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And neither is the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection my thing either. I've played a 5 string version of one a couple of years ago and it just didn't appeal to me.

Thanks guys. This only adds to the intrigue... I understand we all hear differently and have different thresholds for noise, etc. I was aware that some users had noted fan noise but it wasn't clear if this was sample variation, how quiet the listening environment was, or how bothered they were. Here is a clip I emailed to the store to ask if this was normal or if I had a faulty unit. The fan comes on straight away and is quiet but is intrusive after 15min or so, and is certainly audible even 7m away. If you listen on headphones, you'll hear two different types of noise - the loud whooshing of air flow through the vents and a softer whirl/whine of the actual fan. Does this sound normal? Maybe those who have no fan noise are referring to the actual whirling of the fan, which is fine here, and not the sound of air being sucked through the vents? I wonder if the type of vents is a design flaw. 20260122_205529.mp4

I'm an ex-Barefaced user. I had 4 over the years. My experiences are well documented here. I've moved on. I've applied a lot of my professional skills to the "what" of the desired outcome. I should have done this years ago but it's like cobblers' shoes. In work (I was a product manager for a big engineering company for the best part of 30 years) when developing a new product, we always tried to establish what users were trying to achieve, not what they want. In terms of bass players, they need to be able to hear themselves clearly and easily in a live environment. There are various solutions including IEM systems, which is disruptive tech as far as bass cabs go, but there's still very much a need for the individual bass amp to be heard in the room. So, bass cabs are still a need. Often users don't really know what they want from products and it's the product managers that need to determine what the product needs to be to meet the needs. I thought in the past that, "I want 10" drivers because they give me this..." and I couldn't have been more wrong, the level of ignorance involved in coming to that "requirement" defies belief. What users actually want, though they sometimes don't realise it, is easy portability, the ability to hear what they're playing in various situations and rooms easily, enough "volume" to keep up with other instruments (drums usually) etc. The constraints that then shape the product are price, size, availability of tech etc. For those of us that attended @Phil Starr 's speaker/cab demo at the SE and/or SW Bass Bashes last year, we've seen and heard first hand the whole "I prefer 10s" or "I only use 15s" fallacy in action. That demo just kills the argument about driver size preference and turns the conversation to which sound do you prefer, not which is your favourite size speaker. Then there's the array fallacy, "I prefer 4x10s". No you don't. What you have is experience(s) where a particular 4x10 has given you your desired outcome, or seeing Billy Sheehan using Hartke 4x10 cabs has coloured your thinking. What you need in reality is the sound you consider to be a pleasing tone clearly audible to you while performing. What pulled me away from BF? To start, product quality was a factor. I've never had anything where the tolex comes away and shrinks so easily; unacceptable on any product but inexcusable on a premium priced product. And the 10" BF cabs just didn't work for me in a gigging environment although they often sounded great out in the venue. The BT2 was pretty good but lacked something. I've now settled on a cab that gives me exactly what I want. I don't care what size driver it has, it does everything I want it to beautifully and brilliantly. It's light, compact, built like a tank and looks very professional. Comments and feedback from other people on the sound are always positive and I'm playing better because I can hear myself clearly all the time. The more we think about outcomes and less about specifications, the better products will get and the sooner you'll get what you need.

I look forward to the multi-page discussion about how the Specials are too expensive/reasonable value vs other builders such as Sadowsky, Fodera and the like 😂 I don't doubt the quality of the Sterling range, but everyone seems to be reaching for the top limit. Where's the fun in that 😒

As per the 'rules' - i.e. pics or it didn't happen I bought this used Fallout Tribute bass from an Ebay seller a couple of weekends back. Some of you may have seen my post about set up, but no one replied and t'internet wasn't a lot of help; G&L seem pretty light on technical info, and very good at regurgitating the 'Leo's final and best designs' mantra, which may in some way have been responsible for/indicitive of their demise. When I received it it had a very high action and round-wounds on and whilst it played ok it sounded very clanky to my ear, which my playing emphasised 😄 So I fitted a set of very used long scale D'Addario tape-wounds, which went on okay and lowered the action and adjusted the intonation to suit and now I am well happy, tamed it nicely so the single coil sound is pretty much Fender, just with higher output, and less tone variation, and the Parallel and OMG sounds are different and usable. PO/Tech/G&L ? had already recut the nut nice and low, but hadn't thinned the height at all so the high strings are buried, but that can wait till next time the strings come off. I gave the fingerboard a clean and a light oil, nice piece of rosewood. I did try and buy the last new one that GuitarGuitar had at the Epsom store, but I couldn't get them to budge on the price, or admit it was on display; it didn't get discounted for xmas or January online, but week after NY someone bought it (or it was disposed of otherwise) - I bet it finally got cleared out on an in store manager's special deal, as they need to make space for new stock post NAMM. One question for the hive, has anyone found a gig bag that isn't full size that will take it, the Gator XL guitar bag that takes the Mustang is too short as the Fallout is that bit longer overall with the slightly neck-ward bridge placement and the slightly longer headstock.

I have the Noble (see above in the thread) but sadly not the B15 (or the 63 Precision!). I have to make do with a 77, which is lovely, but probably weighs twice as much.

I suppose my foot pedal use is different to the majority of musicians who if they have anything complex appear to be rooted in front of it. In the past, if the stage was big enough I'd be all over the place and often have to rush back to my pedal(s) to be able to make patch changes. All the important footswitches had to be in the "front row" and even then there was a chance that I'd hit the wrong one. Anything in the second row that required mid-song operation would have resulted in me either also pressing a switch in front of it or falling over or both. Therefore for me anything with two rows of foot switches is generally impractical, as the top row can't be used by me mid-song. As a result of this, these days all my patch changes are run from the backing track via MIDI so I don't have to worry about being in the right place at the right time to make changes to my sound. It has also allowed me to have patch changes exactly where the song requires them and not what is more convenient for me to activate manually. Some songs have changes every other bar, and a new song we are currently working has a change that comes every four bars but only lasts for 1 beat.

I am a hobby bassist. Although I often produce LF sounds in the bedroom, I do so unaided by an instrument.

+1^^ Does look amazing!

Their rivals are utterly chaotic. AD/HD.

Really like that and great playing, the bass and setup doesn’t get much better than that, I want a noble and a B15 now 😁

The Gear4Music fitted foam cases look identical to the Kinsman ones I've had. They are fantastic for £40. I've had mine for 15 years and are still going strong.

There's a heavy metal band that insists on having everything on stage set up in *exactly* the same way at every gig... they're called OCDC.

Seriously considering....

I said a couple of years ago, that it was only a matter of time before the Indonesian, Sterling by Musicmans went upmarket and started the slow creep into becoming 'real' Musicman Stingrays. This 'session' looks to be the start of that. Give it 5 years and they'll be 'the' Stingray. With the Specials being a small run, 5k+ model.

It's not just me then!

Spotify will carry on until one of its rivals decides to offer a free service with all the features of a free Spotify account. The problem with the other Streaming services is that you can't easily share a link or a playlist because unless the person also has an account with the relevant service they can't easily access it. As an artist I make far more money out of Spotify, through being on several popular playlists, than all the other streaming services with higher per-play rates put together.

About the only thing the 'SX' version has in common with the SGC Nanyo Bass Collections is the shape.

This was the vid and this was how the signal chain was described: "Derek is playing a 1963 Fender Precision bass with La Bella Low Tension Flats and a Nordstrand Nordy Mute. The signal goes through a Noble Preamp DI into a slightly pushed 1970s Ampeg B 15 and then a Neve console. Simple. Classic. Sounds killer".