Kiwi

Facebook isn't as good as it used to be.  The advertising isn't all that effective, it appeals to a Gen X and older demographic and it's not great for relationship building...but what social media is?  Twitter is all about proclamations and instagram is all about thirst, there is no depth in either.  Google is still king but it takes more work to get things up the search engine rankings these days due to competition and an algorithm which is harder to game than it used to be.

3 hours ago, BoppingT said:

Andertons are massive on YouTube mostly because they are a known shop at a location.

I know Andertons well, Lee and I occasionally exchange messages.  They are massive because;

1) They started posting in 2009 before Youtube exploded as a promotion tool.  They got carried along on the tide as it were and probably wouldn't be able to repeat the success now as the algorithm has changed and there is more competition.
2) Lee (and Rob Chapman) are charismatic on camera.  Rob put Lee onto the idea of Youtube as a promo vehicle at the same time he was thinking about Chapman Guitars over ten years ago.  Lee has a stake in Chapman as well.
3) Andertons have an established and trusted brand, customers expect Lee and the team to take care of them (and they do).

I've seen some videos just now which explain music theory so they're definitely available.  I actually took up guitar to help me understand more about chords to help my bass playing.  It didn't work, I started to find guitar more interesting than bass.

FWIW I'm self taught, I look for songs that interest me and I try to learn how to play them.  Steve Stevens, Steve Lukather, Alan Murphy, Boon Gould, Nile Rodgers...I follow their leads. I don't need them to teach me if I can work out what they are doing with the help of online chord charts.

On 28/03/2020 at 01:52, BoppingT said:

lol Kiwi I'm glad for you that you dig Steve Stine / if I got it wrong that you think he's an alright teacher.

I got the maths down of why the 1st 3rd and 5th notes work together, as it is to do with cos waves getting added. I can put the maths here if you want, I can't follow the maths that well, but can see what result it turns out.

I'm more or less numerically dylsexic. Basic arthimetic and stats are OK...they're grounded in the real world.  But calculus and quadratic equations...might as well be a foreign language.  But if you understand maths and can visualise it, I'm sure you will have few problems. Bach was of the same view.

2 hours ago, BoppingT said:

Kiwi, do you think my guitar advice is any good?

My opinion isn't important and in any case, it takes more than some text to be an effective teacher.  There is sensitivity/empathy and the ability to make complicated things really simple. Compartmentalising information into bite sized chunks is key. And the ability to make learning entertaining either through personality or through staying close to the students' own passions.

Whatever it is, it doesn't need to be so thick.  Sealing can be solved with a quick spray over.  I suspect it might be more of the plastikote primer originally used on Fenders since the early 60's.  Basically a dip that seals and levels in one go, ready for final coat.  It's chemical cured so impervious to any solvents.

10 hours ago, ezbass said:

Carlos doesn't do clean does he?  My McCarty was a great all rounder, but the brand does seem to be favoured by the cascading distortion brigade.

Yeah I've watched videos of the 519/509 which attracted my attention and even when Paul was demonstrating the 'single coil mode' I thought it was a bit raw sounding.  Once I have a bit more disposable income, my eye is on a Custom 22 and maybe a 503.  The guitarist in a band I was once in back in the late 80's had an early PRS Custom 22 and a Boogie Mark IIc.  You could see they were his holy grail and with good reason.  It was in a different league to everything else I had heard - Jems into 5150, Strats into Marshalls etc.  The overdrive was so tight.

I tried my first PRS this time last year in Hong Kong.  I was blown away by how playable the Santana SE model was.  Played like butter.  But they don't sound that nice clean, kinda harsh.  Fantastic overdriven though.

You like PRS then.. Why did you sell? 

I was actually looking at photos of my past low end purchases and wandering whether to post something similar.  I've only offloaded two guitars from the 6 I have though,  a sunbust Yammy MSG and I gave a Wolf 6 string away.  Pic of the Yammy later,  I don't have any of the Wolf. 

Steve Stine is a fantastic...gifted teacher.  The way he explains things just sinks into my head with no effort and he tells you why things are the way they are as well as what they are.

Phasing is normally due to polarity.  Can be checked with a magnet or can be checked by disconnecting and reconnecting speakers until the phase effect is created.  Could well be that each brand of speaker has a different polarity.

On 26/11/2019 at 19:50, Skinnyman said:

I'd try it first and see. I went from 10s to 9s but also changed makes and the tension must have stayed about the same as there was no need to alter the neck relief.

Yeah on my guitars by the time I'd finished faffing about with setting the trem, the original tension had returned regardless of the gauge.  Could be different for a hard tail though.

18 hours ago, Skinnyman said:

So I’ve just spent a happy morning shielding the control cavity with copper tape and - like magic - the hum has now gone!

I'm just wondering if some unconnected earth contacts might have been accidentally reconnected during the installation process? 

Any pics?

Two weeks ago it was Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World but I ran out of time to learn the solo. 

(BTW Dave Price is my favourite Youtube tutor right now.  He covers pretty much every single song I've wanted to learn.  I even bought the Alan Murphy pack off him a few years ago.)

Last week it was Flesh for Fantasy as I'm on a bit of a Steve Stevens thing right now.  This week it's Rebel Yell...

On 12/02/2020 at 16:09, MWH said:

its a bit quiet sadly on here,  most of the action seems to come from basschat members, 

Thanks for your support...

On 08/04/2019 at 02:04, Scratcher said:

I am open to any tips to get going particularly how to get my fingers where they need to be on chords.getting there but sometimes I touch the string below.presume eventually my fingers will become more supple.

I decided to teach myself about 10 years ago.  There's no magic solution, it's just practice, practice, practice practice and more practice. Its important that I choose songs I want to play over and over again.  So I flit between Alan Murphy, Steve Lukather, Steve Stevens and Nile Rogers tracks.  My main problem is I don't practice often enough as playing is something I do when my kids aren't asleep or needing to be supervised and I have at least half an hour to myself.

Good grief I'm dreading to think what power supply is needed.  My Effectrode PC2A compressor has a 'submarine' valve and that needs a 12v 1500mA supply.

On 20/12/2019 at 19:29, uk_lefty said:

I am mainly a bassist and had a zoom BFX708 many years ago. I wouldn't use one now for gigging. I'm branching out in to electric guitar and notice zoom have come a long way these days. Would you say the G1Xon is credible for gigging? I've gone to individual pedals and then Boss for the multi, so out of touch with Zoom.

Also noticed that mooer has some multi pedals out, are these up to much? 

A bit late to the party here but I have a Mooer Ocean Machine and it's a very nice bit of kit.  Mooer seem to be lifting their game and price points but that means their cheaper pedals are built to the same standard as their expensive ones.  So yeah, have a look at Mooer...and Joyo too.

Update time for mine:  Two changes...

1) I took the DS1 away and put the Joyo American Sound back

2) Rewired the entire board to take greater advantage of the Tight Rock side chain and effects loop. 

So now the signal chain goes wah-> chorus -> TR -> Ocean Machine -> amps

The TR has the following loops: 

Side chain: (Clean) Empress Para Eq -> Effectrode PC2 comp
Effects loop: (Dirty) Joyo JF14 -> Freq Out
 

Could be a wiring problem.  Maybe the speakers are wired out of phase?

I've been looking for a replacement speaker for my recently purchased Princeton Reverb II.  I'm not sure if there are other manufacturers but Jensen have produced a 12" speaker designed for Fender Tone Master amps.  It's called the N12K and it only weighs 2.4kg.  

Apparently it's not going to be available for separate purchase until now...but given the situation with Coronavirus, it could be delayed I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41_fw7YR9Pw

Great taste in gear!  Welcome aboard too.  Keep coming back and you'll get to know other members too.  I started playing seriously about 8 years ago and I'm still crap.  

New amp day, Rivera-era Princeton Reverb II on the way in.  Concert II out as it's going to be way too loud for my needs.  Hit me up if any of you might be interested in it.

I've just come into possession of a more home friendly Fender Princeton Reverb II, the younger brother of this amp.  I bought it about 2 years ago but haven't had a chance to play it as I've been out of the country.  It's been looked after by Ped until I got around to collect it and ship it with other stuff out to China.

Features include:
1) Point to point hand wired, amongst the last amps to come out of the Fender factory like this
2) 60w available from 3x 6L6 power tubes, the usual 12AX7's in the preamp section
3) 2 channel footswitchable preamp with reverb, presence for both channels
4) Ch 1 - bass, treb + volume with bright boost
5) Ch 2 - bass, mid, treb, gain + volume with mid boost
6) Stock 12" speaker replaced with an Eminence.  Will need to confirm the exact model but it's probably the biggest improvement in terms of bang for buck.
7) Transformer is set up for 240v AC mains.

Great cleans - classic Fender with thick mids and chimey highs. It takes pedals well according to other owners.

PDF version of the user manual is available here:
http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/twoseriesfenders/Concert%20%281982%29.pdf

Can't really ship it due to weight so collection in the western vicinity of York preferred.

5 hours ago, jazzyvee said:

Hey Kiwi, i'm an alembic lover and would love to see a pic of that graphite series bass if possible. If it's out of place here then maybe drop a pic in the alembic group on basschat?

You may have seen it already on the first page:
https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/26098-the-alembic-thread/?do=findComment&comment=270629

Photobucket doesn't do us any favours these days however.  Repost here:
https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/333124-rare-basses/page/7/#comments