The Last Bass Outpost

Main Forums => The Outpost Cafe => Topic started by: Fretless on March 20, 2016, 02:56:57 PM

Title: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 20, 2016, 02:56:57 PM: Howdy! My name is Joe Gallion and I've been lurking about since the end of December. Looks like I found the right place to hang out-I have played bass and guitar since 1980, and have been modding my instruments since 1988. From what I see here, y'all are way ahead of me, lol. Simply put, I am here to hang out and learn everything I can! Thanks in advance for putting up with me!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Rob on March 20, 2016, 06:22:06 PM: Welcome Joe!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: drbassman on March 20, 2016, 06:32:02 PM: Welcome! Share some of your mods in the Projects sub forum.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Basvarken on March 21, 2016, 07:09:46 AM: Welcome aboard!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Pilgrim on March 21, 2016, 08:31:28 AM: Welcome aboard! Please post images of your favorite WWII aircraft immediately. ;D
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 21, 2016, 08:43:37 AM: (https://49.media.tumblr.com/bc11f90b83763fdb64d66c693e45d80a/tumblr_ndyra1ZKLO1t0demio1_500.gif)
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: TBird1958 on March 21, 2016, 09:41:36 AM: I'm the only "normal" person on this forum, please be welcome here ;D
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: lowend1 on March 21, 2016, 11:44:14 AM: Quote from: Fretless on March 20, 2016, 02:56:57 PM
Thanks in advance for putting up with me!
You'd be surprised at what we put up with here.
Chrome or black, btw? All new members must be properly classified.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: slinkp on March 21, 2016, 02:13:10 PM: Don't listen to them! It's a false dichotomy! Free your mind and your hardware finish will follow!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Stjofön Big on March 21, 2016, 02:18:57 PM: Very, very welcome home, Mr Fretless!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Pilgrim on March 21, 2016, 02:21:20 PM: Chrome. Lots of chrome. We like chrome.... :-X
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 21, 2016, 02:42:19 PM: Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! Finish-wise, about everything I have is chrome, except for a LTD Viper 100 FM that has black nickel hardware, and an Ovation Tangent 357 with black nickel. That said, I prefer chrome or nickel...ooh, shiny! Pics will be hit and miss for a while-but I will post 'em when I can! Now, about the favorite WWII aircraft-that's gonna be a lot a pics, 'cos there's bout a round dozen that I like, lol. Oddly enough, my main bass is a Squier VM Jazz fretless, and I haven't modded a thing on it-I'm afraid it will ruin the magic! I'm about to embark on the project of a lifetime(for me, at least), a neck-thru the body fretless bass...from scratch! Haven't done any woodworking since '78(high school), so once I get started, I'll post my progress(or regress, as it may be). Anywho, thanks again for the welcome-looks like a fun ride ahead!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Highlander on March 21, 2016, 04:12:59 PM: Ah... a radiused flat-wood buddie... :mrgreen:

(hmm... not much mention of Gibson in his post... :vader: )
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: TBird1958 on March 21, 2016, 04:24:28 PM: Quote from: Fretless on March 21, 2016, 02:42:19 PM
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! Finish-wise, about everything I have is chrome, except for a LTD Viper 100 FM that has black nickel hardware, and an Ovation Tangent 357 with black nickel. That said, I prefer chrome or nickel...ooh, shiny! Pics will be hit and miss for a while-but I will post 'em when I can! Now, about the favorite WWII aircraft-that's gonna be a lot a pics, 'cos there's bout a round dozen that I like, lol. Oddly enough, my main bass is a Squier VM Jazz fretless, and I haven't modded a thing on it-I'm afraid it will ruin the magic! I'm about to embark on the project of a lifetime(for me, at least), a neck-thru the body fretless bass...from scratch! Haven't done any woodworking since '78(high school), so once I get started, I'll post my progress(or regress, as it may be). Anywho, thanks again for the welcome-looks like a fun ride ahead!

Thunderbolts are held in high regard here, esp. D models with the variable pitch prop. Corsairs too ;)
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 21, 2016, 04:56:21 PM: Gibsons?!? Never owned a T-Bird, but always wanted one. Have owned in the misty past-a Victory single pup, a Ripper, and a G3(which I gutted and re-routed, installing a pair of Jazz Lace Sensors(1 about 2 inches from the neck and the second about 2 inches from the bridge)and wired it like a Jazz. I did not like the tone of the 3 stock pups. The result was a rather Ric-y sounding, very punchy bass. Want to snatch an EB3 someday also. Wouldn't mind owning an RD either. Love Gibby necks! Now, on to the warbirds-Thunderbolts were built in Evansville, Indiana, about 60 miles south of my location in the Corn Ghetto. My Dad wrenched on T-bolts, Corsairs, Hellcats and Bearcats in the Navy briefly before being shipped to Korea for the fiasco over there. I love WWII warbirds !
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 22, 2016, 08:46:10 AM: Quote from: TBird1958 on March 21, 2016, 04:24:28 PM

Corsairs too ;)

Referred to in some - largely rural, north of Hadrian's Wall located - regions as, uhum, Hellcats.

But we're forgiving folk here and generally don't dwell on negligences, no matter how high on the howler richter scale.

So your dad built Thunderbolts - what a pedigree!!!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 22, 2016, 09:41:22 AM: Quote from: TBird1958 on March 21, 2016, 09:41:36 AM
I'm the only "normal" person on this forum, please be welcome here ;D

Mind you, Mark does have ~~enematic~~ enigmatic pet subjects that recur again and again, model trains & tunneling for instance.

That said, do you have an opinion on Ritchie Blackmore by any chance? And Jimmy Page?

(http://www.scriptspot.com/bobo/rendfaq/FUSE.GIF)
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Pilgrim on March 22, 2016, 09:51:10 AM: Quote from: uwe on March 22, 2016, 09:41:22 AM
Mind you, Mark does have ~~enematic~~ enigmatic pet subjects that recur again and again, model trains & tunneling for instance.

And the science of studying the interdependence of Subarus and Thunderbirds.

BTW....how are you on surf music and Dick Dale?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56SAxtf-RTg
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 22, 2016, 10:17:53 AM: One thing: We're sticklers for thread consistency here, no a-strayin' from ze töpics!

Uwe

- Grand Wizard of the Errant Thread -
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 22, 2016, 10:20:36 AM: Oh, we despise Canadians and punk fans. Especially of Polish origin. :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: lowend1 on March 22, 2016, 11:16:47 AM: Quote from: uwe on March 22, 2016, 09:41:22 AM
That said, do you have an opinion on Ritchie Blackmore by any chance? And Jimmy Page?

...and Gwyneth Paltrow?
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Pilgrim on March 22, 2016, 11:38:38 AM: Quote from: uwe on March 22, 2016, 10:17:53 AM
One thing: We're sticklers for thread consistency here, no a-strayin' from ze töpics!

Uwe

- Grand Wizard of the Errant Thread -

ABSOLUTELY!

WAIT!! Squirrel.......

(https://www.askideas.com/media/15/Are-You-Talikng-to-Me-Funny-Squirrel-Meme.jpg)

Quote from: lowend1 on March 22, 2016, 11:16:47 AM
...and Gwyneth Paltrow?

Not so much as Sarah Jessica Parker.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: TBird1958 on March 22, 2016, 01:35:22 PM: Quote from: uwe on March 22, 2016, 09:41:22 AM
Mind you, Mark does have ~~enematic~~ enigmatic pet subjects that recur again and again, model trains & tunneling for instance.

That said, do you have an opinion on Ritchie Blackmore by any chance? And Jimmy Page?

(http://www.scriptspot.com/bobo/rendfaq/FUSE.GIF)

Careful, you're in enema territory :-*
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 22, 2016, 03:58:54 PM: Whew! Lets see- Blackmore, one of my heroes. Responsible for influencing more guitarists than you could shake a stick at. Page, oddly enough another of my favorites-wore out his Outrider album-twice! Gwynneth Paltrow- good actress, haven't followed her career too closely(my movie viewing is spotty at best-I'm a nerd). Now, I will admit that due to an overabundance of alcohol and recreational chemicals and herbs back in the 80's, my attention span is a bit short at times and my mind veers off the beaten track at other times, and sometimes does both at once, so my potential for weird is great. That said, I avoid enema territory at all costs-it reminds me too much of where I work...Oh, yeah-surf music and Dick Dale, i was raised on the Ventures and the Beach Boys. Dick Dale is a beast! Sorry if I miss a question-I will try to catch everything eventually.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 22, 2016, 05:32:05 PM: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

We have a diplomat amongst us, gentlemen!

Furry enough, he did dodge the squirrel subject though!
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUqmRX4iSsRluF50LGf_Mjl-gedYTfz_1Y7ac2U6JBn_c_VR3xWPIZ)

Nerd qualities, otoh, are of mandatory nature here.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Denis on March 22, 2016, 06:15:42 PM: Quote from: uwe on March 22, 2016, 08:46:10 AM
Referred to in some - largely rural, north of Hadrian's Wall located - regions as, uhum, Hellcats.

Who is the philistine who referred to Corsairs as Hellcats? Go get the comfy chair! The soft cushions! No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 22, 2016, 06:16:29 PM: (http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo288/x_ray_dude_photo/squirrel.jpg) (http://s384.photobucket.com/user/x_ray_dude_photo/media/squirrel.jpg.html)

Squirrel?!? What squirrel?

And...nobody would mistake a Corsair for a Hellcat. Even though they both sported the impressive Pratt & Whitney R-2600 twin-row radial engine, the reverse gull wing of the Corsair made it immediately recognizable, and distinguishable from the Hellcat. Funny thing though, those were the two Navy and Marine warbirds that made mincemeat out of the Mitsubishi Zero.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Nocturnal on March 22, 2016, 07:55:30 PM: Welcome to the madness :o
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 23, 2016, 04:28:30 AM: "And...nobody would mistake a Corsair for a Hellcat."

Alas!, if 'twas only so ...

Welcome to the madness? Indeed. You're in the Psycho Circus, I say welcome to the show ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWIW6Ti0PbE
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: gearHed289 on March 23, 2016, 08:23:18 AM: New guy is fitting right in!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: wellREDman on March 23, 2016, 09:19:47 AM: as a fairly newish member myself, welcome aboard

Blues in A and try and keep up !
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 23, 2016, 09:42:11 AM: Quote from: gearHed289 on March 23, 2016, 08:23:18 AM
New guy is fitting right in!

He wriggled out of that Blackmore-Page standoff nicely. :popcorn: I see potential.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: TBird1958 on March 23, 2016, 09:43:55 AM: Kenny - I didn't bring up your Aircraft recognition difficulties this time :-X ;D
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: godofthunder on March 23, 2016, 09:48:38 AM: You'll fit right in!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 23, 2016, 11:06:53 AM: That was Scott (of Thunder) who just posted. A man feared for his unimpeded sawing capabilities.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Pilgrim on March 23, 2016, 11:17:57 AM: Quote from: gearHed289 on March 23, 2016, 08:23:18 AM
New guy is fitting right in!

Yar, thar be good signs for this'un in the seas ahead!

(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRoxDI6dtp9bvfedOp-O3GnOLQyJxZFO0Lxf9wt82h5CYpH9sMsTQ)
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 23, 2016, 05:19:23 PM: Thank you one and all! I do believe this is the beginning of something strange...and wonderful! :toast:
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 23, 2016, 05:45:04 PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDhGS4EJS8M
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 23, 2016, 07:38:03 PM: Quote from: uwe on March 23, 2016, 05:45:04 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDhGS4EJS8M

Well said, Uwe!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 24, 2016, 07:06:25 AM: Major Strasser is my role model!

(http://40.media.tumblr.com/b26f001cd4e854dc470880492a61e8d4/tumblr_mh5kr3Kgk91qajllro1_500.png)

Actually, Conrad Veidt, the German actor who played him, was more than a decent guy. Although without a Jewish background (though he would regularly provoke the Nazis by claiming he was) and great German popularity as an actor (the Nazis wanted to keep him dearly for their propaganda film industry), he married his Jewish fiancée AFTER the Nazis came to power and refused an offer from Goebbels (then in charge of German filmmaking) to declare her "Aryan", preferring to leave the country for first the UK and then the US.

(http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll360/tippy99/actors%20and%20actresses%202/Veidts-felicitas-conrad-viola-veidt_opt.jpg)

(That's not his Jewish wife Ilona but his German wife Felicitas he divorced from for Ilona in 1933.)

Casablanca was his penultimate film, he died incredibly young at 50 only a year after Casablanca's 1942 release when he suffered a heart attack on a Californian golf course (for once, he did get to play a Nazi resistance member in his last film - something he had always hoped for, with his stern, aristocratic looks he was typecast for military, darkly unsettling and ultimately Nazi villain roles). Interesting tidbit: He had a higher salary in Casablanca than either Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman! Who says being the bad guy doesn't pay? And for a good cause too: He donated money to the Allied war effort.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Highlander on March 24, 2016, 01:33:58 PM: Quote from: TBird1958 on March 23, 2016, 09:43:55 AM
Kenny - I didn't bring up your Aircraft recognition difficulties this time :-X ;D

I'm almost hurt by your indifference... ;)

Denis... Shakespeare walks into a bar... :mrgreen:

PS my maple RD is fretless, now a single pup, somewhat severely modified and sawn up, and you don't want to know how many pieces I snapped the PCB into before dropping it in the bin... nearly got me blacklisted when I posted the details... :vader:
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 24, 2016, 03:10:58 PM: PS my maple RD is fretless, now a single pup, somewhat severely modified and sawn up, and you don't want to know how many pieces I snapped the PCB into before dropping it in the bin... nearly got me blacklisted when I posted the details... :vader:
[/quote]

A fretless RD?!? This I gotta see! Sorry folks, the 'f' word gets me worked up! :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 24, 2016, 03:28:45 PM: Fretless RDs were readily available from Gibson - if you asked for it. I've seen at least three, but they're hard to get.

If I'm not mistaken, then starting with the Ripper you could get nearly every long scale Gibson fretless from the factory though the option wasn't called often. I own a factory-fretless Ripper, a fretless Grabber, a factory-fretless Victory, a factory-fretless Q-90, a factory-fretless Les Paul DeLuxe, a factory-fretless Les Paul DeLuxe doublecut/Junior prototype, a factory-fretless Super 400 acoustic bass, a fretless Money bass and a factory-fretless Epi EB-1 reissue. I've seen factory-fretless TBirds, RDs and even 80ies Explorers.

Plus a fretless P-Bass, but don't tell anyone that!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Denis on March 24, 2016, 06:57:11 PM: Fretless is doubtless soiling his knickers, Uwe!
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 24, 2016, 07:17:38 PM: Fretless players don't wear knickers, Denis. It's all part of their holistic approach.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 24, 2016, 07:50:26 PM: Quote from: uwe on March 24, 2016, 07:17:38 PM
Fretless players don't wear knickers, Denis. It's all part of their holistic approach.

Lol, true enough!! Uwe, that's quite an arsenal of fretless basses, and Gibbys at that! I've only owned a fretless for two years, so the honeymoon ain't over-I still get excited to just pick it up and noodle a bit. The previous thirty-four years of playing bass have paled in comparison. That Squier helped me fall back in love with being a bassist.
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: uwe on March 24, 2016, 08:06:15 PM: I like fretless playing too - it is (even with knickers on, but I shall now try your confessional recommendation more often!) more intimate. Couldn't see myself do it all the time and only though, sometimes I need the - ooops! -"tonal reliability" of a fretted instrument and its extra snap and clarity. Most people don't realize that when playing fretless you are continuously left-hand-dampening the strings as your soft finger determines the location of where string meets board to ring whereas with a fretted instrument you do that behind the fret from where the string rings.

If that made sense. :-[
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Highlander on March 25, 2016, 04:27:09 PM: The story of my RD...

http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=1988.0 (http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=1988.0)

... and how she now looks...

http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=3814.0 (http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=3814.0)

If you note the dates on the RD project you might get a picture on how quickly change occurs in my life... :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 25, 2016, 06:50:01 PM: Uwe, that made perfect sense(to me at least!). I keep a fretted bass(Sejung S101 JHB74) around just because...it is a necessary member of my humble arsenal. Besides, it sounds and plays like a dream!

Highlander, you did a masterful job on that RD! Love the cherryburst T-Bird too! I know some T-Birds are neck-thru, and with that said, what are your opinions on neck-thru basses?
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Highlander on March 26, 2016, 03:41:16 PM: Ta and appreciated... the RD is flawed, but so am I...

I have two neck-thrus... that Thunderbird, which is a Peter Cook, and my "budget buy" in the 80's, a Hohner Jack... curiously enough, both have a an exact replica P "D" profile P neck, in four pieces: three for the neck, one for the board... both are mahogany or similar (in the latter case)... both play beautifully...

I'd love a fretless neck-thru, but the RD is a stunner for tone... all that maple... the original pups were active but were humbuckers with no electronics other than the Moog board...

I'd love to buy and convert an Epi Pro T'Bird to fretless at some point, but more pressing matters exist for me at the moment...
Title: Re: Newbie checking in
Post by: Fretless on March 27, 2016, 08:46:26 AM: Quote from: Highlander on March 26, 2016, 03:41:16 PM
Ta and appreciated... the RD is flawed, but so am I...

I have two neck-thrus... that Thunderbird, which is a Peter Cook, and my "budget buy" in the 80's, a Hohner Jack... curiously enough, both have a an exact replica P "D" profile P neck, in four pieces: three for the neck, one for the board... both are mahogany or similar (in the latter case)... both play beautifully...

I'd love a fretless neck-thru, but the RD is a stunner for tone... all that maple... the original pups were active but were humbuckers with no electronics other than the Moog board...

I'd love to buy and convert an Epi Pro T'Bird to fretless at some point, but more pressing matters exist for me at the moment...

Never 'flawed', Highlander-'has personality'! :thumbsup: With all that maple, I'll bet it projects like a beast! Never played a Hohner Jack, but really like the design-headless fascinates me. A fretless T-Bird would be amazing, but I fully understand 'more pressing matters', lol. Keep up the good work!