Leaderboard

I probably should have posted this over a week ago.... when I actually bought the bass! lol However, I decided to play it for a while first - to see how I got on with it I keep thinking I should play a 5 string - then I keep falling in and out of love for 5 string basses, for various reasons. Usually, my reasons for selling are that I find the necks just a bit too chunky, or I find the bass is a tad too heavy..... or a combination of both. Sometimes, I don't find the string spacing to be very comfortable. This isn't something I find with 4 strings - I can usually adapt my playing. But with 5 strings I've found on a more comfortable width neck, the strings can be a bit too close for my right hand plucking (i.e. not enough room between strings for my fattish fingers) To cut a long story short, I bought & sold a few 5'ers for a combination of the above reasons (or excuses). Actually, on the point of the weight of a bass - it's not something that used to bother me too much. However, my increasing age and ageing joints / shoulders / back have made this factor ever more important. So my thinking was - where can I find a lightweight 5 string bass, which is lightweight and has a neck which isn't too wide (or wide plus deep) but isn't too narrow string spacing at the bridge? Fussy old BC'er, aren't I? So I turned to Ibanez. I've owned Ibby's in the past and always found them to be great instruments. In fact, I once owned the 4 string version of this bass, the SDGR 500 - a bass I was well pleased with. I have to say that so far, I'm really liking this bass! It was a local purchase too. It's very light for a 5'er - I think it's around 3.5kg. The neck is a comfortable width, and it's slim front-to-back, so I can get my hand around it easily enough. Also, the string spacing seems very comfortable too. It's narrow-ish at the nut, but the neck tapers enough to make the spacing good for my right hand... plus, the bridge allows for some lateral position adjustment too The quality of construction is really good - it feels a solid build, and the finish is really nice. No sticky left hand on a glossy neck - it's really nice satin sort of feel. I like the dark wood colour too. The electronics are great, and the 2 active Bartolini pickups are superb. As I expected, It's more of a modern sounding bass than my current collection of basses - but that's not an entirely bad thing. It's another choice for me to make, depending on the gig I'm playing. Another added bonus is that the pickups and electrics work in passive mode, and it even works with no battery - so no worries about a battery going flat mid-gig. Now all I have to do, is to get my spatial awareness up to speed for 5 string playing. I've been noodling at home, and took the bass to one garden room / semi-open-air trio jam. I did make a few errors, hitting the wrong string DOH - but it's been a while since I last played a 5'er for any length of time.

I feel dirty and ashamed for saying this but I'll say it anyway... @Al Krow I actually agree with you on this. There, I said it. . As much as I usually enjoy Steve Cook's Premier Guitar vids, he doesn't really do that Boss comp justice in that video. At the time points you mentioned it is very squashed sounding - although in respect to the comment you made about him managing to get a bad sound out of it when he said it was impossible, you need to remember he's playing a very hot 18V bass through it so he's hitting the threshold a lot harder than you would with a 'normal' bass, which is what is causing the excessively squashed sound at times. It's this amount of audible squash, where you can very obviously here the compression working, that people complain about compression killing their dynamics. The Bass Gear Review video, below, shows off the pedal - and therefore compression - in a much more positive light, IMO. Just about every playing style is covered and in almost all of them you can hear the effect of the compression when the pedal is engaged, the bass sounds more refined, controlled and more even while in most cases the dynamics are still retained. Pay particular attention to the jolly Frenchman at 3.53, listed to how once the pedal is kicked in at 4.02 all of a sudden there is extra definition and separation between the notes making the piece sound more... professional, for want of a better description. And that's just from listening to it through crappy laptop speakers. The Boss wasn't previously on my radar even though I love their LMB-3 Bass Limiter pedal, but I'm going to have to try the BC-1X out for myself after watching this. If anyone wants me over the next few days I'll be in the bath vigorously scrubbing myself with a wire brush and some Domestos.

While I'm still not decided whether there will be any further major carving at the back, it always pays to know where the hidden chambers are and how deep they are. I simply take a paper template to keep in the file: And write the respective depths of those chambers: I also pre-drilled the bridge earth wire holes in the top and the matching one in the back - it's a lot easier (and less scary) than once it's fully assembled. Then, after a final 'have I forgotten anything important' pause, the top is now gluing. And no, you can't have too many clamps Very soon and it really IS going to start looking like a bass

The 'thump' comes from the power supply turn on and power amp so turning the gain / vol down doesn't really affect that. But it will stop noises when plugging / unplugging bass of fx chain into the preamp input. You will probably get a 'noise' if you plug the speaker jack (?) in as well as there is no existing 'Ground' connection and with a jack connection (as opposed to eg a Speakon) there is a sequence of connection as the plug is inserted. HiFi amps often implement 'anti-thump' by waiting a few seconds after turn on (when the psu has stabilised) then switching the 'live' speaker signal via relay - the 'Ground/Black' signal is already connected. Other circuit techniques are based around controlling the rise time of the voltage rails to avoid fast transients.

-

Yes it does, @Jakester , yes it does. And it's glued and it's trimmed and the cut out carve is started and it's dampened and the bridge isn't straight and there's a drop of water on the fretboard... ...but it IS starting to look like a bass

Is it any good for met....oh forget it.

-

or a mass debate?

Well, I would have much more money in my bank account 😉

So on the BB thread there was mention of a BB350F which was going at a very reasonable price. @such was fabulous and sent it over amidst difficult times and the neck has gone to our very own @Andyjr1515 to receive some frets. Eventually it will get a paint job fit for a...Prince? In my head - I took visual inspiration from the bb5000a I saw years ago. I started buying Gold Hardware - Gotoh mostly. Still to buy Machineheads and I’ve realised I’ll need a jack socket cover in gold. Really briefly - Body and neck have arrived at appropriate destinations and work will be a steady process - mostly due to budget constraints. so here’s the inspiration here’s the bass as I bought it...

Ships in the night - Be Bop Deluxe

Yeah, looks like I might have to bite the bullet and spend as much on the machineheads as I did the bass. In no rush though - going to take a couple of months this at least. And I woke up this morning to find I’d won a bass on eBay which I don’t want, or need 🥴

I have a sack cloth tabard, that has been soaked in goats milk and hanging out in the sun for the past week, that you are welcome to wear when you surface for the bath dowsed in Domestos. I'm sure your penance will be enjoyed by all!

Cheers guys, I finally have some time off work to get the jobs done I’ve been putting off for months and what happens? I’ve spent all morning researching compression on the internet (after reading this thread last night) then the rest of the day playing with a compressor that’s sat in a box. There is most definitely differences to be heard. Make a difference in a live mix? I’d say yes to those in the know Make a difference to the crowd of drunken punters bouncing around? I doubt it. But I’ve had an interesting day and have a better understanding of what each control does and how it affects the dynamic range. I will now be confident in changing settings and understand exactly what I’m doing and why. Alas the can of worms is open, a little knowledge is dangerous and now I’ve come across serial compression... 😳

I don't know. What I do know is that after having applied the Feed-N-Wax, the 77 looks better than ever! The colour of the wood just looks more intense. Difficult to explain. So, thanks again @Bunion 👍

Someone mentioned Michael Buble earlier. This is a great example of the sound I really don't like. I reckon the engineer doing this probably thinks "no-one will be able to tell" but it's so obvious. It's not done for effect, you can't hear any artefacts from snapping notes to the grid, however, the whole thing is so perfect it sounds "plastic" and really grates on my ears.

I have 2 bass collections: 1. John Entwistle - superbly built. Everything is flawless. The sound is superb. Very punchy and aggressive. 2. Standard power bass. Again, very well built, but not as substantial feeling as the john entwistle. Slimmer neck and feels lighter, and the pick ups sound thinner, but there is more range on them - ie using the tone control actually works and gives you full sweep of usuable tones. Both great basses, but the entwistle is the better one in my opinion.

I just posted a belated NBD - but I thought I'd add the pics (again) and my thoughts on being a "returning Ibanez owner" Got myself an SR 505 recently, I used to own the 4 string SR 500 years ago, and I liked that bass at the time. Since then, I also owned an Ibanex acoustic bass - but my son loved that so much, I gave it to him In my efforts to fall for 5 strings, I also had a not often seen Mikro 5 string... I liked that bass, but the strings were a tad too close for my right hand So in short, I was looking for a 5'er which was lightweight and had a narrow-ish, shallow-ish neck, but which had wide enough string spacing at the bridge (Fussy old so-and-so eh?) On my return to the Ibby fan club, I have to say - this bass ticks all the boxes. So far, I'm enjoying playing it a lot. Whether I'll gig with it all the time (when we can get back to gigging) is another matter - but I want to have a 5'er as an option. I'm loving the feel of the neck, the light weight, the build quality, the finish, the sound and the control over EQ options. I also like the fact that this bass will work without a battery - something my 4 string version didn't (as I found out just prior to a gig!) So maybe it's just a common old SDGR 505 - but this is my favourite 5 string yet

You've all probably already seen this, from 2017 'Roots, Reggae, Rebellion'. If not, it's pretty good at showing in 1hr how history, politics and religion all influenced Reggae. I'm not religious and I know a lot of people are put off Roots Reggae because of the religious messaging but understanding the context helps put it in perspective - I don't listen to it and feel like I'm particularly being religiously preached to, more along the lines of hearing political and religious rebellion and optimism for positive change and shifting of power...... 'get up, stand up, stand up for your rights' .

Yes Davs, they are not your "grandpa's" cabinets. Now you know exactly why the Subway line was developed, and why light weight and small was not an obstacle to performance.

Arrived yesterday after tortuous Brexit journey from France (6 weeks ...). Thanks to the patience and assistance of excellent seller @Hooch aka Yannick. Sounds wonderful and the J width neck suits my knackered left hand nicely.

Muse Hysteria (fuzz) Royal Blood - Out of the Black (overdrive and octave) Cliff Burton - Anesthesia (fuzz wah)

I was hoping this was about Indian cookery using spinach.

Well after another bar or two of OJ, Iv'e done some more butchery with the Dremel, extending the neck pocket in the body to allow the neck back towards the bridge a bit further, it was difficult to get it right, impossible, I found, to get the back "wall" totally 90 degs to horizontal, but it'll do the job and doesn't look too bad I think... according to Rabone Chesterman's finest big steel rule I should just be ok for the 12th fret to nut measurement vis the 12th fret to bridge. I started another thread asking opinions re making a six screw body to neck joint, like the Musicman, I felt with the extended pocket the normal screw positions were a bit far forward now and it might be cool to use six (with a home made 6 hole plate on the back of course) and may be a bit easier than Mr Spondon's 45 deg. 'Sheehan' version. The jury's out on this so far and any opinions are most welcome !

Yes but Asschat would have a free run at things!

Yeah, it’s a 5 string, 35” And for a really complicated preamp. I give myself a headache sometimes.

I think that this also demonstrates that a good FOH engineer will add compression at a big gig if you haven't already done so yourself. To get the same quality of sound at a smaller gig with no experienced engineer at the desk, then the onus is on you to sort out what compression should be on the bass.

But they could only do that if they take a DI straight from your bass, thus completely taking out your pedalboard. They could ask you to turn your PB compressor off, but I have yet to be asked to do this. If you can control your signal to the FOH engineer then you can make his job easier / quicker and still maintain some control over your FOH sound.

Agree one billion percent!!! I've been saying this for years after hearing that "just haven't met you yet" bullshtit song, it's just so in your face how the note comes out then it's like it's hitting a ceiling and staying there, yet the adulation he gets is unreal! Am glad someone else hears it. I've said in this thread about having a "little tech help" being OK but this is absolute abuse of the tech!

Yes, you are right - he went too far with those settings and it has squashed it too much. I didn't watch the bit where he discussed the parameters used, but it sounds to me like the attack was set too fast so none of the transients come through.

Hi, I thought I'd sneak in here as the new and very happy owner of a GSRM20 - a diddy Mikro Bass. I have the walnut flat one and I've made no changes to it (yet). Not that I'm a bass-modder or even a particularly talented bass-player. I just love quiet electronics - which for £159 I did not get and did not expect. It's a lovely little thing and it encourages me to play Herbie Hancock stuff that I thought I couldn't play. This and the Zoom B1on pedal that I got on eBay are two things I should have bought 10 years ago.

I've got 3 cabs, all of which are lightweight. I use different combinations of them - depending on gig / venue etc. For some folk or acoustic duos / trios and especially in small venues, I often use just one cab. I have played acoustic gigs in some really tiny places, or at least the space allowed for us to play in was tiny Anyhow, the cabs are; Markbass 210 traveller, Epifani UL110, and a Greenboy "Crazy8" For larger, rockier, louder gigs, I usually use the Markbass 210 and the Eipfani 110. I know, that's 3x 10" speakers - but it works really well IMHO. It's certainly loud enough with my MB 500W head. Anything bigger, and I tend to go through either the bands own PA, or house PA (again, depending on gig / band / venue) Intermediate sized gigs in pubs, I sometimes use the Traveller 210 cab alone. More acoustic settings I tend to take the Epifani 110, and perhaps take the Crazy 8 "just in case" i.e. in case I suddenly feel the urge for a bit more oomph. I have even gigged as an acoustic trio with just the Crazy 8. On one occasion, at a fairly big venue, I used the Crazy 8 merely as a monitor, and went through the house PA. Although even during sound-check, I was really surprised that the Crazy 8 held its' own before I was plugged into the PA - it really is a "crazy" cab, considering it's tiny size. The MB traveller 210 is light, and loud and crisp & clear. The Epifani is an utterly superb cab - another that punches way above its' weight. The crazy 8 is just crazy

You mean Wife's birthday, wedding anniversary type thing???

Hello BC'ers, I've finally pulled the trigger for a 2nd hand BB2. On his own, it is a joy to hear it restitute all the sound spectrum from very low to very high freq. It is especially wonderful to hear through a 6 strings. it certainly gives a more soft and rounded tone than the Super Midget. However, I'm not yet convinced of the pairing BB2 + SM. I find they are voiced quiet differently and it is even more obvious at practice volume. I guess I maybe should avoid engaging both the SM's tweeter and the BB2's HF, but rather 1 of them. The voicing of both cabs should compare more evenly at gig volume, I guess ^^ I'll come back later with a nurtured feedback about using them together I also have ordered a GK Legacy 800 but I find it is too powerful for my needs and hardly volume-manageable for practice XD I loved the tone, clarity and precision but I'm more likely to get a 2nd hand Fusion 500 watts for its warmer vibe and lesser power-handling. This legacy 800 will be returned unfortunately....

I have just returned from a rehearsal. Late night for me, and I am delighted to report that in my soul band I used two fuzzes, one overdrive and a filthy distortion. At times I used all three and it sounded amazing.

Dude gets off his flight at some African holiday beach resort. He hears drums, lots of drums, pulsing gently in the distance, and he knows he is in Africa. He gets to his hotel to check in and again, drums, cool bananas. By the pool with a cocktail, you guessed it, drums and more drums. Dinner is accompanied by drums. Back at the bar, no letup. Come bedtime and our tourist can't get to sleep for the incessant beats from the jungle. He goes down stairs to complain to the concierge and see if they can quit it for the night. ''Sir, drums are good! Very good Sir! When drums stop very bad. Never want drums to stop!" ''Why the heck not, I can't sleep!" ''Sir when drums stop, then we get the bass solo''.

Hysteria sounds so much better with fuzz. It loses the character with the bass clean. I'm sure Chris Wolstenholme tried it clean before deciding it needed fuzz on the record and live.

Drum solo?

Bass yes

The control cavity was shielded with copper tape so that's done. Next was the wiring. The original plan was to have two knobs that do nothing and the other two to be passive volume and tone but I thought it might be an idea to see if the original preamp would work with a magnetic pickup instead of the original piezo. I've seen some preamps whose input is suitable for use with either but I have no details of this one so it was a question of just 'giving it a go'. And it does work, surprisingly well too. I'll chat with Owen to see how he would like it but it had to be tried as it was so simple to refit!!! Recessing the bridge has worked quite nicely - the strings can now go that little bit lower which makes quite a difference to how it feels.

Overdrive- boost Distortion- Chug chug chug chug Fuzz- Jimi Hendrix

Alan's now got round to starting the Krell, cutting paduak for the body and neck accents. Very early days and it seems almost impossible that this stack of wood cuts will become a bass someday... Can't wait.