The Nordy Club (Part XIII) - Page 7

KJung · #**121** 01-18-2013, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by narud

HA!. its not me thats the issue, its the necks. i mainly play old 4 strings and some of the stiffer strings really tests the limits of how much adjustment is left in the neck. ive had to clamp the the necks of a few of my basses into back bow and add spacers under the truss rod nut to get them playing with the dead straight necks i like. it usually holds and gives me pretty good range of adjustment, but i dont like to press my luck.

Ah, makes sense. I had one of the old Ric's years ago that had that issue (I guess it was common with those basses in the 70's, and for a while, they recommended not using roundwounds at all, which have higher tension for some reason, if I remember right). I said the heck with it and used RotoSounds for years, and the truss rod 'anchor' at the top of the neck literally sunk into the neck. Could not adjust it at all after that. That's rock and roll man

narud · #**122** 01-18-2013, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

Ah, makes sense. I had one of the old Ric's years ago that had that issue (I guess it was common with those basses in the 70's, and for a while, they recommended not using roundwounds at all, which have higher tension for some reason, if I remember right). I said the heck with it and used RotoSounds for years, and the truss rod 'anchor' at the top of the neck literally sunk into the neck. Could adjust it at all after that. That's rock and roll man

im gigging a 79 ray neck mounted on a custom butt heavy ray body right now and that neck needed some serious clamping. it was a pain finding a washer to grind down to get under the bullet nut because its so much smaller than a fender. i put some ernie steels on and immediately took them off because i didnt want to have to tighten the rod.

KJung · #**123** 01-18-2013, 02:56 PM

That is a beauty (although that badass bridge hurts my Stingray sensiilities!). I purchased a 1978 Ray as a 21st birthday present to myself (black, maple neck). Killer bass that is still knocking around St. Louis after all these years!

I remember having to change strings ALL the time (like every week) due to those old Rotosounds (that was really all there was back then) sounded good for about an hour on those very deep, sizzly Rays. When the Roto's went dead, they went DEAD!

Edit: Sorry for the OP... back to the Nordy, Joe have you played one of Carey's 'Ray style' instruments. REALLY nice.

narud · #**124** 01-18-2013, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

That is a beauty (although that badass bridge hurts my Stingray sensiilities!). I purchased a 1978 Ray as a 21st birthday present to myself (black, maple neck). Killer bass that is still knocking around St. Louis after all these years!

I remember having to change strings ALL the time (like every week) due to those old Rotosounds (that was really all there was back then) sounded good for about an hour on those very deep, sizzly Rays. When the Roto's went dead, they went DEAD!

Edit: Sorry for the OP... back to the Nordy, Joe have you played one of Carey's 'Ray style' instruments. REALLY nice.

try finding a real ray bridge.......man just doesnt happen.

considering the club threads is the only place some of the old tb'rs post im not going to feel too bad

speaking of which, i actually got that neck off of ebay from an old poster that doesnt post anymore (todd4ta)

KJung · #**125** 01-18-2013, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by narud

considering the club threads is the only place some of the old tb'rs post im not going to feel too bad

speaking of which, i actually got that neck off of ebay from an old poster that doesnt post anymore (todd4ta)

+1 Not the same place any more.

GRoberts · #**126** 01-18-2013, 03:38 PM

On another note ....What is Carey taking to NAMM next week? Headless Nordstrands? Pickups of course. (Best guess) Anything else special? What's the scoop boys?

Vic · #**127** 01-18-2013, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

I am not aware of any SS string that even comes close to the 'loose feel' of the Hi Beams in the same gauge (I assume due to the round core, pressure wound, whatever

).

I don't know what their core design is, and haven't compared them directly with HB's, but the Ernie Ball "Slinky" strings also feel fairly "loose" to me, and they do make SS flavors.

Carey · #**128** 01-18-2013, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GRoberts

On another note ....What is Carey taking to NAMM next week? Headless Nordstrands? Pickups of course. (Best guess) Anything else special? What's the scoop boys?

We'll have two headless fives, a couple vJ5's and a vM5. And my old butterscotch vP5.

Also some new pickups. Some steel blade single coils with neo magnets on one set and ceramic on another. Just tested them today and am quite happy how they sound.

But the real big thing for us this year are new strat replacement pickups we're calling the Shush Puppies. They're hum canceling and they sound extremely close to real single coils. I've been working on them for going on six years now and finally got them to where I'm really happy with them. Super curious to see how many tone hound guitarists agree with me.

That's about it really.

GRoberts · #**129** 01-19-2013, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carey

We'll have two headless fives, a couple vJ5's and a vM5. And my old butterscotch vP5.

Also some new pickups. Some steel blade single coils with neo magnets on one set and ceramic on another. Just tested them today and am quite happy how they sound.

But the real big thing for us this year are new strat replacement pickups we're calling the Shush Puppies. They're hum canceling and they sound extremely close to real single coils. I've been working on them for going on six years now and finally got them to where I'm really happy with them. Super curious to see how many tone hound guitarists agree with me.

That's about it really.

Sounds great Carey! I have a sweet Grosh NOS Retro Custom Strat. Maybe one day I'll give the Shush puppies a listen. But for now, I really like the guitar as it is, so I'm not gonna fix it. ...it aint broke. LOL

Very intrigued by the blade PU'! Very cool.

TapyTap · #**130** 01-19-2013, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carey

Also some new pickups. Some steel blade single coils with neo magnets on one set and ceramic on another. Just tested them today and am quite happy how they sound.

OK...now this has got my attention. I will be waiting for more information on these!

4snaar · #**131** 01-19-2013, 02:49 AM

Unfortunately, I don't have a Nordy bass.

But, three of my five basses have Nordstrand pickups! I play with the NJ4 60, the NP4 and NP4v pickups which I really like.

Saluki · #**132** 01-19-2013, 05:45 AM

Joe,

The D'Addario steels feel lighter tension to me. Coming from recent Lowrider, Dunlop nickel, and Elixir trials.

narud · #**133** 01-19-2013, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saluki

Joe,

The D'Addario steels feel lighter tension to me. Coming from recent Lowrider, Dunlop nickel, and Elixir trials.

are the pro steels the only set they make?

narud · #**134** 01-19-2013, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic

I don't know what their core design is, and haven't compared them directly with HB's, but the Ernie Ball "Slinky" strings also feel fairly "loose" to me, and they do make SS flavors.

the ernie steels are what i just pulled off that ray. they were considerably stiffer than the unknown nickels i had on there.

Vic · #**135** 01-20-2013, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by narud

the ernie steels are what i just pulled off that ray. they were considerably stiffer than the unknown nickels i had on there.

They were the super slinky's? It's been a while for those string for me, but I seem to recall pulling them off because they were too floppy for me a while back. Maybe I should try them again.

Hapa · #**136** 01-20-2013, 01:48 AM

Been a while since I have been over here :P I have had a lot a great success with the DM Helix stainless strings for my Nordy. The strings are tapercore so the saddles on the a-e-b create a bit higher of an break angle to compensate for the minimally wrapped core. I have to think that it attributes to the tone of the string. That and they are low tension...higher than DR high beams looser than low riders which I really like these days. That and they have lasted a long time with great string feel.

nad · #**137** 01-21-2013, 12:14 PM

I've tried 3 sets of strings on my vJ4. Dunlop nickels (about a day), DR Sunbeams (less than 24 hours), and Thomastik Jazz flats (coming up on 2 years, minus those two day-long trials). I don't know why I even bother experimenting with rounds on the green bass, it loves the Thomastik flats!

On the vJ5 I have the standard set of Dunlop nickel plated. No plan on changing, they just work on that bass, and they definitely put the B in kaBoom. Might try out a set of Circle K at some point, but I don't plan on flatwounding this one.

Regarding NAMM, the blade pickups are pretty durn cool I must say. I think a lot of people will be really impressed with these.

KJung · #**138** 01-21-2013, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nad

I've tried 3 sets of strings on my vJ4. Dunlop nickels (about a day), DR Sunbeams (less than 24 hours), and Thomastik Jazz flats (coming up on 2 years, minus those two day-long trials). I don't know why I even bother experimenting with rounds on the green bass, it loves the Thomastik flats!

On the vJ5 I have the standard set of Dunlop nickel plated. No plan on changing, they just work on that bass, and they definitely put the B in kaBoom. Might try out a set of Circle K at some point, but I don't plan on flatwounding this one.

Regarding NAMM, the blade pickups are pretty durn cool I must say. I think a lot of people will be really impressed with these.

Per my post above, I don't think you will find anything lower tension/feel than the Thomastik strings, so it sounds like you are good to go. Maybe it is worth trying their roundwounds on that Stingray.

nad · #**139** 01-21-2013, 01:29 PM

Oh that reminds me, I did put a set of Thomastik rounds on a Sterling some years ago. VERY low tension, and a very cool sound. But they were certainly different, I've never played a set of strings like that. These were the Jazz Rounds, I didn't try the Power Bass strings.

And now that Memory Lane is kicking in, we also tried a set of the Jazz Rounds on a fretless Nordy vJ4 at one point, but they didn't last too long before swapping to the standard Dunlops. Pretty cool, but certainly unique!

CTC564 · #**140** 01-22-2013, 07:43 PM

Quick question regarding strings...the B in particular...I've recently had my VJ5 Modern set up with Dunlop Nickels 45-130 and I've noticed that the B string seems floppier than I remembered...

Compared to my Lakland 55-94 it's really floppy

Is this as a result of the strings or the set-up?

No offense intended to anyone...the bass itself is great...I was just curious