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So having owned plenty of basses I've never had a yamaha, until now 😁. Thought I'd take a chance on this bb1025x as I've always wanted to try one. A fresh set of rounds later and I love it! Always been more of a jazz bass guy but figured I needed some sort of P in my life. This has got such a huge passive tone! The neck is a lovely satin finish and it plays great! It has definitely held its own against my other more expensive basses so happy days. I play my other basses in passive usually anyway however the simpleness of the bb's controls is so refreshing. Anyway, terrible picture incoming..

This old thread needs an ancient pic of an extremely nervous me playing a Thunder IIa (I think) at the 100 Club in the late 80's.

So here's the review I wrote for De Bassist (please excuse any errors or Americanisms, I translated it pretty quickly): Sadowsky is a big and most of all expensive name in the bass world. American master luthier Roger Sadowsky has been building amazing basses (mainly Jazz-like models) in his workshop since the 1980s. To make the brand more available for people without deep pockets, a few years ago the Metro range was introduced, which was produced in Japan. In 2020 Sadowsky started to work with the German brand Warwick: since then Warwick has been building the MetroLine in Germany, and an even more affordable line of basses was introdced: the MetroExpress. These basses are being built in China under supervision of Warwick and according to instructions by the master himself. For under 1000 euros you can be the owner of a “real” Sadowsky: are they worth the money and can you be convinced in the already pretty full world of Jazz Basses? Sadowsky styling If you look at the MetroExpress you immediately see the real Sadowsky shape. The slim body, straight cut retboard and the shape of the headstock tell you immediately from which family these basses are from. The bass I have here is “sage green”, a metallica kind of froggish green which I, especially combined with the maple fretboard, find very charming. The slim body has to big advantages: the playability is absolutely excellent and the weight is very low. This low weight is also caused by the body wood: Warwick uses okume wood for the MetroExpress series, a wood that resembles mahogany but is a lot lighter. On Warwick’s web page they say their basses are always under 9.5 lbs and this bass absolutely fulfills that criterium – in fact, I think it’s well under 9 lbs and that’s very important to many bass players. It’s pretty difficult to find a good five string Jazz that sounds great ánd has a solid B string. I’ll get back to that sound in a bit, but this bass certainly is light. The technical stuff Fortunately you can find knobs on this MetroExpress that you can also find on a regular Sadowsky: volume, balance, active bass and treble (boost only) and the treble knob is a push-pull with which you can switch to passive mode, where it’s good to know that in passive mode you have no passive tone control. It’s all very intuitive, except for one thing: the balance knob is, as on many Sadowskys, reversed. If you turn it clockwise and expect to hear your neck pickup you’re gonna be surprised: it switches to its bridge pickup. Pretty unpractial, but not the end of the world and playing this bass for an hour or so is enough to get used to it. Other than that, the hardware, finish and overall construction are pretty much impeccable and there’s no way to immediately see you’re playing a sub-€1000 bass. Feel and sound It seems pretty easy to build a good Jazz-like bass, considering the enormous amount of brands that have one in their model range. However, it’s pretty difficult to design one that has a sound of its own, its own place in the big market. A bass you buy because it’s this particular bass, not because you just need “a” good Jazz-ish bass. I can’t really determine what it is about this Sadowsky, but I get that particular feeling. I’ve played and owned dozens of Jazz-like basses over the last decades and this one has, like a good Jazz Bass should, something special and unique. I’m not a huge fan of preamps in basses, especially when they lack subtility. The MetroExpress, however, is subtle. You have lots of control over the amount of bass you add, without immediately ripping your trouser legs apart. The same thing goes for the treble knob, but this bass is pretty clear of its own so I couldn’t add much more treble without the sound getting a bit too harsh for me. So, should you buy this bass? If you get a compliment about your sound from the rest of the band, you know there’s something seriously good about your bass. I took this bass to a gig and everybody was surprised about how good this bass sounds. It sounds great through an amp, but also through the PA and my in-ear monitoring, without getting too treble-ish (something that happens a lot with bass when playing on in-ear monitors). Closer investigation on the internet tells me that the first batches of the MetroExpress basses had some initial problems with setup and buzzing electronics, but none of that is an issue on this bass. The MetroExpress is an amazingly well built bass and if you’re looking for a good Jazz for under €1000 it’s definitely worth checking out these instruments. A simple preamp, good sound, comfortable weight, amazing B-string and excellent setup make the MetroExpress a serious contender in this market.

I just received this message from Debbie (Martin's sister) on fb.. Hi, Just letting you know the funeral arrangements for mb1 (Martin berry) his funeral will take place at the crematorium at Southern cemetery address is Barlow Moor Rd, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 7GZ It will be on Friday the 10th September at 2.30 and then on to Urmston Conservative club 29 Crofts Bank Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0TZ We are have a celebration of life rather then a religious gathering, there will be a book passed round for people to jot down a any memorable moments or ways in which he impacted your life so as a family we can see Martin through the eyes of others and learn a whole new part of his life. Those attending the wake are more then welcome to bring their bass/any music and share some music would love that. Xx

So. My original Bb350f arrived and is now wearing all gold hardware and a fretted neck (frets are gold too 😜)

This just arrived in the post! It was a bit of an impulse buy, so I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with it yet! I need to decide on a finish first (I'll almost definitely just go for a clear coat, although I might stain the mahogany back and the really unrealistic part of me wants to try something like this but I know I'll mess it up and regret it!) I also need to decide on hardware (I'm thinking something black would go nice with the spalted maple), pickups, and electronics (I'd like an active/passive switch for sure). First thing I guess is a bridge so I can drill the holes! Any suggestions?

Nice of Firebird to use us on the cover...

For sometime I've found the Entwistle pup on my Revelation P doesn't quite fit with the early sixties rock band I'm in. Bit modern and lacking in warm cuddles, which is fine but not for this job. Put a Tonerider in for £40 and there's lovely, all velvety and 80% dark chocolate.

Rivers of Babylon, top tune ☝️

Deja Vu album, with Young. Awesome.

You’ll be a majority shareholder soon

Picked up a GR AT410+ last weekend, absolutely fantastic. The sound is pretty transparent - I'm using it with a Kemper Profiler head and it really articulates the difference in rig profiles very well indeed. Being able to switch between profiles from a Mesa 400+, Aguilar DB751, Markbass TA501 and Darkglass 900 with a single stomp and for the cab to really showcase the differences is superb. In fact I liked it so much I bought a GR AT208 yesterday to keep upstairs in my little studio. I think GR have re-set the benchmark with these cabs.

My guess is that a BT2 isn't the cab to use in a punk band. My first Barefaced cab was a BB2. The difference between it and my previous cabs was a shock (mostly the amount of bass response) and I spent all my time trying to tame the bass. I emailed Alex and his reply was, "Why did you buy one of those? I'd have recommended a Super Compact!" I bought the SC and that was it. "My" sound. So buying the right cab is the first lesson. The second lesson is that a new cab won't sound like your old cab. Never does. I have recalibrated my ears and now I have a BB2 that I am happy with. There isn't any boom, but there is way more bass than with many cabs. I don't see that as a down side. If it's too much then Alex has more appropriate cabs available.

I have tons of pedals. A lot of them boutique... But what I really need for the band is just this: Dirty compressor Dirty fuzz (and I mean RAUNCHY AF!) Dirty pre-amp Always real valves. Nothing else comes close. Modelling is still not an option in 2021. Call me a snob. The Black Finger is set to add a little tube breakup - just a hint of it. This makes the fuzz and OD on the Le Bass come out way stronger. Giygas is used for Beastie Boys, Blur, Muse sorta tones. The OD on the Le Bass is for Foo Fighters, Fountains of Wayne, Presidents of the USA etc tube grit. While I do have more exotic effects like envelope phasers, tremolo, octavers etc. I never actually use any of those on stage. Just stuff to make my sound more powerful and add organic tasting dirt. These pedals right here are perfect for that particular job.

Couldn’t resist those MP prices… and not sure how they’ve done it at that price. But, I’ve got a RM 112 combo on the way. Have wanted a small(ish) combo for ages, at £332 delivered, there’s not really any competition; even at 2nd hand prices.

Some people have a lot of time to spend coming into a thread of someone else having a problem they don't care about just to say they don't care about the problem 10x2

I feel for you mate, these things happen to us all. Finding the right people to play in a band is always the No 1 issue. In my experience, potential musos for semi pro bands are likely to fall into 4 categories: A. Bl**dy good – and they know it. Likely to disappear at a moments notice if they get a sniff of something better. B. Good, but 'mature' -and they stopped listening to music around 1980 and haven’t progressed since. C. Good, but completely flaky and unreliable – chances of them turning up at a gig (a) on the correct day (b) with all their gear in working order and (c) having learnt all the material = zero D. Absolutely tone deaf apart from one or two show-off party pieces they always trot out. I hope you manage to find better. 🙂

All together... Just needs setting up and the control cavity plate drilling 'n fitting... Thanks to all those offering help advice or simply there comments along the way... It's been Fun!

I would expect that she has looked at what other options there are. Rather like the thread about 'workshy' youngsters we don't know the circumstances and should maybe just answer the question asked without coming over as a bit preachy.

So here's the finished bass! Need to order some card to use as a background and do a proper photoshoot with it at some point, but you get the idea! Took it to my wedding gigs at the weekend and it sounded lovely, cut through the mix properly, settings were all useful too- the bridge pickup is as Jaydee-like as the one in my Vox Standard bass, the neck pickup has the growl of a Fender P, but put it in parallel for the sound of a Mustang, and put the bridge in parallel for a Jazz bass approximation, together in series they're a growly as heck, etc etc... but then I would say it sounded good wouldn't I..? 🤣 (the XLR is actually wired in now, though I don't think I'll ever need it) Overall though I'm pleased that it looks like it's from the era I based it on; even with my ukulele shape I think it carries the vibe of those mad old Matsumoku gems. The oil finish helps- as it's not even and has a bit of an open-pore thing going on it feels like an old bass already, which isn't bad considering I finished it last Thursday! Neck is very skinny and combined with the short scale it's very easy to shred all over it. Looking forward to getting some proper photos and demos sorted! Meantime here's a couple of clips I threw together for instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTFmS9jjmCo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CTDREcND4gb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Thanks for reading! -Steve

Natural as I love the look of wood.

It’s on its way!

'Over 20% off' at Screwfix 😉 last time I was in - £17.

70's P... (MiO) - Made in Orpington...

New album after 40 years? Well, that at least puts the long gap between the release of two Tool albums in perspective 😉

Yeah. When i was in my teens/at school it just wasnt cool to like ABBA, but we all liked to look at the photos of certain members 😎.

They were one of those bands that I hated at the time, although I fancied the blonde bird something rotten, but later realised that I knew every song and loved them. As Reggaebass said some of the bass lines were incredible. Boney M fall into this category too

Yae, I can get my T shirt out 😁

Why did I look at that blue one and go, "Ooh that's nice"? I only sold my 5GS last year that hadn't used in ten years. 🙄

You are not being pedantic, you are quite correct. The only reason I put it in there was my head was on fkn fire.

I had the pedal board out for my first gig back since lock down last Sunday. I have been using my HX Stomp with IEM for pub gigs but as this was an outdoor thing and there was an amp provided I thought I'd pull the PB out as it's recently had a new addition... As ever the Basswitch is the brain of the board. I'm running the CAli 76TX in the series loop (always on) and the Fender Trapper drive (the golden coloured box) in the switchable mix loop with a 50/50 blend. I wasn't using the Redwitch Zeus for this gig, it's there for an 80's thing where I'm doing some octave down/synth type lines but I had the tuner in it's place in the Basswitch dedicated tuner out which keeps it out of the signal path. When the Zeus is on the board it goes in the mix loop and the drive pedal just gets slotted into the signal chain. The gain adds a bit of life to the octave sound. As @DiMarco said above it's all I really need on a gig and I would sometimes remove the Basswitch and put the HX Stomp in it's place using the FX loop on the Stomp - I use the 3M dual lock which is great stuff if you're removing pedals with any frequency to swap things about to suit the gig.

Having been all over the UK and most of Europe with me, I have revamped the Hofner Verythin. The cosmetic changes are; Control knobs changed from the stock black ones Restrung with DR Black Beauties F holes painted to match binding Racing stripe added Looking forward to getting back out again with this one.

My approach is pretty simply - read the manual and tweak the gear. If you can do both at the same time even better then get the gear out to a rehearsal or gig and listen because it’ll always be different at volume with other instruments etc. Twist knobs, press buttons, check inside for little dip switches (and taking note of their position if possible). I w alluded to this before but if your DAW has a decent graphic eq it’s really useful to see what’s happening with different kit. Obviously there’s more in-depth gear folks are using to chart curves etc but if you have the gear at home it’s worth doing. Consider it creative use of kit to learn more about your gear. I’ve not done it yet with my latest acquisition but I’m content that I can hear it working and don’t really need to do a deep dive with it just yet as I can hear it working and I dig it. I’ve always insisted that a manual, especially a well written one, is a real bonus to have with so much gear and not just pedals and amps. As for the buttons I just thought you’d have already experimented with those as part of the creative home use. I know you weren’t keen with the amp cab sims on the stomp etc cause you like your cab but it’s equally as worthwhile getting creative and running then via your rig as you may stumble upon some winning combination! Either way it sounds like you’re getting more added value now you’ve done a deep dive with the pedal and it’s always good to get insight from the guys at T21HQ

Both of the above ^^^ As soon as you mentioned it not occurring when slapping on the fretboard my immediate thought was pole piece contact.

I've got a couple of acoustic gigs coming up, where space will be a real premium, and after last weekends gigs, I've every faith in the Elf 1x10 cab. Saturday, I did an outdoor gig in a large beer garden, with a 4 piece band, with Cajon / percussion, 3x vocals, guitar and keyboards (Cajon / percussion mic'ed into PA). I used the Elf, together with my Epifani 1x10, and it was more than enough. Really, really pleased with the sound too Sunday I did an acoustic duo, and the Elf cab alone was plenty. It sounded great at both gigs. As for weight / portability - it's my lightest weight cab ever. The built in handle and small dimensions means you're not arching your back over to one side, or bumping into people & chairs while you're carrying it too. I may even be tempted to get the head, as a backup, and as an alternative for my acoustic duos - it's so tiny it could fit into my pocket

https://www.boss.info/global/products/waza-air_bass/?fbclid=IwAR3K7jcAnHZeRzcpYsEbpHASqfcesPI9TvYqaddohWNSlInyCwvF0Ke7WoE A mate has the guitar one and despite my initial skepticism, it's very good, if a bit pricey. I'm quite tempted.

One more sub and we hit 100! If someone could oblige 😂✌🏻

Is the roller tray good for metal?

I’ll play, but I don’t want your money…. 😃 oc5, proton, vt Di, and FI… that's the signal chain b1-4 at the end I will however, relieve you of the Proton if that’s not made the cull!! 👍🏻

As it so happens, I've just walked through the door back from PMT after they booted me out at closing time. I got a few minutes on both. I will use the words "Basic" to describe the lighter single pickup bass, and "Custom" to describe the darker dual XTender bocote bass. Both basses are very good, good enough for me to be happy with either. They're different: the Basic is a wee bit cheaper, is lighter in weight, and dare I say it a little nicer to go up and down the neck. Conversely the Custom has a much larger variation in tone. Comparing these two to the Yamaha TRBX605 also at PMT, there is no comparison. Maybe the Yamaha and I didn't gel but the neck felt all wrong and the sound was not pleasant (even after amateur playing is taken into account). Looks-wise, you can see the pictures for yourself. The maple on the Basic is stunning in the flesh (in the wood?). The Custom has a more functional look. I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either. On the Custom I could get close to a Musicman when leaning towards the rear pickup. Nothing close to a P came out the neck pickup but it was smooth. Perhaps a J with a slight tilt towards the front pickup? I emailed Sandberg to ask them how the wiring of the single bucker was done in the Basic: series or parallel. I never got a reply but based on my playing, I would say they're in series and I was unable to get a Musicman burp from this bass. That's not to say it was bad: if I want a Musicman sound I could just buy one and if it were a SUB I'd have spare change over a Sandberg. For the benefit of this thread I may head in with an audio interface to record a short clip of me fumbling to play something. Could even make a game of it: guess the bass and which pickup 🙂. For me personally I will be back with my wife, whom I've said before has excellent taste in everything. She'll help me decide if either is the one for me, but at the moment both are contenders for augmenting the stable. It's quite exciting as the last bass I bought was probably around 13 years ago (and yes it was a Sandberg.) As an aside, I really do like and recommend PMT Oxford. They're patient and always willing to help me. Must be tough competing with Thomann's prices and service, but I wouldn't purchase an instrument without playing it first. Thomann would get sick of me after the 7th or 8th return.