stevie

[quote name='BottomE' post='1158279' date='Mar 11 2011, 04:42 PM']Yep - had one for 25 years - bought new in 1984 for over £400![/quote] I think that would make it about the same price as a US Fender Precision/Jazz.

[quote name='Bottle' post='1158242' date='Mar 11 2011, 04:11 PM']Most 'modulation' or 'digital modelling' pedals eat batteries like no tomorrow - my Digitech BSW ratings plate told me that I'd need a 300mA power supply - about an hour from a good fresh 9v PP3[/quote] Yup. A Boss digital delay will last about an hour on a PP9. But 5 minutes seems ridiculous.

As long as it doesn't coincide with my fortnight in the Bahamas, I'll be there. Promise.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1158197' date='Mar 11 2011, 03:34 PM']It's an EU distance selling regulation thing [/quote] I thought that was seven days, not thirty.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1158160' date='Mar 11 2011, 03:14 PM']They offer a no questions asked 30 day money back guarantee and it wont cost you anything to return the goods.[/quote] Other music shops in Germany do that too. I wonder if it's a German thing.

[quote name='fatback' post='1158140' date='Mar 11 2011, 02:56 PM']On the 'UK' Thomann site you get charged UK VAT rate. I think the rate is actually fixed by the delivery address not the site location.[/quote] That's a bit odd. VAT should be charged at the supplying country's rate. Unless you are being billed by a subsidiary they have set up here, which is what my printer ink supplier does.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1158121' date='Mar 11 2011, 02:44 PM']There is some agreement now though so that doesn't happen.[/quote] I did a little research after posting that and realized I was out of date. Seems a couple of you were busy scribbling replies as I was deleting my post

[quote name='cocco' post='1157265' date='Mar 10 2011, 09:31 PM']Anyone got any more experience of the 1100s? I'm quite taken by it[/quote] I paid £150 for mine on eBay a couple of years ago. At that price, you can afford to tinker with it, although I do believe it was quite an expensive bass when it was new (mid-1980s). When I bought it, I also had a very early Fender JV Precision and the tone was comparable. I sold the Fender because I preferred the neck on the Yammy (and was facing a large dental bill). I measured the pickups and found they were both underwound. So I put some vintage Duncans in there and that produced an even fatter sound. I've really never seen the point of a rear Jazz pickup - it always sounds so anemic. The best Jazz pickup sound I got was with a Duncan 1/4 pounder, but even then it was only useful if you wanted to sound like Jaco. So I bit the bullet and replaced the Jazz pickup with a Duncan alnico MM humbucker. Wow! (shades of Pingray) Now I can choose between a thuddy P-Bass tone and a growly Stingray tone and anything in between. I'm currently messing with a Delano MM pickup just out of interest. I haven't touched the active circuitry because, as far as I'm concerned, it's completely transparent and I find replacement preamps a complete rip-off. It's 3-band, ultra-quiet and can be switched out - what more do you want? The pots are high quality and the cavities are properly screened with aluminium and copper foil. It was originally uncomfortably neck heavy, but a set of of lightweight tuners sorted that, and it's now nicely balanced. I tried a few different bridges and ended up with a Gotoh, although I couldn't swear that made any real difference to the sound of the bass (although it might have). I'd still prefer a lighter bass (at around 4kg with the Hipshot Ultralites, it's about average), but I think I'd have to move into rarified territory to improve on the sound or feel of the bass now.

[quote name='Bezbass' post='1143275' date='Feb 27 2011, 01:29 PM']having to lug my big thing into tiny venues at the moment.[/quote] We all have a cross to bear.....

[quote name='johnDeereJack' post='1151634' date='Mar 6 2011, 05:07 PM']There's also the Green Label Celestion BL15-300X out there but I'd only be running a 150 watt head through it. Would a 300 watt driver be worth considering as a replacement or would that be too much of a strain on a 150 head?[/quote] The power handling of speakers has gone up since your 200W Celestion was built. Thanks to improved adhesives, voice coil materials and cooling techniques, it's a lot easier to make a 300W speaker than it used to be. In fact, it's quite a good idea to have a speaker that will handle more than the rated output of your amp. It won't put a strain on your amp - it doesn't work that way. A 300W speaker will be just fine.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='1147762' date='Mar 2 2011, 09:56 PM']It's The Major for you then You'll have to learn to read though. It will do you good. Can you run to a second hand copy of "Bass Guitar for Dummies"? It still has it's faults - particularly in not reminding you that to get from one end to the other will take LOTS of hours of practice - but it does at least (mostly) explain stuff properly which is a good start.[/quote] There are all shades of opinion on Basschat. I bought that book and thought it was completely useless. I agree about the Major's lessons though. World class. And free.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1143701' date='Feb 27 2011, 07:10 PM']Was gonna do P plates next, it is easiest if I have a pattern from which to work.[/quote] There are loads of 1:1 scratchplate patterns available for download here: [url="http://www.terrapinguitars.com/pdfFiles.html"]http://www.terrapinguitars.com/pdfFiles.html[/url]

[quote name='untune' post='1143628' date='Feb 27 2011, 06:14 PM']I assume this is what he means [url="http://www.fretsonthenet.com/MusicMan_PoldAlum.jpg"]MM Surrounds[/url][/quote] Yes, that's the guy. $20 - 25 - and you have the hassle of getting them from the States. He seems to be the world's only supplier right now.

Have a look at the Yamaha bass here: [url="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/guitars-basses/el-basses/bb/bb1025x/?mode=model#tab=product_lineup"]http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-ins...=product_lineup[/url] Click on the photo and do an enlargement. Then have a look at the Allparts P-Bass surround in metal here. It's £32 !!!! [url="http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/guitar-bass-parts/pickup-ringssurrounds/metal-pickup-mounting-ring-for-p-bass-p-3594.html"]http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/gui...ass-p-3594.html[/url] I can't show you a Musicman pickup surround because I've been looking for one and I can't find one anywhere. I think there's a opening here for a modest business you could run in the evenings. A small eBay presence with international sales, that kind of thing. You'd do all right. The main thing is that the initial investment would be miniscule and there would be practically no risk. If it doesn't work out, you've not lost anything. If you're entrepreneurially minded, it might be worth a punt. There is someone in the US making custom surrounds already, but are very expensive and not everybody wants to order from the US. Their site is down at the moment - so I can't check.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1142948' date='Feb 27 2011, 12:44 AM']I've been doing this sort of stuff at my Dad's workshop: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=114335"]Custom steel scratchplates.[/url][/quote] With that facility, you could probably build yourself a nice little part-time business making pickup surrounds. You can't get one for a MM, and even the P-Bass ones cost over £20.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1141028' date='Feb 25 2011, 11:56 AM']I'm one of the sad people referred to above who collects and/or goes through loads of basses, so I have some practical experience in this area.[/quote] The First Step to sanity begins with the admission of powerlessness over GAS. I think the trading idea is a good one.

If you don't use it, what's the point of keeping it? You are on the slippery slope to becoming a sad collector of basses like many of the poor souls on here.

The Fender-style in-line arrangement of machineheads (does anyone say that any more?) moves the centre of gravity to the left, making neck dive worse that with a side-by-side arrangment. I've found the easiest solution to neck dive is Hipshot aluminium tuners. They can make a huge difference.

[quote name='silddx' post='1134468' date='Feb 20 2011, 04:26 PM'][b]ACTIVE East - All controls set flat[/b][/quote] Thanks for going to the trouble to record these. I notice that the sound with all the controls set flat contains a fair amount of bass and treble boost, making it difficult to compare the sound of the preamp with the unprocessed signal. In other words, the preamp seems to be introducing a scoop that could be just as easily obtained from your amp. Unless I'm completely missing something, of course, which is entirely possible.

[quote name='KK Jale' post='1131365' date='Feb 17 2011, 06:15 PM'][url="http://www.atkinsonbasses.com/library/"]http://www.atkinsonbasses.com/library/[/url][/quote] That's interesting. Makes you wonder why the others are more expensive than the GFS.

The 12NDL76 is a very nice driver but the Qts (of .2) is going to kill any low end in a reflex cab. Just weakening the magnet would make it a lot more useable outside a horn, which could indeed be what they have done for Markbass. I've been messing about with the Eminence 12LF in a small cab recently (and the Celestion BN12), and I'm surprised how good it is. I don't normally rate Eminence speakers much at all but this one has a quality sound, although it lacks definition higher up and really needs a midrange driver to finish it off. Once the weather gets a bit bettter I'll carry out a full set of measurements. And then do a midrange box.

Yes, you could add a horn, preferably with a correctly designed phase plug. An easier and better solution would just be to add a midrange driver.