LawrenceH

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1329493142' post='1543351'] Bought for making up patch leads - I thought they were a reasonable quality bit of kit but now I'm not so sure. They've never left the house, not got wet or been bathed in splashes of beer or any other liquid. The plating is badly pitted & corroded, not fit for use - they're probably not even 2 years old - fit for the scrap bin! [/quote] I've never seen a genuine Neutrik do that even when stored in 'less than ideal' conditions. Hmmm..

If you think about bass on recordings that sounds good at domestic volumes, then you're hearing sub-80Hz roll-off, probably a bit of a boost just above this and a bit more in the upper mids/treble (classic 'smiley face equal loudness contouring) and a generous helping of compression. Compression in particular will help a lot at low volume.

[quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1329294401' post='1540036'] The main reason my amp is off limits to others is that it's a 1400w PA power amp which has be tuned by computer to the gain structure of my slightly unique effects set up. Clipping an amp at 1400w is not good for my cab and as I can't just flick a switch and it be tuned perfectly for the input gain of other bassists I don't allow the risk. [/quote] If it's an amp with a digital front-end, does it allow for a hard limiter to be programmed in as a second preset separate to what you use? That with a subsonic filter would give as close to bomb-proof a set-up as you could ever get...probably even more than letting someone use your cab with an unknown amp (as I bet your amp has DC and generally more sophisticated failsafes)

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1329325174' post='1540712'] The OP did actually state that he was looking for linear... [/quote] So he did! That'll teach me to skim-read at work more carefully in future

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1329321459' post='1540630'] You're going to struggle with 250KΩ. Nearest I can find is a 220KΩ one from Maplin, use one of those and stick 3x 10KΩ resistors in line with it if the value is critical? [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/standard-potentiometers-with-switch-2208"]http://www.maplin.co...ith-switch-2208[/url] [/quote] Or if the tolerances aren't really tight buy a load and measure each manually - find one about 10% over and you're there! Those Maplin ones are linear though so still may not be suitable

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1329303805' post='1540204'] The VM Pickups are 'Duncan Designed' but made in the far east, not by Duncan. The ones I got with mine were microphonic, and I personally didn't like the sound they made much either. I was after a vintage growl, not a middy honk. The bridge is no different from your standard Fender bridge in design - slightly cheaper metal maybe, but it is perfectly functional. Adding a Badass / Gotoh will certainly make a huge difference to sustain/tone though - as it will on an MIA Fender too. The big selling point about the VM series is the neck, which is awesome and comes with blocks and binding (unusual for this price point). As the neck is the main point of contact between you and the bass it is important to have a good one! Everything else can be upgraded to suit you. [/quote] I didn't much like the pickups, put up against the real thing I thought they seriously lacked bandwidth, though they were quite punchy with a lot of low-mids/bass. I did like the acoustic tone though, as well as the neck I think the body wood is a good choice if you can put up with the weight (it's quite heavy). Definitely the VM would be my Squier preference if I was going to swap out the pickups.

[quote name='untune' timestamp='1329235655' post='1539306'] I've always used Rotosound rounds, just a shame that the most expensive set (flats) that I got, although they felt and sounded great - the G snapped before I'd even really played them, so I still have the other three practically unused sat on one of my basses [/quote] Good thing about Rotosound is they do sell strings singly IIRC, so you might be able to get another.

The pickups in the current Mexican Fenders are a lot better than those in the Squiers IMO. WIthout a pickup upgrade, the MIM will get closer to the 'classic' Fender sound, if that's what you want.

Great! Is that with the 18Sound? How is it sounding?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329143762' post='1537701'] However, they still want an equal share of the loot when it comes to pay-out time. ... The drummer always turns up, which is great - but he's [i]always[/i] late. What [i]is[/i] the matter with these people? [/quote] Thought about timesheets?

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1329126079' post='1537319'] That's looking to be a very nice job so far. [/quote] Cheers! Sanding erases a multitude of imperfections Just have to hope I haven't introduced any new ones...I would've liked the longer 18" sanding blocks but decided I was too cheapskate. We'll see if that comes back to haunt me.

After I'd finished the veneers I cut them down roughly to size with a blade, trying to avoid any gouging along the grain of the maple that'd pull it out below the surface of the board. Nearly succeeded, too. Tried some spot-filling using superglue and maple dust with limited success - the glue just dried too fast, maybe I should've used wood glue. Anyway it was close enough for jazz and there was still the sanding to go. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures for a bit, but basically just took off the tape and sanded with the block trying to put as even a pressure as possible all the way along the board until it looked like this: [attachment=99862:DSCF1474.JPG] Next I decided that just to spice things up, I wanted the neck bound to match the aerodyne body. Which makes a good point to pause...

Once the bleeding had eventually stopped (took quite a long time actually, it was deep) I finished this very tedious and now quite painful job. No massive chunks came out, but the tangs pulled up little bits in quite a few places and up close it did look a bit ragged [attachment=99859:DSCF1467.JPG] I kept the tape on, and used a fresh razorblade to clean out the fret slots and take away the filler from the ends. Then I started preparing the maple veneers - on this neck unlike the cheap one the slots follow the radius of the board, meaning the veneers also have to be radiused. I used the practice neck as a template, shamelessly copying a youtube video I found [attachment=99860:DSCF1472.JPG] Once the veneers were sanded down so they sat all the way in the slots, I ran a line of superglue on the bottoms then pushed them into place, before putting a thin line round each edge and pressing the wood down to hopefully flatten some of the raised flakes back into place. [attachment=99861:DSCF1473.JPG]

Removing the glued in nut, with the flat-head screwdriver and hammer. A bit nerve-wracking but I did this freehand and amazingly managed not to gouge any chunks out or snap the nut. [attachment=99850:DSCF1464.JPG] Unlike for the previous board, I decided I'd mask this one up before removing the frets to offer some protection and help catch any chips pulled out. Rather glad I did this, as it turns out...these frets are really small in profile, quite soft, and I suspect glued in. At any rate, they were MUCH harder to pull out, this first one took ages and without a set of nippers that have been ground down to match the board radius, it's really tricky not to mark the board with metal tools. I heated them with a soldering iron for a few seconds until they smoked (presumably the glue) but this didn't seem to make all that much difference. [attachment=99851:DSCF1465.JPG] After a couple of frets I found that loosening up the frets with a razorblade helped subsequent pulling, working it under each part of the fret bit by bit. [attachment=99857:DSCF1468.JPG] Turns out razorblades are quite dangerous in the hands of an idiot. Who knew? [attachment=99858:DSCF1471.JPG]

So, I was a little hesitant to start ripping frets out of this very nicely finished bass in case I stuffed it up (doesn't normally stop me but eh). Fortunately, thanks to BC user oldslapper I managed to get a cheapo jazz-type neck to practice on for the cost of postage! Thanks again John I had a go at the defretting and veneer inserting on this and it seemed suspiciously straightforward...I ripped the frets out with a leatherman, which seemed easy enough to do without damaging the rosewood board, then superglued in 0.6mm maple veneers (perfect fit) before sanding down with a 8" length 9.5" radius block from Stew Mac. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of this process but nothing apparently went wrong so I moved on to the Aerodyne. You'll never guess what - it was much harder. First casualty. The snug neck pocket on this bass is a testament to Japanese build tolerances. My removal of the neck was a testament to English cack-handedness. You live and, occasionally, learn...luckily being black it should be a fairly simple spot repair. [attachment=99847:DSCF1456.JPG] Here's the board before I mangle it, it's a nice piece of wood: [attachment=99848:DSCF1457.JPG] Some wear marks...definitely won't stand up to roundwounds without a coating of some kind! [attachment=99849:DSCF1460.JPG]

I bought an Aerodyne Jazz, originally to try out and then sell on, but it was so nice I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. So to justify keeping yet another jazz I thought I'd convert it to fretless, and have a go at coating the board as well so I can get that nice growly roundwound fretless tone. Not finished yet but thought I'd put up some of my progress so far...

[quote name='StraightSix' timestamp='1329082444' post='1537031'] Me too - I would have voted Fiesta Red but that doesn't look anything like FR to me...more like Coral Pink. This is a common problem - I love Fiesta Red but so many Fenders are being produced now with this wierd shade - take a look at the Squier CV 60s Precision in 'Fiesta Red' - it doesn't look right at all... [/quote] Fiesta Red was not a very stable colour apparently, faded pretty easily hence, I suppose, modern repros are imitating an 'aged' version much like vintage white versus olympic

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1329072456' post='1536813'] I dare say that 10 or so boost pedals in a row should do the job. Not sure how it would sound, but if you used good quality pedals, cables & power supplies, then it would be an interesting experiment. [/quote] Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74luQLg6Psw (Needless to say, sadly it doesn't work like that)

Hi Dave, Enjoying the blog - have voted Vintage white, but for me, ideally it'd be somewhere between the tint you've shown and Olympic. Good luck!

If you really want to nail that 'Precision' sound with, ahem, precision, then you have to be careful with P/J basses. A lot of them have the P pickup set further towards the neck than a true Precision, to maintain good spacing from the J pickup. The Aerodyne jazz is like this, whereas the Precision model isn't (J pickup is shifted bridge-wards instead). The Power jazz special has a reverse P. Having said all that my Aerodyne jazz does a good enough P impression despite the pickup position! But a true anorak could tell in an A/B.

The closest Precision equivalent to an Aerodyne jazz? That'll be the Aerodyne P, I'd think... http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/fender-aerodyne-precision-bass-614578/ Trick is finding one in the UK.

Band called Orgatronics used a cajon, worked well IMO. Not their best song but the only live one I could find http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA577VySPak For a good portable drum kit without compromising the sound, look at the Yamaha Hipgig stuff. Real challenge is still finding the player though. The Bellowhead percussionist is great, but his set-up's not exactly a compact alternative to a full kit!

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1328978145' post='1535584'] Thus I could turn the drums/vocals all up/down as one? [/quote] Yup, that's the usual idea. How you best group them really depends on how you find yourself adjusting things in the mix. They're often most useful for muting/unmuting in a hurry!

I really can't see the point in even a 4-way mix in a 5-piece band no matter how big the stage, unless everyone's sonically p**&ing all over each other, in which case how bad does it sound FoH? The only exceptions I can think of are if a lot of them are singers. Amazingly enough, I find that I can still hear the sound of a speaker even if someone else is listening to it so sharing a monitor is not a problem...a GOOD monitor though, now that is a luxury! It's often a problem of dispersion. Sidefill-style monitoring is a good solution IME, left, right, centre, back. So many monitors use horns with dispersion angles designed for vertical PA use that it makes more sense putting them vertical at the sides anyway.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1328796338' post='1532764'] As for the wedge, I have used a broken Boss guitar pedal for years to tip speakers up slightly, I have to say it works better as a wedge than a pedal but it is certainly not the cheapest option. A piece of wood is cheaper (unless you get a block of Purpleheart). [/quote] But a piece of wood does not give you the mechanical isolation. Bill's use of camping mat is fine for that application, just stopping a head rattling. Put a speaker on a boomy stage and it will ring out like a tom tom. Put it on camping mat and if it's heavy it compresses the mat, compromising its effectiveness as a mechanical isolator. I have found inch-thick structural foam to be very effective, giving me (much) more than 6dB in the lower mids at a gig over NY, and that's an interaction effect a pedal couldn't achieve (the stage will ring long after the note stops). It has to be rigid enough not to compress with the weight but not so much that it forms a good contact for vibration transmission itself. I can't see what the point of those acoustic wedges are on the aurelex at all though, but they aren't going to do any harm. In any case it's all only relevant on a boomy stage. Anyway back to the topic, I think there is a point to a 4 ohm cab and that's when you're using these little micro heads and they start running out of headroom at 8 ohms. The speaker is loud enough, but the amp is compromising the tone. Sometimes that little jump from (notional) 300 to 500 watts is all you need.