mcnach

So whoever is there doesn't even sign with their own name?

I had a Peavey too with that very narrow spacing, can't recall which model, it was long ago. It was... challenging! I was also learning to slap at the time and my technique was quite poor, flapping my right hand all over the place... I could never hit the right string with an acceptable error rate

I don't find the nut width changes the spacing where I pluck significantly, that's why I care(d) mostly about the bridge spacing as that had a very clear effect on how my right hand felt.

Do you play 5-strings regularly? Because you're describing me... until very recently. The only thing that changed was that rather than playing 5-strings from time to time, I play 5 strings every day now.

No idea. The email just had an image for signature: Marcus Bell.

I hope that streak will continue for you! Clearly not all transactions are bad, and I had a few that went just fine myself, but the one interaction has not been great... and after reading the comments here I'm definitely not coming for seconds. There is nothing they have that I cannot get elsewhere.

Yeah but you're 6 feet 7, I'm a short derrière so I guess he's not intimidated by me

Well, it's not happening to me again, that's for sure. I don't mind so much the stock issues, it's a mild annoyance at best, but the attitude? That's a combo that doesn't make me want to give them my money. So I won't.

Are they always semi-rude? I placed an order earlier today. A while later I get an email from Paypal with a refund. No explanation. No notes. I email BD to ask why. I got a curt reply that included "like I said, it was not in stock". 1) so their in-stock/out-of-stock notes on the website are not up to date... nice, why do you even bother indicating stock? 2) what's with the attitude? I heard of that before but it's kind of ridiculous: are they ran by grumpy teenagers? There was a note, on my Paypal account, if I click on the transaction and scroll. Most definitely not on the email I received. Petty, perhaps, but it's not like there aren't alternatives so guess who's crossing BD off the list of shops to buy from. Order now placed with another shop.

I recently got a Ray35 bass. Two things surprised me a bit: 1) String spacing of 17.5mm does not bother me. 2) The G string does not feel like it's falling off the edge. The spacing was a surprise because I used to not get along with 5-string basses unless they were at least 18mm. Even the 17.5mm of a Stingray5 felt odd. But that was when I was not playing 5-strings much. For the past year and a half I've been playing 5-strings regularly and with that came the realisation that I don't care about the spacing as much as I used to. The 17.5mm spacing actually feels quite good and I might even prefer it to 19mm now, which is not where I was a few years ago. But the thing about teh G string... I remember trying Stingray5 basses a couple of times and feeling the G string was way too close to the edge of the fingerboard. I don't have any issues with the Ray35 (in that respect, it had *other* issues ). It doesn't *look* to me different from what I see on Stingray5 photographs, but it's not a good way to compare them. It's entirely possible that the neck profile/dimensions are not close to what EBMM uses for their Stingray5, of course... Does anybody know how the EBMM Stingray5 and the Ray35 compare with regards to the neck dimensions, and in particular the width of the fingerboard? Here's the Ray35, because why not

I have my preference with regards to string spacing on 4 string basses, but I'm generally happy enough with whatever. However, when it comes to 5 strings, I have/had a very strong preference for wider spacing. At least 18mm but ideally 19mm. Indeed, one of the things putting me off 5-string Stingrays was their narrower spacing (17.5mm). It doesn't sound like much but whenever I tried one I just didn't like it. However, I noticed this is changing and I realised that this is probably because for about 18 months now I've been playing 5 string basses regularly, while before I was just playing once in a while. The reason I started playing 5 strings is that I found one bass that just felt right, for some reason. I've owned all kinds: Squier, G&L, Lakland, Peavey, and a few others, but no, it was a cheap Harley Benton MB5 SBK ('stealth black' Stingray style) that did it. Not sure what it was, certainly not the spacing (16mm), but it sounded nice and it was comfortable... That led to me playing it more and more and I think today I'm equally comfortable on 4 or 5 strings although my muting can still improve a bit on 5 strings. Earlier this year I got a couple more Harley Benton 5 string basses because as I play 5-strings more and more I was starting to miss having a Jazz and Precision sounds available. So I got a JJ-55OP and a JP-55OP, which turned out to be fantastic. They have 18mm spacing, which is great. Then I thought... surely 17.5mm can't be all that different, but I remember not getting along with that, hmmm. I got a Ray35 last week, with the same 17.5mm spacing... and it feels just fine. In fact, I think I even prefer it to wider (19mm) and narrower (16mm), it feels like a 'goldilocks' spacing: wide enough that it doesn't feel too odd when switching from a 4-string, but without feeling cramped. So, it turns out that it wasn't so much that I had a strong preference for wider spacing on 5-string basses... it was just that I was not very comfortable with 5-string basses at all, so the less the geometry changed from what I was used to, the better. That old thread on TalkBass about Sterling Ball 'experiment' offering a 19mm spacing Stingray seems like a lot of nothing, really, from today's perspective. Anyone else found the same?

I don't play many 'solos', but once when I was asked I just stood there smiling, looking at the audience from side to side... then I struck one big fat note (whatever was the root at the time) and let it ring, trying to look very pleased with myself. People laughed (with me, I hope, not at me!) and we moved on.

Come on, only 18 more to go! scratch that, 17

Not sure which PJ are you are referring to, but if you mean the JP-55OP, those have a wider string spacing, yes. I'm the same as you with regards to the MB-5 SBK, it's narrower than I'd prefer. I got used to it (used it live at the weekend for the first time at last, no issues at all) but I feel more at home with a wider spacing. The neck is wide enough so I considered replacing the bridge with something a bit wider but I never did. It's a possibility, if spacing is uncomfortable.

That's the one! Tickled Trout not 'ticking'

No, it's the Ticking Trout now.

Hmmm... Try again

Exactly. It makes me a little sad when I see the comments "but is he in a band?", "technically brilliant but is he a musician?"... Yup, I'm sure he'd be completely lost playing Sex On Fire at the Red Lion on Saturday night... Come on guys...

love it!

I know what you mean, I've been there... and I still have to learn! BUt what helped me was simply... listening to a LOT of reggae, both in quantity but also in diversity. While, for instance, funk came very easy to me, I think it was because I had listened to a lot of it over many years, but by contrast I only heard about Bob Marley and a handful others when I first wanted to play reggae. So I started listening to a lot of it, Spotify was quite useful for that but there's tons on YouTube too. Eventually it gets into your brain and you start to 'get' it: the notes, and the phrasing which is the most important I think.

Honestly, I've shimmed a few basses in my time and I never noticed any problems. I think while the concern makes sense mechanically, in practice it must be negligible. I used thin card, like the one business cards are made from, sometimes even thinner. You really don't need much, just a 1cm wide strip placed at the bottom of the neck pocket will have a small but noticeable effect.

Not quite the same, but they could be family , similar 'socks' too She's my girlfriend's cat, but since we moved together she prefers to come to me for playtime. When we first met, the cat wanted nothing to do with me. She peed in my shoe once during the first month. After that I'd call her "little rusty bullethole" with a very smiley face everytime I saw her... she started to react to that name happily, expecting to play. In her defence, it appears that they had a plumber in that day and he closed the bathroom door where her litter tray is (which was normally kept open when not in use) so I guess she was looking for an alternative and chose "the foreign object"

are you new here?

+1 This, for any bass.

Years ago I got an LMT800 when my main amp was an LMIII. I thought the additional 300W would mean I'd notice it being able to get noticeably louder. It really didn't. It was probably louder, as the different rating would suggest, but I didn't think it was significant enough to warrant switching to an 800W amp just for that. I ended up selling the LMT800 because I liked the sound of the LMIII better. I used the same speaker cabs with the amplifiers: 1 or 2 Barefaced Big Baby 2.