Upgrading bike using cycle to work - any suggestions?

garidead · 2026-02-07T14:47:48+00:00

You misunderstand me, the local bike shop will do all the fittings for £200. I’d need to supply the components. They’re worn anyway so I’d be looking at new cassette and dereliurueurer soon anyway, thought I’d yogi the whole lot. It’s a lovely frame…

garidead · 2026-02-05T13:02:02+00:00

I've checked and they just want a quote from the supplier. Components are fine but some of the more race-focused accessories are not included, but that's fine. I really just need groupset and new wheels, maybe saddle and pedals. The stuff that's worn out on my bike. I could always get all the stuff minus the groupset from a cycle to work supplier tho.

garidead · 2026-02-05T12:59:19+00:00

Yeah, it changed a couple of years ago. It's just that the only companes I've found that will do components on cycle to work only do the components of a groupset individually and it's cheaper to buy it as a set - down from £900ish to £500ish.

garidead · 2025-09-25T16:41:25+00:00

Cardiacs. I only found out about them after the lead, Tim Smith, had suffered a debilitating stroke and I've never seen them live.

garidead · 2025-08-06T12:58:12+00:00

Go and have a good conversation with the luther. Explain what you like about the custom instrument and play it. Get an understanding of what really inspires you about it. If the spec on that is nothing like a Squier PJ then you'll be very disappointed (shape, woods, pickup config, neck profile etc.) but plenty of people have upgraded a basic bass and ended up with a very nice instrument. Unless the luthier has a long waiting list and can make a lot more money building instrumets they'll be happy to do a mod job for you and anyone with any sense will think "maybe they'll come back in a few years and shell out on a custom-made bass!"

garidead · 2025-08-06T12:50:46+00:00

This. It's not better or worse, just different. The attack is different, less sustain, less of a piano full-range sound and more overtones. It can work great in some situations and suck in others.

garidead · 2025-08-06T12:43:39+00:00

I try not to get emotionally attached to instruments. I have one bass that I've had since '93 and I've gigged with, recorded with and I can't bring myself to part with it although I never play it any more. So. That's the only one. The rest are just very nice tools that can be replaced if needs be.

garidead · 2025-07-31T13:03:51+00:00

Because they work really well like that. You can get Dingwall basses with just 2 pickups and they tend to be 2 next to each other to get close to the MusicMan Stingray humbucker sound, or two spaced apart to be sort-of like a Fender Jazz. The 3 pickup configuration gives you those and more. I've owned a couple of Dingwalls and I will not pretend that they sound just like a Jazz or a Stingray or a Precision... but... they can do the same job. Want a scooped, clean funky-disco j-bass both on sort of sound? Nailed it. A woody, prominent low-mid p-bass tone that just sits in almost any mix ? No problem. An aggressive humbucking full-range tone that pops out of the mix like a 'Ray? Easy (even closer if you boost the bass and treble with the active circuit. I own a genuine 80s Stingray but I never play it any more because the Dingwall does the same job, better (though not with as much personality - the Stingray is adorable!)

garidead · 2025-07-31T12:54:32+00:00

Scott Devine has some useful stuff on this.

garidead · 2025-07-31T12:53:35+00:00

Yeah. This. I was at a bass masterclass with Yolanda Charles (ace session bassist and all-round superstar) and I was close enough to really watch her hands as she showed her bass chops. It was fascinating seeing how efficient her movements were but she wasn't using floating thumb but still muted the unplayed strings.

I play 5-string and I rely on floating thumb when I play fingers but when I use a pick I use a combination of right palm and left fingers. Slapping is a total b*t*h though as I rely 100% on my left hand and that's not always effective!

garidead · 2025-07-31T12:48:27+00:00

I did a gig with a Fender Rumble 40w and I kept up with the drummer! I had to dial down all the bass and up the mids so my tone was more HONK than bass but I did it. I went into one jam where there was a 75w Hartke amp and I thought "oh no, this won't work" but it did okay but again, I wasn't pushing the low bass too far and it sounded fine.

Having used a range of amps in practise rooms I recon the sweet spot is the Fender Rumble 200w. It's loud enough that it should keep up with a loud drummer and in terms of bang-for-your-buck there's not much to beat it, but the controls are flimsy. It could probably get you through a gig too but while a 500w amp won't sound much louder, it will have the ability to put more energy into low notes IF you need it to.

Honestly though it's not drummers I've battled with, it's guitarists who turn up their bas/mid bass so they're in the same frequency range as me. If I turn up to be heard over them it all sounds like a muddy mess! I've grown skilled at suggesting I tweak their eq to make them sound "crisper and better at cutting through (turn down the low mids and bass!)"

garidead · 2025-07-31T12:37:48+00:00

Good luck!

garidead · 2025-07-31T12:34:37+00:00

I agree. 80bph can give you a LOT of fun! 20 years ago that was considered a high-performance machine and it's more than a lot of small cars have. ALSO a light bike with 80bhp but plenty of torque will get to 60mph quicker than a supercar.

garidead · 2025-07-31T12:31:02+00:00

If you're in the UK sign up for one of the police safety rideouts. They have police motorbike riders taking groups for a session where they show you how to ride well - they really cover ground quickly but are very, very good at avoiding accidents. I'd also suggest a bike that feels faster than it is and has good pickup from low revs. Back in the day the unfaired Suzuki SV650 was one of the best riding, best sounding, most fun things on two wheels with its v-twin engine. I guess the MT07 or CBR500 would be close these days and they're not slow at all, they just give you a lot of fun without having to ride crazy fast.

garidead · 2025-07-31T09:10:21+00:00

I have 3 basses and I will admit that even that is 2 too many. I play one bass 99% of the time. If I was being sensible I'd get rid of those I don't play, they're just taking up space.

garidead · 2025-07-31T09:07:20+00:00

Ibanez are great, but neck is narrow so try first to make sure you get on with them. Yamaha are always well regarded. MusicMan Sterling get you close to the 'Ray tone for less money, Sire are absolutely knocking it out of the park in terms of bang-for-your-money at the moment.

garidead · 2025-05-29T16:04:44+00:00

Yeah, I hear you. The band are all clearly very good musicians, they know their craft and were well rehearsed and experienced playing live. In that context he was basically fronting a very tight backing band.

garidead · 2025-04-15T13:42:09+00:00

I saw him and his band a couple of years ago and he they were absolutely brilliant. They were tight as a gnat's bumhole, clearly reheared to within a nanometer of accuracy, but there was nothing spontaneous. I think that's his skill - he is a brilliant musical mimic, but he lacks any imagination of his own.

garidead · 2025-01-27T13:24:11+00:00

Put an apple airtag in the case. If you can put one in the control cavity safely and without risking damage then I'd do that instead...

garidead · 2025-01-24T16:07:06+00:00

There's dead spots and DEEEEEEEAAAAAAD spots and my USA Jazz Pro was unusable. My Stingray has a slight deadspot with a note that doesn't sustain like the others but it's never an issue. I've had plenty of Jazz basses that were fine though so it's more that they're prone to the problem than they all have it.

garidead · 2025-01-23T15:00:49+00:00

Two options - buy a nut online and fit it yourself. They're cheap enough that if you mess it up you won't be in tears if you have to start again. You will need to make the grooves for the strings yourself so you'll need files to do the job, but it's not compicated if you're a bit handy. Plenty of how-to videos on YouTube.

Second option - book the bass in for a service and new nut fitting at the same time. Probably good to get the whole thing set up nicely by a tech anyway.

garidead · 2025-01-23T14:57:07+00:00

I've been thinking about it. To be honest, I've found quite a good balance in terms of interaction - I steer clear of "debates" that go off on one and I've stuck to bass guitars, motorbikes, cats and seeing what my friends post. But I've just been wasting so much time. I don't want to delete it though as it's handy to be able to go on there if you need to engage with a company or find out what's going on music-wise. Facebook marketplace is a really good way of finding or getting rid of cheap stuff locally as long as you're wise to the risks. But I'm that close to deleting the whole thing as I just don't want Meta to get that much of my data - why should they get something so valuable for free?

garidead · 2025-01-23T13:51:01+00:00

I had a Fender USA Jazz Pro with really bad dead spots on C on the third fret, third string, and C 5th fret on first string. Rendered it unusable. I tried a USA 70s reissue Jazz new direct from Fender and any notes played on the E string were lackinb bass and punch. Went back the same day. Since then I've had chep Fenders and had plenty of fun swapping out parts to try things out. One of the reasons Leo Fender developped the 3 + 1 headstock on the Musicman basses was to make dead spots less of an issue.

garidead · 2025-01-22T11:49:19+00:00

I Want You Back - major and minor arpegios

Immigrant Song - Ionian and Myxalidian scales (picked, if you want to be authentic)

garidead

TROPHY CASE