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It's a bit of a weird one from a market segment POV. Ernie Ball will know the price of used basses. A new USA MM of any sort has gone up a fair bit, with Sterling being "premiumised" and the SUB being not so budget anymore. So you can have a new Sterling for the same price as a used US model, in probably more interesting colours. They are probably getting it right, but the best selling bass from Music Man recently was the Joe Dart budget range...make of that what you will.

Looks like your wiring has been modified. With the original wiring in passive mode the switch bypasses anything to do with the battery and routes the sound from the volume control straight to the jack socket.

Shout to the top - The Style Council

Joy To The World - 3 Dog Night

I've had comments on both my envelope filter and my fuzz. I use them unsubtly but quite sparingly - the envelope filter is in a downwards "bowww" setting on specific sections of two songs, and the fuzz is a Univox Superfuzz clone which is never on for a full song, just when a part really needs to stick out.

Loving that spray booth, might have to get me one of those.

Ah! Thank you, every days a school day 👍 I started playing bass using free strokes but moved onto rest strokes after about 10 years and find it gives me a "better" tone and helps with damping. Theres still some lines that need playing free strokes to allow the nites to ring out.

I'd hang that piece of wood on my wall! Almost seems a shame to chop it up to make a bass, almost...

Defies logic doesn't it 🤔

Exactly this, but perhaps s/he knows from experience that some people simply can't be told, largely because........ For a lot of musicians it's simply habit learned and reinforced over many years, initially driven by either ego or poor understanding of audio. But usually ego. There's a reason people choose to be a lead guitarist, especially in certain genres, and it's not to contribute to an overall well-balanced sound

Funnily enough, I was sound checking for a gig a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd give my funky envelope filter a go. After a quick wallop through Herbie's Chameleon the guitarist from the other band (serious hardcore punk, they were!) came running up and said how they wanted that sound in their band. I bumped into them again at Rebellion and once again they mentioned it! However, I'm not allowed to use it in Choked - everyone reckons it's "not punk enough".

Gentle rest strokes all the time for me. IMO gets a better sound, with a lower action, better flow of notes and uses less energy than trying to pluck the strings.

Happy Talk - Captain Sensible

Wales is famous for its rain frequency, Daryl

Sea of Joy - Blind Faith

I've had a Bongo 5HH so I'm totally aware of the differences between them and this SBMM one. I was asking in general about the perception of ceramic magnets. It's a try before buy thing I think,weirdly enough I didn't get on with my Bongo tonally so it had to go.

The best way is to find yourself a good teacher.. He can actually see what’s happening and help you. Also important so you don’t teach yourself wrong techniques. It’s harder to unlearn wrong techniques (and a waste of time) than to learn the right ones directly.

Rest strokes are when you play through the string, so that your right hand fingers come to rest on the string below. Free strokes are more like spanish guitar, where your fingers end up in free space (or on your palm).

I have an Andertons Factory Special Run LPB Bass VI, which I bought soon after they became available. I fitted it with a set of LaBella flats and set it up as best I could without dismantling the bass. While it was fun to play, it was ultimately a little underwhelming. One problem was that the E string touched one of the bridge screwheads, causing a sitar-like buzz. To fix this, I wedged a Herco nylon plectrum under the string at the point of contact. Another issue was the trem — it had no usable travel and was essentially as much use as indicators on a BMW. The strings also felt disappointing: too floppy, lacking tightness and definition. Trying to get anywhere near the Wichita Lineman tone was pointless. I’d occasionally take it out for a noodle, but I’d never recorded with it or played it live. Today, I wondered whether a thicker shim in the neck pocket might help. I cut a few pieces from an Amazon brown card envelope, put a capo on the neck, loosened the strings, and carefully removed the neck screws. I was able to ease the neck out of the pocket, fit the shim, and reassemble it. I then spent a little time setting it up with just the tiniest hint of relief. Because of the shim, the bridge had to be raised considerably. I had no idea which Allen key size was needed, but after some trial and error, I found that 1 mm did the trick. I also raised the pickups. With the greater break angle, the strings now feel tighter and more focused. The E string no longer vibrates against the screwhead, and the trem now has useful travel. I dialled in a twangy 60s Fender amp sound on my Fender Mustang GTX100, with tremolo and spring reverb, and spent a couple of hours playing. It’s amazing how such a small change in neck angle has completely transformed the bass. I’m now looking forward to recording it, and plan to use it in this month’s Basschat composition challenge.