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widefault posted:Regarding Japanese P-Basses, keep an eye out for a Hondo Professional H-1120. While most Hondos are Korean, the Professionals were made in Japan, and the Fender copies were made by Tokai. They also sell for WAY less than a Tokai of the same age. I have a Hondo Pro Tele & Strat from 1979 that cost me less than half of what one of them would have cost if labeled Tokai. Oh that's a nice bass. I have been keeping an eye out for Hondo guitars, thanks to your lovely collection. I've also been secretly hoping to see an Electra x-620:  but I'm not gonna hold my breath.
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May 17, 2023 16:28
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| # ? May 17, 2024 06:14 |
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They finally came out with UBass flatwound strings and this thing rips now. Completely fixed all the intonation and tuning issues. It's much less tacky than the weird rubber strings it came with.
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May 18, 2023 09:07
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Does the bar style string tree on 5 string Fenders have a special name? I'm only finding the button style ones.
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May 19, 2023 02:18
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Apparently Andy Rourke of The Smiths has passed. drat. https://youtu.be/9zNwZomsONA
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May 19, 2023 15:14
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Rectal Placenta posted:Does the bar style string tree on 5 string Fenders have a special name? I'm only finding the button style ones. try bar retainer or bar string tree
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May 20, 2023 03:51
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I got my first bass lesson in like 20 years today and uhhh feels like I just unlearned a bunch of poo poo. Lots to do on the fundamentals of theory, which will help my growing ability to play by ear.
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May 20, 2023 04:18
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Tayter Swift posted:Apparently Andy Rourke of The Smiths has passed. drat. I was just gonna post that. I'm doing the online 1001 albums before you die thing and that popped up last week and I finally went through a Smiths album And it's groovy as hell?
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May 20, 2023 04:29
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Shageletic posted:I was just gonna post that. I made fun of all the kids that listened to The Smiths in highschool. I finally really listened to them a few years later and they ended up being pretty rad. Weird thing is that I was really into The Sundays, which is just a Smiths tribute band. (Love you Harriet) Luna fucked around with this message at 19:36 on May 20, 2023 |
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May 20, 2023 19:34
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 Local shop had one in stock. So that makes three Hipshot bridges and one original BadAss2 on the Geddy in the fleet. They’re just so nice I can’t refuse if there’s a spot to put one.
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May 20, 2023 21:53
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Tayter Swift posted:Apparently Andy Rourke of The Smiths has passed. drat. I put a capo on on of my Precisiony basses and played Smith songs that night. Rourke changed my approach to bass. Underrated but not forgotten. Luna posted:I made fun of all the kids that listened to The Smiths in highschool. I finally really listened to them a few years later and they ended up being pretty rad. Weird thing is that I was really into The Sundays, which is just a Smiths tribute band. (Love you Harriet) God yes especially the bass.
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May 21, 2023 09:07
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 The black Hipshot went into the Jaguar body. I was expecting a MxPx “Chick Magnet” kind of tone from this bass, and I think it’s somewhere in there between the pickup, onboard preamp, and amp, but I haven’t quite got it in that neighbourhood.  Resurrect the Japan Jazz bass as a two pickup bass again (minus the P on the diagram) with a hybrid of a Precision and Jazz bass design pickguard to hide previous pickup install routing.  Got a rough shape cut last night. I need to hand sand the edges a bit in a few places to get things a touch rounder than the bandsaw cuts would go for me. I’ve never cut a pickguard before - let alone freehanding a 50 year old record though it. I think I’m going to eventually stick a pre-amp back in the Japan Jazz because it really woke up the stock pickups in a pleasing way. I can use the P-bass pickup routed area so it’s not as crammed as last time under the guard.
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May 21, 2023 12:49
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That's a great use of an old borked record, that's gonna be sick with the pickup installed. I'm gathering a few good records in poo poo condition to turn into can coasters, but that pickguard gives me more ideas... E: consider slapping a bit of lacquer or something over the label to keep it from peeling up once it's getting a bunch of finger use The Science Goy fucked around with this message at 14:54 on May 21, 2023 |
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May 21, 2023 14:52
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Sockington posted:
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May 21, 2023 16:19
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Really like that record guard, that kinda thing normally doesn't do it for me but it just works on a sunburst p. A combo of that HB Jag, messing w/ a Squier Deluxe Active V, and no longer having my sbmm 35 is making me look at stingrays again. Does anyone have a good breakdown of the different Sterling levels? the Sub Series is gone / not worth paying used prices for anymore right? Or taking a different approach, are there any weird budget single musicman pickup basses out there? I saw the Affinity Jaguar, but the pickup looks too high up, and a similar Ibanez, and then it looks like the closest I'm getting is a G&L
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May 21, 2023 23:46
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Does anyone here play with an octave pedal always on? Went to a small show at a bar this friday and there's this funky bassist (original and covers) that was just dominating the sound mix and I went over to investigate and he showed me that other than a compressor he just had an octave going, giving his music a really deep bass and frankly modern sound (that could be a conversation on its own). Made me spend an hr seeing if I could always keep on it with my current pedalboard setup. Enough thin bass. Dominating bass!!!
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May 22, 2023 00:25
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I love the octave sound but I've heard you have to be really careful with them loving up your amp.
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May 22, 2023 01:16
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Shageletic posted:Does anyone here play with an octave pedal always on? Went to a small show at a bar this friday and there's this funky bassist (original and covers) that was just dominating the sound mix and I went over to investigate and he showed me that other than a compressor he just had an octave going, giving his music a really deep bass and frankly modern sound (that could be a conversation on its own). bassist who replaced the bassist i really liked in a local band does this, and it sounds loving awful. clips constantly, drowns things out, no dynamics. just get a 5 string IMO if you really want to Go Low.
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May 22, 2023 01:25
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JamesKPolk posted:Really like that record guard, that kinda thing normally doesn't do it for me but it just works on a sunburst p. I’ve never mucked with them before so this was just a random decision to use materials on hand. It’s getting close to Bakelite now with layers of poly on it. Getting hard to see the record details. 
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May 22, 2023 01:32
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Changed strings on my 5 string from the factory ones to a set of Blue Steel. drat I love these strings! They have so much pop to them. They're getting harder and harder to find though.
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May 22, 2023 16:43
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I didn’t account for the string pattern getting tighter closer to the neck and had to make my own Mosrite kind of design - NotRite Jazz Bass. I didn’t even sand the edges of Attempt2.0 for the sake of trying it. The stock pickup for the neck sounds a lot better moved up a bit so it’s not like a Bridge and Slightly Less Bridge sound from before.
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May 23, 2023 02:37
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My Ampeg B2R died on me... middle of second set of a gig too. I'd been having some overheating problems but thought I had solved them (and maybe I did and this was completely different). Sound cut out completely but still had signal going through my compressor and in FOH coming off my preamp on my board. Walked over to the amp and it was super hot in the back and had that wonderful ozone smell. Limped through the rest of the show thanks to the guitarists back-up 15w Egnater head, just to give me a little bit of stage volume at least. We created... The AmpEgnater!  To replace it I decided to just go with a straight up power amp since I use the SGT as my pre and just bypass into the power section anyway... grabbed a QSC GX5. 
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May 25, 2023 23:06
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ewe2 posted:I buy them online from a guy in Brisbane (who only does pickup by appointment) but there are other Australian sources on ebay which may have a physical outlet. It seems Australia is a good source of MIJ basses particularly of Yamaha and Fender and more elusive Japanese brands like Aria Pro II. So I have the fretless Yamaha Motion IIIB, the Aria Pro II Cardinal CSB-380, and the Fender Precision which is a very odd collection but they're all wonderful and different. 
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May 26, 2023 00:54
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What's the deal with la Bella? Seem to be anything that anyone uses I like flats on a practice bass so I don't shred my fingers by round sounds sound too good to me. Not to say flats are bad, but just not what I need for my bands.
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May 26, 2023 10:18
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Laserface posted:What's the deal with la Bella? Seem to be anything that anyone uses Out of all the flats I ever tried (and I love playing flats) La Bella were always the best, and they just get better with time. Average set lasts me at least 5 years if not much longer.
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May 26, 2023 11:26
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Labella is one of the few makers who do double-ball strings and in a range of styles. I have their black tapes on my Hohner headless.
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May 26, 2023 11:43
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Yeah la Bella is the way tk go if you play with flats. Sounds great with pedals as well.
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May 26, 2023 12:50
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Laserface posted:I like flats on a practice bass so I don't shred my fingers by round sounds sound too good to me. Not to say flats are bad, but just not what I need for my bands.
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May 26, 2023 16:28
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La Bella and Thomastik flats are just in another league - so good. I also absolutely love La Bella tapewounds in the right situation, on the right bass. Their low-tension slippy feel does take a while to acclimate to, but they fit in the mix nicely for fingerstyle and their lifespan is super good. That being said, my main instrument is strung with rounds (DR Sunbeams or Pure Blues are my flavor of the day) because that stanky roundwound sizzle just gives me the fuzzies in my nether regions.
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May 26, 2023 17:09
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Yup, La Bella DT Flats are fantastic. Higher tension compared to Thomastik, which is why I prefer them.
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May 26, 2023 18:08
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Daddario makes half rounds too which sound more like rounds but are smooth. La Bellas are just great though
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May 26, 2023 18:59
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In the outlier here, but I prefer the Rotosound flats to LaBella. The d'addario nylon flats didn't do it for me.
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May 26, 2023 23:12
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DrChu posted:What strings are you using? The only rounds I’ve noticed that were noticeable rough were Rotosounds, nearly every other name brand string feels smooth in comparison to those. You should be practicing with rounds if you want to get your fingers used to them though. I've had some really rough round wounds. Whatever is on my rickenbacker right now (supposedly factory strings, has coloured balls on the bridge end with no silk wrappings) are much smoother in comparison but also might be a lower gauge than what I normally put on everything - Ernie ball yellows. I liked GHS boomers in my old band but haven't really tried anything else. Is there a difference in abrasiveness between nickel and stainless?
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May 26, 2023 23:29
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Laserface posted:I've had some really rough round wounds. Whatever is on my rickenbacker right now (supposedly factory strings, has coloured balls on the bridge end with no silk wrappings) are much smoother in comparison but also might be a lower gauge than what I normally put on everything - Ernie ball yellows. Sounds like standard XL d'addario.
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May 27, 2023 04:16
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Laserface posted:I've had some really rough round wounds. Whatever is on my rickenbacker right now (supposedly factory strings, has coloured balls on the bridge end with no silk wrappings) are much smoother in comparison but also might be a lower gauge than what I normally put on everything - Ernie ball yellows. Stainless is much more harsh on your fingers than pure nickel wound strings. Most strings marketed as "nickel" are nickel-plated, though, and stainless is still a lot more harsh than those. Pure nickelwound are not too common, but man do they sound great for a lot of styles. And for roundwounds, they last amazingly long. Now, I should make it clear that I'm talking mostly to fingerstyle players. The harshness is felt 99.7% on the plucking fingers. If you don't have amazing calluses on your plucking fingers, and especially if you have really good calluses, these strings can give you the worst blisters right where you want them the least. Ask me how I know. I never was bothered by the feel of the stainless strings on my left (fretting) hand. As for La Bella's, the first set that I bought was a 5-string, black nylon-wrapped flatwound pack that I got from Carvin, which I bought because I'd played one of those acoustic-electric P-basses from the late '90s and it was fretless with those black strings. I had a 5-string fretless, so I got these strings, and when I sold that bass 15+ years later, they still had those strings, and they sounded good still. I bought another set when I got my Squier VM Precision fretless. I love them. I think the flats I got for my vanity bass, an American Professional Precision Bass, are also La Bella's. I did get a set of strings for my Squier VM Bass VI from them, but they sent the wrong low E-string. La Bella let you get custom gauges, and at the time, the Fender set was a much lighter gauge that was a roundwound version of the flatwound original set. (Flatwounds have more tension, so those gauges made more sense.) I selected the Fender length, because some 30' scale, 6-string bass guitar models don't have a tailstop and bridge that extends the necessary length of a string like the Bass VI does. They sent the wrong one, but when I emailed them, they fixed it right away. Now, Fender offers a much more appropriately gauged set of strings, and I'm using them.
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May 29, 2023 02:38
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I was playing my Bass VI yesterday and suddenly heard a snap as the low E detuned and came slack I thought I'd hosed up the tuner or the nut or something. But no. LaBella put little plastic cubes on their strings so you can identify them and I'd strung it without ever taking it off. Then it snapped in two.
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May 29, 2023 09:18
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On the topic of rounds, anyone got a recommendation for through-body rounds, I've got a Yamaha PJ 5er where I think the factory rounds (probably chrome XL's) have come off the boil and the passive sound has become a bit sludgy especially on the P side. I was thinking maybe trying out some Sunbeams or possibly GHS balanced nickels. I've used Sunbeams on a 5er before but the bass was very dark, this bass has a bit more brightness to it. Has to be a string that can handle through body not a 90deg angle, the Yamaha angle is half that at 45deg.
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May 29, 2023 12:07
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Captain Splendid posted:I was playing my Bass VI yesterday and suddenly heard a snap as the low E detuned and came slack Oh man that sucks. Another bass vi player nice. How do you play yours? Do you use pedals? Did you change out the pickups? Overall, you using it much/how do you like it?
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May 29, 2023 13:47
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I generally get Elixirs for my nicer basses, I've not been playing my G&L cos it's in B and I have been playing guitar lately for a band, but every time I pick it up, the strings are still new. Good poo poo. (No you won't find them cheap on eBay, it's full of counterfeit strings now and eBay won't do poo poo about it.) EB Slinkys for my beaters. Slinkys for my guitars, though I did just restring my main with Roto yellows and they're pretty drat good. No idea why I had them, but I am really liking them.
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May 29, 2023 14:07
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Shageletic posted:Oh man that sucks. Oh no, the bass is fine, the strings are fine. I just broke a piece or plastic I was meant to throw away. Paradoxically, I think it's more limited than either a regular bass or guitar. You can't play it like a baritone guitar and you can't do half the stuff you can on a normal 4-string bass. If you can find a use for its weird middle ground, though, it's a lot of fun. I mostly run it through the usual, compressor, bass soul food or bass muff (but often clean) and then an eq, tremolo and reverb if it suits what I'm playing.
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May 29, 2023 15:20
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| # ? May 17, 2024 06:14 |
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Anyone got advice on oversized/laaaaarge cases/gig bags? My thunderbird is 130cm long by 40cm wide. It's too big for a Gibson/epiphone t-bird hard case (and gently caress Gibson, I had this xxl tbird built because they don't acknowledge lefties exist, I refuse to give them money) I've been told BC Rich cases might work but they're also far too wide (and then everyone thinks you play a bc rich) Keyboard cases are far too expensive and bulky to fit in my car, if they're even wide enough Any site listing a case/bag that fits is listing the box the case/bag comes in rather than the actual size of the internal of the case/bag or not at all. Made all the more harder by the slow death of retail and nobody stocking anything on the shelf to test fit. Not that music stores here have ever been good for that.
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May 29, 2023 15:32
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