Leaderboard

After many questions and asking a couple fellow members for recordings/sound samples of the bass head I was after.(Thanks @Merton @stewblack) I’ve finally made a purchase, extra thanks to @Merton for selling me his head and putting up with one of my senior idiotic moments!! This place is such a wealth of help and it reinstates my faith that decent people still exist on this planet! Here is my new setup, I am beyond chuffed with it!! Enough of the talking, here’s a photo and a brief iPhone tone test.....enjoy!! (Excuse the sloppy playing, it’s been a long day) IMG_0016.mov

Thought i would show you my BBs White BB414 Bought here Red BB424x Bought here Caramel BB 1024x Bought here Black BB 734a Love them all but have a soft spot for the 424x.

A 1993 MIJ I picked up in Bangkok for roughly £200. The pots had fallen apart, a few dings, but otherwise good. Good neck, with some really nice flame in the maple. I spoke to basschat's KiOgon about some new electronics, and he whipped me up a 62 3-hole control plate with a pickup selector (neck, series, parallel, bridge) and tone switch (capacitor, bypass, kill) and maaaaan she is singing. Whacked on an omega bridge and some new hybrid slinkies and I have myself a solid funk machine. Who knew that series mode on a jazz was so good? I almost didn't include it, as I was on a quest for simplicity. Also, no volume knob is fun - the bass is either on or off, fun mode or rest mode. My old school radio knobs ended up not quite fitting, so I'm now looking for knobs, but otherwise, I'm delighted. What do ya reckon??

So I was looking for an amp with the compactness of an elf, the sound of a GK, but with built in fx of the Laney, and the eq of a Genz Benz. Finally, this (and a roll of duct tape) and I have the perfect amp head. Actually, I just got a bit carried away in a bit of a post lockdown splurge.

I am a bit unconventional when it comes to pickup chambers: - I hate templates...I never get them in the right place; they move and shift and rock - I hate routers...they are of the devil So what I do - and, as usual, I am not saying this is how they should be done - is: - create the corners and lug slots using the appropriately sized drills (earlier post) - hog out with a Forstner bit - chisel to the outline - and then, and only then, I might use a now fully captive bearing bit on a router to level the bottom to final depth. But only if it is really necessary. In this event, I know the router bit can't go anywhere. I know it can't do any damage. So here starts the hog: Then a sharp chisel and wooden mallet to take it to the pen line and remove the wave peaks left by the Forstner. And here it is. Based on the chamber depths, I don't think I need to rout the bottoms. Which suits me fine So final job is that I realised that I am going to have to pop a block in the battery compartment anyway for the pickup screw to screw into. So I've suggested to @donslow that I may as well put in a full block and sand it flush so he doesn't have to create the faux compartment. So that's what I'll do this afternoon.

Bit of feelgood gear for yer Saturday morning! 🔥🔥🔥 Jr Thomas & The Volcanos 🔥🔥🔥 Deep vibe but such a light touch. I would LOVE to play in a band like this. And yes, I own the yellow vinyl

Sorry to break it to you, Newfoundfreedom, but THIS is the original!

Have to disagree with you on that one. The Maiden version is good, but just too straightforward. It doesn't have the leery, grubby, slightly unpleasant, feel of the original.

Hi Some of you may have already been aware of this transcription site It disappeared for a while, I think there was problem with free hosting, but it is now back up and running This has to be the most comprehensive collection of soul, blues and funk transcriptions on the interweb Donald Dunn, Tommy Cogbill, Dave hood and a load more. Practically everything artists like Otis Redding have ever recorded is transcribed! https://freebassparts-pv24.pagesperso-orange.fr/ Plenty to go at by some great players, all notation, no TAB Tony

That's really interesting, as a sometime designer of speakers I'm always really interested in people's experiences with new gear. The real problem with designing stuff people will like is that the language of engineers is so different from the language used by musicians and the words we use generally to describe sound mean different things to each of us. Ask a hundred bassists what they mean by heft for example...... Anyway we've done some blind shoot outs of a collection of cabs at a couple of the South West Bass Bashes. The last one involved a mix of 12" cabs including a Mark Bass. Technically it was the least impressive of the speakers (partly because it was modestly priced to be fair) The bass response was peaking by about 4dBat 100Hz and there was very little deep bass, the horn was poor quality and the crossover not very well worked out. Bassically it was all boom and tizz with all sorts of distortions. This was compared with @stevie high end FRFR design a Fearless and a couple of other high end FRFR designs. The Mark Bass was the speaker liked by the biggest section of the bassists present. Interestingly people scored it as the best or the worst speaker on display. It was Marmite. Interestingly for a speaker with a poor response below 100Hz it was described as being very bassy. It was easily the loudest of the cabs we tested, but on the sound level meter it measured no louder than the others. It had a shouty frequency response that made it subjectively loud. The thing is that we could all hear the differences and they were measurable, we just didn't agree which sounded best. So maybe you are like the majority, you aren't looking for a clean neutral sound but want grit, growl, bite and heft. Nothing wrong with the Mark Bass approach if you like their 'sound'. I loved my old Hartke HA3500 and my Peavey MkIII with a 2x15 before it. Rationally I know I ought to like FRFR with tone shaping to get the best tone but in practice on a live gig with 20min to set up you can't beat a bit of baked in tone. Just before the lockdown I bought a Peavey minimax, absolutely loved it in the few gigs I squeezed in with it. It was a stopgap for my MBTube which I dropped off the stack and broke. It's going to be my go-to for a while I think, love the little thing. There's one on sale in the ads here, bargain.

My favourite (because he plays a lot of 70's/80's soul/boogie/disco) is a guy called BelgaBass. A man of few words, but his playing is on point. Often playing very tasty pieces of vintage gear too.

I use Transferwise all the time, it’s really good. The more recent reviews of Eurosender have been variable to be honest and the discount is next to nothing.

I recently sold an instrument to a guy in France. I used Eurosender, it cost €52, that was fully insured, tracked and took just two days to arrive. I used a massively over-size box, figuring there’d be crush space. The whole package was 140x70x20cm. I made sure to pack all around the actual flight case with bubble wrap, and packing paper that I’d saved from Amazon parcels. Print off a copy of the label plus both adresses; yours and the recipient’s, place that inside the case. Stick at least two on the outside of the package. As far as being paid, try and avoid PayPal, their exchange rate is terrible, we used TransferWise.

Well it's back and sounding amazing!! So glad I didn't just send it back to PMT, Ashdown were brilliant and had it back to me and all sorted in 3 working days. It seems it had taken a serious knock, one of the tubed had imploded, everything had shifted and 2 internal fuses has blown. The packing was completely intact so hard to say of that happened in-store or in transit. Pretty impressed it made any sound at all when it arrived! Now it's working at full strength I am super pleased with it, and paired with my Stringray it makes the sound that was in my head but I never quite managed to translate into the real world. Can't wait to gig it now 😭 Following everyone's advice I have decided to add a second ABM 210 Evo IV cab, it seems thats best compromise of sound/weight/portability/cost - it helps they Thomann have them of special at the moment too! Thanks everyone for the help!

A bit of fun, I thought this would transcribe into a nice slap bass line!

Personally I'd try the bass direct into the Passport and see how you get on before buying anything else. The Marcus Miller will have enough onboard EQ to give you a wide variety of sounds so it would be worth spending some time experimenting before adding FX or amp simulators. For recording, I'd plug straight into the Focusrite and then use your DAW to change the EQ or add FX.

I joined the club yesterday with the acquisition of an R-400. I had high expectations prior to it’s arrival and I’m not disappointed. I’ve only messed around at bedroom volume but the tone is fantastic straight out the box, I’m not really a fanatic knob twiddler however this seems to go from ‘clean & fat’ to ‘fat & dirty’ in a seamless way that is very musical and pleasing IMO. Cant wait to crank this up, hopefully in the next few months. Thanks to all those who have contributed in this thread as it really helped me decide to take the punt on this. Additionally, great customer service from Leszek and the packaging was bomb-proof.

As there was some discussion about how to make one of these taller, I thought I'd post an update with the means by which I solved this. A plumber friend happened to have a spare length of copper pipe of just the right diameter to slip over the end pin, to which I have added a rubber ferrule and a washer on top to protect the base of the instrument (plus a quick polish with Brasso). A bit of foam wrapped around the end pin before insertion prevents rattling.

I'm loving these guys right now. Ska counts, right??

I used to be a bit of a shoe gazer but in most bands i was tucked up at the back near the drummer so not too noticeable. It was usually because i was concentrating on what i was doing. I had to work at not doing it. In my current band i'm out front with singer and guitarist and i had to really make an effort to look the part. Being 70's Glam covers most of the bass parts are not to difficult so its easier not having to concentrate so much and i can just enjoy the fun. Our singer is a bit of a comedian as part of the show with some of his stage show so that does make me laugh quite a bit. Dave

I had considered plugging the holes and doing just that, I had a chat with @KiOgon in regards to looms and he suggested ”I suggest a 2 volume and 2 tone setup with 0.1uF on the P pup and .047uF on the J, gives you a wide spread of tones and versatile blending” so I got him busy on making that, as luck would have it, had “a drawer full” of alpha mini pots which also saves me having to drill the holes to a bigger size so as it stands, neck is painted, wiring loom is on its way, @Andyjr1515 is sorting the body for me, the paint is standing by for the body when I get it back! will definately post Finished results when it’s all ready to go again I’m going to use the existing hardware for now but considering a change to either black or gold (neck is and body will be black) I’ve found someone that makes foil stick on headstock decals/badges so a direct replacement to what was on there, if I go gold hardware, the decal will match, any other colour will either be matte silver or “chromed silver”, again, undecided currently...

That was always my attitude. I used to hate when we played in a duo and I would see my mate the guitarist shoe gazing or looking miserable but he was nothing compared to the rhythm guitarist that we had when we went back to the full band. He permanently looked like he was about to start crying. Everyone commented on it and we kept saying cheer up FFS! I think we are there to entertain the punters not look like we don't want to be there. Miserable looking musicians don't make people enjoy themselves. I always tried to play with a smile on my face or at least look interested.

It’s time for bed .... 🛌 @Andyjr1515 Swap the router for Horlicks, put your pots of coloured sanding dust back in their catalogued, contour foam shielded racking and bid them Good Night.

As a teenager one of my favourite albums was a compilation titled 'We do em our way'. Punk bands covering classic pop songs and the Sex Pistols offerings were about the weakest in my opinion. I was trying to choose one to add here but I can't decide my favourite so I'll leave The Slits version of Heard It Through The Grapevine here and suggest you look up the album on the site if your choice. I lent the album to a work colleague sometime in the 90s and never saw it again, along with an Anti-Nowhere League album. Git!

Hum? That's the sound of Rock and Roll. I had some hum-free pick-ups one time, it turned my stomach. Bought a hum pedal, big smiles all round.

And of course, it depends on where about's in Scotland you're going to be working. Scotland's a big place...

Excuse the self indulgence, and yes it is more on the Ska side of things, but this is the latest release by my nephew's band, and I think it is the best thing they have done so far - a session for Rodigan on BBC1 Xtra recorded at Maida Vale.

I did something silly a couple of weeks ago which resulted in me owning this gorgeous bass. I've always said the only Rickenbacker I'd ever own is a 4005 due to me not really gelling with any 'normal' Rick basses I've tried, but the 4005 being one of the best looking basses ever made, IMO. The price of 4005's being what they are meant I'd never be owning one anyway so it was kind of a running joke with our guitarist who owns eight Ricks. This bass popped up on my fb feed on one of the selling pages, one of those random posts that pop up from pages you don't really follow, I thought 'ooh that's nice', but it was in Chester and I was in Cornwall. Gigging commitments meant I couldn't go and look at it and I couldn't expect someone to post it really, could I? Anyway who knew what it would be like being a custom build and it was more than I wanted to spend, plus I was didn't need any new gear being happy with my own. Roll on 24hrs and I'd agreed to buy it 🤣 It's a faithful tribute to the 4005 (ok ok a copy) built by the luthier ***** *****(the names have been changed to protect the innocent😗), whom I've never heard of, body I assume is maple but would like any thoughts from the experts on here, it's got some nice grain and quilting, block binding, maple and walnut laminated neck, partial genuine hardware, not sure about tailpiece but it looks the part and the pickups are custom wound House of Tone toasters to give a Macca neck, Geddy bridge mix. The previous owner (don't know if they're on here) sent it by Parcelforce to arrive before midday next day, after a tense three days it arrived at work (Christmas backlog) and I'll admit I was a little nervous unpacking it, firstly was it in one piece, secondly what was the build quality like? It was in a Gigblade semi hard case which is actually a very nice case and when opened I had a wave of relief wash over me, it was beautiful. The quality of ***** *****'s work is awesome, the woodwork is great and the fit of everything is excellent, my only slight bug is the lacquer finish but it's not as bad as I thought from the sellers pictures. Most people wouldn't see anything wrong but I'm a fussy tw@t when it comes to paint. Too be honest it's not really bad enough too bother refinishing but time will tell if it bugs me enough. Anyway pictures, you must be bored of my ramblings. A couple close ups to try and show the quilting, as always it looks better in the flesh but you can see a bit of it. In real life some of it almost looks like velvet, it has a real depth to it. The neck is really well made, maple and walnut, bound and crushed pearl inlays. Lovely signature Rickenbacker carving around the bout. As you can probably tell I'm over the moon with the looks, but, and it's a big but, I don't like how it plays. Given that I don't gel with Ricks it's no surprise but my thought when I bought it was with it being a copy I won't feel guilty fiddling with it. Some of you may have noticed the thumbrest, it's a very crudely chunk of wood I've doublesided taped on to just try out. Because of the style of bridge the strings are very long way from the body, nice low action on the neck but string to body is huge and using pickups as thumbrests isn't working for me. Using the bridge PU as an anchor is just too close the bridge and using the neck PU just feels too sloppy for my style of playing. It has to be right or I won't end up using it. I'll make a nice wooden rest and tape it on so that it can be removed if sold. I'm making a new nut as the string spacing is wider than I like and the strings are very close to the edge of the neck, a few times I've slipped the G string off the neck while playing. Now for the sound, it's very nice but the PU's are quite low output, it doesn't seem to have a lot of punch but that's probably down to the placement, reading up a bit this seems to be the way the real ones sound. Either PU on its own sounds good but together I get that Jazz phase problem only worse and the volume drops. I might wire a series switch in and call on the electrical guru's of the forum for help. All in all I love it and once I iron out a couple of niggles, which are my fault not the basses, I'll be over the moon. It's certainly imposing, it's massive, and although I'd never claim to be the real thing with the mojo of the real thing, it's quite possibly better quality than the real thing and certainly doesn't look like your average Rickenbacker copy.

I had a BB425X from 2013-2014, and BB735A from 2018-2019. 2014 was long ago enough that I can't really remember the details; but I would say overall I preferred the BB735A, both in feel/comfort and sound. If I was buying BB today, I'd get a 434 or 435. I did also previously own a 434, and to me it is equal quality to the 735A, other than the existence of the preamp. The preamp is good - but since I prefer a passive bass and removed the battery, the preamp scores no points for me personally.

Used to play this version of Mercy in my covers band. Always well received. The bass (and most likely all the band) is probably a prop for the video. It was sung by a white guy named Jon Allen!

Many thanks! This could take me some time.......

-

Midtown-Cruising... ... just reached the Motorway!!

Was never keen on this song until i heard this version

I had an EBS many years ago but stopped using it after reading that one of my biggest influences had stopped using a comp and I followed sheep-like as the EBS wasn’t really part of my tone and was quite subtle (I was younger then and influenced by ‘must haves‘ and my heroes). Now that I’m older (and hopefully wiser) I’m more reliant on my own ears and opinions. Recently, I have started recording at home (like many others) and I sent something I had worked on to a couple friends who’s opinions, in this new area for me, I value (one runs an FOH company and has been recording for decades). One of the suggestions I received were specific compressor settings for the bass track (I had already added some by ear) which really added ‘something’ and has now got me looking at gear and this thread. The settings were: 6:1 with 50ms attack, -6db threshold. Hopefully, the GAS will pass, but I doubt it 😂.

Great band. What a rhythm section! Lots of happy memories listening to Sweet - loved the idea of 'the heavy side'. Great 'heavy rock' performance here, live in '74

Yes - I was really tempted by this: https://ashdownmusic.com/collections/b-stock/products/lodestone-artist-b-stock But I don't want active and it's really hard to tell what is going on with the finish from the photo's - sort of looks like it flaked off! Makes you wonder what'd happen if you could call them and make an offer on it? Can't help but think a wipedown with a cloth would have been a good move before taking pictures!

Sandberg Basic?

Ok, just discovered this thread. Great opportunity to showcase my Spector basses again 😎 First up is my beloved Euro Mike Starr LE with Haz 9V. This bass has some serious oomph. Not sure my neighbours appreciate it though 😀

I had a Euro 5LX that I purchased from another member on here (although I purchased through a shared Facebook post and only found the ad on here later) and it was superb. Incredibly even sound across all the strings and a really good, solid low B. I prefer the models with EMGs compared to the rather darker Aguilar pickups they come with on some models now. I think the best thing about it was the finish, it had clear gloss all over including the neck but it was so smooth and perfectly applied that it could match a satin finished wood neck for playability. The finish on the body was like a mirror, just perfectly applied. Two things that did annoy me about it though, first being upper fret access, it is poor. That said, I've got a 6 string bass with superb access so I don't really need all my basses to have amazing upper fret access though it did annoy me on the Spector. The second issue was the bridge, which wasn't wide enough to thread certain B strings through. It absolutely needed to be strung with taperwounds, as I found when I couldn't get a .135 or a .130 B string through which had the windings all the way to the ball end. A known issue with the Spector bridge, the solution I saw suggested was to take a file to it and widen the opening - I wasn't brave enough and worried about damaging the finish. It was fine with taperwounds but obviously limited the choice of strings it could be used with. I'd love a Euro 4LC with the EMG P/J combo and will probably own one of those some day. I wouldn't mind owning a proper US 5 string either although they're the thick end of £5000, they are superb.