Recent content by Krustinator

Not sure I buy the science, but a good, moody movie: Not your typical Sci-Fi, more thought provoking, kind of like Another Earth, but with Scarlett Johansson:

Yes, not a problem. I've had blocks on my bass for ~6 years. I clean/oil my board about once a year, and haven't had any issues with the stickers at all.

TPB are great. Very legit. Great guys to work with. They have a forum here as well...check it out.

Good advice above; also, play along with stuff you know well that's not overly complex and pay close attention to your intonation. Use open strings to check intonation when you can. Also, you can play with a tuner if you have a tuner out on your amp or can play through it, but don't get...

I've got two of the six string version of this bass, one fretted and one fretless. Overall, they're a good deal for the money, better build than the SX basses, and what I'd call appropriate for the price point - fretwork is good, finish work is good, but some of the finer details, like pickup...

I play Drop Db (C#) in one band and D-standard in another. I have a 4-string rigged with Rotosounds with .50-.65-.85-.115. They work really well for both tunings and keep things from getting floppy. To figure out string tension, you can use Circle-K and Dunlop's tension guides. From...

Lots of good suggestions above. Some I didn't see that are worth investigating: Porcupine Tree Scale the Summit Animals as Leaders

Just wanted to jump on the kudos bandwagon for Jason and BassStringsOnline. Ordered a couple of custom gauge sets last week. His single-string set option let me build up sets (Roto & DR) at about the same cost as a prepackaged set (actually, less for the DR's). Customer service is...

The plate the pots and jack mount to is called a control plate. Lots of places can supply: bestbassgear, guitarpartsresource, stewmac will all have them. I'd agree with the shielding and strings. I also ended up re-wiring mine, due to a grounding issue. I think it's a great bass, overall.

I can chime in on the Hi-Beams vs Sunbeams. I have a set of each on my 6'rs (fretted & fretless). The High Beams have the characteristic brightness of stainless strings, almost a "metallic" sound, if you will (but not in a bad way). The Sunbeams have a warmer, more rounded tone to my ear -...

If you have an HXB-406, you can top load the strings as well as going through the body; this opens you up to more choices. Even the long-scale strings may be too short strung through the body, as was the case when I put a set of DR Sunbeams on mine. If you're not dedicated to the...

B - E - A - D - G - C (low to high) is the standard, where the inner 4 strings are the same as a 4 string. From there, the world is your oyster.

With the background you give, my guess is you can make a lot of progress in a year. I started about a year and a half ago, but have played percussion for 30 years. My background in music and reading helped get me functional pretty quickly in terms of playing and understanding concepts and the...

Drummer for 30+ years, including a music degree in percussion. Have played percussion and drumset in a lot of different settings, jazz to classical to rock to samba & steel bands. Also, like th OP, played a number of years on the drum line in a couple Pipe & Drum bands. Still love drums and...

I have that as my standard setup. I don't leave the VT on constantly, but if I want grit, kick it and the Bad Monkey on and it works very well. I don't go for all-out distortion, just a good overdrive and they stack well for that; the VT really warms up the drive.