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Get to ASDA and buy a pair of pillows, £4. Seriously they'll do the trick.

I'm also a Tech 21 fan and use the BDDI v2 and have been super happy with it. I'd love to try the VTDI just to hear the difference as well.

That's bloody lovely. Shocking behaviour by Parcelforce. I hope it surfaces soon.

After my short-scale revolution due to the Sire U5, i started to look after a 4 strings short scale with 24 frets. ( Yes, i'm using the fret 24 from during solos ) And i've seen than Ibanez has proposed a shortscale version in EHB familly. (Three years ago i've been closed to receive a EHB 1500 DEF for my 50's birtdhay gift, finally dismissed by a Markbass Kimandu at last minut) So it was a now perfect occasion to finally grab one. She's arrived few days ago, and is a wildest animal than my Sire at first glance. It's been a real work to make her become softer. Unplugged: very nice resonance, nice vibe; already singing. Neck is one of the most comfortable i never played. Slightly wider and less thicker than the U5 one. Neck wood is absolutely beautiful. Fret work is perfect, thin frets i dig. Weight is 7,16 pounds. Perfectly balanced when strapped, straight wrist to play and not any discomfort to play F note on E string. Very smooth touch. Small defect already beat to death in the EHB topic: inlays are near to invisible on fretboard and neck edge. I will have to add some visible dots on neck edge. First plug in my amp: Heeeelp me !!! Deaf sound, rough, becoming aggressive as soon as i touch the preamp. So, after a deep dive in the TB EHB topic, i've tried all advised modifications: - In first remove the neutrik jack lock lever. It was really painful to remove the cable - Move a connector on the circuit board: + 6db. Meh, more level and a very little more clarity but more overdrive as soon as i touch the preamp - Move a second connector on the circuit board: VMS -> BE3Q: voicing change. Not very better, still deaf and rough tone. A little more trebly but in an agressive way. - Wiring modification from serial to parrallel: Night and day ! Pickup are becoming suddenly more precise, sound more open. Preamp strats to be nice and effective. It still misses something in the mid department. Voicing is very mid-scoop and too trebly. Of course preamp can now correct things but it doesn't seem to add some thickness to the overall tone. Something is still missing. Ok, plan B: give back stock soapbars to my Markbass Kimandu, and get her actual Bartolini US BC4CBC to put it in the EHB. 4 holes drilling in the bass: original BH2 have two holes when my bart US have 3 -> Welcome to the sound and power of US bart: much more beautifull mid, and bartolini flavour all around. The bass is more precise, powerfull; even in passive mode. But overall tone is still a little deaf side mainly on the E string, as if the power would take precedence on note definitions. Strange. Ok, so mixing this impression with previous modifications tried, i decide to re-wire the US barts in parallel. And finally: WOO HOO ! Same night and day impression than with the BH2 but this time with nice mids, beautifull treble. The Preamp start to work nicely, and perfom sweet little corrections. Pickups: Neck side: if you're after a PB tone, this bass is not for you. Nice round neck sound but on the modern side. Bridge side: close too jazzbass sound. Two pickups together: It could be a jazzbass, on the Marcus Miller side. But always with a little something more modern. Notice: - Bass came in a gigbag, with a ramp (too thin and a little curved. I will re-do another one), schaller straplock and Allen key. - "Zoundhouse" in Germany is a really serious shop: quick sending with a strong cardbox in another stronger cardbox. Bass in perfect shape, perfect set up. (First time i don't have to touch anything; plus the original d'addario strings are those i use.) A shop to trust ! Finally: i've had some work, spend some time to make it suit my taste; but i'm really happy with it. I really don't understand why Ibanez didn't think at minimum about a serial/parrallel switch as it really needs it. I'm really happy: nice bass with a modern sound and an ouststanding playing comfort. I will not say GAS is dead cause you all will laugh but with my Sire U5, i've now the perfect duet to cover all fields; and they are the two most comfortable basses i've never played. Next step: find color paint RAL for making a matching ramp, add some visibles dots on the neck side, and make some soundclips. To be followed Enjoy !

You'll get there. It comes in stages. I could go further and say the cab isn't part of the equation but I won't. Or maybe I just did. Who knows? It took me years to undo decades of conditioning. No one told me, I just took in little nuggets and absorbed things, tried stuff, listened to people who'd been on similar journeys, kept an open kind and pushed back on the masses (of BassChatters) that try to suck you in to their own established realities and then one day, "Boom!", sorted. It all dropped into place and became completely clear. Literally. I'm an evangelist about it, yes but I don't worry about it anymore, it's sorted. It gives me time to focus on my playing.

Just want to say a big thank you to everyone who replied to my Post, for giving input by sharing experiences, knowledge and advice. Very much appreciated 😍 And from all of this I think I know now what to look out for and most importantly what my 500 quid will by buying next. (and even what I'll be looking out for after that !) Cheers Steve

This is very similar to my experiences. My teacher is a professional jazz pianist and we spend far more time talking about chord extensions, progressions, how to change the chords if you're playing with a bass player and how to comp etc, than I did with previous teachers. We use far more interesting pieces than I used to in the past, and I have pretty much free reign over what I play. There's been a few times when I've suggested a new piece in a lesson, we've pulled it up on YouTube and within a minute he has the key, all the chords and melody figured out by ear. Even on stuff he's never played.

Amazing bass, not used on any recordings though 👍🏼

Queen - Dragon Attack. It's been my favourite bass tone since I first heard it in 1985, 2 years before I even thought about picking up the bass. Then I bought a VHS tape called We Will Rock You which has since been re-released as Live in Montreal and is solidifies my opinion that it's still my favourite bass tone Funny considering I've played Musicman basses for the majority of my playing life. I've since come back around and started playing a P again

Looks awesome! Absolutely love it!

Anyone notice this at Bass Direct recently? I’m sure it was used on his “Influences” solo album. https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/jaydee-supernatural-series-1-8-string-kingwood-1983-ex-mark-king-pre-owned/

Not a tone. It was Denis Dunnaway's bass line in School's Out that drew me in but it was John Deacon's sound on Queen 2 that really lit the fire and gave me the sound I wanted. That has inspired me to this day.

That's really interesting about how MK set his active EQ. If be very interested to try those settings out on a JayDee. I usually only make small additions or subtractions with any active bass. I wish I'd never sold my custom JayDee MK mk3. It had a graphite-reinforced neck with maple laminates replacing the usual walnut and vice versa. It had a unique profile to it as well. John Diggins himself made it, and it was an amazing piece of craftsmanship all-round. I sold it for sbout £600 in the summer of 1992 because JayDee basses had "gone out of fashion"(!) Why I should have been bothered by that I can't quite remember.

I think its possibly a combination of what I'm playing, the tone I have in my head, the colouration of the vintage sounding Two10. When I was playing 50's Rock n Roll with an Ampeg/Ashdown head then I was happier and had no urge to change but since moving to fretless in a 3 piece original band playing more melodic, cleaner and more upfront in the mix, something just hasn't worked. Changing to the LM IV helped but it's still never been the sound I want.

A bit of unbridled joy this evening. The bass player is Pete Morgan with the Dudley Moore Trio playing the evergreen 'The More I See You' and comes from a 1971 video on YouTube. Swings beautifully. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/the-more-i-see-you-dudley-moore-trio/

Although I'm loving the sound of the Jaydee in this one:

Yesshows - bass solo at the start of Ritual part 2. When I first heard it I assumed it was a guitar solo and when I finally realised it was bass, I knew I wanted to play with that kind of tone. I loved the sound - bass but with a trebly distortion which I later found out was Squire's Ricky with each pick up going into a different amp (I'm sure you know the details). I spent a few wilderness years playing guitar but I always came back to that sound on that track. By the time I took up the bass properly, I had most of Yes' albums and spent quite a bit of time chasing the Ritual solo sound on a minuscule budget (I couldn't afford a proper Rickenbacker). I finally got a sound I was happy with a few years ago with a combination of Ampeg SCRDI and bridge pick-up on my Sterling 34HH and either DI or into the FX return on my Peavey Minimax 600 and through a pair of TE 1x10" cabs. It's not the exact tone from Ritual, but it works for me and the rocky elements of the sets we play.

This has been my favourite live track for a good few years now.

Burke Shelly - Budgie, Great intricate work from a 3 Piece.