The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso/b/bl276.zip/BL276.TXT

Text File | 1993-03-10 | 23KB | 517 lines

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                                                    Issue #276
                                                    January 11, 1993

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To post:                           Subscriptions, deletions, requests:
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Today's topics:
                  Ampeg fuses
                  Portrait of Tracy tab corrected and uploaded
                  String Height and Neck Relief Preferences
                  Rolling Stones auditions?
                  (none)
                  Introduction
                  ready-to-print 13 stave music paper available
                  vote!
                  New Ibanez/Yamaha models
                  Peavey 410tx
                  Who do YOU like?
                  NAMM, Here I Come!
                  Ampeg amp
                  equipment, for what it's worth

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Administrative notes:

   Mail was pretty slow over the past few days, but we finally have enough
material for another post.  By the way, to the t-shirt slogan vote counter
(I keep forgetting to write your name down, it's mlaurence@??? right?), there
is one more vote for "live life on the bottom", as well as the vote buried
later in the digest somewhere.

Enjoy!
Erik

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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 00:43:46 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Ampeg fuses

In TBL #275 Jim Lynch asks about Ampeg fuses on an SVT-II. Don't know if this
will help, but I have an SVT-III, which one would like to assume is similar
other than the power amp section. I do have a fuse on the back panel, but
there are also fuses inside the case, in clips, easily replaced--if you can
find the proper amperage fuses. The main fuse for my amp is a 10 amp slo-blo,
and I went to a half-dozen places before I found them. Don't try Radio Shack,
they only carry up to 8 amp slo-blos. I tried a few music stores--even an
Ampeg dealer--without luck. A GOOD electronics supply shop should have them,
though. The literature for my amp says "Independently Fused Sections--Main
AC, secondary AC, preamp, tubes are all fused eliminating the worry of
expensive repair if a damaging fault occurs." Hope this helps. You may want
to bring it to the dealer anyway, especially if it is still under warranty,
to have it checked out and see why it blew.
--Bob Farace

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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 08:57 GMT
From: Ben van Balen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Portrait of Tracy tab corrected and uploaded

I discovered 3 errors in the Portrait of Tracy tab (#273).
As you all undoubtedly have noticed, the duration characters
in bar 14-16 were slightly out of position. Besides that the
3's in bar 46 and 50 needed an extra '+'. So I gave them one.
The correct version has been uploaded uncompressed to
kappa.rice.edu in the pub/bass/tab/songs/jaco_pastorius directory.
If one of our beloved Bass-Mgr's finds his time worth while
compressing it, you'll find that out when downloading this
wonderfull piece of tab.

[  It has been compressed for your enjoyment!   bass-mgr ]

Have fun guys...
Ben.

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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 10:57:43 CST
From: Kevin Sullivan <[e-mail]>
Subject: String Height and Neck Relief Preferences

What determines how much neck relief and string height one should
have for a particular syle of playing?  I've been experimenting to
find out what I like.  Some things are easier with low action but
are there certain styles of playing that require a higher action?
Obviously slapping causes larger movement of the string and you
want the string to contact the fret(s|board) but can it be too low?

John Galt (issue #153) suggests .014" relief in his treatise on setup.
When is it appropriate to vary from this setting?

Kevin Sullivan

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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 17:17:11 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Rolling Stones auditions?

Does anyone know when and where the Rolling Stones are going to
hold their auditions?  I heard yesterday that Bill Wyman has left
the band and that they're on the lookout for a new bassist.

If anyone sees a classified advertisement for the opening, please
let me know!

        ;-)   John

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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 17:09:59 GMT
From: Rod Blackwood <[e-mail]>

Subject: Carvins in the UK and the hunt for a fretless 5

Hi Bottom Liners,

First, thanks to Bob Davis for his tips on improving the Peavey Alpha.
I would have replied sooner, but I've been away from my machine since
November.

I was looking for a 5-string fretless recently, so after reading all
the good reviews of Carvins in TBL, I found that they now have a UK
agent so I sent off for the catalogue and price list.  Carvins may be
cheap in the US, but not over here - a fretless LB75 with one of the
cheap finishes was over #1000 (that's 1000 pounds) with case - $1500
equivalent.  A Warwick or a Wal would have been cheaper, although not
by much.

The only cheapish fretless 5 I could find was an Aria MAB20/5, list
about #345 but available for #265 from mail order discount shops and
for #315 in a local shop, although some haggling would have brought
that down a bit.  I wasn't too keen on the Aria - the neck was too
thick (although not as bad as some Fenders I've tried) and the sound
should have been better from active pickups.

After that, the options were to spend a lot of money on a Warwick or a
custom built basss or to buy a fretted 5-string and have a local guitar
builder take the frets off it.  I tried:

 Bass Collection - quite nice, good neck but a bit pricey at #400-#500

 Fender Jazz - strings too close together and too expensive at #800

 Squier Precision - less expensive, but strings still too close
 together

 Maison - Korean copy of the Bass Collection and just as good at half
 the price

 Hohner - very nice - slim through body neck, excellent EMG electrics
 and a good deal at #375

I eventually bought a Pedulla Series II fretless 5 in a sale at one of
the local music stores for #600.  I didn't intend to spend anything
like that much (I was hoping to get the Hohner for #300), but this is a
nice bass and my resistance to sales pitch had been weakened by hours
of queuing - never take your credit card to a sale with a queue unless
you're prepared to use it !  Someone please tell me that $900 for this
bass was a bargain, cause it was most of my beer money for this year
unless I can get a job in a Country & Western band - they get paid much
better than the Blues bands around here.

The Pedulla came in a Fender-style case.  It has a wide, flat heavy
maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard with white fret markers.  I
don't know what the body is made of, but it has a flame maple top and
transparent blue paint which looks very striking if a bit OTT.  The
hardware is all Pedulla's own (at least all the bits have "P" on them)
and is gold-plated.  The pickups are Bartolini active humbuckers and
the controls are volume, pickup balance and tone.  The bass has a very
solid feel to it and quite good balance - slightly neck heavy, but what
isn't ?  The sound is great too - a very deep, rich tone especially on
the bottom B.  There isn't much variation in the tone, at least not
compared to my John Birch or to the EMG-equipped Hohner I tried, but
what there is is good, so why worry ?  I'm very pleased with my new
bass and I look forward to many happy hours of brushing up my fretless
technique.

One more thing - can anyone send me details, particularly label and
catalogue numbers, of albums by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones ?  After
all the raving about Victor Wooten in TBL I would like to hear them,
but I asked a couple of my local record shops, but they've never heard
of them.

Happy New Year to you all !

Rod Blackwood,
BAeSema, Glasgow G2 8JE, UK.
[e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 16:20:37 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Introduction

Thought it was about time to send my first post.
I've been receiving TBL for a few months and find it really informative, I
really enjoy researching equipment before I buy something, but the local
music stores have very limited inventories so TBL is a great way to get
players opinions before driving to Rochester (House of Guitars) or to NYC.
I've been playing bass for about 7 years now, primarily jazz and some
blues, I played guitar for many years and decided to switch over to bass to
back up a friend who plays piano, and to quote my wife,  (Your getting
obsessed with this bass thing.) I currently play an 84 jazz bass with
dimarzio pick-ups and rewired to a master volume, blend, tone. thru a
Peavey Data Bass amp. that I have separated to a separate speaker enclosure
for portability and tone improvement,
(3.22 cu.ft,) box.  Stock it weights about 75lbs. and at 450 watts in that
small of an enclosure it really gives the amp a pounding. I was thinking of
selling the amp because of the weight, but with some help on the specs for
the enclosure  I now have a more portable rig that sounds really good with
lots of headroom.
My influences are Eddie Gomez, Steve Swallow, Harvey Swartz, Charlie Haden,
Jaco Pastorious, etc.,
 I'm really interested in buying a fretless, in the $600 range, possibily a
Carvin 4 string from what I've been reading in TBL it sounds hard to beat.
I have a 69 Jazz bass that I was going to put a Warmouth neck on, plus a
Badass bridge and some new pick-up etc., but rather than spend all the
money to see if it's what I really want, I thought I'd use it as a trade
for a fretless or sell it for $600.

Don Mackay
319 Hamilton Road,
Syracuse New York 13212
[phone] after 5pm
[e-mail]
Don Mackay
Visual Communications
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY  13244-4100
315-443-4076
e-mail [e-mail]
bitnet [e-mail]

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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 17:48:37 -0600
From: [e-mail]
Subject: ready-to-print 13 stave music paper available

Being thrifty and short of blank music paper, I've created a
ready-to-print postscript file containing a single page of blank 13
stave music paper with a bass cleff symbol on each line.  It's on the
anon ftp site kappa.rice.edu (128.42.4.7) in the compressed file
pub/bass/special/staves13.ps.Z.

Has anyone else had success retrieveing the file stringbass.ps.Z?  It
appears to be corrupt, so anyone who has used it successfully or can
provide another copy please yell.  [e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 93 23:42:01 CST
From: Tania M Davis <[e-mail]>
Subject: vote!

Well, my favorite was not listed in the final 10 (Ian Stephenson's
"Caution: Professional Bottom Slapper and G-string Popper!"--good one,
Ian!). But here's my second choice: My Other Bass is a Computer!

On a somewhat unrelated note, thanx to Ben for the transcription of
Portrait of Tracy. Unfortunately, all the e-mail that I receive has
the tabs, margins, spacing, etc. jumbled. If someone could send
(regular mail is fine) me a transcription of Portrait from either the
first ish of Bass Player "The Art of Soloing" or from their own
transcription, it would be GREATLY appreciated. I can reimburse
whomever sends it for postage, of course. E-mail me directly and I
will e-mail U my address. Thanx evr'buddy!

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: 10 Jan 1993 23:01:43 +1000
From: /R=ECC/R=AM/U=IT_JUSTIN/FFN=IT_JUSTIN/@mr.tased.edu.au
Subject: New Ibanez/Yamaha models

Has anyone tried out the new Yamaha RBX350, RBX650 or RBX1000 models ?
What are the pickups like on the 350 and 650 ? (I'm thinking of replacing them
with EMG's or Bartolini's.) I picked up an RBX250 and it felt pretty good for
a cheap bass, so I thought one of the PJ models with new pickups would be
good value. Any comments from the crowd ?

As an aside, has anyone tried out an Ibanez SR950 ?


Justin

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 93 16:42:31 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Peavey 410tx

Hello all, this is both a reply about the Peavey 410tx cabinet and an
introduction. I live in Baton Rouge, La and play in a blues band here.
I started playing acoustic bass in college 20 yrs ago. I was a music
major playing tuba at the time. I quit playing music entirely until
four years ago. I bought a mid 70's precision and small combo amp and
have been shedding seriously ever since. My current rig is a homemade
amp consisting of the post amp section out of a '74 Peavey SuperFestival
amp with a Peavey T.B. Raxx tube preamp. The amp is rated 400 watts into
2 ohms. I have a Peavey 410tx cabinet that I bought about 6 months ago.
I love it! It produces smooth clean lows and has a tweeter for the highs.
I rewired it so that the impedence is 2 ohms. (BTW I am an electrician)
I highly recommend the 410tx. It sounds good at any volume and is put
together really well. Only downside is that it weighs 90 lbs.
  My main influences in bass playing is the blues. Not any particular
player, but the feel. Blues is all about the groove. To me, you are
really playing bass when the music makes people want to dance. We have a
Blues Festival here in Baton Rouge every year the last weekend in August
(or first in September). Come see my band - Rude Mood (yeah we like
Stevie Ray!)
                             Butch Ammons

                             [e-mail]

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Date: 11 Jan 1993 12:34:57 -0500 (EST)
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Who do YOU like?

Point of Discussion...

     Name a bass player who you feel is sorely underrated. I'd love to
know about some bassists that I've never listened to. Who has really
influenced you. And anyone who says GEDDY/JACO/STU/VICTOR/etc. will be
shot on sight... B^>

For me...

        John Taylor of Duran Duran really put some amazing lines down.
Listen to 'Rio' or the thumbstyle line in Power Station's 'Some Like it
Hot' He really puts down some original lines... Of course in interviews he
comes across like a brain dead moron who know NOTHING about his
instrument. Funny.

[  I agree with this.  I've always enjoyed John's bass lines, even if the
   music is somewhat cheesy (in a non-Primus sort of way).  His early work
   is more fun to listen to than the later stuff.  Duran Duran's "Decade"
   greatest hits collection is a good place to hear John's work.   bass-mgr ]

        Peter Trewavas of Marillion. WHO? Marillion. Scottish rock band
that never really hit big in the states. Although they did tour with RUSH
for a while and the shows sell out every time they're in cincy. Pete is
the master of the understated simple lines. Never flashy. In my younger
"I've got to fill these 8 bars with 128 notes" days he was the one who
showed me that you can play just a simple root-fifth pattern and have it
be PERFECT for the song.

              ---------------------------------------

For whoever was asking about the Alembic PreAmp... They are Killer. The
circuit is based on the old Fender BassMan amps, but goes a little
further. VERY smooth rich tones. I would recommend one to anyone. I'm in
need of a good amp and I'm considering a PreAmp/Clean Power Amp type setup
but I cant decide between the BBE 383 PreAmp/Enhancer or the Alembic.

              ---------------------------------------

Chris Thompson [e-mail]
Formerly       [e-mail]
 and...        cccbbs![e-mail]

     - "Too much, too soon, too far, to go, too late, to play.
        The game is over"  -Fish/Marillion

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 16:04 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: NAMM, Here I Come!

Dear Gentle Readers,
I'll be attending the NAMM show next week (yes!!). My first goal is promoting
the Optasy Brick that Fender will be showing under their name brand. My second
goal will be schmoozing with the likes of Stu Hamm, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai, and
trying to recognize famous bass players that might turn up. Of course, once I
get there, I might just get my priorities reversed (oops ;) ). I would like to
know if any TBLers will be attending. If so, I would like to meet you.
Secondly, if any seasoned NAMM goers have any advice or names to drop, please
let me know. Oz has already given me some info there. I'll be video taping as
much as possible and taking many notes. I'll write a full description of the
show (at least from my perspective) when I return. I'll only be attending two
full days out of the four, but I'm sure I'll probably get sensory overload by
the first day. I'll probably be flying back without the plane!

Well, until next week... YEEEHAAAAAW!!!

Mildy Mannered (slightly psyco),

Ritchie Williams

[  Have a good time!                        bass-mgr ]

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: 11 Jan 93 19:59:48 EST
From: Larry Stephens <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ampeg amp

FYI: There's an ad running in our paper for an Ampeg SVT with 2 8X10
cabinets; $950.  I've been seeing some comments about Ampeg here
lately; don't know if this sounds interesting to anyone, but thought
I'd pass it on.  Call 812-331-7018 evenings (the ad says).  If anyone
is interested I'll be glad to go look at it for you.
                               Larry Stephens
                                812-855-9758
                     Poplars 705, Bloomington, IN 47405
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    IU NETWORK: STEPHENL  @IUIS  @PRISM

                    INTERNET: [e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: 11 Jan 93 20:16:19 EST
From: Larry Stephens <[e-mail]>
Subject: equipment, for what it's worth

Some people seem to dislike continual discussions about equipment.
Me, I know I'll never be a fantastic technician; I just don't have
that much magic in my fingers.  But, I do want to sound good with
what ability I have.  The people I play with say my new sound is
fantastic (_sound_; I can't buy ability).

So, for what it's worth for anyone looking for new equipment:

I traded my Washburn 5 for an Ibanez SR886 (red, basswood & maple
bolt on w. rosewood fingerboard; Gotoh bridge & tuners; Ibanez
pickups; active electronics).  I love the balance, the string
spacing, the sound.  Don't play much on the C, yet.  Have thought
about trying each string tuned down (C->G, G->D, etc.).  Someone
posted that the B goes to ?  (Don't have much musical training, do I?)

At the same time I got a BBE Sonic Maximizer.  To my ears, it cleans
up the sound a lot.

Went back a few days later and traded off my Peavey TNT130 and Fender
Bassman to go all rackmount.  I'm now playing a BBE 383 preamp (with
a built in maximizer) with the low end going through a 300w (bridged)
-> 8 ohm QSC amp to a Peavey 18".  The highs go into the separate
maximizer (it's a stereo job; running the PA through one channel;
this means the highs are maximized twice), through a chorus pedal and
to a KMD 150w -> 4 ohm amp to 2 Peavey 1516s (1 15", 2 8").

With the exception of the bass none of this really cost an arm and
leg.  I was tempted to try Carvin stuff, but I _had_ to trade my gear
in, so no Carvin.  As I said, everyone who has heard it says the
sound is fantastic, FWIW.

Also traded off some unneeded pedals for a rackmount auto tuner.
Nice extra to have, even though it's a touchy sonofagun.

Question: I'm thinking of defretting my Fender Squier.  What's the
best way to get the frets out without damage?  Driving them sideways
(slipping in the groove) or up and out?  I'd like to avoid
refinishing anything but the fretboard.
                               Larry Stephens
                                812-855-9758
                     Poplars 705, Bloomington, IN 47405
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    IU NETWORK: STEPHENL  @IUIS  @PRISM

                    INTERNET: [e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous ftp access for back issues, etc.:

     kappa.rice.edu (128.42.4.7) in the /pub/bass directory

     (Username is 'anonymous', password is your e-mail address.
      Try typing 'help' for more info once logged in.)

_The Bottom Line_ is a digest dedicated to the art of playing
electric and acoustic bass. It is distributed on a basis that
coincides with the amount of material received, from the
University of Wisconsin - Platteville, USA;
Kevin Tipple, Erik Habbinga, editors

Copyright _The Bottom Line_, 1992

The contents of _The Bottom Line_ are solely the opinions
and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the authors' managements or the digest
management. The editors do not assume responsibility for
copyright infringement of submitted material.

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End of The Bottom Line #276
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