The Bassist and Guitarist thread

[GM]

I thought this was quite entertaining. I'm on a ukulele page on FB, and while the lockdown is on members of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are doing their own thing on YouTube..... Don't worry it's all about the bass!

 

[DCBassman]

Well, @SkipdiverJohn , I play a Fender Precision Bass. This is the most basic of electric instruments, a couple of coils. eight magnets, some wire and two variable resistances, all coupled to a jack socket. The rest of the magic goes on elsewhere, ie amp and speakers. As you will read, and know from the cycling world, people like to dream up solutions to which there are no problems...And an active bass is one with batteries and electronics on board. Passive has worked well since 1951 (1920s if thinking about 6-string guitars), and I profess myself a Luddite when dealing with 'active' instruments!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

As you will read, and know from the cycling world, people like to dream up solutions to which there are no problems...And an active bass is one with batteries and electronics on board. Passive has worked well since 1951 (1920s if thinking about 6-string guitars), and I profess myself a Luddite when dealing with 'active' instruments!

Di2 for guitars? I've never even heard of "active" instruments until now! And now I have heard of them, I don't like the idea very much either. I've always assumed that the player generated the output alone, and all the electronic gubbins the guitar is plugged into merely doctors and amplifies that output.

 

[ColinJ]

Another guitar competition... (Try to!) "Win a Kirk Hammett ESP LTD KH Demonology Guitar with Signature EMG Pickups" HERE.


NB It is a US-based competition but people from several other countries including the UK can enter. I can't see mention of possible charges... You should be aware that sometimes these are not included in the prize so you could end up with VAT and import duties to pay. I can't afford what might be a few hundred pounds so I won't enter this one.

 

[avecReynolds531]

Well, @SkipdiverJohn , I play a Fender Precision Bass. This is the most basic of electric instruments, a couple of coils. eight magnets, some wire and two variable resistances, all coupled to a jack socket. The rest of the magic goes on elsewhere, ie amp and speakers. As you will read, and know from the cycling world, people like to dream up solutions to which there are no problems...And an active bass is one with batteries and electronics on board. Passive has worked well since 1951 (1920s if thinking about 6-string guitars), and I profess myself a Luddite when dealing with 'active' instruments!

I love the 3 main Leo Fender designs: Jazz, Precision & Stingray. Timeless brilliance (and he did the Tele and Strat too!). I haven't tried his later G&L basses.

Agree, the simplicity of passive pickups is a good thing - one less thing to wrong. The Precision is a fantastic instrument.

I couldn't get on with any of the Gibson basses I've tried, but I'd reckon that's my failing and not the instruments at all.

I haven't had any break down or trouble with actives, and I love hearing a (2 band) Musicman Stingray, or Marcus Miller's (active) signature Jazz tone.

Maybe it's fair to include the Hofner violin bass & Rickenbacker 4003 as design classics too, though I haven't played them.

 

[DCBassman]

@Drago , when you've built that fretless, here's some dibble-inspired practice...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4j-Jyb5vMA

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

View: https://youtu.be/FT4nWq3sI7s

 

[Drago]

Not everyone's cup of tea... but it's an absolute design classic
View attachment 523663

Hell yeah. That's on my shopping list.

 

[RoubaixCube]

I think with regards to pickup types it really depends on the style of music you play. There are certain styles and setups where Active pickups would of course excel over passive for example high gain applications being the most common reason.

Tech wise I do think Active pickups have come a long way since EMG were the end all be all of active pickups as far as 6 strings go. Theres a lot of choices and options to pick from now like Fishman Fluence pickups that have can be split into different active modes with coil splitting and all that that jazz to suit a wider range of styles.

I think they will continue to improve.

As for me I still have a set of boutique pickups in my schecter. I got a calibrated set of Nailbombs from Bare Knuckle Pickups. Plenty of heat when rolled all the way up and nice bluesy crunch when dialed back.

 

[DCBassman]

As for me I still have a set of boutique pickups in my schecter. I got a calibrated set of Nailbombs from Bare Knuckle Pickups. Plenty of heat when rolled all the way up and nice bluesy crunch when dialed back.

Ah, Mr Tim Mills certainly knows how to wind a pickup...best passive pickups in the world, IMHO, and from Cornwall to boot. Such a nice guy, too!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I think Motorhead could do with a few more amps. They seem to have a shortage! 😄

Standing two feet away from that lot going full blast would make your ears bleed. An old school rock'n'roll loving colleague of mine has a guitar and an ancient Vox valve amp stashed in a room at work. One weekend when we were in on overtime and had the entire place to ourselves, he gave me a little demo, and even at 15 watts or whatever the Vox produced, it was deafening in a 15ft square room with high ceilings. I wouldn't want to be in too close proximity to Motorheads array of Marshalls!

 

[Drago]

Lemmy was Rock n Roll. He lived it, breathed it, slept it, and it shows in his music. The raw edge, the sound, the attitude in his work can't be faked, no matter how good a musician you are. I mourned the great mans passing and named my dog in his honour.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I can never listen to Ace of Spades just the once and leave it at that, it has to be repeated two or three times. And played loud!

 

[Cycleops]

With all this talk about how picks ups and winding can this affect the sound? I note that people selling them make a big fuss about them being hand wound. I want to ask can this really make them sound better and are other lesser pickups which presumably are machine wound any worse? Does it really make a difference? Would they be better if they were wound on the thighs of eighteen year old virgins?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

With all this talk about how picks ups and winding can this affect the sound? I note that people selling them make a big fuss about them being hand wound. I want to ask can this really make them sound better and are other lesser pickups which presumably are machine wound any worse?

We're getting into the realms of the same sort of debate that takes place concerning hand-built lugged & brazed frames vs robotically welded ones......