Let's see your guitar and bass gear!

In reply to petegossett:

Yeah, I woke up again this morning to see if it was all a dream, but it wasn't.

I was up late last night playing it. It just growls. I put D'Addario XL round-wounds on it and it is really bright. The Tone pot is scratchy, so I will have to address that, but otherwise, it plays excellent. It has a tone straight out of the box somewhere in between Geezer Butler and Steve Harris, so it's perfect for the stuff I play. And it plays so well.

Someone already moved the horn strap button so it doesn't "neck-dive", so I don't have to worry about that. I really like the neck too. It has a vintage-feeling rounded fat back to it, and I can move up and down on it faster than my other basses. It just plays so well.

Also, this is the 1st bass that I've properly set up right. the neck was still straight, so I didn't have to mess with that, but since the bridge was way out of whack, I spent a long time getting the string height and intonation correct.

I'm getting better at setups, and I want to do my Warwick next. I've never been totally happy with how it plays or the tone on it, so I may get a little weird with string choice when it comes to that one. Since it has a Carolena body (a really soft wood), it takes a lot of the signature Warwick growl out of the tone. I may choose a brighter sounding string next time to gain some of that back.

This guy showed up on my doorstep yesterday:

Brandy new Squier Affinity Jazz Bass V. Pulled the trigger after 10% off and free shipping at Musician's Friend made it too cheap (sub $175) to pass up. I only have a little bit of playing time on it, but I'm super impressed. This may be the lowest, cheapest line Fender has to offer, but it sound great, the setup is pretty close, and it plays very well. I'm normally a four string player, so I just wanted a fiver to mess around on. Totally fits the bill, but I wouldn't be afraid to play it out at a gig.

Meeting the family:

Right place at the right time. Well done!!

In reply to Gimp:

Those Affinity basses and guitars are really nice for the money. The guitar I picked up last year for my nephew was from that line, and he's been abusing it every day for over a year with only a few minor issues. Plus they are great mod fodder. Nice score!

poopshovel wrote: I've got a 73(?) Aria SG that I picked up on ebay for around $300 with upgraded pots and bridge. Threw a $45 setup at it, and it's the bee's berkeleying knees!!! Looks pretty much exactly like this. Complete with scratches/checking, etc.

I have one of those I've been trying to sell.

I seem to go through electrics like candy, except for one. The one guitar I grab for EVERY occasion. I have had the old 64 Vox since 1990 and it has always been my main tool for every need. I also crave different sounds every now and then and have really been wanting P-90's but I never play the others when I have my trusty and comfortable old steed at hand.

Well I just won the internets with an ebay auction going my way and am expecting its twin very soon.

It's gonna receive a pair of TV Jones T-90's, a tunomatic, some nice tuners and be my number two.

I am stoked!

I just picked this up. It's the only production short-scale lefty 5-string bass I was able to find. It's also cheap! $401-shipped with the hard-shell case.

The headstock is labeled "Brice", but the back of the headstock says it's made in Korea by Agile Guitars. I'd read some reviews beforehand, the general consensus is it's a good bass with crappy strings, so-so electronics, and in need of a proper setup, and my experience matched that completely.

The string gauging was really weird, from an .030 G to a .130 B - that's the widest spacing I've ever encountered. I had a fresh set of DR Hi-Beams on hand to install, sized .030-.050-.070-.090-.110. Unfortunately I left too much of the B string unwrapped and snapped the core winding it up, so I had to use the stock(.100) E string for my B. I'm also not sure I like having an .030 for a G, so I might end up with .035(or .040)-.050-.070-.090-.105

The frets also needed leveled and dressed, but nothing too major. And since I play my basses strung right-handed, I cut a new nut and flipped the strings too.

The tone isn't too bad. I really don't like active electronics, but fortunately it has a passive override. I'm not fond of the blend knob for both pickups either, I'd much rather have individual volume & tone controls for each. I've been eyeing a pair of passive Seymour Duncans on ebay for $110, so that may happen sooner rather than later.

Overall I'm totally pleased. It's well built, comfortable, fits me well and is everything I expected(good and bad) for the money. Besides, it was either this, or drop several grand for something custom…

I just bought this on Ebay on Friday--don't have it yet, but I'm really hoping it is a keeper:

In reply to petegossett:

I've seen a few of the Brice basses around, they are supposed to be the nicest of the Rondo Music stuff. I hear that their stuff is great for mod fodder. I messed with a Brice 6-string last time I was at Guitar Center, and it seemed well built. Yours looks very nice.

I've been thinking lately of tuning one of my basses, namely my old Ibanez TR70 P/J bass, to permanent C-tuning. I'm going to get a cheap set of 5-string strings and just use the C/E/A/D strings. I'm sick of de-tuning whatever bass I'm using to play stuff in that tuning, and when I do, the strings are too sloppy and buzz a lot. Anyone else on here do this?

I haven't played bass in about 15 years. I have been focused on drums. I decided to pick it up again and have been piecing together a setup since I sold all my old stuff while I was in college. I was looking for a GK 400rb but found a killer deal on the larger 1001rb. I was looking for basic 115 and 210 cabinets when I found this giant Peavey cab with an 18 for 100 bucks. I have a much bigger rig than I intended for the price of a small combo. Now I need to buy a small combo so I have something portable in case I start playing with others again!

In reply to SilverFleet:

I've known guys who've done this, but I don't know the details of what strings they used. I know there are strings specifically for drop tuning, but in your case I think I'd look at taking the bottom-4 from a 5-string set. So something like C-.125(or .130), E-.110, A-.095, D-.070.

In reply to logdog:

Sweet deal!

I have a 2x10 I'm selling, but it's probably not worth shipping.

This beautiful thing arrived at the office on Monday. My playing doesn't deserve it, but I'll never be worse than I am now! It's a PRS S-2 Starla, and I think I'm in love...

gorgeous

Thanks--- it plays as nice as it looks.

So, learn me square neck dobro. I know nothing, other than the dobro playing in Greensky Bluegrass makes my dingle tingle.

^I love Dobro too. My aunt was great at it and she picked it up late in life (Late 60s)

First I'm a drummer but I have played guitar for about 4 1/2 years now. I still feel it is new to me.

The drums are Aaron Hughes Acoustics custom made kit from my hometown in Gainesville, Ga. My dream kit that I watched get made on my 16th birthday. I couldn't afford it then and then saw it for sale randomly about 5 years ago when I was 23 and I bought it.

I have a 97 Strat that matches the drumset (sounds great clean), a Kurt Cobain signature series Mustang with a Seymour Duncan HB(sounds good breaking up), and a Fender DG acoustic electric made from Dao wood. It's a fun collection that keeps me busy.

I'm getting a new amp. Does that count?

Oh, good, another drummer! Well, I'm a drummer too.

I know I've been posting mostly guitar and bass stuff, but I've been playing percussion instruments for 22 years now (holy E36 M3 I'm getting old).

I currently have a 7pc 1995ish vintage Yamaha Stage Custom kit. It's a weird configuration: 10", 12", 13", 14", and 15" rack toms (the 14 and 15 serve as my floor toms but are floaters), a 16x22 kick, and a really cool 10-ply maple Magstar Custom Drums 6.5x14 snare with a Keller shell. I use DW 5000-series pedals and have an assortment of Zildjian and Sabian cymbals.

Right now for cymbals, I'm running a personally matched set of 13" Sabian Hand Hammered hi-hats with a Regular Hat top and Fusion un-lathed bottom, a Zildjian A Brilliant Medium Thin 18" crash, a Sabian AA Medium Thin crash, a Sabian AAX 18" Metal Crash, a 12" Zildjian Z Custom Splash (more like a small crash), a 20" Zildjian A Medium Ride, and a Sabian AAX 18" China.

I also have a Sonor Force 1001 5-pc practice kit, a Gibraltar straight rack, and some other stuff here and there kicking around from my band days.

Out of all my drum stuff, my favorite piece is my Magstar Custom Drums snare. The guy that used to make them lived south of Boston MA and cranked out the nicest custom-made drums anywhere back in the 1990's. A local shop I used to get all my gear from would showcase his stuff, and they happened to have this snare used for short money. What's really cool is that it uses a Keller shell, but he reworked the bearing edge to fit his specs. it uses simple Pearl hardware and a Pearl throw-off, which is by design, so the gigging drummer can get parts anywhere in a pinch. It's kinda like having a SBC-swapped Jaguar or something like that It sounds great no matter what style you are playing. The other cool thing is the guy that made it was in the shop when I bought it! Nothing like talking to the actual guy who built your instrument.

^Heck yeah. I'm thinking about getting another little Gresch Catalina kit and playing little shows around here again.

When I was regularly gigging (from 2001-06), I wanted to pick up one of those newer Gretsch kits. A friend back then got a Renown Maple kit and loved it. The Catalina ones are really nice too.

I wish I bought an entire Magstar kit when the guy was in business. The guy (Rob Kampa) lived in the town next to me, but moved to Nashville to build drums there. I think he went on to work for another company based out of that area, but no longer makes his own stuff. They were nicer than the DW stuff and sounded better for less money. I wanted to order a kit, but at the time, he was getting ready to move.

Gimp wrote:

Question: Anyone else have one of these multi-stands? Brand/models they like? Don't like? I just moved some stuff around in the library/music room and realized I really need one of these - like now. Preferrably 6 guitars.

I've been working on my upstairs, and just mounted these fellas up. I still need to figure out where I'm going to hang my bass.

Ian F wrote:

Gimp wrote:

Question: Anyone else have one of these multi-stands? Brand/models they like? Don't like? I just moved some stuff around in the library/music room and realized I really need one of these - like now. Preferrably 6 guitars.

This is the one in the photo - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7VBMYI/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's not bad. Not the greatest construction, but I don't move it around.

In reply to Gimp:

Thanks! Ordered the 7-place version. Tacked on a set of strap locks to get to the free shipping limit + using Discover cash-back points = Free!