mcnach

I would get a second opinion first

37 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

So most BC members then? 😁

I didn't realise that we'd met!

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Wait a bit until they settle in, and you'll like them even more.

 

Amazing strings for that price tag.

20 hours ago, BassAgent said:

Well it's not a SUB neck because they have a black finish. "Sub" in this case might indicate substitute.

It's quite common for people to strip that black finish. It's not as smooth as a satin finish, so just like some people take a scouring pad to glossy neck finishes, some people stripped the necks on their SUBs. That compensated nut is quite difficult to explain otherwise.

2 hours ago, BlueMoon said:

Call me a convert. I bought a 4 string set to try out and was quite impressed. Well worth the price and compare favourably with some name-brand alternatives that cost 3-4 times as much.

I got a set months ago as I was mildly curious and needed to add a few £ to get free delivery, but I didn't have the right opportunity to try them until yesterday. I just wish I had bought a 5 string set instead, as that's what I play most.

15 hours ago, Hellzero said:

In fact, they sound like the Thomastik JF, without the high price tag and their super smooth touch, and with more tension, of course.

I don't find them similar to TI Jazz Flats, I feel these have a deeper bottom and lower mids. If I were going to compare them with anything it would be GHS flats. Regardless, they're pretty nice and they cover quite a range of sounds using the passive tone control, at least while fresh.   

I had a 4-string set for a while that I bought to try, as they're just around £10-12, or £15 for a 5-string set. I finally put them on a bass and I'm really liking their sound. I almost never like a set of flats on day 1, but these are nice. 

That's all, public service announcement over.

That neck looks like the real thing, I haven't seen those compensated nuts in anything other than EBMM instruments in the mid-2000s, which tracks with the idea that it might just be the neck from a SUB (the made in USA SBMM ones, made between 2003-2006). I had a 2005 SUB with the compensated nut. The serial number on those was a sticker on the back of the headstock, which would be gone while stripping it (SUBs had a black headstock and black back of the neck). 

Resale price will take a hit for sure, but it can be a very decent instrument, this.

On 11/09/2024 at 22:04, mcnach said:

One thing I didn't like much is teh pickguard shape... but the routing is reasonably clean

 

 

Passive tone control doesn't go as dark as I'd like, I might change the capacitor... however, while playing around adding a bit of the neck pickup while rolling off the passive tone and the treble control I found some really tasty sounds, fat and rich... 

 

This is a lot of bass, and not just 'for the money'.

 

 

I had to go and do it... and a blue Z3-5 just joined my Z7-5 after a few months playing the Z7 a lot. The Z7 feels like the better bass, but the Z3 is definitely more Stingray-like and surprise to me: I prefer the preamp on the Z3 too. 

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

😂😂😂

I remember years ago one of the older guys i worked with came into work and after a visit to the loo he realised he'd put on his wife's underwear. The obvious Scottish sarcasm followed and when asked how he managed that he explained. 

"It was still dark when he woke up and didn't want to wake his wife. His underwear was in the drawer next to his wife's and he opened what he thought was his drawer and took out underwear not aware he was in the wrong drawers. (excuse the pun)

He was almost retirement age so we all believed it was a genuine mistake so think yourself lucky it was only a minor mistook you made Daryl. 🤣

Not 100% sure why he even told us. ? Think i would have kept my mouth shut.

Dave

by mistake... yeah right

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

I see the two dl=1 images albeit the second is rotated, can't see the other two at all

Thank you!

And yes, the two images are at 90 degrees of each other, so that's just the way I made the images. I didn't bother correcting the orientation as I just wanted to see whether the images were visible or not.

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I can't see any of the images. The two that are dl=1 show a broken link and the other two nothing.

Thank you. Am I right that you're in the "Apple ecosystem"?

Can anybody using a Mac/iPhone see them at all?

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

I can't see any "dl=0" image, but I can see the two "dl=1" images too.

 

I'm using a PC and an Android smartphone with Google Chrome.

 

Firefox is ok too, as is Microsoft Edge, all using Windows 11 Family.

 

Thank you for trying in all those combinations!

12 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I see the same error message box - just smaller!

arrrgh!

😭

By default, the link you get when you "copy dropbox link", ends in dl=0. Originally (talking maybe 2010 or so) I noticed that those links didn't seem to work, but changing it to dl=1 fixed it. Of course, that was on a different forum software too.

When I was trying to include the images, I noticed some didn't show initially, but if I resized the image to around 30% then it displayed when embedded in a post, at least for me... but from other people's comments it seems that only I was able to see them. Which is odd and unfortunate as I have no way to give or not permissions, by default a link is public. 

:shrug:

I'm going to try a few things here, please somebody tell me if they can see any images.

1) Dropbox link (dl=0), small image, under 200 Kb

[well, I can't embed this one, the link appears highlighted when I put it on the box for the url, and it just won't be accepted]

This is the link directly, "as a link":

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/na3xcu0vzkiigrm1g58ib/IMG_20250511_141711_s.jpg?rlkey=mk6oj71ipdi3due4g4wd5d8dd&dl=0

2) Dropbox link (dl=1), small image, under 200 Kb

This is the direct link:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/na3xcu0vzkiigrm1g58ib/IMG_20250511_141711_s.jpg?rlkey=mk6oj71ipdi3due4g4wd5d8dd&dl=1

Embed (at least I see this one!):

3) Dropbox link (dl=0), large image, a bit under 5 Mb

embed: doesn't work

direct link:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/196kf8s2h7ymkuhyxv6u0/IMG_20250511_141711_large.jpg?rlkey=9or3g2y47pkv0eojjz49pvvc5&dl=0

4) Dropbox link (dl=1), large image, a bit under 5 Mb

direct link:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/196kf8s2h7ymkuhyxv6u0/IMG_20250511_141711_large.jpg?rlkey=9or3g2y47pkv0eojjz49pvvc5&dl=1

embed (I can see it): 

 If it's the bass we all seem to think it is...

Cool looking bass!

I agree, it seems a bit silly to install those pickups on that bass with that string spacing, but I doubt there's any mileage talking about warranties with anybody, so as disappointing as it may be, I'd be looking at ways to alleviate the issue.

One would be replacing the bridge with something that will give you a slightly narrower string spacing, if you can live with narrower spacings.

Listening to the clip that was provided, I can hear the volume discrepancy and while not great, it's not huge either. Using a compressor would probably be my choice, it's simple enough and no surgery required. Replacing pickups is probably a non-starter due to the design.

I've had bigger volume drops (particularly on the higher strings) on standard basses (Stingray and Precision come to mind) which I just adapted to by plucking harder or softer, it becomes second nature quickly. So I suspect a compressor should work well.

Personally I'd stay away from DH Gate, purely because it's a bit of a lottery. I'd go with some of the usual cheaper suspects that are known to be generally decent: Squier, Harley Benton, Westfield, SX... 

I've put a few pedals for sale, but none of them show a thumbnail and at least some of them fail to display the images in the post itself.

I've been using this method for as long as I can remember, I have no idea why it's not working now.

I can't be the only one using Dropbox. Has anybody else found issues? 

Using Chrome browser, Windows 11/10 (different computers). 

5 hours ago, Paddy777 said:

Pictures not showing up mate - which one is it? 

I don't know what's going on with the pictures... 😕

If you copy/paste this into a new browser window it should display:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dmc0qsstctanrv5a9dkpl/IMG_20250511_142124.jpg?rlkey=30q3y5x613v5lnlhes6eqtm51&dl=1

It's the yellow one:

https://www.markbass.it/product/markbass-mb-octaver/

53 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

your photo doesn't work but I can confirm these are very nice pedals

 

Thank you for letting me know. I've reduced the size and it appears to display now... :shrug:

Gremlins...

aha!

This is an analog unit whose primary function is to simulate a speaker cabinet when going direct to desk. This is particularly useful if using overdrive/distortion. 

It also functions as a headphone amp with an additional AUX input that allows you to play along to other sources, and it is also a DI box with a balanced XLR output in addition to the standard 6.3mm output and a 'through' output that bypasses the simulation.

Price includes UK postake.
 

I can insert YouTube videos, but not dropbox links to my own pictures... what kind of sorcery gone wrong is this???

For some reason my dropbox links don't seem to work in thumbnails :shrug:

Great, I can't insert them here either... :rolleyes:

edit: well, reducing the size seems to have done the trick