Leaderboard

This has been a useful thread. I appreciate all the comments. For those that care about such things, this is what I'm getting.

As an update to this topic, I had a belated birthday gathering at the weekend and my wife had arranged for a birthday cake that hit the centre of my Venn diagram of pedals, basses and Star Wars. It's one of the more over the top things I've seen but loved all the more for it. The bass even has the Dingwall logo on it!

Saw this on Coda Musics website, favoured maple neck whereas the majority of Mustang basses are rosewood, and pretty much spot on 7lbs, two major factors for my choices nowadays. Plus I can add some Hipshot Ultralite tuners and shave off a bit more so a 6lb-something bass, result. Out of the box the set up is nice, good even, and though I don’t usually like Fender strings it both plays and sounds good. I’ll have no use for the Jazz pickup on its own but the Precision pickup and both pickups together are difficult to choose between, each being really nice. Just have to make sure my arthritic thumb is ok with the neck, at first try it feels slightly thicker than my Japanese Mustangs so next few days I’ll be putting in the hours to make sure. Am sure I’ll keep it, intention is to swap the pickguard to black, and replace the string tree with a Hipshot triple retainer to encourage a better break angle for the A string. I was thinking about the bridge as well but it’s perfectly solid enough and given that I now play with a much gentler touch I’m not fussed about it not having any guiding grooves so it’s staying.

It’s got a dedicated input for me in the top corner

Well if you took any notice of some opinions towards Mr Clayton on here, anything with one string will cover it.

Who?

He does. And I think he blames me for it. But it does sound bloody good!

No, active pickups were created so that you could use a smaller magnetic field which would have less drag on the strings, giving you a more pure sound of what the strings were doing, but doing that creates less power from the pickup so you amplify it to bring it up to the output level of a normal pickup with a strong magnet. active preamp (on passive pickups, like most basses) was made so that you could control the output impedance of the bass, without the output and frequency response of the bass being governed by the output cable and whatever you plugged into, to give it more consistency between amps / effects. As a side effect you could then also control EQ better, but that wasn't the point. Ultimately all basses are active if you plug them in, it just depends if you want the amplifier before or after the jack cable.

As you’re in England I’d be looking local , both BF and LF Sys make world class cabs.

Remove the J pickup, that'll help with the weight! 😁

My economy pedalboard painted in Trace Elliot colours (nearly) to match my rig. After lots of shopping around it's probably cost me around £250-£275 all in. Best pedal of the lot? Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor. Cures all ills. Close second comes the Sonicake Levitate Reverb/Delay. Magic for about £20.

Just how I play. One note at a time

The Blend control basically mixes between your un-effected signal and the SansAmp signal. This was implemented to emulate the type of signal chain that bass guitar was usually recorded with. In the studio or live, they would usually mic the bass amp and run a DI from the bass and the two sounds were mixed together at the console. The mic'd amp would be the main tonality and the DI'd signal would add punch and definition. If you put all the controls at 12 o'clock and engage the pedal with the Blend off or fully CCW, you will hear that your signal is the same as when bypassed. The Drive and Presence are the amp and speaker emulation. Ay you turn the Blend up to 12 o'clock your signal is 50/50 un-effected and SansAmp. The presence control is similar to the same control on a vintage tube amp. It adds high frequency content and also the attack envelope. Drive and Presence only work on the SansAmp portion of the circuit.

Nah - that's exactly why phasers are so good.

I have the birdcage version of Monique. When I bought it , I mentioned one was on the way (in another forum) and Jule contacted me to say he wasn’t aware of my order but he would make it right. I immediately told him I had bought a used one , he told me I could have kept him going for a week or two. I’ve since had several keyboard contacts with Jule , and he seems to be a wonderful character. I like him. Monique is truly a thing of beauty. I was running a Bergantino Forte amp , something that’s renowned for having clean transparent power , it’s a good back end for Monique. I use the effect return channel rather than the regular input to bypass the Forte pre and tone stack. Monique gives me that tube warmth and saturation , and there is magic in the sensitivity knob. Yes indeed. I want a rich old school thump , with warmth , and some serious slam. I want things to feel deep. I love what Monique does. I am a believer. Paid more than I wanted to , and today have no regrets whatsoever. Knowing what I know today I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

No, flanging isn't the same as phasing, it's more closely allied to chorus. https://producerhive.com/ask-the-hive/chorus-vs-flanger-vs-phaser/

Droomer, to be accurate

Just wanted to say thank you to all at BC who have helped me with advice over the last few years on here All my main bass gear is now sold and gone and the final small bits are slowly going or advertised on here. I feel very happy with my decision to quit playing especially live and I will enjoy playing my acoustic guitar at home and concentrate on enjoying a non gigging life. Once again thank you to all of you who have purchased gear from me and to all my BC buddies on here

All ( I think) of the new album played live November 1st + most of their best songs in a 3 hour long concert. They certainly give their fans the money's worth, and posting the concert on YouTube is ace too. (edit: posted it in the "what are you listening to now" thread but thought it belonged here too.)

Yes, had it a week and only just got round to posting, but I have reasons... I first tried a Monique 9 years ago when I was buying my Demeter head from Bass Gear (I miss that place, even if my wallet doesn't). Barrie (@molan) had one there (might have been Dave Swift's), a birdcage-style preamp with a separate 700W Class D power amp. I never really fancied that form factor but to my ears it was the one amp that sounded even better than the Demeter. The Sensitivity knob is basically a more/better control - the higher you turn it, the richer the harmonic content. They didn't have one in stock, and it would have cost a fair chunk more than I was paying for the Demeter, but always hoped I might be able to get one some time. That time was last week after a used example of the rack version came up on here. I've spent some time with it, trying it through my BF One 10, BF Super Twin, and using the preamp for recording. My conclusion is that it's bloody lovely, and just as good as I remembered. I came home today after a rather disappointing day out, plugged my NG2 into the rig you see below, and played along to a Bowie compilation - instant happy place. You'll see that there are two power switches. The first (with big blue jewel light) is for the valve preamp. This runs two 6SL7 valves (like an old Ampeg B15) and a 12A_7 (lettering had worn off). The valve on the left is an EZ81 rectifier. The second switch (with small blue LED) is for the Hypex 700W Class D module. So for recording, just switch on the preamp - perfect. The head came housed in a wooden sleeve with two handles on the top. That wasn't going to work for me so I removed them and installed one on the left 'cheek' of the sleeve and fitted four rubber feet on the right to allow it to be stood on its end. The previous owner is a pro player and has had plenty of use out of the amp so there were a few scuffs to the Tolex, which I have disguised with a black paint pen. It now looks jolly smart, and I'm finding I can live with the tiny overhang above the Super Twin! Sadly I have all lead guitar gigs for the rest of the year, so unless I get some dep jobs in I'll have to wait till mid January to use this in anger. I've now got 'too many' bass heads again (recently bough a Fender TB600) but screw it, I'm keeping them all!

I couldn't have put it better myself. "Ill-disciplined rock player" - that's me to a tee 😆 I'm not that good at just holding down the low end... it's more fun to play 10 notes instead of 2. Made my years in pub covers bands a bit interesting though... For me, Entwistle will always be the ultimate bass guitarist, and my greatest teacher, as I literally learnt to play bass by listening to and copying him. The Guv'nor.

So I have a set of DR Lo Riders lined up, purely because last time i used them on a graphite neck they went very very low without problems, so I'm going to start there and see the lie of the land tone and playability wise. Next few weeks I'm going to be spending some time with my cherished copy of this I imagine.....

Two B2s next to each other in Google search Which, via planes, takes us back to basses

I've never played a 5. After 55 years playing 4s I could never make the transition. Daryl

Nordstrand Acinonyx 5 string prototype, sporting what looks like a humbucker:

As Nick Drake has been dead for years, why would he be bothered by Mark Lamar?

It is now in a separate action.

Wow! That's probably the worst how-to-play-the-bass book I've ever seen. Historically interesting though - especially if you're into the boogaloo.😀

Having done a substantial amount of DBT/ABX testing of audio gear, I'm not surprised at all. And speakers being transducers, are far less linear than the majority of amplifiers.

Zoom B1on or B1 Four...

See this is what’s good about Basschat, always someone willing to help out……

I have been a fan since the mid 80s and I think for a band to do a record this good, so late into their career is stunning. I have friends who are good friends with the band and this was never about money. To release a first song where the vocal doesn't start for 3 minutes, clearly Robert isn't worried about the TikTok generation.

As an addendum to Satdy night's thoroughly Meh gig, I witnessed one of the most extraordinary shows of indifference I've ever seen; I've played for a very long time in all sorts of venues and, like most of us, have experienced many types of indifference: the Working Men's Club Institutional indifference(1), the Wrong Band In The Wrong Pub Indifference(2), the Wrong Couple On The Wrong Night Indifference(3), the Passive Aggressive Offended Indifference(4) and many others, but this bloke was something else: he sat off to one side, on his own, drinking steadily but not quickly, looking across the room. No paper, no book - at one point I had to check he didn't have earbuds in and an audiobook on the go - nothing to entertain him but his own company. He'd glanced at the band as we were setting up, and then completely ignored us for the rest of the evening. It got to the point where I was trying to catch his eye to give him a thumbs-up or something, anything to provoke a reaction, but nope, nothing. As we were packing down he finished his pint (possibly his third or fourth, it's not like he was there for a session) and left. Very odd. (1) The one where everyone yaps incessantly to each other all the way through the first set, and then if you drop a plectrum during the bingo you get shushed and tutted as they concentrate on winning that late-dated hamper that's been dusted down especially...they might get up for the last song for a stilted dance if you're lucky, and then bizarrely at the end tell you at the bar that they thought the band were great... (2) You can feel this one coming a mile off from the clientele's dress sense/age, and they've made the same assessment of you at the same time. Works at both ends of the age spectrum. See also 'That NYE the agent booked our semi-acoustic trio as a 7-piece Soul Band' (3) That couple that sit at a table right where the PA speaker's being set up, but refuse to move and spend the rest of the night alternately rolling their eyes and hollering across the table at each other... (4) OK, this one's fairly specific, but I had a bloke come up to me before a gig and tell me my bass was 'All wrong; it's got the wrong neck' - this was the Shukerbird, and he wouldn't hear about Leon Wilkeson or John Entwistle, he went back to the bar and spent the rest of the evening standing sideways to the room, except when people were applauding, when he turned to face the band and didn't move...

Weird isn't it? Technically a good on-board pre-amp should be little different to the pre-amp in your amplifier. In fact I would go so far as to say that a very good on-board pre-amp such as one designed by John East will probably be sonically superior to a lot of pre-amps in the actual amp.

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