• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Which year represents you in terms of the highest number of album releases that you love?

I have to cheat a little here and go with 1977-78.

Among many others - and I'm just sticking with R&B/funk - and in no particular order:

"Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome" - Parliament
"All 'n All" - Earth, Wind & Fire
"Go For Your Guns" and "Showdown" - The Isley Brothers
"Bootsy? Player of the Year" - Bootsy's Rubber Band
"Get to the Feeling" - Pleasure

For a multi-year window, 1975-1979 would cover it.

Double Bass Health Related Issues To Playing

These are all good suggestions. I went to more flexible strings and a much lighter touch on purpose about four years ago and this has really helped. That last hour on a four-hour gig does seem to be when most problems occur. In that case, I try to play even more relaxed and as lightly as I can. The impulse for me is to dig in more, but if I really let up and relax, it helps to get me through. Let the amp, if used, do the work. Even if playing ampless, you project a decent amount if you don't force it. It takes an adjustment in thinking, but it does work IMO.
  • Like
Reactions: lurk

If you dabble with blues guitar….

Hubert Sumlin's funeral expenses were paid by Mick & Keef.
The Stones were longtime Wolf fans. In 1965, they refused to appear on the TV show "Shindig" unless Wolf was also brought on. 18-year-old Billy Preston and Tele-master James Burton were members of the lineup who backed him on the show:

Login to view embedded media
The Stones instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue" was named after the 1964 location of the Chess Records Studio, where their album "12X5" (which featured the track) was partly recorded.

Login to view embedded media
They covered Wolf on a track for their 1965 album, "Rolling Stones, Now!"

Login to view embedded media .

1961:

Login to view embedded media

Ernie Ball Bass Noodle: Gig Report

I did try it from about an inch from the bridge, slowly moving it towards the bridge. For my sound, I like it right up against the bridge saddles. When it was an inch away, I heard more attack than tone. There is a sweet spot just a little away from the bridge that could be a good fit for the upright sound (playing on top if the fingerboard and mixing your eq just right). I like it when I sound close to an upright in articulation, but a more pure, amplified tone.

I did try the reverse install that Obra suggested. Definitely a different sound profile. It suppresses the G string a little more. I will be trying it the next time I gig with it.

Dingwall Combustion Nashville OMG Mod

I just did a thing.

I have a Dingwall Combustion that I love. I customized it a little while ago by putting in the Fret Nation 6-way switch that gave me the solo middle pickup. That was good, but then I heard the Dingwall Nashville Combustion "all pickup combinations" video and I wanted to try it out. So I figured out how to rewire my Combustion as a Nashville Combustion. I pulled out the 6-way switch, installed a blend, put in a push/pull volume pot for active/passive switching, and installed a DPDT on/on/on mini switch for the special sauce Nashville middle-pickup switching. A key difference that I picked up in the Dingwall Facebook group is that the middle pickup on a Nashville is wired in series with itself, where on a regular Combustion it's in parallel with itself. So I made sure to make that change.

I love the solo middle pickup in series, and I like the blend knob, but I wasn't super happy with the mix of middle pickup and blend, it just sort of seemed thin and not super differentiated.

So.

I had wired the blend and middle pickup on/on/on switch so those two outputs were in parallel. I thought, "what if I could wire those in series?" It took me forever to figure out how to wire up the DPDT on/on/on switch to make that happen, but I did. So now, the middle switch position has blend in series with the middle pickup.

Holy moly, it sounds AMAZING. When the blend is set to the bridge or neck position, it sounds terrific with the middle pickup. Ballsy, nasty, super powerful. But when the blend is in the middle, it is just a MASSIVE sound. Unbelievable. I love this thing. All I have to do is be careful I don't blow the windows out.

Please post a video or an audio file.
  • Like
Reactions: Daniel B5

Pedalboard noise

Here's what I'd do in your case:

Build the signal chain on a less cramped space to rule out the power supplies creating noise for being in close proximity to the audio signal carrying devices - especially the LED stuff.
Take off the pedals from the board. Start with the DI and the last pedal in chain before that. Check for noise, and if there is none, add one pedal and check again. Space them out a bit, as far as your cables allow. If the whole signal chain minus the LEDs operates without noise, then the culprit has to be either LEDs or the proximity to the power supplies.
A good start, I would also want to rule out the power supply as they can cause issues if the internal boost/buck converters are noise or there is a defect present.
  • Like
Reactions: el murdoque

Crazy cool Kauer Draken #19

I ended up putting on a set of La Bella low tension flats medium scale. They fit perfectly and I love them. The factory rounds sounded great but I just love the smoothness of flats.
Hey Good to know for future. I was going to buy a set before I went with the Dunlop long scales. Which work very well just a slight overwrap on the "G". I love the LTFs Ive had them on other basses, one of my favs.
  • Like
Reactions: Bergerama

Player Plus Active Precision issues.

I recently purchased one of these 2 years old. It's a good feeling guitar, though a little on the heavy side, with very comfortable neck. On plugging it in however, I immediately discovered the pots were scratchy and noisy - to the extent that an active tone control would cause scratchy nose even when the bass was in passive mode. More problematic than this though, is that the pickups are so hummy, that him is even produced by touching the plastic sides, and touching pieces causes MASSIVE hum. I expect a little bit not too this extent.
Opening the bass I discovered clear signs that the pickups had been changed, but I do not know how to tell whether they have been changed back to original, or whether they are inferior pickups contributing to the problem. The J pickup has the "Noiseless" logo on the cover, but that is just the cover. Is there a way of identifying whether that really is the original Fender noiseless pickup?

Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club

In a similar vein, I still hold that an Acme B1 on the floor coupled with a BF One10T on a stand is near sonic perfection. Decoupling the one10 like that gets it totally out of the inefficient B1’s massive low-end turf while the 10CR fills the space with those warm tube-like mids. I know Alex used to play/study Acme cabs, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re “accidentally/not-accidentally” designed to play so nicely together.

What does a high mass bridge do?

When looking at the history of bass bridges, you basically had Fender bent steel and nothing else commercially... until the Badass came along.

While a Badass (or similar hi mass) may do nothing for tone, the reason lots of pros had them in the 70s-80s was the fender bent steel bridge has a tendency for the saddles to move laterally and the screws to back out. So, to fix this problem, you bought a Badass (or, DIY I guess).

So, no, they don't really 'do nothing' when you look at the context of a studio or touring pro needing a bridge that was reliable over many sessions and string changes. Sure, there are less bulbous models that fix those issues now, but not at the time (70s-80s).

JLD Bridge Doctor for ABG

Thank you for the advice.
I'm pretty sure I understand the theory, and after getting a USB inspection camera in there, nothing appears to have come unglued, the bridge seems solidly affixed. I think its a combination of some of the things mentioned above, (top isn't stiff enough, braces are not stiff enough & too heavy a gauge of string). The truss rod was maxed out and there was an obvious belly behind the bridge, it was low at the front (rotating forward under string tension)
While it sounds quite pleasant, it's not an expensive or rare instrument, and I can't get a bridge doctor locally (will have to get one shipped from the US). Also the bass is not mine, I'm just trying to help out as a favour.

Since the bridge doctor will need a 9/64" hole anyway, I got approval, drilled, and made something up out of what I had laying around, it seems to be a marked improvement. I'll order a bridge doctor, and maybe creep another 1/8th of a turn in 24 hours and see what happens.

View attachment 3361194

Hello. I know is old, but despite the structural corection how the mod it sound please ?...it gains/loose sustain ? , is louder/quiet ? It loose or gain bass, mids ? Any appreciations about how it modified the tone in respect with original please ? Thank You.

NBD - Spector Euro CST 4 string

HI all, can anyone tell me if the necks on the CST's are a bit thinner than on the Euro Classics for example? I play a lot of chord stuff and when testing out the Euro Classic a couple of times, the neck felt chunkier than the neck on my old SK Squier Precision. The neck on my Precision sits somewhere between a regular US Precision and a Jazz neck, and it's too thin for my long fingers and hands, yet the Euro Classic felt a bit too much. It could be just that I need to adjust to a different neck and that after a while my hands will adapt, but 'if' the CST has a faster neck, I'm all for the CST.
Ask on the Spector thread, they can probably help you. I can tell you that the neck on my CST feels slimmer than my RST neck.
  • Heart
Reactions: Bright Midnight

Latest Classifieds

IotaNet (+55 /0 /-1)
Expires
Views
36
6.87 pounds. Ships with the Sandberg Gig Bag
$2,100.00
4 watching
Location
United States
Brand new never used rosewood precision neck, with binding and block inlays. It's never been used, doesn't have holes drilled in heel. I bought it...
$120.00
1 watching
Location
Austin Texas, United States
rmichael (+139 /0 /-1)
Expires
Views
91
Erlewine Neck Jig The revolutionary string tension simulator, for fretwork without guesswork. Now more versatile than ever! A revolution in...
$250.00
2 watching
Location
Forsyth Illinois, United States
2023 Fender American Vintage II ’66 Jazz Bass – Sea Foam Green – Geddy Lee Inspired – 9 lbs Up for sale is a beautiful Fender American Vintage...
$1,400.00
4 watching
Location
Shreveport Louisiana, United States
jayman121 (+4 /0 /-0)
Expires
Views
33
Fender American II 5 string Precision Bass Excellent with Travel Case
$1,500.00
1 watching
Location
Hawaii, United States

Filter