daevien

daevien, 28 days ago

@raulo Why put any service somewhere public if there is no benefit or use case like your parents or brother or whatever use it too?

Especially with the costs of like a MFF/SFF second hand system these days that can run a bunch of stuff on your network and take very little power, probably in fact less than a vps or something online would :)

daevien, 1 month ago

@sanimalp @zlendy I decided to finally get around to trying #Jellyfin as music server (usually use Navidrome) and #Symfonium as android client after seeing your comments.

It's been a few days and so far, very happy with how it works and syncs and plays.

The real test will be when I try to get the girlfriend to try it and how it works with her phone & car, which can be flaky in a lot of apps hehe.

daevien, 2 months ago

@raichoo

Ah, you decided to go with a fretless Dingwall, nice. Going for that extra level of pain with fretless and multiscale at the same time lol

daevien, 2 months ago

@eniko Time for repeats to see what you missed! :)

daevien, 4 months ago

@ncommander

Complaining or bragging? ;)

daevien, 4 months ago

@eniko Make an underground system to drop them in your neighbours basement and see how long it takes them to notice? ;)

daevien, 4 months ago

@eniko Ah, I'm used to playing on servers with people. I find it more fun. Though the servers usually end up busy for a little bit then die off these days as people get distracted by other stuff.

daevien, 5 months ago

@uastronomer
Unless they didn't sell it, which opens up a more troubling line of inquiry

daevien, 5 months ago

@TheWarlock666 @TheMetalDog You still have a switch and two knobs. Some silly (and sound limited I'd think) people just have 1 knob :P

daevien, 6 months ago

@box464 I'd recommend Overseerr, works nice. Recommendations, different permissions are possible for users (some with instant approval, some without, etc), 4k or non 4k settings, etc.

https://overseerr.dev/

daevien, 6 months ago

@box464 Hehe, yeah I switched as well. There is a fork of Overseerr for Jellyfin as well but I haven't really messed with it, my Jellyfin is just for testing really. It works well but there are still a few things Plex does nicer unfortunately.

daevien, 7 months ago

@box464 I use Navidrome ( https://www.navidrome.org/ ) which is compatible with the basic subsonic protocol so there are a number of clients that will work with it on basically every platform.

There are a whole bunch of other options, but I haven't used any in a long time besides a couple other sonic variants.

I believe Jellyfin has support for music as well, not sure how it compares to Plex for that.

daevien, 8 months ago

@mookie The long long trail of built & discarded mastodon instances gets a little longer :P

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo The only video I know for a Dingwall fretless being played is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBywwGKgfQ

They are sneaky with it, it's got segmented fretlines so it can look like a fretted one from a distance ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIMuOxI8r34 shows the bass

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo @Solobasssteve Don't do it to your main bass, pick your second favourite if it's close. Then just rip off that bandaid and see if it lives up to your thoughts ;)

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo @Solobasssteve I'm not sure what the market is like where you are, but here in Montreal and surrounding areas, there are quite a few second hand listings for 4 string fretless stuff and sometimes 5 strings. Not quite the 6 string you usually go for but you might be able to find something really cheap in 4 strings and be able to get a decent idea if you want to go further.

I find a lot is Fender P basses at crazy high prices or cheap Squier Jaco models that I wonder how good they really are, prob sort of a mixed bag so you'd have to try and see if it's a decent one or not.

However, other times I find some Yamaha older models like RBX260F and comparable models which should be quite nice. And then sometimes other interesting things like my Matsumoku made Vantage or a Peavey Foundation USA one that is floating around for the last week a few hours away for really cheap.

I'm not sure on the available of Sire stuff where you are but I've heard some good stuff about their stuff. For example Lowend Lobster reviews a lot of basses and usually mods any issues away and resells them after but he kept his Sire v5 fretless still far as I know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpigTXIuDus

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo @Solobasssteve As far as unlined vs lined, the big thing really is the side markers. Some bad models will have the markers in the same spot as fretted, avoid those and the markers will tell you where you should be placing your fingers basically for that fret and you can figure out the ones in between with some practice. And it's mostly about having good posture and positioning of your hand and hearing when you are off the note slightly. One you've practiced a bunch, it's really not too bad if your bass is decent and setup. ie: my first fretless was pretty bad and 5 string, so was a brutal start. Picking it up many years later on the very nice and worn in Vantage, even though both are unlined, felt almost like cheating somehow how easy it felt after a couple minutes lol

Another tip I've heard is to use pinstriping tape used on cars. It apparently won't leave behind residue when it's removed. So you basically make a tiny fret at first with the tape until you are more comfortable and remove it or it gets worn through if you play a lot and by then it should have become not needed ;)

I used to hear about people using chalk on fretless stuff like orchestral instruments, but I guess now they all basically use stickers, so the pinstripe idea basically but more expensive basically.

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo @Solobasssteve I guess it depends on the luthier which they'd rather do, defret an existing bass or cut the fret lines in an unlined fretboard and patch them up. Lot of the steps are the same.

Hopefully you figure out something that works for you.

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo Give in to the craving and join the fretless side ;)

I finally got one again a couple weeks ago :)

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo i went old school hehe

Vantage VP825B, factory fretless and I've yet to find any others that are so far online. So could be another slightly off spec bass from manufacturer Matsumoku in Japan.

Still cleaning it up, it's got some dings on the body, neck is pretty clean, brass needs to be cleaned. Sadly, one of the bridge screws didn't appreciate being asked to move and decide to destroy itself. So cleaning had been postponed until after drilling out the screw and fixing the hole has been done. I really don't want to drill but screw is too far in for any other method really.

#fretless #matsumoku

Matsumoku made Vantage VP825B fretless bass back picture

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo I've been planning on defretting a cheap 4 string Harley Benton bass. I still might for a project this winter. I put piccolo strings on it once I got the Vantage ;)

I've never played 6 strings all that much, used to play 5 string a lot though back in the 90s. I had a 5 string and a headless Steinberger copy most of the time, not exactly standard basses for the times hehe. I still have them but they are in storage a long distance away.

Also had a 5 string unlined fretless for a while but it wasn't a great one. Felt almost like cheating playing the very nicely built and well worn in Vantage.

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo I've just played around with a 6 string a few times, not put much time into it. I've got back injuries and hand issues too so not sure I could handle the wider neck all the time. Mostly been playing my 4 strings since I started playing more again.

I've not played a multiscale either, I mostly stopped playing in the early 2000s and only picked it up again a couple years back off and on. I like some of the Dingwall basses but I've not tried any, if I like them it would make me want one even more which isn't really feasible at this point.

I've seen a few LeFay basses on youtube, mostly from Charles Berthoud. They look and sound very nice.

My basses are mostly older stuff from the 80s made in japan. I've got a couple year old Ibanez 5 string and a couple Harley Benton basses. The pb20 sbk has been my test subject for mods and setup, maybe the fretless conversion soon. The MJ-4MN will be my next project after that, j & mm pickups so not quite standard. I'll prob do some wiring tricks and stuff at some point. Though I have debated putting an Audere preamp in it as well.

I'd like to make my own basses but don't have the space or tools or woodworking experience so it will have to wait as well.

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo At my most active point of playing for people, I played a really strange combo of a Steinberger copy by Washburn (so headless, square body, 4 string with humbuckers) and 5 string Vantage PJ bass.

Yeah, I've known about Dingwall for quite a while, before they got really popular. I still want one even without trying one, I know it would be even worse so I've avoided trying one lol The flabby 5th string on so many basses used to annoy me so much, when I found one that wasn't so bad and didn't feel like a boat anchor like my original 5 string Squier, I kept it and still have it in storage to this day heh.

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo Yeah, they would be great for that except... I got asked in the 90s why I was carrying what looked like a rifle case since I have the original leather case as well. I can't imagine that would go over well these days to be seen with it lol

Not my auction, just one I found with same model and a picture of the case too: https://reverb.com/item/29947942-vintage-1985-washburn-bantam-b60-headless-bass-w-original-gigbag-1985

I do really miss mine, but don't trust it to be shipped and it's 1500km away from me currently so getting it in person isn't a trivial matter.

daevien, 9 months ago

@raichoo Yeah, they look pretty nice. I was debating a 4 string of one of the models before I found the Vantage. Once I get the screw sorted, I'll be happy again and playing it.

I basically don't want to drill a hole in the poor thing so have been dragging my feet about actually doing it the last couple days lol I need to do something though and only having 4 out of 5 screws in is really not a reasonable thing to do and just postpones actually fixing it lol