Some of you may have seen the autographed bass that I won - a Duff McKagan Signature - on my other thread. I started to play it today and I'm really digging it. I've never played bass before, but I'm liking it. I don't think I'm going to keep it in the bag or on the wall as a collector piece, I think it wants to be played. I'm also concerned that I'll regret it if I destroy the autograph. What would be the best way to preserve it? It looks like it was signed with black Sharpie over the poly finish?

I was not a huge Guns N Roses fan but I definitely dig their music. I've also become more of a Duff McKagan fan after reading his book and am very happy with this prize!

As far as an amp, I was playing today through my old 80s Carlsbro Lead 90 combo and it sounded pretty good to me. I may pick up a dedicated bass combo, but I think this may do for now, the amp always sounded awesome for my guitars on clean settings.

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I guess just not play it.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Kong, ZZDoc wrote this on your other thread "If you're not up to placing a protective laquer over that signature, I expect it'll have to serve more as a trophy instrument. Seems to me that signing the back of the headstock would be more in order, making it seriously playable. Any way....all the best with it."
Looks like an idea, if not exactly that perhaps a variation on the idea. You'll figure it out Bro, beautiful bass

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Do you have any experience with clear coat finishes? I do not nor can I tell you exactly how to do it. I am sure that if you took it to a guitar shop, they can either do it themselves, or refer you to a shop that can.

As far as an amp have you considered a Bronco? A nice cheap bass amp to play around with. If it is anything like the Mustang guitar amps, it should be a good practice amp.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/fen ... -combo-amp

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I would most strongly advise against playing bass through a guitar amp. It can seriously damage a guitar amp. Get ya a bass amp. As for the signature, put some car polish on there like Nu-Finish and play to your heart's content.

Not a bass player, never even picked one up. I am curious though as to why you can't play a bass through a regular guitar amp? Is it just the "loudness" of the bass that would blow the speaker? Can it damage the tubes? Just curious...

Congrats Kong on your win!

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2008 MIA Telecaster Crimson Red
2009 Highway 1 Telecaster Sunburst Maple
2010 Martin D-1
Vox Pathfinder 15R
Vox Night Train 15W
WhiteBox Cab w/12in Eminence Man O' War

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...

The problems with bass into a guitar amp are multi-fold but yes, primarily the speakers are not right and you will ruin a stock guitar speaker with bass frequencies. This can happen very quickly.

The EQ voicing is wrong, the speaker enclosure wrong and usually the power is insufficient. Those however are not the fatal problem that blowing the speakers definitely is.

This can create a domino effect in that once the speakers blow, their voice coils burn out or whatever so the impedance load may change which can cause the amp itself to then fail. At this point simply replacing the speakers may not restore the amp.

The first bass amps were basically just guitar amps re-badged, so the early Fender basses came with a 15K OHM carbon composite Allen Bradley brand resistor installed in the tone circuit which rolled off bass frequencies so the guitar speakers would not self destruct. By 1953 speaker/enclosure/amp technology caught up to the boom-boom of the P-bass pickup and the resistor was removed from Fender P-basses.

As long as you keep your volume at sensible levels and don't max out the amp to the point of distortion it shouldn't hurt a guitar amp-I routinely put my bass through my old JCM 800 combo and the stack with no ill effects,however I do limit the time and volume.Whatever you do don't put guitar polish over the autograph,are polymers and solvents in waxes and polishes that can disolve the ink from a Sharpie instantly.If you really want the autograph to last go to a paint shop and get expert advice.BTW I have a Tele with Marty Stuart`s autograph and unfortunately it wasn`t done with a permanent marker so I absolutely had no other choice but to carefully cover it with 2 in. transparent tape.BTW my daughter has a Kustom 10W bass amp and it`s a great little amp that costs very little-about $150 taxes in.

If you have a seperate head for an amp there is no way a bass could harm it,because it`s the speakers that take the punishment.If you used a guitar head with a bass cabinet you could play away all day.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

BrotherDave,

Thank you...very interesting.

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2008 MIA Telecaster Crimson Red
2009 Highway 1 Telecaster Sunburst Maple
2010 Martin D-1
Vox Pathfinder 15R
Vox Night Train 15W
WhiteBox Cab w/12in Eminence Man O' War

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...

Does nu-finish work well on polyurethane? I got some back at home, and my strat is in need of a good polishing...

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Kid: "Hey Smokey! Where did you get your name?"
Smokey the Bear: "Well..."
(former user jimbo612)

A couple of year ago I found an article that described the process pretty good. Unfortunately it involved scuffing up the finish to ensure the clear coat has something to stick to.

I could find the original article but here's something similar.

http://www.frets.com/fretspages/Luthier/LuthierQA/luthierqa.html#Signature

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!