Official Hello...

[Muzikman7]

Welcome to our playground, nice bass.

[Lefty SSB]

Thank you all so much! =) Special shouts back to all the fellow lefties too! Again, I'm very happy to have found this site & always look forward to logging in to check out what's new around here! Glad some of you are diggin the unicorn, definitely a perfect fit for me!

Hey! Welcome to the Island of Misfit Bass Players.  Since you're lefty and you played previously righty, you really need to check this guy out:

http://www.keithhorne.net/home

I got to see him play at a Jazz clinic about 15 years ago while he was in Trisha Yearwood's road band. He's a lefty who plays right-handed basses strung right-handed, so he ends up playing upside down and backwards. Awesome isn't enough to describe his playing.

Your Mustang looks killer. I always loved the racing stripes and the blue is just beautiful. That you play in band with a theremin and have cool hair is icing on the cake. Hope you enjoy it here as a member.

Thanks for that link, this guy's a beast! That's exactly how I was playing on the righty 'stang with the broken pickup before the unicorn found me. Ok, I wasn't playing "exactly" like that, because I wasn't THAT good at all, but I was playing the same righty bass played upside style! Did I mention I'm right-handed when it comes to writing, but ambidextrous with other tasks? Keith definitely "wears" the bass high up, doesn't he? Works! No theremin in the band yet - soon, soon - gotta build my own this winter!

Your Mustang is gorgeous, and its great that you found one in your own backyard after all that searching.  One of my favorite colors too 

Its cool you play a theremin.  I've never tried one, but share the interest in alternative controllers.  You can do a lot with keys, but I've always felt more expressive with strings - so I guess that's what inspires me to find other ways to leverage electronic instruments.  I started building ribbon controllers a couple years ago as a hobby (and to satisfy that other side of my brain), and enjoy using those quite a bit!  Here are a couple of my creations...

Hey thanks! I like your creations! You use those instead of a pitch wheel, eh? Any videos of these puppies in action? What do all the knobs do? =) As I mentioned above, I need to make my own theremin, I've only dubbed with others'. I found the blueprints and am gathering the materials for my winter project. We shall see how it turns out!

Grog - There are no lefty Hobbitses?  Sadness!

Lefty AND female?!!!  Nature can be harsh. 

Willkommen, Fräulein Crystal, we'll now have to behave (within reason)!!! Nice to finally have some gender mix here - onwards to Suffragette City!

Uwe

Come now, let's not be hasty & change the tone any just because I'm here! That's part of the fun about this site! =D What is Fräulein? Sister?

Welcome aboard.  Love the bass. 

I have a left handed  11 year son who has recently mentioned he would like to venture out beyond Xbox, Wii and PS# and start to learn the bass and "work" on them with me.  i got a project turser BB for us to work on but i am thinking a 'stang project would be more fun.  especially for me....

regards, Jim

Thanks Jim! Cool your son is down to take it to the "next level." Would love to see what you guys decide to build!

On with the show! =)

[Lefty SSB]

Welcome !I knew it would not be long before someone is trying to convert you to a Gibby(which is not a bad thing) . If you mean Providence RI that town always had a great music scene. I have not lived there since '79 but frequent  it often . Chan's in Woonsocket is  a favorite of mine "Jazz N'Eggrolls"

Yep, Providence, RI! Haven't been to Chan's in Woonsocket, but if they have great nime chow, I'm there! =)

@ Birdie - so far my super string theory is the older the better! I like the sound of flats - especially the original pure nickel Fender set that was on the unicorn when I got her. I'm starting to think they were even long-scale, based on my experience with mediums and where the silks end. Too bad they really needed a changing (they were getting thorny-like), because they sounded soooo 60s! Since they needed to be changed, I did some research and thought I could get the sound, feel, and longevity I was looking for from half-wounds or pressure wounds, while still taking it easy on the frets. Now, I realize there are as many opinions about strings as their are last names, so ol' Yukon Cornelius strikes again! (Yukon: "This fog's as thick as peanut butter!" Herby: "Don't you mean pea soup?" Yukon: "You eat what you like, I'll eat what I like!"  ) So I tried medium scale D'Addario Half-Wounds (.45,.65,.80,.100), which were the right length, but did NOT sound the way that I had hoped. They felt decent and I liked the gauges, but the sound was just too bright & twangy for me & the E was really "dank". <That's truly the verbal expression for the sound it made! Ha! So, I gave them three weeks or so to see if they'd get broken-in a bit, but I was still not feelin' them... Now I have Rotosound Monel 77's (flats - .40,.50,.75,.90) in medium scale (with nice turquoise blue silks!), on her, which are growing on me. I got them because my bf got us the artist endorsement deal with Rotosound (not a full-on deal, we're not on the roster!) and always talks up the monels and Entwhistle's connection with creating the 66LDs. I dug the round-wounds on the righty stang, but man, they were old & cheesed up and PURE NICKEL. The only medium/short scale pure nickel FLATS I could find are La Bellas and Pyramids - both too expensive for me right now. The Monel 77s have much more thud that had been missing with the Pressure-Wounds. I had to re-string her a few times when I took off the lolli tuners to clean & lube them, trying to fix the probs I've been having, so some of the silk came off, but not too badly. The sound is definitely more of what I was looking for than the Pressure-Wounds, the scale is good & they're easy to play (smoothness factor).  The gauge really is a bit light on these 77s, and the short-scale really needs a thicker gauge for tension and to generate a bigger sound, so I'll probably end up asking for the Pyramids or La Bellas (pure nickel flats) for X-Mas!

Looks like Pilgrim, shadowcastaz & 'Buzz' (Lightyear  ) are all for the Gibsons! Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it. 

[Basvarken]

Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it. 

Okay, if you insist... 

[exiledarchangel]

Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it.  

Why women hate SG shape? Never got that. Just for fun, I asked my wife yesterday what is her favourite guitar shape, LP was one of her favs, but the big winner was Epiphone Swingster. I wish I had the money to take advantage of that!

[Lefty SSB]

Okay, if you insist... 

NB, NB... (= not bad, not bad) is that the Gibson Les Paul Recording bass? Are those single-coil pickups underneath those big covers?

I didn't realize there was mass-spread dislike in the SG shape among women... It just looks like a little devil to me. 

[Basvarken]

Yeah it is sometimes called Recording bass. But the official name is Les Paul Bass.
Actually it resembles the Les Paul Professional guitar more than the LP Recording guitar.


We call them Hobbits here  

No those are not single coils. They are low impedance stacked humbuckers with three coiltaps on each pickup.



Here's another one. Also called Les Paul Bass. With big control plate on the top side. And built in impedance transformer.
Gibson later introduced the name Triumph for these babies.
And this one looks more like the Gibson Recording guitar. Confusing? Haha, that's Gibson.

[uwe]

Fräulein = Miss
Frau = Mrs
Schwester = sister (but that can also mean nurse)

You'll learn German in no time here, Fräulein Kristall Grün! That Mustang looks good on you. Or the other way around!  

Those jazz flats from Roto aren't a bad choice for your Mustang. They are incredibly stiff, but you compensated for that with the soft gauge and the short scale's less tension. They have a certain metallic zzzing on the E and A to them which helps those strings cut through and that zzzing which can be a little harsh softens over time. They do last for ages.

[birdie]

Adventures with strings can definitely be pricey! As I read your post, TI flats may not be the right pick for you, although I installed a set for a friend on a Mustang (righty) and I thought they played great. I really like La Bella flats, the XL's I believe they are. The cost factor for me is overcome by the fact that once on, you can forget about ever changing them again. My '61 P bass has LB's that are going on 7 years. Maybe 8 Nothing comes out of a box sounding like those strings!! Another brand to consider, that you can also allow to age gracefully, are Lakland flats. Try their site, or evilbay. They have a beautiful old school roundness to them, the top of the note is ever so slightly less percusive than LB's.
Again welcome!

[birdie]

And my wife loves that shape of EB's and SG's. She's also a graphic designer. Not that it's got anything to do..

[Lightyear]

..................
Looks like Pilgrim, shadowcastaz & 'Buzz' (Lightyear  ) are all for the Gibsons! Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it. 

It's a mahogany thing - nothing else quiet has the sound of a mahogany bass and that usually means Gibson - the redheadedbastardstepfosterchild of the bass world  

[Hornisse]

Welcome!  My 27 year old daughter is a lefty but pays right handed.  Cool looking Mustang and a great story.  I once had a Competition Red one that was pretty beat. 

[chromium]

I like your creations! You use those instead of a pitch wheel, eh? Any videos of these puppies in action? What do all the knobs do? =) As I mentioned above, I need to make my own theremin, I've only dubbed with others'. I found the blueprints and am gathering the materials for my winter project. We shall see how it turns out!

Yeah you can use them like a pitch wheel, or you can play 'em in place of a keyboard.  They send out control signals based on the linear position and vertical force at the point where you touch the surface (and the controls adjust things like response, range, whether to hold the note you played or snap back to an open position like a guitar sting, etc...).  I suck at making videos, but I have a couple demos here:




Not a new concept by any means, just a variation on an old idea...



Good luck with your theremin project!  There's a forum for electronic instrument builders here that might offer some ideas and inspiration:  http://www.electro-music.com/forum/

Looks like Pilgrim, shadowcastaz & 'Buzz' (Lightyear  Mr. Green) are all for the Gibsons! Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it.

Here's a Gibson shorty that looks benign...





...until you plug it in!

[lowend1]

Looks like Pilgrim, shadowcastaz & 'Buzz' (Lightyear  ) are all for the Gibsons! Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it.  

Since Rob has (naturally ) covered the Hobbit already, and Chromey has addressed the EB-2/Rivoli, can Uwe be far behind with the 20/20 (oh, right - its not a shortie izzit?)
There's also the LP Jr-bodied EB-0, and the violin shaped EB-1.

[Pilgrim]

Looks like Pilgrim, shadowcastaz & 'Buzz' (Lightyear  ) are all for the Gibsons! Guys, show me a shorty Gibson that doesn't look like the devil horns and I'd gladly consider it. 

I'm actually more of a Fender guy, but I do have one honest-to-golly Gibson EB-0. 

And if you want to get Labella Deep Talkin' flats for that bass, check Imperial Guitars online - their prices are about 1/2 those of other vendors.  They didn't list the short-scale Labella flats I needed, so I called them and they ordered them for me, then only charged a bit over $20 for the set.  NICE!