dust with this bass. Really chuffed, and Alex at the Bass Gallery in Camdem made me great deal on the price, but if I tell you I'd have to kill you.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search SEARCH: ALLEGRY Did you mean: Allegory

[quote name='Musicman20' post='929821' date='Aug 19 2010, 02:05 PM']Cheers chaps. I do think used is the way to go.[/quote] There's 2 of them in my local shop... (either used or new old stock ex demo or something, both of them are mint) pm me for details if you want me to link you up to them.

Most modern amps and cabs comes with these "speakon" jacks, now I am a 40 something ol' fashion git, please can someone tell me what's it all about these type of cables versus the old style copper shield 1/4" jack to jack jobbies? And why so many manufacturers are adopting those, there must be something good about them, so what is it? Thanks

bloody hell 800 quid!!

I do have 3 MusicMan, but they are outnumbered by: 2 x PRS's, 3 x Squier's, 1 Fender, and the latest a Dingwall ABZ 5'er which I just got 2 days ago, thats' 7 non EBMM basses, I do like 'em but I wouldn't class myself as that much of a brand loyal, nothing wrong with them, I just like others too.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='928224' date='Aug 18 2010, 12:00 AM']How does it compare to the MB combo?[/quote] Well it's interesting you asked, because I plugged the prom head into the MB speakers and it sounded awesome, the MB head and the Prom one have slightly different sounds, but but once connected to larger speakers you can tell just how powerful and hi-fi this amp can be, I mean it is awesome as it is in it's small 1x10 combo but it does compromise a lot on the low side of things whereas when you let it breath through a bigger set of cones it does perform a lot better. All in all I am more than pleased, and thank you for suggesting it to me, originally I thought it was a bit dear, but then I went to try one and I had to get it.

Afraid it was the usual whitewash, the whole lot was "ethnically cleansed" and Tino got banned: all evidence removed, in true American cover up style. Can't say I didn't see that coming though, I knew it was a futile attempt to rock their boat.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='928179' date='Aug 17 2010, 11:19 PM']No, not at all - I've had expensive custom made stuff & cheap as chips stuff. In every walk of life you'll find a diamond. I just know what I like to play best, that's all and because it's my living, I play the best...[/quote] Same here, I have basses from both end of the ££ scale and I agree there's good and bad in both cheap and expensive

I am loving my promethean, I find it a quality bit of kit actually.

Clarky if have to be honest I'd say anything between £1500 and £1700 but you are on to a bass which can only gain value rather than lose it, hence like many if I were you I'd hold on to it, and 20 years from now you're laughing it when you see the value it has reached.

[quote name='basshead56' post='926321' date='Aug 16 2010, 12:05 PM']Thomann already have em for sale. And as far as I can see, most online retailers have listed today as the day of arrival. Anyone been lucky enough to get their mits on one yet?![/quote] I was gonna but then I got something completely different in the end see this thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=99006"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=99006[/url]

[quote name='Johnston' post='926341' date='Aug 16 2010, 12:21 PM']As someone who doesn't own any EB items but would love a Big Al if I ever got the money together. It makes you wonder what would happen if you ordered a bass and something just wasn't right. If that attitude works it's whole way down the line would you just get bummed off with we built it we done the QC we sent it therefore there is nothing wrong??[/quote] I have to disagree there, in a way we are blessed by the fact that UK Distributors, Strings & Things have a stellar record regarding customer support, just ask Musicman20 to nane one, the blokes that work there like Pete Lunney & Co. would bend backward to assist you with any issue with courtesy and effectivness. And they are not the company owners but the sole UK distributors. So on that issue you wouldn't have to worry as you won't have to deal with EBMM Usa for any warranty matters.

[size=3][b]The Bass: Dingwall 5 Strings ABZ[/b][/size] --------------- The ABZ features a satin finished swamp ash body with a maple neck and fingerboard. Its passive electronics nail the traditional ash/maple tone and then some. It’s also the lightest in weight of the entire Dingwall line. -------------- Dingwall made in Canada FD3-A pickups Dingwall passive controls; volume, pickup selector (Bridge, both parallel, both series, Neck) Dingwall USA strings Two piece swamp ash body Natural satin finish Maple Fingerboard - satin finish, 34 - 37" Banjo frets Novax® Fanned -Fret System™ Maple neck Hipshot ultralight tuners (black) Custom Dingwall Bridge (Black finish) Weight - 7.12lb/3.50kg Manufactured in Canada Active Electronics Right Handed [size=3][b]The Amp: Ibanez Promethean 1 x 10 combo[/b][/size] - take it everywhere toy amp (Oi' there's no hiss on mine unless you wack the EQ, Treble and Vibe knobs fully clockwise otherwise it's as quite as a quiet thing) SPECS 250w Combo, 500w with Extention Cab 10" Sub rated for 250w HF dome tweeter with passive crossover 6 band graphic EQ with bass and treble shelving tone control Detachable head High Quality peak limiting circuit Vibe (Color) Control (from vintage to modern sound Mute switch Aux input, Headphone out, Balanced XLR output with ground lift Tuner out 12.8W x 12.7H x 18.1D 26.8 Lbs [size=3][b]Pics:[/b][/size] ----------------- [size=3][b]The Bass[/b][/size] [size=3][b]The Amp[/b][/size]

Ok everyone, I am sure you have all vented your opinions in regards to the Ernie Ball forum and in regards to Sterling Ball. Well now if you'll allow me, I would also like to have my chance to say my piece but I am really hoping you will all listen to what is truly an unbiased point of view and one which looks at it in retrospective, a kind of a reality check for all those who have expressed reservations towards EB forum and BP to help them understand and appreciate the difference betewen a "corporate" forum and one as open as this which is dedicated to the bass as an instrument and it is not run/owned by any major manufacturers the likes of Ibanez, Warwick, Fender etc etc. A brief admittance from my side, so you further understand where I am coming from, my thinking is very much along the lines of you all, a true forum of discussion should be open to all and should honour all topics and shouldn't be so heavily moderated and castrated, I am a member of that forum too with the exact same username, I am not denying or hiding that very fact. Being as liberally minded as most of you are, I have had countless runnings with BP, in fact I don't believe he likes me much because my biggest defect is that I would call a spade a spade and I won't keep quiet when I am argued against, as a result, a lot of my threads and posts have been locked / deleted etc. All these acts from him and his dobermans have often offended me, hurt me in my pride and you would ask why do you keep visiting the forum, well simply because 1) I really like their instruments, I have 4 EBMM basses and I am not one to spend the cash just because I am on a rat race to keep up with the Jones, that is not why I buy EBMM basses, I do it because I truly value the instruments and I get a lot of enjoyment from owning them. If you know me, you'd know that I would very seldom sell a bass on if it wasn't because I was truly unsatisfied with it and 2) I have made a lot of friends in there from various corners of the world, people who share my same interest and those with whom I have exchanged ideas and traded helpful tips. Returning to the way that forum is run, yes I agree it is heavy handed to the uninitiated, but we really can't argue with that because you know that after all it is a [b]corporate forum[/b] dedicated entirely to the Ernie Ball stuff and while I do agree there should be kinder ways to deal with people, example those asking if they recommend after market pickups for a Stingray, etc etc, but really what do you expect? They make them, from the woods to the electrics, the pickup etc etc, it is their registered mark property, in which they have invested capital to produce and distribute, it is obvious that they are not going to say, well stick a Seymour Duncan in that, you'll get a much better overall balanced sound, and that is barely an example I am sure you guys would have witnessed more of similar nature. Some guy would get a hard time, simply because he expressed disappointment at the lack of colour choice on a given bass, other would get troncated and their threads locked for asking if there are known replacement parts other than the ones available directly from EBMM. In fact Ernie Ball would not sell you one of their pickups unless you send back a faulty one so on and so on. Their goal is to protect their intellectual copyrighted material. Full stop, if you were the boss, you would also have the tendency to look after your business. We can argue that point to oblivion but at the end of the day, we must accept it and take it on board, it is their forum, it's their name is on the doors, they have a company to safeguard, employees to pay wages to, and the employees have families to feed. Without the employees there would be no production. EBMM behind their apparent bad points have been actually awarded as a living wage employer who treat their staff respectfully and provide them with a secure job regardless of the strict economic times we are in, where Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are laying off 1000's of staff because they can't afford to pay them, why? Because they are not selling the same amount of cars that they had budgeted 10 years ago, and I am not going off topic because my correlation to this is that Ernie Ball are not selling as many basses as they would want to, they have openly said it in the forum and regardless of that they are keeping their staff on but they have to streamline their production to products which will really sell and their marketing nowadays is really crucial, they must produce basses in colours that Joe public will really buy, i.e. traditional colours like black, sunburst or natural. Which is why their colour choice must be limited to the colours which market research database proves as a definite seller, I guess one person might like a purple / green bass but not 10 millions and if they make that many, and they don't sell them they are in trouble. Now as I've said before, I have had plenty runnings with Sterling Ball because our characters have divaricated opinions, and as a result I am not in a position to consider him a "pal of mine" as much as he wouldn't consider me one but... I have to say that actions speak louder than words and while he can appear to be a bit rough handed when he deals with "infidels" like me, he is not without a big heart and a really serious sense of business accumen. He is a very charitable man, as a father of a disabled teenager myself I can forget all about his being a bit of a brat, having learnt that he has done many charitable things that have really moved me, and I am sure a lot of people who have learnt about these things would "get him" too. His son was born with a kidney disease and he had has donated one of his kidneys to his own son, well you might think any father would do that, yes we all woud but being in his position and in contact with many famous people from both music and sport he set up a charity called the Casey Lee Ball (his son's name) dedicated to pediatric kidney research [url="http://www.ernieball.com/clb/"][b]see this link[/b][/url] where he reguarly offers his own instruments for sale at auctions, these end up making big bucks and all proceeds goes to that charity, he also patrons other charities but they are too many to list. To add more to the understanding of the way the man is, you'll also find that he has helped a forum member who was diagnosed with a brain tumor by setting up a collection in the forum where people were donating via paypal for him to pay for his medical expenses as you know in the US there's no such a thing as the NHS and people have to pay for their treatment, also he donated the bass he was buying to him for free because before the collection was started he had to cancel his order as the tumour was diagnosed and he couldn't afford to buy his bass anymore, you can read more about it in here actually [url="http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A70743"]http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase...oid=oid%3A70743[/url] Now if that type of collection was started in this forum I doubt we would have reached $9000 in 3 days. Why was the response so effective? Because Sterling wrote a few basic lines that moved everyone who read them in which he was coaching people to dig deep in their pocket and offer anything from a $1.00 to as much as they could afford. Yes there are many who idolize the man but when he gets the ball rolling on something there is no stopping him, that's for sure. The list goes on, there was another forum member whose wife was also diagnosed with cancer and he made a bass for him with the cancer charity logo who Sterling Ball also is a registered charity supporter. As I've said the list goes on, and yes the man might soung like a knob, if I was to be honest I would say I am not very fond of his character but even I can see that he has his heart in the right place and a business is a business, you can't expect it to run it without safegurading your interest. In other words you can't make an omelette without cracking some eggs. Make what you may of it but surely before you comment / disagree or diss you really need to do your homework first. By the way I am back from my holiday and I am at work again on Monday I had a great time, met a lot of cool people and some crazy ones too. Finally I need to add a point which I forgot to clarify, someone said "Who does BP think he is, not as if he designed the Stingray" well the truth is, that Leo Fender indeed designed / invented the Stingray, but it was a young Sterling Ball who worked for Leo at the time, who being a bass player which Leo wasn't and Sterling Ball beta tested the bass and provided Leo with the tips and feedback which in the end helped shaping the final production item which we now all know as the Stingray, perhaps without BP the Stingray might not have been as succesful as it has been, again you can read all about it in here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MusicMan"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MusicMan[/url] There is this quote there too: [size=2][i][b]"These instruments were designed by Leo Fender and Forrest White. Sterling Ball assisted in the design of the bass"[/b][/i][/size] The way Sterling Ball moved the company forward from the take over of Music Man selling Stingrays to all the current models, Big Al, 25th Anniversary/Reflex, Bongo, and Sterling basses, well you can't deny the magnitude of their quality and public response.

[quote name='daz' post='917514' date='Aug 6 2010, 10:35 PM']Grand Wazoo is the guy to ask i think he has them all CVj, VMJ, '51 CVP, '60 CVP.[/quote] Grand Wazoo is presently on hols in Egypt and logging from the missus Iphone (she's gonna kill me when she gets the bill HAHA) ....errr quite, you are 90% accurate Sir, except that only one I don't have and won't want to have is the VM Jazz, tried them all mind you, but what put me off about the VM was the build quality and the cheapness of the whole package, you hold a Classic Vibe and you immediately feel the quality in your hands, the neck fits perfectly in their pockets, the feel of the neck is spot on with the real thing, whereas the VM has this satin feel that don't inspire me confidence, its not like a waxed unfinished neck of an Ernie Ball and its not like an Ibanez sort of feel something in between that sounds to me like a recipee for disaster when the neck ages on. Also the bridges on the VM are flimsy whereas on the CV's you get proper Hi-Mass bridges with brass saddles and that accounts for a lot of the resonance, sustain and stability of tuning. Finally the CV range comes from a very well established factory in China that makes various big names instruments including Jackson, Charvel, and other Fender owned brands, while the VM are made from a less skilled sweathshop somewhere in Indonesia, not being funny but the economic conditions of the two countries are a 1000 years apart, and between the two I know which has the more advanced technology and skills and which to put my trust in. Holding one of the CV's speaks volumes, to me they're even better than the Mexican Fenders. I've tried many CV's and never found a naff one. p.s.: these poxy iphones are a pain to type, I hope you appreciate the effort I made to write this! grrrr Laters

Now that you've put the worm in my head and I have safely reached Gibraltar, the missus is having a nap and I'm doing the "net" on her iPhone (shush don't tell her, it's gonna cost her loads lol) I wondered about the Ibanez Promethean and the other range they do of small compact and more affordable amps called SWX. I remember seing these at the music show in B'ham last year and they sounded quite good: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?sid=42ea1825fbef291501fe9e137e464dbb&xsid=42ea1825fbef291501fe9e137e464dbb&sw=Ibanez+SWX"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?s...p;sw=Ibanez+SWX[/url], then I listened to this demo on youtube and I think to me at least that little amp sounds the bollox, and it is a lot more affordable than the Prome-what-it's-name... I think the IBANEZ SWX35 might be just the ticket at £127 from Thomann... anyway I need to turn this iPhone off and get some rest, I need to sail to Egypt in a few hours. tara!

[quote name='mashup' post='911570' date='Jul 31 2010, 11:56 PM']Thankyou so much. Do you think that it's a job that he could do in a day or 2? We have a gig mid next week[/quote] Very unlikely. You need to book and then it could be a 1 to 2 weeks wait if you're lucky, I get the same treatment despite being a close friend of his and of the Chandler family for over 25 years. Look mate I tell you honestly there's hardly any luthier in town that operates a drop in, while you wait job, not that I know of at least, otherwise I'd be using them myself. Specially with Brinsley working only part time after his initial retirement he just does it cause he's the best there is in that trade, almost as a vocation, Chandler would be at a loss without him, the other 3 luthier that work there full time are ok but young and lack the experience Brinsley has.

[quote name='mashup' post='911562' date='Jul 31 2010, 11:45 PM']Thanks alot for all of your help. I'll try what you said, as maybe the strings could have got crushed? Obviously doing wonders for the fretboard! The guitar tech has it, so hopefully he'll sort it out, but he didn't really inspire me with any confidence. If all else fails, do you know of any good luthiers in and around south london? Have a great holiday with the missus. It sounds like an adventure, Cheers, Mat[/quote] Phone Chandler Guitars 0208 9405874 (not Charlie Chandler Experience) and ask to speak to Brinsley Schwartz, bear in mind he only works there Sat and Mon, he has recovered many written off basses and guitars in worst conditions than yours, broken necks, snapped headstocks, you name it. Their address is 302 Sandycombe Road, Kew Gardens, Richmond TW9 3NG. You can rest assured he will put it right.

[quote name='mashup' post='911553' date='Jul 31 2010, 11:24 PM']Thanks for all of this amazing information, but i really dont feel confident in doing this. If my bass comes back and it's still f***ed, would you be up for the job if i paid you for your services? Sorry, i know it's a bit cheeky of me, but you do know what you're doing, and i dont. Also, i wasn't overblown with confidence in the guy i left it with at the shop. How likely is it that the neck shifted from it's pocket? It's a 6 bolt neck, and it looked absolutely fine upon inspection, externally anyhow.[/quote] I'd love to have a look at it mate, but I am off on holiday for two weeks in the morning with the missus, I'll be sailing a yacht to Egypt, so regrettably I can't be of help, I am afraid. Start by fitting a decent set of strings and check intonation at the 12th fret open / harmonic and then fretted. If it's bad, take it to a good luthier, I am in London and when I am not on holiday I live/work on a cargo ship so very seldom ashore.

First question and more important, is your brother still alive? Want me to take care of him? Say the word and he sleeps with the fishes. Now onto the bass, it is quite likely that the neck might have shifted from its pocket and horrible tell tale signs will be revealed once the neck is removed from the body pocket and inspected for cracks. So take a few deep breath and do as follows: [b]1)[/b] remove all strings and unscrew neck. Remove the neck gently by holding the body on a table (use a large towel or rubber camping mat or aerobic excerise similar mat sumfink soft in other words) tap the back of the neck at the heel joint gently until it comes out. Do not force out, by twisting the neck up and down, this will damage the neck pocket. Now look inside the pocket and at the back of the neck heel, are there any cracks? If yes, you're fu###ed, and if not you're lucky and go to [b]2)[/b] [b]2)[/b] undo the trussroad to the max so that the neck shows a prominent [b]back bow [/b]see pic below Now get a straight edge ruler and see if all the frets are sitting firmly in their slots, or if any of them have sunken in by the tyre driving over them, in other words they should all stick out at the exact same heigth. If all the frets seem to be ok. go to [b]3)[/b] but before you do that, unscrew and remove the bridge and check if this has been forced into the wood by the tyre, see if there are any sinking marks, if not then it's one less problem and all your issues with tuning now are relevant to the neck itself. Hold the neck up and look at if from the bottom of the heel to the top of the nut, is the neck warped or twisted? meaning is one of the sides turning up or down at the end, i.e. the g string side or e string side are they not even with the bottom of the neck? If they are all ok then lets proceed to the last point [b]3)[/b] [b]3)[/b] Re-fit the neck to the body, (and the bridge, if you took it off) re-string the bass, with a new set of strings the old strings would have been squashed by now and would not be round anymor but oval-ized hence giving false tuning due to the irregular vibration, sounds complicated but a not fully round string will not produce a true pitch. so... Neck is in place and strings are on, but we have the trussrod completely undone so the strings are all resting on the frets, not a problem start step by step to take your string up to pitch first and then adding turns on the trussrod until the strings start to come away from the frets. Repeat this until you have a satisfactory action, not too low and not too high, with miniumal fret noise. To check the optimal relief you can use a guitar capo if you have one or a pencil with a rubber band to press all the strings down at the first fret, then press the string at the 12th fret and see if there is a gap the width of a credit card at the 7th fret, use the trussrod adjustment until that is achieved. Junk the pencil/capo and tune the bridge now. Plug your tuner in, and play the open string first, then the harmonic at the 12th fret, if the harmonic is sharp move the saddle towards the neck if it is flat move it away towards the arse end of the bass. Do that for all the strings until all the 12th fret harmonics are pitch perfect. Now the moment of truth... with the tuner still plugged in, play the open string, then check the harmonic at the 12th and ensure as above that they are of exact perfect pitch, now gently press the string down on the 12th fret with very little pressure and see if the pitch goes up or down, if it does, Huston we have a problem, if not we have sorted it, and you should live happily ever after and so does your brother. (possibly as far as possible from any bass)