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Revvik posted:If I could afford it, I totally would have, that is seriously one gorgeous instrument. I'm going to see if I can find an Artcore or something to play around with, idk. I love the sound of a hollowbody bass, I just have no use for mine at the moment... It's such a unique sound. The Artcores are pretty good, I never found one I was absolutely crazy about. If you come across an Epiphone Jack Casady bass, they're pretty cool too, and have a Vari-Tone type control. Eastwood also makes a nice little short-scale hollowbody. Chances of finding one of those in person is pretty slim though.
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Jul 20, 2013 18:37
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Revvik posted:If I could afford it, I totally would have, that is seriously one gorgeous instrument. I'm going to see if I can find an Artcore or something to play around with, idk. A better bridge may sound better and will intonate more reliably. May not be $90 better/more reliable but there will likely be a difference. At the end of the day it's your call.
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Jul 20, 2013 19:23
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When I gave my jazz bass an overhaul, I went with a gotoh 201. It doesn't say "BADASS" on it, but if I remember correctly it was somewhere around $45. To be totally blunt I did not notice a huge difference in sound, if there was any then it was a very incredibly subtle difference compared to switching out the pickups to SP3's. Of course doing everything at once isn't particularly scientific. One thing that was easy to notice was the instrument felt a lot more sturdy, which probably has more to do with a better job installing it and the fact that the bass was first put together sometime around 1999. I probably could have asked the tech to tighten up what I already had, but I think aesthetics were a motivation on that one.
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Jul 20, 2013 20:00
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Welp; http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastwood-Display-Model-Sidejack-Bass-VI-Baritone-guitar-Vintage-Cream-/350833599300
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Jul 20, 2013 21:08
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PenguinBob posted:Welp; I wanted one of those for a while
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Jul 20, 2013 21:31
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So you might have remembered the sad trip report when I took the band on tour through the Mojave and the heat killed my poor Ashdown MAG600H  After an extended period of mourning while learning that not only is there no reliable amplifier repairman anywhere near me, any aftermarket parts from Ashdown would be insanely expensive due to their manufacturer being halfway across the world from me, and I am poo poo loving useless when it comes to checking each cap in the power amp section to find the problem... well, I decided to move on. However, price is still an ever present issue and I did manage to pick up something else before the Ashdown died: a VT Bass. I got it to pick up on the Ashdown's lack of character, and it even served as my plan B when the amp gave out, I just DI'd it into my PA and played really really quiet. Anyway, I figured since I already have the VT Bass, that's a better solid state preamp section than most of what I'm going to find on the used market. So, why not find a used power amp on the cheap instead of buying an entire amp? Enter the Deura MA-1500 Power Amp, which I picked up on eBay for just under $100 including shipping. I guess the output to my Carvin will be about 400watts @ 4ohms, which is a little less than the Ashdown, peak power being 1500? But, I wanted to know if anyone had some experience with using the VT-bass and a power amp run into their cab as a main, and if it was a wise choice to go with Deura. I know its a low-end, Pyle-esque company, but they're US-based and it was so affordable. I paid for it using the money I got from the show where my Ashdown broke down.
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Jul 21, 2013 04:20
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While it is close to one in function, the standard VT Bass is not really a pre-amp made to drive a power amp. For the most part it seems like it will work fine as one, though I have read some people complain on Talkbass about certain power amps not getting along with it well. You'll likely just have to crank the level and it'll work ok.
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Jul 21, 2013 05:41
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While not PURELY driving a poweramp, I bypass the preamp section on my amp and plug the VT-bass directly into the power section and it works great.
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Jul 21, 2013 06:19
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I still have the Ashdown with a working preamp. Maybe I should DI it into the power amp or else patch from the effects loop and run the VT between them?
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Jul 21, 2013 20:51
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Most likely the VT will work just fine right into the new power amp, I wouldn't bother lugging the Ashdown around as another preamp. edit: looking over the Talkbass threads it seems the complaints were mostly about clean headroom, so if you're not afraid of using the drive control some you'll be fine. Why anyone would get the VT Bass and want just a clean sound is mystery. DrChu fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Jul 21, 2013 |
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Jul 21, 2013 22:22
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Well I play surf rock but I've found that having a totally clean sound is really boring unless I'm cranking the hell out of the low end. I like setting the VT to sound something like a half cranked B15 so I have a somewhat clean tone but I can snarl it up for Man or Astroman? covers.
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Jul 21, 2013 22:55
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I finished my P-Bass.  The Quarter Pounder sounds really loving rich, thing is a blast. The lettering on the pickguard was just a test on some sticky template lettering to see if I wanted to do something with the headstock. I don't, it turned out kinda sloppy. Good wannabe punk rock aesthetic. How hard is it to "adapt" an electric guitar body to a bass guitar neck and get the scale right? There is a distinct lack of offset Jackson-style flying V basses in the world.
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Jul 23, 2013 12:33
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Revvik posted:How hard is it to "adapt" an electric guitar body to a bass guitar neck and get the scale right? There is a distinct lack of offset Jackson-style flying V basses in the world. Oof, tough call... Definitely the neck-pocket would have to be widened. Depending on where the bridge is on the body, it may not even be possible. I may be completely wrong on this, but it's kind of complicated. You may be able to get 30" scale length, but if you're using a 34" scale neck to achieve that length, your intonation will be off because that neck was fretted for 34". But if you're using a neck meant for a 30" short-scale, you may not get that total of 30" between the bridge and the nut, and again, intonation would be off. Does that make sense? And again, I'm not even sure if I'm right on that.
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Jul 23, 2013 15:34
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You'd have to redrill the bridge, basically, but it could work.
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Jul 23, 2013 18:06
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Depending on scale there might not be enough room on the body. BC Rich makes an Ironbird bass that has a goofy extension block hanging off the back to get enough room for the scale. Neck pocket would have to be widened, pick-ups re-routed since they might not be at the right nodal points you want them to be at. It might be easier to start with a scratch built body that you can scale up a bit.
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Jul 23, 2013 18:49
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Revvik posted:How hard is it to "adapt" an electric guitar body to a bass guitar neck and get the scale right? There is a distinct lack of offset Jackson-style flying V basses in the world. Just look up the scale length of the guitar and the number of frets and put it into here: http://www.stewmac.com/fretcalculator/ Take the last number of the first column and subtract that from your total scale length and that'll give you the distance from the last fret to the bridge. The scale length on a Rhoads guitar is 25.5". With 22 frets, the fretboard is ~18.75" long meaning that you have ~6.75" between the neck pocket and the regular positioning of the bridge. Just eye balling looks like you may be able to squeeze two inches if you get something like the hipshot wrap around bass bridge and move it back. Lets try to find something that requires the least amount of body length, a 24 fret 30" scale neck. The fretboard is ~23" so that requires ~7" between the edge of the fretboard and the bridge. Since you'd have to have someone custom make you a 24 fret 30" scale neck, lets see if a factory made neck would work. Squier's Bronco bass is 30" scale with 19 frets. The length of the board is ~20.5" so it wont fit as it requires ~9.5" distance to the bridge and the body just won't fit that. And then you'll have some of the worst neck dive on top of that.
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Jul 23, 2013 18:52
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Rifter17 posted:Just look up the scale length of the guitar and the number of frets and put it into here: http://www.stewmac.com/fretcalculator/ Take the last number of the first column and subtract that from your total scale length and that'll give you the distance from the last fret to the bridge. This is incredibly useful. Heartbreaking, but if I ever get to making a scratch body this is good to know.
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Jul 23, 2013 20:56
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I tried an Epiphone? V bass a while ago, and it was more or less unplayable due to the neck dive.
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Jul 23, 2013 22:27
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Looking through google images I found this: http://maxetone.com/JGallery/index.php?view=detail&id=2992&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=2#joomimg I don't see any specs but my guess would be that its a 30" scale neck on the bass side. You can see how even with that scale it hangs off the back a bit, a full 34" scale would hang off another two inches (assuming the last fret is kept in the same place). The body would have to be pretty big to work, though with an offset style V you'd have a little more room to work with.
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Jul 23, 2013 23:44
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Juaguocio posted:I tried an Epiphone? V bass a while ago, and it was more or less unplayable due to the neck dive. Yeah, and Rhodes Vs are even lighter than a regular Flying V. You'd either need to make the body heavier or the neck lighter.
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Jul 24, 2013 15:31
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So I figured this would be a good time to chime in, with all this bass VI talk and whatnot. http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=71490 Some guy who seems to be in the know somehow on offsetguitar posted:Street price should be roughly $349.    Bass VI for around 350 bucks with squier VM qualityAt this point I'm pretty happy I didn't go buy a pawn shop model. Some guys got their paws on some already and posted youtube videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpPjCvy8fmo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMT9zJ1o_v4
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Jul 26, 2013 12:49
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Revvik posted:I'm debating on getting a new bridge. The old one works well enough but is a high mass replacement worth the money? On a parts bass? Or would I basically just be paying $90 to have a piece of metal with the word BADASS on it? A Gotoh 201 is way cheaper than a Badass and achieves similar tonal results.
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Jul 26, 2013 22:07
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CisSTAR 19 posted:A Gotoh 201 is way cheaper than a Badass and achieves similar tonal results. I'll probably keep those in mind then for later, although it sounds pretty fantastic as is.   Finished, as far as I care right now. New neck feels infinitely better, surprising for a $40 GFS bass neck. Took 0000 steel wool to the back of it. Pocket was distinctly larger than the actual neck and I didn't have any scrap wood or really the tools to make proper shims out of, so I snapped off a key in there. Very "punk rock." The pearloid pickguard is sitting around here somewhere, I'll probably throw it on if we ever have to play a wedding or something, idk. EDIT: that Squier really needs some proper colors 
Revvik fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Jul 26, 2013 |
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Jul 26, 2013 23:26
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Just refinish it. Refinishing is fun!
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Jul 27, 2013 03:26
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My VT Bass + power amp plan worked terribly. 'Nuff said. So I'm replacing my Ashdown with a pre-2002 SWR Bass 350 Professional Bass Amp, which I got used with a rack for $200. I already understand that it's tone is not quite cut out for surf rock, but I'm hoping with the contours flattened and the low mids boosted, along with the control of the VT Bass, I can pump out a warm, round tone. EDIT: and here it is 
Jeff Goldblum fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Jul 28, 2013 |
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Jul 28, 2013 03:41
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I ran a Bass 350 as part of my first "modern" rig with an SWR Goliath Jr and a Triad, after I had sold my B-15 for pennies back in '00. It sucked. It was way underpowered, but the Triad was a total turd of a cab as well. I moved from that to an Interstellar Overdrive + Carvin DCM1000 + Goliath Sr. rig, and THAT was a loving fantastic rig until SWR sold to Fender and I couldn't get stuff fixed in reasonable amounts of time.
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Jul 28, 2013 08:09
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DEUCE SLUICE posted:I ran a Bass 350 as part of my first "modern" rig with an SWR Goliath Jr and a Triad, after I had sold my B-15 for pennies back in '00. It sucked. It was way underpowered, but the Triad was a total turd of a cab as well. I'm gonna be plugging into an old Carvin 2x15, which I believe is a 4ohm load rated at something around 400 watts anyway, so a 350w load isn't really much less than what the Ashdown put out, provided I kept it low enough not to pop the speakers. Putting a Goliath Jr and Triad on the 350 sounds like an 8ohm load, not a 4ohm, which means you were effectively operating at just above 200w? If I could just get my band into action again and start doing some practices, I'd be able to find out how the volume and tone stacks. I'm obviously going to need that VT Bass, since I'm not looking for a modern slap-pop tone.
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Jul 28, 2013 20:16
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Just want to say, short scale Gibsons 4 lyfe. My hands are just not built to play a fender jazz bass.
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Jul 29, 2013 03:22
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Stravinsky posted:Just want to say, short scale Gibsons 4 lyfe. My hands are just not built to play a fender jazz bass. Get a Mustang. I'm pretty sure nothing will ever feel more natural to me than my Pawn Shop.
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Jul 29, 2013 06:39
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What's a good pair of headphones for a headphone amp? Or failing a specific model, what sort of specs should I look at? My budget is just $100 because I'm piss-poor.
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Jul 29, 2013 14:30
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Schneider Heim posted:What's a good pair of headphones for a headphone amp? Or failing a specific model, what sort of specs should I look at? My budget is just $100 because I'm piss-poor.
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Jul 29, 2013 22:01
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Jeff Goldblum posted:
Sorry for the confusion. I'm talking about this kind of headphone amp:  I think it's standalone and you can just plug headphones in and play? I haven't actually bought one yet (since I'd want to grab a matching pair of cans as well).
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Jul 30, 2013 06:06
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Schneider Heim posted:Sorry for the confusion. They make a version that is JUST headphones instead of a plug that requires headphones. http://www.voxamps.com/amphone/
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Jul 30, 2013 06:39
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I've stayed away from this thread like it was the liquor aisle before an AA meeting. I played pretty heavy for 15 years then just ... quit in 2000 or so. I've kept an upright and/or acoustic handy for the last decade for those itch moments, but really looking to go back to my roots. Trying to get my priorites back on track I emptied my storage locker this weekend: High school basses included a late 80s era Kramer-Spector NS2, early 80s J, a short-scale frankenbass (from those experimental college years), a fretless SSD, and a Sterling that is pretty much untouched. That (Korean?) NS2 was pretty close to being in tune. That made the guilt worse. My old GK 800RB I am half afraid to turn on. It has been repaired 3 times. I've an Eden 2x10 and an Ampeg 2x15 but need to figure out a practice arrangement that works w/ the current schedule of "the wife is in bed and I have to use headphones." I never used headphones before, and get bored if I'm not playing with along with some background track - even if it is tv jingles. Should I just get a headphone amp like above and a splitter to run an mp3 player to, or is there a better option for no-latency playback?
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Jul 30, 2013 06:53
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Do you have a phone that can run the Amplitube app and a decent pair of headphones already? You can import and goof around with songs from your phone's library. You'd need to buy a little peripheral hardware for a bit of change.
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Jul 30, 2013 07:52
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Revvik posted:They make a version that is JUST headphones instead of a plug that requires headphones. Thanks for pointing this out, it even matches my budget, too!
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Jul 30, 2013 08:32
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rebounded posted:I've stayed away from this thread like it was the liquor aisle before an AA meeting. I played pretty heavy for 15 years then just ... quit in 2000 or so. I've kept an upright and/or acoustic handy for the last decade for those itch moments, but really looking to go back to my roots. There are dozens of low watt practice amps with headphone jacks and inputs for mp3 players (still typically needing a 1/4 inch). I have a Silvertone AB15 that does just that, and will gladly trade you for any of that SSD fretless  Edit: but, seriously, I'm going to trade you a used amp worth less than 50bux for a $600+ bass, you can't lose. You can even pay shipping. 
Jeff Goldblum fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Jul 31, 2013 |
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Jul 30, 2013 10:22
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Wait are you selling any of that old gear?
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Jul 30, 2013 12:41
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Jeff Goldblum posted:There are dozens of low watt practice amps with headphone jacks and inputs for mp3 players (still typically needing a 1/4 inch). Revvik posted:Wait are you selling any of that old gear? Only the fretless and the 2x15. That cabinet isn't worth the gas my friend is going to spend picking it up, and the fretless - I bought it w/o enough time to get to know it. In high school I feel in love with a fretless Spector in a shop that I couldn't afford. It was this ugly purple thing with gold hardware but the sound was exactly what I was looking for. A few years later I bought this one, and made excuses for it, but it never had that same tone. No growl at all, very flat-sounding. A friend from college always wanted it, so he's taking those as a package. I'll probably keep the other basses forever.
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Jul 30, 2013 19:43
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rebounded posted:Thanks, that'll fit nicely and I hadn't thought practice amps would take 2 inputs like that. I'd be all over that 2x15 if I didn't already have the Carvin one. I still have plans to one day replace/cover that awful metal grating with some silver grille cloth. Anyway people would hate me for having an Ampeg cab with a SWR head. I can't win.
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Jul 31, 2013 04:17
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