Making Music

[Happy Blue]

8 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Nothing in a while been trying to get a band together but that is a nice looking guitar. Also, Happy Belated Birthday!!

Thanks mate, my Birthday is actually today so bang on time  

[CaaC (John)+]

2 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

Thanks mate, my Birthday is actually today so bang on time  

So you are gonna with the league...pf...so what...oh....

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

Thanks mate, my Birthday is actually today so bang on time  

Happy birthday pal

[Happy Blue]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Happy birthday pal

Thanks mate

[Happy Blue]

2 hours ago, CaaC (John) said:

So you are gonna with the league...pf...so what...oh....

Thanks mate

[Whiskey]

New 30 Seconds To Mars single dropped today, they've proper lost it. Bang average, not been the same since This is War.

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Mel81x what're your thoughts on Telecasters?

[Mel81x+]

15 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Mel81x what're your thoughts on Telecasters?

Probably one of my top 3 styles of guitar for usage. They are versatile (minus the bending and even there you get a bit of wiggle room from the board) and the only downside I would state is that they can sound a bit shrill and not so deep at times but even that is fixable with the right pickups. Trying to buy one?

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Mel81x said:

Probably one of my top 3 styles of guitar for usage. They are versatile (minus the bending and even there you get a bit of wiggle room from the board) and the only downside I would state is that they can sound a bit shrill and not so deep at times but even that is fixable with the right pickups. Trying to buy one?

I used to have one… and my dad just sent it over from back home. It’s supposed to turn up here today.

Pretty excited because I loved that fucking thing, but I haven’t played it in such a long time!

[Mel81x+]

On 20/06/2023 at 20:08, Dr. Gonzo said:

I used to have one… and my dad just sent it over from back home. It’s supposed to turn up here today.

Pretty excited because I loved that fucking thing, but I haven’t played it in such a long time!

Nice. Do send pics once it reaches you I'd be curious to see it. 

[Happy Blue]

I wouldn't mind the black Dave Murray Tele with the double humbuckers. my very first guitar was a tele copy when i was 13 so have a lot of nostalgia attached to them, and frustration  i don't currently own one, always found the necks a bit chunky after mainly having Jacksons with the speed necks but would be nice to have one in my collection

[Dr. Gonzo]

15 hours ago, Mel81x said:

Nice. Do send pics once it reaches you I'd be curious to see it. 

I'll take a pic when I'm back home. I played a bit with it when I got back from the office last night - it's very much in need of a setup, which is I guess to be expected because I don't know when the last time it was played was. It's got a bit of corrosion in some places that I'll need to clean off too - honestly might just go take it to a shop to get set up and cleaned because I can't be arsed with how busy I've been.

Apparently I swapped out the bridge pickup on it at some point  - I have no recollection of that, I don't know why I'd even have done that it was my first "nice" guitar,  it's US made so it's got good pickups. I still have the original so I'll probably have that chucked back into it too and sell the other pickup... which is a ridiculously high output single coil pickup (which seems like something I'd have put into a guitar... so it probably was me who put it in the guitar and not my dad or my brother).

It's nice to have it back though. It's certainly the most different out of all of my guitars having single coils and a big slab of a body with no contours.

14 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

I wouldn't mind the black Dave Murray Tele with the double humbuckers. my very first guitar was a tele copy when i was 13 so have a lot of nostalgia attached to them, and frustration  i don't currently own one, always found the necks a bit chunky after mainly having Jacksons with the speed necks but would be nice to have one in my collection

The neck feels chunky as fuck to me  I've gotten so use to those thin Jackson/Ibanez necks.

There's something fun about how old school and classic the design is though. I had a lot of fun butchering some Zeppelin songs last night on it.

[Happy Blue]

5 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'll take a pic when I'm back home. I played a bit with it when I got back from the office last night - it's very much in need of a setup, which is I guess to be expected because I don't know when the last time it was played was. It's got a bit of corrosion in some places that I'll need to clean off too - honestly might just go take it to a shop to get set up and cleaned because I can't be arsed with how busy I've been.

Apparently I swapped out the bridge pickup on it at some point  - I have no recollection of that, I don't know why I'd even have done that it was my first "nice" guitar,  it's US made so it's got good pickups. I still have the original so I'll probably have that chucked back into it too and sell the other pickup... which is a ridiculously high output single coil pickup (which seems like something I'd have put into a guitar... so it probably was me who put it in the guitar and not my dad or my brother).

It's nice to have it back though. It's certainly the most different out of all of my guitars having single coils and a big slab of a body with no contours.

The neck feels chunky as fuck to me  I've gotten so use to those thin Jackson/Ibanez necks.

There's something fun about how old school and classic the design is though. I had a lot of fun butchering some Zeppelin songs last night on it.

Yeah  ..if your going to banjo someone with a guitar a tele or les paul would be the weapon of choice lol, them some heavy bits of wood. glad it arrived in one piece with the US postal system, did they just chuck it on your lawn as they was driving past?  or do they knock on the door for big stuff? ha 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

Yeah  ..if your going to banjo someone with a guitar a tele or les paul would be the weapon of choice lol, them some heavy bits of wood. glad it arrived in one piece with the US postal system, did they just chuck it on your lawn as they was driving past?  or do they knock on the door for big stuff? ha 

They took it up to the front door, it seems like it wasn’t battered too much across the Atlantic & then a whole fucking country - at least I hope it wasn’t lol

I haven’t played the fucking thing in forever so me having it back now is very weird but very cool

[Happy Blue]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They took it up to the front door, it seems like it wasn’t battered too much across the Atlantic & then a whole fucking country - at least I hope it wasn’t lol

I haven’t played the fucking thing in forever so me having it back now is very weird but very cool

That looks really cool mate and bet its great for cleans? how's the wiring holding up, everything working?

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Happy Blue said:

That looks really cool mate and bet its great for cleans? how's the wiring holding up, everything working?

Yeah the cleans on it are great! It’s a bit funny trying to see how much gain I can use on it while having it sound good… single coils are a lot fucking different to humbuckers lol

The wiring seems ok… but the input jack is a little bit wonky, I think that’s probably an easy fix though.

[Happy Blue]

3 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah the cleans on it are great! It’s a bit funny trying to see how much gain I can use on it while having it sound good… single coils are a lot fucking different to humbuckers lol

The wiring seems ok… but the input jack is a little bit wonky, I think that’s probably an easy fix though.

Yeah, the coil tap on my LTD taught me that with the quick comparison your able to do  ..that's good then, my Jackson performer needs a complete rewire but i've had it since the 90's, the plastic covers on the back have melted due to being left Infront of a fire, the whammy bar has snapped off in the trem and the tuners are shagged too lol ..i'll restore it at some point, Nazgul or fishman modern in the bridge and maybe satin black paint work

[Mel81x+]

10 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They took it up to the front door, it seems like it wasn’t battered too much across the Atlantic & then a whole fucking country - at least I hope it wasn’t lol

I haven’t played the fucking thing in forever so me having it back now is very weird but very cool

I really really like that colour scheme. Its clean and is super nice looking.

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Mel81x said:

I really really like that colour scheme. Its clean and is super nice looking.

A black and white tele is imo the most basic looking guitar ever except maybe white with a white pickguard or the yellow with black iconic one

[Mel81x+]

So, I have finally found the bass I am going to use for a complete rework project. It's a 70s Classic Vibe - Jazz Bass (picture included)

I'll start the gutting next week and then do the franken-bass planning post that. Quite excited. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Mel81x said:

So, I have finally found the bass I am going to use for a complete rework project. It's a 70s Classic Vibe - Jazz Bass (picture included)

I'll start the gutting next week and then do the franken-bass planning post that. Quite excited. 

What're you planning on changing to make it your completely reworked franken-bass? New neck too or nah?

[Mel81x+]

5 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

What're you planning on changing to make it your completely reworked franken-bass? New neck too or nah?

In no particular order

The Head

• New tuners with better gauge tuning, I am sick of these and they are actually going to come apart soon
• I'll add a drop D tuner peg too but I am still debating on if I want to go that route

The Body

• Change the pickups to classic Jazz bass
• sand down the whole body and change the color to something mustard yellowish or I may change it to something else. I want the wood finish to go away and it to be replaced with something more muted
  • When its done I am going to take sandpaper to it again and grate it in certain areas and then laquer it all to be finalized
• Change the pickup guard but that is literally the last thing in the list as I am still deciding
• change the pots and faceplate to something more 50s so I get those nice warm sounds I want on it
• change the saddle to a cigarette style block with the ability to string through and over the block
• body changes
  • I want contours under the body for playing at the very end
  • I want a nicer shaped contour on the top that sits flush with me when I play it, these are very straight

The Neck

• This is the BEST part of the guitar and I think it would be absolutely criminal to change it but ...
• New inlays, something like mother of pearl with a silver finish
• I want the frets all polished on the sides
• I want the same neck to have better intonated frets
• Switch out round wounds to flat wounds for that old-school jazzy sound
• Lastly, I want someone to smooth the back and take away the plastic finish and make it a smooth wooden neck like it should be.

I have started buying parts for this already so its just a matter of time before I start to gut it anyways.

[Mel81x+]

Picked up one of these a week ago and I have to say this, Marcus Miller has done the bass players community a huge service by putting out these instruments. They may not be your class Fender Jazz bass but omg what a tone and sound. The controls are a whole other story and how this thing does active/passive flipping isn't my favorite but its super nice when you start to play it and get around the instrument. 

Sire Marcus Miller V7 2nd Generation | Alder - Sire USA (sire-usa.com)

For the cost I will say this is probably what any intermediate musician should buy because it's almost professional grade and can really give you enough to sculpt any kind of jazz sounds you want out of it. Would I take it to a rock gig? probably not as my P-Bass really is the boss there but when I do impromptu sessions with friends or work with the schools this thing is a one-stop-shop for getting really good sounds. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Mel81x said:

Picked up one of these a week ago and I have to say this, Marcus Miller has done the bass players community a huge service by putting out these instruments. They may not be your class Fender Jazz bass but omg what a tone and sound. The controls are a whole other story and how this thing does active/passive flipping isn't my favorite but its super nice when you start to play it and get around the instrument. 

Sire Marcus Miller V7 2nd Generation | Alder - Sire USA (sire-usa.com)

For the cost I will say this is probably what any intermediate musician should buy because it's almost professional grade and can really give you enough to sculpt any kind of jazz sounds you want out of it. Would I take it to a rock gig? probably not as my P-Bass really is the boss there but when I do impromptu sessions with friends or work with the schools this thing is a one-stop-shop for getting really good sounds. 

Looks pretty great

[Mel81x+]

14 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Looks pretty great

Sounds super too. It's such a nice instrument for speed playing too.