mcnach

Sorry, I seem to have missed this earlier! What do you think of those ZS10? They've been in my shopping cart a few times but never went ahead thinking "they're relatively cheap, they can't be all that good" but they seem to be getting great reviews. Getting the right tip for you is key, 'though. Oh, you're really at the very centre of the city! It can get a bit busy with tourists, but it's a great area. When I arrived in Edinburgh I used to go for walks around there in the evening, when the streets are a lot quieter. Very fairytale-esque, in some ways. It's easy to get used to it. When I have family/friends visiting from Spain they all go "wow" and it takes me a minute to recognise that, yes, actually, this is pretty cool, it's just normal to me now I remember the very first time I set foot in this city. I came by train, for a job interview, from Oxford. I had already lived a few years in the South: London, Norwich, Cambridge, Reading and Oxford... and as the taxi drove me to my destination I was looking around thinking "I must come here some day and explore, it seems like an interesting city". I didn't think I was going to get the job... but I did, back in November 1999. Now I don't want to leave. Hey, being a Leither is slowly becoming a badge of honour!

He is! He made me 3 for the MB-5 (I could not decide which colour... black, orange or purple pearloid... I only use the black one )

I never played like him!

Please report back I'm considering one of those because the way they look, but I'd be interested to hear how it compares to other Precision pickups.

There's a seller on eBay, based in Glasgow, who would copy your pickguard in a different colour/material. He doesn't yet, but I will be sending him mine so he will have a template soon (5 string). I'll post here when it happens.

I haven't used the Neuro app with the C4 yet, but it was pretty easy with the Aftershock. I still prefer a PC, I like the large screen, but to tweak presets beyond what the physical knobs do it comes quite handy and it is intuitive.

I thought the same for a minute but then... you can store 6 presets on the unit that you can recall without any additional equipment. Once a given preset is stored, and teh control knobs assigned to whatever relevant functions you want for that specific preset, you won't need a computer. I see the process like this (I hope I'm not wrong! - sit with a nice cup of coffe or six in front of the computer, bass on my lap, C4 plugged in. - spend however much time I can be bother with checking various presets online, and deciding which ones I want to store - store chosen presets, tweak to taste, ensure the control knobs are assigned to useful functions for each preset go away and play the thing: you can still tweak certain parameters at the pedal itself just like with any other pedal. From time to time I'd get rid off presets I don't use/need and save different ones... I don't plan on using any additional controlers or anything, the synth FX would only be used here and there and not very heavily used so I don't need to be able to switch between 4 presets in a single song or anything like that. It's what I do with my Aftershock. I stored 6 presets and I've never gone back to edit anything: I choose the preset I want to use and I tweak gain or whatever at the pedal itself. I use two different overdrive pedals for different sounds, and the Aftershock to provide whatever else I can't get from the others... sometimes it's a heavy fuzz, sometimes a gritty overdrive... I would prefer if the C4 had 27 physical knobs and 12 switches but it would be the size of Pluto. I used a EXH Microsynth a lot over the years. I loved its simplicity. It was just a shame it could not store presets. The C4 does a million more things, but the controls are hidden. We need these two to have a baby!

You know what? I think I have some! I definitely bought some a while ago and never got around to use it... now, where could it be? Hmmmm...

The JJ's B string sounds fine to me, I tilted the neck pickup slightly away from it and it helped even out the sound but the stock strings are quite flexible and the B string feels a bit 'floppy'. I like the strings on the MB-5 but not so much here so we'll see how new strings behave (planning on DR Sunbeams with a 130 B-string). Quite curious to hear it with the U-Retro preamp. The JP's B string was a bit more off-balance and adjusting the pickup didn't quite even out things, but I haven't spent much time with it. I've got a set of TI Jazz flats for it and once I put them on I'll try to adjust things well and see how it goes. edit: I decided to play with the pickup height, in particular the split for the B and E strings... and yeah, it needed brought down a bit. It's amazing how big an effect adjusting pickup heights can have. So yeah, it's pretty even now. I still find it a bit floppy, especially with the stock strings which are really flexible (I can't stop myself from bending strings as it's so easy! ) but that's more a property of teh string itself. I can't say these are the best 5 string basses ever, that would be silly, but they're a lot more than just adequate. Best B string I tried was on a Lakland 5502, not sure how much of that was teh 35" scale or just that the pickups were better designed for the B.

The ability to download presets is what reassures me that I will use this pedal. I think it will be a lot easier to find presets that are close enough to what I want and then just do some relatively minor editing. Full editing from scratch won't be for me, I suspect.

I got one too last week and you got me at "Is editing a pain sure," Mine is used too, so after trying the presets the previous user had I reset it to factory settings... and I haven't used it since! I thought I would get a couple of sounds I wanted in the original presets, but nope. I really need to sit down, plug it into my PC and explore it properly. I used the Neuro app with a SA Aftershock and I much prefer a full screen to deal with all these menus and options.

They are 18mm. I thought it was 18.5 at first but I have measured it more carefully now.

whoa, that's a beast! (in a very good way)

I've had the little purple envelope filter for a few years and it's pretty good on both bass and guitar

I used one for a while. As a stage monitor it was fantastic, but I found I needed a second cab for small bar gigs with no PA (6-7 piece with horns). For what you describe you'll probably be ok. I'd consider the 15" CMD version or the Jeff Berlin combo if the size were still suitable. They're only a big bigger but the output of those is remarkable. The Jeff Berlin model in particular sounds much bigger than its size would suggest.

Not the MB-4, but I got an MB-5 and the PB-20. Anything in particular you're wondering?

It occurred to me looooooong after I had needed a solution like that. It seems obvious once you think of it, but it took a while for it to be obvious to me I had my H2 at work as a colleague was thinking of getting a small recorder, and I had my headphones plugged in, set it to record mode... and I could hear people talking down the corridor very clearly (it can be a nice spying device 😛 ) and a few weeks later I finally made the connection to using it onstage. First I took it to practice and the clarity was better than using my usual ACS earplugs even if my buds were not great at isolating. I bought a bunch of tips on eBay, different materials and sizes, and found a comply tip that felt comfortable and provided very good isolation. I think this is very important: unless you have a good seal you will not get very good results. In fact, you might be tempted to turn up the volume so that you can hear better... which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place! Your solution sounds good, you can keep adding small levels of sophistication The 2 mic idea is cool. I bought a pair of Behringer C2 (little condenser mics, they can be a bit noisy compared to proper good quality studio mics, but for this purpose they'd work well... I must try that, thank you for the tip!) Yes, I am in Edinburgh (Little France way), been here since November 1999. It was supposed to be only 3 years... but this city grabs you and doesn't let you go. The weather reeks but the people are too nice and it's too much fun here edit: I have also considered using a compressor/limiter to give me a little extra peace of mind, but I didn't research this part well. Just another thing to consider.

Ah, nice!!! As much as I am also not a fan of pearloid, the blue JJ looks very good. Tort looks fine to me on the sunburst, and the white even... but I agree, on the blue it just looks odd.

One thing that I used sometimes and worked surprisingly well (although obviously it won't compete in sound quality with a proper system) was a Zoom H2 recorder onstage plus a minimixer and the Behringer P1 above. I used the H2 in record mode without pressing record: that allowed me to use the H2 as a microphone (and it sounds quite good!) to get the 'stage sound' through it into the mini mixer set on my amp. Then I had a feed from my bass (pedalboard) into the mixer as well, and the output of the mixer into my P1. With a pair of good fitting earbuds that provided sufficient isolation, I get to control the overall volume and balance the stage sound with my bass from teh pedalboard. It's not very sophisticated but it sounded quite decent and while not very loud in my ears I still got the 'thump' from the drums and my amp onstage, so it was quite fun. It's a relatively cheap option independent of anybody else or any additional equipment, so you can use it anywhere. I believe @Dood used a similar approach in the past, maybe he has additional comments on this as I think he used it more than I have.

Yup. It will not look cool, but I frankly would not give a flying flip if they're blasting my ears.

No, I don't think you're overthinking it, your ears (your health) is far more important than any gig. I would need to be able to control at least the overall volume going into my ears. Getting your own mix would be ideal, but at the very least I'd want control over the volume in my in-ears. And make sure the buds you use seal properly and isolate you as much as possible. Customs are a good way to achieve that, but until you get those I'd try a range of tips to identify a set that works for you. The 'comply' memory foam ones tend to be pretty decent, just get the correct size for your ear canal. I've got one of these Behringer P1 units, they're pretty cheap. You can put whatever mix you get given through it and control the volume yourself. At the very least use something like that. https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0AZM

Beast. I liked the JJ, but I like the JP even better. Nicer pickups and the passive electronics are simple but they do just what I need it to do. Filed the nut slots a tiny bit as they were a bit too tall to allow a nice even lowish action, adjusted the truss rod (nice and smooth, and that little rod is handy) and saddles a tiny bit... and away you go. Not exactly a classic Precision sound (pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than standard), but it would still be recognised as Precisionesque for sure. Nice growl to it. It's also a pretty light bass for 5 strings (8.5 lbs) as I mentoned earlier. It just needs some shielding which is absent in any meaningful way. What I thought was conductive paint is just some kind of primer I guess, not conductive. But that's easy enough to fix. That pickguard needs to go 'though. I don't get why it's so popular I'll get a single ply black instead.

This is not going to be a great demo, exactly, but it's the only recording I've got so far. This is the JJ, with a foam mute. It's still very much a work in progress using a click track, ignore the horns, they're little more than placeholders right now. It'll be done better. The bassline is extremely simple with just this one sound which is dark and devoid of a lot of nuance, so not much of a demo , so more of a "it looks like a £180 bass can be ok straight out the box". Hopefully I'll get better examples in the near future. https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0vg9ghf0pitrf7/220506 - Summer wind so far.mp3?dl=0 MP3

I was looking at the Nordstrand Big Split 5 (EMG40 size) which look like a nice option too. Some route expansion needed, but with a couple of sharp chisels and taking it very slow it should not be too hard. It's another option I'm considering, since I'm the same: I don't need it to be very Jazz-like. I have just got the JP-55OP, and I'm liking it more than the JJ. Ok, part of it is the weight, it's only 8.5 lbs, which to me is as light as I could ever hope a 5 string like this to be, and it adds to the comfortable feeling. But the pickups are different too and I'm really liking the Precision pickup. I always see PJ basses essentially as a Precision with the option of bringing in some of the neck pickup sometimes. I never use the bridge alone, so I just adjust its height to the point it sounds best to me when blended equally, and it's important that the P sound is good, so from that point of view I'm very pleased and have no urge to replace anything. The P pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than it would be on a typical Precision. It still has that Precision 'bark'', when you hear it you know it is some kind of Precision, but it's a bit darker/smoother. I wish it were at the standard position, but it's a good sound. Pickups look alnico of some sort looking at the polepieces, while the JJ's are ceramic. Comparing the bridge alone on both basses, the JP one has a bit more grunt and it's a sound I could find a use for with a little added low end, while I'd never use the bridge alone on the JJ (much like I do on any Jazz, really, I find the bridge too thin), but the two J pickups together have that classic Jazz sound, so that's cool. Everything build-wise is much like the JJ, I can't fault it. The JP is passive, and the simple electronics suit the bass well. Maybe one day I'll put a Tonestyler on it, I really like those, but honestly the passive tone control does what I want it to do. Like on the JJ, shielding is just not a thing, apparently. Easy to fix, 'though. Just like on every Harley Benton bass I've had my hands on new, the nut is cut slightly tall. I am thinking that's by design now. I'm always a bit wary when I get a bass that out of the box seems to be prepared to play with highish action (the stock strings are very compliant, so it doesn't feel hard even at high action), as it can hide a multitude of fretwork sins... but when you adjust it for lower action it responds well and no fretbuzz to speak of. I only filed down the nut slots a tiny bit, so it's not quite there but the action is now fine for me. I like a medium action with enough relief so that when I did hard I don't get excessive fret noise, but not too high that it compromises my slap (which is not amazing on a good day... I learnt enough to play in a RHCP tribute band for 5-6 years, but while I can copy others it's not a technique I feel I can use very well using my own ideas, and I'm worse on a 5 string). Not a fan of tortoiseshell effects or pearloid, so I need to do something about those ugly pickguards (going for black single ply on the JP, or just vinyl wrap)... but overall I think they're pretty nice looking, the feel/balance is very good (if this is Aria's original design... well done, Aria, it's not a small body but it's shaped in such way that it feels small), the build is very good and only the electronics are a bit 'meh' in the case of the JJ. I have no complaints whatsoever about the JP. I like that they come with this nice little rod to turn the truss rod wheel. I've been using a small screwdriver for years on my Stingray, and it's fine, but this rod fits better which is a nice touch. This is the JP-55OP:

By the way, the JP55OP arrived today. Nice and light (8.5 lbs!). Different pickups to the JJ (JJ look ceramic judging by the polepieces, JP look alnico of some sort) and passive... and I prefer it to the JJ. Once again the nut is cut a little tall so you can't get the lowest action until that's done, and hopefully the frets are reasonably levelled. Just like the JJ, everything seems well built, smooth fret ends, plays well out of the box, and tonally it's a nice PJ. The P pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than on a regular Precision, but the sound from that pickup is unmistakeably that of some kind of Precision, with a nice growl. I'm done buying basses for a while now but Harley Benton is now definitely on my radar as a brand to definitely consider next time I want some other kind of bass.