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On Sunday I took a trip down to what is becoming for me, a standard bass trading place, which is IKEA (in Bristol this time, rather than Exeter as it was last time). This was to meet up and pickup this bass that I had played at the South West bass show, one of @Jabba_the_guts fantastic little basses. Fell in love with these things a few bass bashes ago and finally have one. I am sure most people have seen them unless they don't go into the makers threads, or the short scale thread where I posted it, and if not, there is a link at the bottom of its birth, as well as some much better pictures! This is so fun to play and also easy to use in the house as they are so small (27" scale). It sounds very full and bassy, with single / parallel series switch. And of course LEDs, with two options, very bright or OMG I think i have gone blind Heres the other pictures of it, and its creation thread.

I went to look at a Peavey Zodiac bass advertised in a local shop window for £99 and the guy showed me this Ibanez Roadstar II as well, according to Dr Google its a RB620NT from around 1983 (but open to advice on this). I am a beginner player and don't know much about gear but whatever it is, it spoke to me, and so I went home to find the cash, google it and went back today and got it, very grateful to the seller. I paid £180 It seems in strangely good condition for its age, better than I was at 38 years old, maybe it has been worked on? One of those situations where I don't really know what I bought ... but I like it 🤨. It seems pretty genuine, but again, I have no idea ... I took the photos straight away when I got home before the light left, still undusted, as I wanted to post this and see whether people think I made a wise choice. I practiced with it this evening and it surprised me how lively the output is, for a passive bass it seems to have quite a kick compared to my (one) other passive bass, I love the feel of the neck - it is a P-bass type? No idea, lol. I think it needs a setup and some strings and the neck looks a tiny bit torqued / twisted, is that usual for an old instrument? Plays ok to me, though. I get the impression it has been stored and unplayed for a while 5-10 years, any advice on what I should do with it to restore to full health? Anyway, I am very happy with it, I feel like I need to get some flares to wear while I am playing it to properly do it justice, here are some pics : Groovy! J

The pickup came back from Aaron on Thursday last week, but I only had a chance to refit it last night! It needed one side of it rewinding, but it’s now reunited with the bass! sounds as wonderful as it did before, can’t wait to gig it again! Si

Well my Gnome has just arrived. Ordered from Thomann 6 days ago and no hassle at all, unlike my recent experience of DV24/7, You have been warned. Anyway you have to try it as soon as it arrives (and as I'm typing this the fan has just come on, really quiet) First impressions are that it is a little mid forward and bass light with everything set flat but otherwise very clean sounding. Easily sorted with an eq tweak and I'm only talking about 1 o'clock and 11 o'clock. Actually bass boost on my active P which operates a little lower than the on board sounds better but that might just be my taste. I tried it with my 1x12 which is FRFR and has a huge horn driver crossed over quite low. Sensitivity is 97db/octave so it's efficient without being exceptionally loud. With that it sounds quite sweet as eq'd and rewarding to play, slightly less warm than my Peavey MiniMax but still sweet and punchy. I've turned it up as loud as my ears will take and it sounds great with no sound of overload anywhere on the neck. In the past I've taken this level to rehearsals and had to turn down to match the band, our drummer is a pretty heavy hitter so I'm thinking this would easily handle duties in the rehearsal room and as an on-stage monitor. Haven't tried the DI out but all reports say it does work well so I'd probably never need more than this so long as i had PA support. Small venues would be no problem either. I also switched to my 1x6" practice speaker which is its intended long term partner. I needed to turn it up a little to get the volume from this little fella which is 93db/W and the speaker is naturally bass light, but very revealing, slightly less sweet and obviously needed a touch more bass boost but it is going to blow away people as a combination, they re going to be scouring the stage looking for my amp/speaker and won't believe me when I tell them. the Gnome will drive this speaker to roughness at really high volumes with the bass boosted but only from B downwards on the E string. this is at volumes where i'd be drowning out the acoustic guitar and our vocals though so I'm happy with that a 50Hz filter would be useful though. However that's all about the speaker, the Gnome is providing plenty of power. Both speakers are 8ohms. The Gnome feels really nicely made, a bit more solid and heavier than I expected though others have reported the same. I prefer the look of the TC BAM but the aluminium shell of the Gnome is a utilitarian thing, it's going to help keep the little fella cool and it's doing it's job too, the top plate is warm to the touch but not alarmingly so. The fan seems to have picked up but is still quieter than any of my other amps. So initial feelings are that I'm very satisfied. It will absolutely do for open mic/acoustic sets and as a backup for my main amp. With a couple of 12's giving 4-5db extra i'd have no worries about gigging with it long term and it sounds absolutely fine.

Don’t know why it put me in mind of one of these…

Elixir is the answer. I used to actually hesitate to play my basses for fear of killing the strings 'needlessly' before I found Elixirs - now they stay fresh for literally a year or more.

Count me in please. It's replaced a TC Electronic RH750 & RS212, the cab was just too long and didn't fit in this space well. Haven't had an Ashdown rig for about 8 years since my ABM was also heavy, this is the same tone but more than manageable.

Has it got a 3 band EQ? I usually like a scooped tone with the treble and bass controls on a sensible amount. But the... ahem, wait for it... ... silly mid off.

Not last night but Saturday, had a gig with the covers band and the first live outing for the Epiphone Embassy. Was very pleased with it, sounded really good and rorty on 100% neck pickup and it was super lightweight so very comfortable 2 set gig. Wasn't a super busy gig though - I think people are still getting used to the fact that live music is back up and running. Here's a wee vid from the gig - mobile phone so not great but the bass is coming through pretty nicely 10000000_901488457466520_842087986603972956_n.mp4

Peterson Stroboclip.

Removing the neck each time you need to adjust the truss rod means modifying the tension in the neck twice, so it's the most inaccurate way to do, for sure. The quarter turn a time then waiting a day and start again is a big myth, you can set up your truss rod immediately to the desired tension if it turns easily. I would do two things if I were you. First : remove the nut of the truss rod and put some graphite grease on the truss rod thread to allow it to move flawlessly. Second : go to a luthier and ask him to make an access to the truss rod (a little routing) at the heel end of the body. And you can set up your truss rod at the strings tension, there's no need to slack the strings before doing that as it will modify the overall neck tension and getting the issues you mention.

Same as @Frank Blank, I sold my two TC Electronic PolyTune Clip tuners when I bought my Peterson StroboClip HD clip on tuner. I senses the low B of my sixer EUB without any issue and is so precise. I also use the hyper super accurate Peterson StroboStomp HD in my small pedalboard or for setting up instruments.

I love it! 🙂

I used to use a Polytune until I got a Peterson Stroboclip, the best clip on tuner by far imho.

Struggling & failing to think of a suitable pun - but I don't like cricket. Oh no.

Reason for bank transfer is we don't accept Paypal for large purchases because If you change your mind and want a refund, PayPal keep the fees which can be £100 on a guitar. Watch this space to see the total irradiation of PayPal on our site. With a bank transfer we would just send back your payment and no one loses out ,except PayPal. Call me personally if unsure I've been around since 1997, I ain't going anywhere and we certainly don't cheat people, we are musicians first and salesmen second. Robbie Bryan

Hi everyone, so as promised this is the result of my lockdown project to make a tiny but usable combo for practising with an acoustic guitar and two unamplified (but loud) vocals. I was also looking to avoid irritating the neighbours and maybe have something handbag sized to take to open mic nights. Hence the title. Here it is, the wine bottle was just used to give you the size So this is a 1x6 speaker in a cab the size of a fuel can with a limited bass response but with good output from then on up. It has good top end, plenty of rich mids and lots of clarity, but with a still satisfying sound. It is a lot louder than it has any right to be. The advantage of using a small driver is that there is no crossover, the speaker is substantially flat until 7,000Hz and there is no need for a cheap and tizzy horn as the smaller driver covers pretty much the whole upper frequency range produced by the bass pickup The technical trick was to accept that the fundamental would be more or less absent but to make sure that all the harmonics from then up were really present. My target was a cab which was as loud as possible and flat down to 80 Hz. Minus 3db is actually 77Hz. Technical spec is Power handling 100W thermal (AES) Frequency response 65-7000Hz -10db (77-6000Hz -3db) Sensitivity 93db @ 1m Maximum output 113db (midrange) Size(cm) 33W, 28H, 19D Weight 4.9kg This is the modelled response the driver used is the Fane Sovereign 6-100 currently £37 from Blue Aran. Materials for the box will be around £20 and a handle, corners and speakon connectors and mounting plate maybe another £15. A couple of independent basschatters have tried the cab and their comments are “That splendid little 6"er if yours I played with deserves a mention. Quite extraordinary, packed a punch for such a small package.” “Vis a Vis the 6" pocket rocket. I had sauntered into the side room out of nosiness and was handed a bass a very solid, Fender P with a few extra bells and whistles, very nice instrument. I was focused on getting a sound I liked rather than on the amp/cab I was going through. There was a line of small cabs dwarfing the even smaller 6" and I assumed it was one or other of them. Genuinely astonished when I discovered which it was. I honestly think gigging with a couple of them would be a serious proposition. Never easy to tell with no kit in an empty room but there was all the good stuff coming out of that tiny cab.” “Yes! What a ludicrous little cab (in a really good way)”. I'll go on to put up proper drawings when I have them and a brief description of the build ply a few more photos WARNING FANE HAVE CHANGED THE SPECS OF THE FANE SOVERIEGN 6-100 SO THIS CAB WILL NOT WORK AS DESIGNED. I WILL UPDATE THE DESIGN AS SOON AS i GET TIME TO RUN THE MODELS BUT THIS MAY TAKE A WHILE. AS I WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO SELECT A NEW DRIVE UNIT. WARNING

That sounds lovely!

Well I say yes it jolly well is. Stick to the end if you can bear the bum notes. Audiences flippin' love it...

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Weird old time for PiL in the late 80s. 'Happy?' was a decent follow up to 'Album' but it was the beginning of a slicker sound that sat uneasily alongside earlier works. Anyway, more post-punk from New York.

A rare dry, sunny afternoon in Glasgow so took the opportunity to try and get some better pictures of this: a Squier JV Precision, refinished in Shell Pink nitro by David Wilson. Bought on ebay and in rough shape, but plays brilliantly; the neck is truly superb. The pickup is from the Creamery, the pickguard was custom-made by a guy in Glasgow in aged white, the wiring and - I think - the bridge had been replaced before I got it. Nice light weight to it too.

Totally agree that the Peterson has the edge over the other clip-on tuners that I've had and used.

Preamp pedal is a broad term: From simple tone changers like the One Control Crimson Red through to clean EQ/DI things like the Q-Strip, through to some that are more like distortion pedals, and some that are more like Multi-Fx with compressors and IR loaders. That along with whatever other pedals you have and sounds you want probably means there's no definitive answer but it seems to me that ones with a DI are designed to be end-of chain.

Remember that every new Taylor purchase supports Scientology...

Clearly everyone has a different idea of what a bright sounding string sounds like. Granted I sweat a lot when playing under lights and in busy bars but I find strings less bright after one gig. I used to wipe my strings with a beer mat after every song but still found them going too dull for my liking. I have found no strings stay bright for more than three gigs tops. As I say, if I could afford it I would change strings every gig.

Often at the end of the chain so it effectively replaces the front end of the amp.

I love fresh strings. I find I just get far more tone out of them when they're new. I prefer stainless steel for both sound and feel, although I don't mind nickel even though I don't find them quite as bright. I've said it in other threads, but I really don't like coated strings. The D'Addario EXP were ok, but Elixir were the worst string I've used and I had loads of issues with them.

A like minded soul. I just love the sound of brand new rounds. I use stainless (mainly because I am allergic to nickel and when I sweat it irritates my fingers) but I also love the brightness of stainless. I tried Elixirs as their coated guitar strings are great but I found them dull sounding. I used to change my strings after three gigs and that was because I couldn't afford to change them every gig. I boiled them up to get another couple of gigs out of them. I just hate the sound of dull strings. I started buying cheap packs of ten stainless online which made it slightly cheaper.

I have always thought of action as something you do by preference. Many years ago I tried to have really low action because I thought that would make me faster and smoother. I ended up with clicking coming out of my speaker. It was only when someone said you can hear that out front that I realised how bad it was and so I raised the action and it disappeared. Whatever is comfortable for you would be my answer. Some people prefer low, some high.

Those Lidl trolleys are good for the money. I got one a couple of years ago & it's been dead useful for loads of stuff, especially when I was doing a bit of panic-buying at the beginning of Lockdown #1, and for carrying Jerry cans from the garage the other week. Recommended.

No, a class D amp can reproduce DC if the designer wished it to, just like a class AB amp. In fact a class D amp generally has higher performance at low frequencies. The HPF has to be designed into the amp, the same as for any amp.

I just had a chance to have all of these beautiful basses at the same time in my studio for a weekend. I used it to make a sound comparison video of 6 Precision type bass guitars, 5 Fender and an alien - Maruszczyk. Always wanted to test different eras and different price range P basses. All the info about the basses and the recording is under the video at YT. Hope You will enjoy and let me know what You think about it ☺️.

Richard Cousins of the Robert Cray Band. https://knowyourbassplayer.com/2020/08/23/richard-cousins-robert-cray-band/

Lol - if I ever play in a band again I’m playing bass, nothing else. I’m keeping my old career in event production and audio engineering a deep dark secret, nothing to see here.

I'm so smitten with Ice Blue Metallic that I'm planning to refinish my Sonic Blue homebuilt

I remember hearing this one at the Four Aces club in Dalston

@scrumpymike

Hold on, aren't bassists supposed to prefer ten year old strings because Jamerson said old strings sound better?

Blimey, the things you miss when you're not paying attention! That looks like it's in amazing condition. So to do my duty - RB620NT, from August 1983, made by Fujigen Gakki. I could reel off a spec list but to save the copy-typing, here's the official blurb: Crazy bargain for £180, especially in that condition.

Here's one of my faves that I used to do, not sure how you categorise Scofield's playing?