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Mark Bass are very good - both bass players I was doing stuff with last year use them.
People may remember the guitar I built last year:
Here's a couple of demos that I used it on.
We recorded them last September, with the plan of re-recording vox and other parts later on, but lockdown!
So I've been fiddling with them, and added a few guitar lines, and our bassist has done a few bits virtually too.
https://soundcloud.com/tom-harrison-322574521/lights/s-BD13E1QW0Oy
https://soundcloud.com/tom-harrison-322574521/gastropub/s-j2T8zyzlfYO
"Do you have any preference on bass heads? Are any of them particularly good, or crap, or is it purely personal preference?"
There are more good ones than bad ones nowadays (like MTBs!) But I'm good at advising for specific needs - it really depends on the player, strings, bass, cab and required loudness and tone. It's something I've tried to solve with handy flow charts or questionnaires but it's too complex, too much fuzz logic. A few questions back and forth and I don't often get it wrong!
It's very much like bikes to be honest - what you love and what you hate are decent guides to what you need. But without fairly solid reference points it takes a lot more narrowing down...
@ajantom Demos are sounding good mate.
Obviously the guitar sounds rubbish. Send it to me and I'll burn it (honest) to save you the effort. 😀
I'll have to go and dig the thread out.
@simondbarnes - Pedals went in the post yesterday. Should be with you tomorrow! 🙂
Meanwhile, I've made two disparate lockdown/sold my car/had saved enough for my tax bill purchases...
An (NS) electric upright bass... and a Victory Kraken mental/metal amp head... (and no, I've not tried one in to the other...)
It’s a secondhand NS WAV four string. I’d been watching it slowly come down in price on basschat.co.uk and after a year, it was close to impulse buy levels, so I did. Luckily my closest riding buddy is a double bass player and teacher, so I’m hoping to cash in those bike favours for lessons.... First off, is Lovecats by The Cure... 😊
How about Roni Size: Brown paper bag, then Portishead: Sour Times.... You probably already have a list??
I just blew my monthly toy budget on one of these.
It was this or a Fender Trapper but the Fur Coat sounds immense in all the YouTube demos. Gonna stop mincing around and learn some metal riffs.
There's also a mini Pedaltrain for sale very close to home so I might grab that at the weekend.
Those ns basses are lovely @chipps! Upright is hard!! One good tip I saw was to clip a clip-on tuner by the fretboard so you can see when your intonation is correct!
I've enjoyed playing some bits and bobs this week. Have been fairly downbeat about it all of late with no idea when I'll be gigging again etc. Even had a browse on Ebay for a Strat Plus....think I'm going to treat myself later in the year.
@simondbarnes I've got a hefty flightcased pedalboard going spare if you want. Not been used in a while as the flight case just takes up too much room in the car, the board itself isn't too big though. It's yours if you can collect from Congleton.
How big is it @Tom-B ? Congleton is just down the road although not an essential journey so would have to wait for a bit!
Put it this way, that little collection above wont really fill it 😂
I'll measure it tomorrow and let you know. I can't find a link online to it now....I think that it's been discontinued.
No worries, cheers 🙂
The little ditto looper is cool and I like the chorus. Hopefully I'll have some time at the weekend for a proper play.
This may be of interest to Yamaha THR owners.
A guide to the amps therein and what they are 'based' on.
Not seen it collated in one place before.
It explains why the Variax Acoustics sound better through flat than acoustic as it already has the mike modelling included in the modelling process.
What's the best way of jamming with a mate, remotely? A riding buddy asked me this today; he's in the UK (excellent broadband) and his mate is in Portugal. They've tried it on Zoom but the lag is making it horrible.
I'd just send files to and fro over a backing track.
I can't get low latency round here.
I think I posted on here before, but jamtaba/ninjam can be good for online jamming. You don't need a low latency connection as you're essentially playing against a track that's delayed by a number of bars. I'm not doing a good job of explaining it, but it works pretty well.
Anyone have, or have thoughts about a Fender Mustang GTX100 modelling amp?
OTS junior is looking for one for his birthday. It would be an upgrade from a Mustang GT40.
I played double bass at school for years. Some of us had bluetac dots for fingering positions when learning.
In anticipation of the arrival of my 8 string guitar (oops!) I'm thinking some finger exercises might be in order.
My left little finger especially always seems very weak in comparison to my other fingers when playing runs and scales.
Any good links to exercises for strength and/or speed?
Stop it @ajantom. I'm bored, but I do not need an 8string guitar. (Please post pics) 😉. I know it sounds funny, but playing a bass helps with reach and finger strength. Maybe you don't have one... Perhaps consider getting one? (See what I did there?) 😀🤙
I do have a bass (2 actually), but haven't played it for a while, so that's a good idea.
I've been watching Djent videos in preparation 😂
I might just have to start a progressive metal band.
If I need to build up hand strength I just play my 12 string acoustic. Barre chords involve a g-clamp...
In anticipation of the arrival of my 8 string guitar
How many strings before it stops being a guitar and becomes a harp? 🤪😅
I’m currently fighting GAS for a Les Paul special in TV yellow (probably started off by this thread a month or two back...) 🤷🏼♀️
I do have a bass (2 actually), but haven’t played it for a while, so that’s a good idea.
I’ve been watching Djent videos in preparation 😂
I might just have to start a progressive metal band.
Over the years I have played more bass than guitar as never enjoyed the higher register twiddly stuff on guitar. I have now found my perfect place with a guitar tuned to C sharp standard and playing black/death metal which is rhythmic in line with bass but on guitar and faster.
I still don't want more than 6 strings though and was same on bass where I didn't want more than 4 for some reason.
@ajantom, can't find the link but a good one I tried was: Assuming your 1st finger is your strongest so skip that one. Ascend the strings, say on frets 2 & 3 using fingers 2 and 3 then descend at frets 4 & 3 with the same fingers. keep going till you get as far up the neck as you can keeping a consistent tempo. Repeat using fingers 2 & 4 at frets 2 & 4 going up and 5 & 3 going down, etc. then use fingers 3 & 4 (the real killer). I feel I'm quite strong with my pinky but this has me on my knees.
Vid
My pinky was pretty spent after a few attempts at getting this right so just using it is the best way to get it stronger though
Cool cheers 🙂
I might dig out my Powerball to do some wrist/forearm exercises too.
How many strings before it stops being a guitar and becomes a harp? 🤪😅
I just assumed he was bigging up his new mandolin.. 😀
I just assumed he was bigging up his new mandolin
This is going to sound like I have too many instruments (maybe I do?!), but I also have a Mandolin and a Bouzouki 😆
I'm going to count up all of my guitars + sundry stringed instruments now...
Electric guitars:
- PRS SE Zach Myers vintage sunburst (heavily modified).
- ALP AD-80
- Custom Tele/Muscicman Axis mash-up
- Hohner SE-400
- Larrivee LS-2
- Jedson 'Les Paul'
- Aria Sinsonido AS-100S
- OLP MM1
- Modified Strat kit build (built in effects and midi-output).
Acoustic guitars:
- Takamine F400 12 String
- Washburn Monterey Custom Studio 12 String
- Epiphone SST Classic
- Yamaha APX-4
Bass guitars:
- OLP MM2 (Stingray copy)
- No name 70s bass - set up for 2 string slide bass 🙂
Other:
- Kala Baritone Ukelele
- Ozark Bouzouki
- Russian Mandolin (bought in the USSR by my dad in the 70's)
Nice collection. An 8 string should fit in just fine...
Yes, it should feel at home 😉
I feel quite undergunned now.
I did have fun at the weekend doing pickup swaps.
Much easier in the Variax with just using mouse clicks in Workbench HD 😁
Much easier in the Variax with just using mouse clicks in Workbench HD
I've been on the lookout for a decent second-hand Variax for a while.
Got an ebay alert set up for local sales.
This is going to sound like I have too many instruments (maybe I do?!), but I also have a Mandolin and a Bouzouki 😆
I had a mandolin years ago, and always wanted a bouzouki as well. God only knows why!
Just the two acoustics here, and have never owned an electric so that needs to change this year..
I've asked kind of the same question on here before, but I want to get my Strat re-fretted. It's got teeny frets that are flat in places causing notes to lose their sustain etc.
But what are the chances that a tech will do a terrible job and make it worse? It seems like the sort of job I could do badly but is it straightforward for a half-decent guitar tech and is there any advantage in getting a well-known pro to do it?
Ooh, Eddiebaby doing pickup swaps!
I've decided that I'm fed up with the hum my P90s make. So I can't decide whether to go Kent Armstrong's new noiseless HP-90 pickup from WD Music (not a real P90 and a straight swap) or DiMarzio DP209 (which is a Super Distortion in a P90 cover) from Andertons. The DiMarzio is a coil split humbucker so I'd probably need new pots (which I was thinking of doing anyway). What would be the forum's recommendation? Given that the cost would get me halfway to the Squier Contemporary HSS Strat that has been raved over by those who've played it.
@Superficial
IMHO it's a job worth paying someone decent to do.
Bit more involved than something a standard guitar tech could do.
On the other hand I know someone who got Manson's in Exeter to refret their guitar, assuming it'd be a sterling job (they build Matt Bellamy's guitars) and he got what could best be described as a Friday afternoon job.
We think they let an apprentice loose on it.
I'd go by word of mouth. Find someone by recommendations.
I did my first full refret recently, Superficial. I did a guitar that was almost worthless so had nothing beyond a bag of frets to lose.
I recommend doing the same. I got better at getting the old frets out as I went along. I started at 20 on the basis I never use it. One really didn't want to come out, it eventually yielded to heat, bending the neck back and brute force but a good few wood chips came with it.
I got better at pre-shaping the frets. I was lucky with the first two then had two attempts at the third by which time it needed glue to hold it tight. I worked out they needed slightly over bending and inserting with a tool with a radius very slightly tighter than the neck then a final tap down with a copper hammer.
When I sanded the finger board I wasn't careful enough to avoid a very slight round at the edge which required a bit of Araldite to fill later. It's not easy to remove over 1mm in places, get the right radius and never angle the block beyond the radius required.
I'm delighted with my first attempt but know the second will be better. A pro who has done hundreds would hopefully do better.
Ben at Crimson had a series of videos on refretting an SG (and yes I am a Crimson fan).
Just be aware that Ben at Crimson likes to use traditional tools (he has a second business selling antique tools) which is fine but usually requires much more skill and experience than modern specialist tools.
For example, Been uses (and sells) traditional three sided fret crowning files. He is a very experienced and skilled luthier and therefore is very good with said tool. But it is a million times easier and safer to use a modern shaped diamond crowning file, no skill required!