garethfriend

Completely agree about the eq, but it's never bothered me as I play through a cab that doesn't really colour the sound very much and I have decent eq on my basses, can understand why this might bother people with passive basses though.

Here's mine: [attachment=69417:P1020430.JPG] Orange Terror Bass 500w on top of a Barefaced Vintage, bass is a SBMM SB14 with a nordstrand mm4.3 pickup in it. Sounds massive and punchy, real presence in the mix without having to get all jingley and trebley to cut through. Must admit my first bass experience with valves has made me want to get a full valve setup like the ad200mk3. One day.....

Kings of leon - sex on fire, liked it when it first came out but gigged it a few times and now hate it with a passion. Strangely never liked yellow by coldplay until we gigged it but do actually enjoy that one now. guess it depends on the song.

+1 on stamina, not so much on hysteria but new born really gets me after a few times through the verse.

Cool, like it.

I have played mine through an ampeg 4x10, orange sp410 and the barefaced vintage 2x15 that I currently have and by far the most impressive sound for me is the vintage. Don't think you can buy them new anymore though. The orange sp cab was pretty good but not as loud as the ampeg but then the sound through the ampeg wasn't as good to my ear. I'd be looking at the barefaced compact if it were my money, same sound as the vintage from what I have been told but about half the size and right loud.

yep, definitley stiffer. Wouldn't say it affects the sound much though.

not heard of the 133s before. apart from the limited colours and eq is there any difference between these and the normal rays? As it happens I was after a blue one with a maple board and a 2 band eq. could be just the ticket at £400 quid less than the SR4 assumin everything else is the same.

Don't know whether it's an acheivement as such but when I started playing for my current band I had never really played bass (8 years as a lead guitarist), I felt kind of like an imposter - a guitarist in bassists clothing. The first few gigs I have ever done on bass I am told after each one by members of the audience that I am better than the bands previous bassist (a proper bassist with a warwick and everything). Other bassists are surprised to learn that I have only picked up bass 2 months prior and that I have written all the basslines I've been playing. Over the course of the last few months I have actually realised I like playing bass more than I ever liked guitar and that I probably picked up the wrong instrument 8 years ago (further proved by the fact that if I go back and listen to what I was listening to back then it was mostly stuff with great basslines). Not really an acheivement as such but a happy day when you realise and others confirm youv'e found the right instrument.

Ok I tried a local luthier who was less than optimistic about the job and hasn't gotten back to me, I have also considered doing it myself but have neither the tools nor the recent experience with a router to feel confident doing this (I used one to build a bedside table in school but that was a good few years ago now). Basically my pickup routings are about the right thickness but about 6mm too short to take the pickups I want to put in, they need extending by a few mm at either end. Pretty small ammount of wood to remove really but because the bass has a solid finish (not sure if it is paint and lacquer or some type of poly finish) rather than natural I have been told it is going to be difficult to avoid chipping the finish. After a bit of research I'm fairly sure that this is possible to do and to make look right, now I need someone lined up to do the work once the pickups arrive. Does anyone know anyone within about an hour of Derby who has the tools and skill to do such a job? Failing that I'm off to buy/borrow a router and look for some junk bass bodies to practice on (would rather not go down this road for so many reasons it's untrue but if push comes to shove...). Tips for getting a clean cut through the finish? Note to self: either buy a bass that has standard size pickups in it to start with or ones that I am happy with.

[quote name='Rasta' post='1040251' date='Nov 28 2010, 06:41 PM']Is the vintage a fairly easy one man lift?[/quote] Yeah it's right easy, and I've got a dodgy knee. The wheels help alot too.

Does anyone know if as strings get older they change thier balance? What I mean is I have a 6 month old set of DR lo riders on my BTB which I never had a problem with but recently the E is super loud compared to the others. I have taken them off and done the soaking in meths trick which makes them bright again but the E is still loud, any thoughts? I have sort of gotten around it by dropping the pickups a bit and using more gain and a bit of compression but I am confused as to why they were fine in the previous configuration for so long. Anyone shed some light? Do E strings go funny with age more than the others?

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1039520' date='Nov 28 2010, 01:27 AM']The vintage is the 2x15 yeah? I had an OTB through the compact and the sound was ridiculously loud.[/quote] Yeah it's the 2x15, had first practice with a drummer since august today, had it on half volume and had to turn down a bit. Right loud.

Cheers for all the replys guys, I ended up getting the barefaced vintage, sounds alot better than all of the of the 4x10s I tried so I'm happy.

I'm after some pickups to go in my bass, have been for a while, long story short there is nothing aftermarket that is going to drop straight into the existing routing but Nordstrand soapbars such as the big single and fat stacks are pretty close and will require the least amount of routing so I am thinking of going down that route. So everyones raving about them yet I don't seem to be able to find much of any use to actually hear what they sound like (apart from the odd youtube slap bass clip). What I am after is an example of the big singles, big splits, dual coils or fat stacks played fingerstyle. If anyone has a comparison of the fat stacks in coil tap and normal mode that would be great too as they are currently the ones I am most interested in. Can anyone help? Cheers

Bass Apprentice, 2.78secs, is ok considering I've only tried to read about 4 bars of music in my life. Addictive game though. Any one got links to something to help recognise intervals? I heard one exists but not where to get it.

I started on a SR300, does the job but I upgraded pretty quickly as the electronics annoyed me. Otherwise a good first bass though. For £250 I'd be looking at a Squier Vintage modified Jazz bass though, cracking bass for the money and should hold it's value a bit better than Ibanez should you outgrow it and want to sell.

Main gigging bass is a BTB470, plays really nicely especially after a pro setup, I have played basses worth a couple of grand more that I've not found as comfortable to play. Electronics are mediocre at best though, going to whack some new pups and preamp in it after christmas. Not a big fan of the elixr strings they put on them as standard, far to slippery and slidey with that coating and sounded a bit thin. Now running DR Nickel Loriders and they suit it perfectly and feel great.