Early Wed. LR 7-24

[Elwood]

I'm taking a break from playing my blondie ASAT...it's been very sunny lately and the cool nights are great for
getting some playing in.

Lunch will be some more Fareeka based veggie burgers ( I made enough for a week) with all the fixin's.
Maybe with some yukon gold potatoes with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.

Here's a glimpes of yesterdays rays with the rosy L-2000.

Got any recent G&L porn we haven't seen?





I got a deal on some TI power brights...light light gauge .008's . So that's what I have on the ASAT now.
It's making me slow down and pay attention a bit. You have to sorta 'get small' (remember that Steve Martin sketch?) .
On a whim I grabbed a thick custom pick and things got easier and more controlled. I've never really been a thick pick guy, Usually using a .73 or .88 for guitar and 1.0 for bass.
This one could be corian, maybe bone...but it's pretty slippery. I'll have to find the vendor I bought it and others from to be sure.
It sounds great with no clacky noises.




Have you done anything lately that takes you a little out of your comfort zone ( dif. strings , picks ,posture,
style, ..??)

I spent a while rolling tubes on the old Mesa Mk 1 , the new JJ's all around gave yummy cleans .
swapping out some old sylvania's 12Au7-A 's helped the 'cream factor while exploring the overdrive possibilities.

I still haven't got the reverb working, I can hear the tank but nothing is driving it.
I swapped out identical accutronics tanks, rca interconnects, V5 (which drives the 'verb)...no reverb

Interesting though, depending on the load on the reverb send line, I have another gain stage available
with the reverb pot on the back controlling it. I could use that for things

A few days later I found the footswitch that came with amp so I bet that might make the revrb work.
It's possible this was modded a long time ago. I'll have to trace things out sometime.




Any old tube radio fans here?

I didn't know this was a radio when I bought it (says 'amplifier' on the front). It is battery powered .
The tubes can still be sourced. This ones from 1927 . I couldn't pass it up at a thrift shop for 25 bucks.
The top three dials are for tuning the crystals, apparently all three must be in compliance for the signal to come through clear.











I've been using the casey tru-oil for a few necks recently, this PRS bass neck is looking nice.
About 5 coats...I think it might be ready for a final polish and buff.





I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on Darwin's 3 year old MM project, anyone else have some recent
time consuming projects that you are willing to share with us ?

Here's a friend that I chased with my camera...I know there are some nature shutterbugs in the group,
maybe some random wildlife shots for us?




elwood

edit: ...and would you play one of these?



http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Bender-Dis ... 4ac7327cc9

[LeoFThe Champion]

Yeah I would play that in a heartbeat but Prince would be pushing me out of the Way. What is it El?

[yowhatsshakin]

Yeah I would play that in a heartbeat but Prince would be pushing me out of the Way. What is it El?

Clearly a plastic Strat that was left out in the sun for too long

[darwinohm]

Elwood, we have nice, cool weather here finally. Much appreciated. Today I will have a sandwich again but they always do the job.

You have a house full of cool stuff! Beautiful tint on the G&L neck. The reverb shouldn't be difficult if you have a schematic. Maybe the footswitch is the ticket. That is an interesting radio and would take some time to get used to the tuning method. I suspect them to be major tune, lock in and fine tune crystals. I wish I could remember the things I knew when I got my first class FCC license back in 62. Anyway as for different things recently, I hooked my Rickenbacker up to an amp the other evening. I have had it for a month and never plugged it in. The bridge pickup did not work. A simple fix by adjusting the arm on the stereo jack. It is a nice guitar. Apparently I was not concerned about the tone when I bought it as it took me a month to plug it in!

I am immersed in the MM project but am trying to be patient. I always like to get things done quickly. I am taking my time on the preparation for painting to make sure that it is as perfect as I can get it. You can't cover warts with paint. Great stuff today Elwood! The guitar looks like something Prince would play.-- Darwin

[Elwood]

Yeah I would play that in a heartbeat but Prince would be pushing me out of the Way. What is it El?

apparently it's a "distort-o-caster" .The link to the auction is below the pic .

[Elwood]

Yeah I would play that in a heartbeat but Prince would be pushing me out of the Way. What is it El?

Clearly a plastic Strat that was left out in the sun for too long

Nice to hear from you Jos,...my drummer forwarded this to me the other day:

[ellengtrgrl]

Any old tube radio fans here?

I didn't know this was a radio when I bought it (says 'amplifier' on the front). It is battery powered .
The tubes can still be sourced. This ones from 1927 . I couldn't pass it up at a thrift shop for 25 bucks.
The top three dials are for tuning the crystals, apparently all three must be in compliance for the signal to come through clear.











elwood

edit: ...and would you play one of these?



http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Bender-Dis ... 4ac7327cc9

The guits is funky!

Radios - LOVE your old TRF receiver from the 20s! I've had a ham radio license since I was a teenager (my callsign is AF9J), and along with modern ham radios, I also have tube ham radios from back in the day. Several of them I restored to working order. My oldest ones are a Johnson Viking II transmitter from the mid 50s, and a Hammarlund HQ-129X general coverage/shorttwave receiver from the late 40s/early 50s.

Hammarlund HQ129X (photo isn't of mine)


I also have some later era tube-type ham radio gear. Here's one of my favorites. It's a Yaesu FTdx-401B, that was made in Japan, back in 1974. I bought it at a hamfest (ham radio swap meet) as a non-working radio, and got it back to working order, late last year. Powerwise - it'll put out just shy of 300 watts of power while transmitting.



Old radios are fun. While they aren't necessarily as capable or convenient to use as modern radios (modern radios don't usually need to be tuned/tweaked, every time you use them, to operate at their peak performance), like an old car, or old motorcycle, they have tons of character. They also have great sounding audio.

[Elwood]

The guits is funky!

Radios - LOVE your old TRF receiver from the 20s! I've had a ham radio license since I was a teenager (my callsign is AF9J), and along with modern ham radios, I also have tube ham radios form back in the day. Several of them I restored to working order.

Ellen,
alot of this is new to me, one of the reasons I bought the old Freshman was to start to understand the
fundamentals . I'm beginning to 'see' how electrons like to flow...sometimes I wish I was reeeeelly small.

[youtube]fyWirJjuO5I[/youtube]

The thrift store is closing tomorrow...they are taking offers on most things. I just scored a nice detail sander
(black and decker 'mega-mouse') with acces. for 15 dollars.
They have some Philips USA PL519's and PL509's that look nice (that's some thick glass ).
They're priced at 5 bucks each...probably worth $15+ each...more if was a matched set I'm sure.
I'll make an offer for 3-4 each, and probably still buy them at 5 if they don't budge on the price.

Am I thinking right? That quality glass it seems like a bargain at that price.
I know there are some tubes out there that there just isn't demand for...I'd rather not end up with too many like that

[Boogie Bill]

Elwood, on your Mesa's reverb, make sure you have the RCA cables to and from the tank plugged into the correct jacks on the chassis. And be sure to check the cables themselves; sometimes they get damaged.

If you need help, you can always call the Mesa Customer Service guys. They might be able to point you in the right direction.

I always use a thick pick...normally 1.14mm Tortex, Ultex, or Gators by Dunlop. Experimenting with the new Graph Tech Tusq picks, a V-Tech, and one of Jason Lollar's picks made from the black fiberboard Fender made pickups from...talk about thick and stiff!

I've been lazy about taking pics; I need to get the camera out and get my inner Ansel Adams on.

I like the melted guitar..."Hello, Dali!" Not sure about the ergonomics, tho...

Bill

[Elwood]

Elwood, on your Mesa's reverb, make sure you have the RCA cables to and from the tank plugged into the correct jacks on the chassis. And be sure to check the cables themselves; sometimes they get damaged.

If you need help, you can always call the Mesa Customer Service guys. They might be able to point you in the right direction.

I always use a thick pick...normally 1.14mm Tortex, Ultex, or Gators by Dunlop. Experimenting with the new Graph Tech Tusq picks, a V-Tech, and one of Jason Lollar's picks made from the black fiberboard Fender made pickups from...talk about thick and stiff!

I've been lazy about taking pics; I need to get the camera out and get my inner Ansel Adams on.

I like the melted guitar..."Hello, Dali!" Not sure about the ergonomics, tho...

Bill

Good call on the Mesa Support. There are three rca jacks on the chassis, not sure what the middle is for,
if the footswitch doesn't make things right I'll start tracing things.

Yes, you are correct...we need to see more of the world through your eyes once in a while

elwood

[louis cyfer]

elwood, do you use the spray tru oil for the last coat? i have found that using the regular one first, and sanding between, and then just spraying the last coat, and no need to buff and polish the last coat, it is as smooth and shiny as it gets.

[Elwood]

elwood, do you use the spray tru oil for the last coat? i have found that using the regular one first, and sanding between, and then just spraying the last coat, and no need to buff and polish the last coat, it is as smooth and shiny as it gets.

No, but I'm going to try that...you probably have saved me alot of time ( I'm working on about ten guitars now).
And I would rather be playing them than buffing them.
I'm trying a few different things for the bodies but the necks are pretty much all caseys.

Tanks!

[KenC]

Elwood,

Thanks for the great pics. My "boundary pushing" of late has been on the bass. I've never gotten into "slap" or "snap & pop" on the electric, but I decided a couple of months ago that I should go ahead and at least learn the fundamentals. I don't get into the non-stop barrages of notes a lot of "modern funk" players use, but it's working for an occasional change in dynamics and tone. The effort also helped to break me out of some ruts with left-hand fingering patterns. Since the L-1500 arrived last month, I've been working on moving my right hand down to the bridge to bring out the pickup's crispness. I've always preferred playing at the end of the neck, so this is really an adjustment for me. The L-1500 sounds great both ways, but the tone is very different when hand position changes.

What model is the PRS bass? I'd love to see some pics of the body and fingerboard. I checked out an '88 PRS Bass IV at Guitar Center last weekend, but the painted neck just kept me from getting comfortable with it. Pretty much any of the PRS basses over the years are high on my GAS list!

Ken

[Elwood]

Elwood,

Thanks for the great pics. My "boundary pushing" of late has been on the bass. I've never gotten into "slap" or "snap & pop" on the electric, but I decided a couple of months ago that I should go ahead and at least learn the fundamentals. I don't get into the non-stop barrages of notes a lot of "modern funk" players use, but it's working for an occasional change in dynamics and tone. The effort also helped to break me out of some ruts with left-hand fingering patterns. Since the L-1500 arrived last month, I've been working on moving my right hand down to the bridge to bring out the pickup's crispness. I've always preferred playing at the end of the neck, so this is really an adjustment for me. The L-1500 sounds great both ways, but the tone is very different when hand position changes.

What model is the PRS bass? I'd love to see some pics of the body and fingerboard. I checked out an '88 PRS Bass IV at Guitar Center last weekend, but the painted neck just kept me from getting comfortable with it. Pretty much any of the PRS basses over the years are high on my GAS list!

Ken

Are you sure we aren't identical twins...LOL , there are many similarities in our experiences and passions it seems.

I've been doing the same as far as slap/pop goes. The spacing and feel of the rosy L--2000 has me on that learning curve. A feather touch brings the best bass tones, it sounds like we are throwing boulders of tone around.
I'll have to start re-listening to Larry Graham. Mark King also comes to mind .

I'll get some new pics of the PRS neck up tonight. I bought neck in 2002 , NOS, prob from late 80's early 90's .
It was made in the first factory location if I remember what the auction stated.
It had a heel on it comparable to an acoustic neck . At the time I was broke and had no tools (all my equity was tied up and inaccessible).

We (my drummer and I ) held the neck square against a cheap small chopsaw and with a hail mary, cut off the excess heel so I could pair it with a body I had bought.The body I have is Ash ( I think) with a vaccuum pressed Macassar ebony top. I whittled out the neck pocket with whatever chisels and files I had at hand. ...put some Alembic P-bass pickups in it and that was my main bass for a few years .
I'm refinishing the body now, but I'll dry fit it tonight for some pics for you et al.
(I'll probably redo the black walnut veneer on the headstock, or at least get a nice lake of gloss over the top.)

I have Leo's Bass testbed as a desktop image to keep me on track with the pickup placement project.
I think alot about the L-1500's, The L-2000 sounds so good with both pickups engaged and the treble rolled off a bit. The test bed is the only way to get me secure about a decision before I plunge in with the router.

I need to show off some of these bodies I'm working on. I want to play them yesterday !!
I know some of these builds are going to be real good. Routing and installing truss rods are going to be my next thing that I will be doing for the first time. I'll practice on some scraps until it it begins to seem routine.

I'm eager to try the bicut method on a couple...for now I think it'll be a no skunk stripe, under the fingerboard
type. Some of the Maple necks will be sliced on the top and reglued ...then radiused and fretted etc.

I better get to work

elwood

[Elwood]

Thanks for all the reptiles ...er...replies ( internal dyslexic spellchecker typo).
That made for a more colorful day.
I'll grab those Philips tubes today and show you what I got fer cheep .

elwood

[KenC]

I've been doing the same as far as slap/pop goes. The spacing and feel of the rosy L--2000 has me on that learning curve. A feather touch brings the best bass tones, it sounds like we are throwing boulders of tone around.
I'll have to start re-listening to Larry Graham. Mark King also comes to mind .

A fretless Warwick Corvette did it for me. I was trying a late-90s ASAT Bass in a shop a couple of weeks ago that also made me want to slap. I thought it was on the verge of being overpriced, but when I went back to buy it I found out there was no case. That broke the deal for me, but I may circle back around and try to talk them down a bit.

I was working on slapping my upright for some rockabilly tunes earlier this year, but that's a whole different matter. I have thirty years' worth of bass guitar calluses, and the experience of slapping the upright left me with bloody, numb fingers. It's a lot of fun when you get a good rhythm going, though.

I need to show off some of these bodies I'm working on. I want to play them yesterday !!
I know some of these builds are going to be real good. Routing and installing truss rods are going to be my next thing that I will be doing for the first time. I'll practice on some scraps until it it begins to seem routine.

I'm eager to try the bicut method on a couple...for now I think it'll be a no skunk stripe, under the fingerboard
type. Some of the Maple necks will be sliced on the top and reglued ...then radiused and fretted etc.

I've been wanting to build an upright electric bass (42" scale with piezo pickups and a solid body) for a couple of years now. I need to take the plunge and start cutting some wood. Maybe after I finally get around to the project L-1000 and Duo Sonics...

Ken

[Elwood]

I've been wanting to build an upright electric bass (42" scale with piezo pickups and a solid body) for a couple of years now. I need to take the plunge and start cutting some wood. Maybe after I finally get around to the project L-1000 and Duo Sonics...

Ken

Check out this Classico. It took them several years to get everything right...

http://alembic.com/club/messages/631/29 ... 1366680991

[Elwood]

I was working on slapping my upright for some rockabilly tunes earlier this year, but that's a whole different matter. I have thirty years' worth of bass guitar calluses, and the experience of slapping the upright left me with bloody, numb fingers.
Ken

I have yet to spend any real rockabilly moments on my stand-up ...short of figuring out how to spin it with reasonable control
I'm more looking forward to getting some good rosin ( any recomendations ? ) so I can get that d'arco feel back...then maybe running it through the rack system on nights I have a Floydian thing goin' on. I better doublecheck for anything loose in the room prior.
Today I used a couple of those hemmoroid rubber donuts to decouple the studio monitors from structures,
I had a preamp almost vibrate off the desk when I wasn't watching everything ...glad I caught it before I had to catch it

I'll start a separate sort of Elwoods current project thread and add those PRS bass pics etc. to cover a few things we've discussed.
I got those PL519 tubes for 3 bucks each...there's a completed auction where a quad of them went for 349 IIRC,
I need to get a tube tester so I can guarantee these to work and test good+

my best,
Elwood

[KenC]

Elwood,

I like Pop's Bass Rosin. It comes in a red plastic container with a flip top. Before my son started playing string bass in school I had no idea that you were supposed to rub a coin on the rosin to make a powder first. I used to be able to get enough Pop's onto my bow in hot venues without scraping it first - it's that soft and sticky. It also flows around inside the container over the course of a month or two. I just opened one of my son's, which had been lying on its side. The quarter he left on top of the rosin is now embedded in the middle of it.

If you want to hear the ultimate effected upright, check out the album Funky Skull by Melvin Jackson. He ran a bowed upright through a Mu-tron and I believe a couple of other pedals. It's pure early 70s funk:

[youtube]aGbbdut1ft0[/youtube]

[youtube]-fWnU-6IjFo[/youtube]

Ken

[Katefan]

THe Baddest MOFO.

Nice Bass too btw...

3,4....

http://youtu.be/7mEwH9-_XxM

Cheers,

KF

[Elwood]

Yes on all accounts...thx for the vid!
Thats the sound my L-2000 is giving me...nice to see some things stay the same.

good to see ya Katefan,

elwood

[Elwood]

Elwood,

I had no idea that you were supposed to rub a coin on the rosin to make a powder first.

that makes alot of sense...news to me . I 'd seen winter/summer rosins etc ...I'm beginning to understand .

If you want to hear the ultimate effected upright, check out the album Funky Skull by Melvin Jackson. He ran a bowed upright through a Mu-tron and I believe a couple of other pedals. It's pure early 70s funk:
Ken

How did I not hear of this before ? ...and I used to spend my days in the attic of a record store with a flashlight
(this guy had waaaaaay tooooo many LP's) looking for juicy tidbits from the past.
I just listened to the first 8 seconds and I'm much happier than I was 9 seconds or so before , thank you !

I see a Maestro USS-1 iirc, I had the Hammond condor GSM unit for a while ...the USS-1's were always intriguing but out of my price range at the time.

Ok ..back to the rest of the vids.

smiles,
elwood

[KenC]

THe Baddest MOFO.

Nice Bass too btw...

3,4....

http://youtu.be/7mEwH9-_XxM

Cheers,

KF

Gotta love that '80 or '81 'hog Wunkay!

Ken

[KenC]

How did I not hear of this before ? ...and I used to spend my days in the attic of a record store with a flashlight
(this guy had waaaaaay tooooo many LP's) looking for juicy tidbits from the past.

When I lived in Cincinnati I spent an hour or two every Sunday at a local record store (Everybody's Records in Pleasant Ridge, for anybody living in SW Ohio...) flipping through the used CD bins. Melvin Jackson was one of the obscure treasures I found. That's one thing I really miss where I live now. There are just no really good music shops.

Ken