mcnach

If you are after the Stingray sound without Stingray prices... the old Made in USA (2003-2006) MM SUB is the one to go for. It's "the real thing" in construction, electronics, and sound. Not available new anymore, but you do see them used here with regularity. About £350. I own two, awesome basses.

I bought this '94 Korean Squier Jazz here a while ago because I wanted a cheap Jazz and I wanted it red. The first one that came along was purchased. The electronics were not working and needed some general attention, but nothing terrible. I have two other fretted Jazz basses. What was my first real bass (a Vintage clone I sold and managed to buy back) and a CIJ75 RI Fender. This one did not have the sentimental value or the quality... but it was red , and the neck was delicious... so I kept it and gigged it a few times, trying flats, tapewounds... also trying different pickups (the original ones went, they were not very nice). I have used it with Seymour Duncan SJB-2 pickups for a while, but they were a bit too dark for my taste. I wanted something a bit more brighter and "traditional" and the DiMarzio Area J looked interesting, being humbuckers too (ok, so not that traditional after all ). And a J-Retro preamp appeared for sale, with Jazz-like concentric knobs. I bought that one too. Finally, last night, the deed was done. I replaced the pickups and fitted the preamp. I also have been using this bass without pickguard but I had this mint green in my collection, so I put it on. It sounds great! I have a gig tonight, and this red beauty is coming with me, giving the Stingray a rest

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1379504062' post='2213385'] apologies for my ignorance but what are half pots and where do i go to find replacements for my vmJ which is still stock apart from the bridge (which i have hacked away a chunk of the body with a sharp chisel to lower the gotoh bridge down flush to enable better adjustment)? [/quote] I guess it's one way to address that issue. Now write a label and attach it to teh chisel. The label should read: "ask BC for hints before using this again on a guitar"

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379344933' post='2211500'] Swapping a set that are absolutely crap for some decent ones will make a big improvement , but swapping one fairly respectable - sounding pickup for another supposedly superior upmarket one can all to often end up being a sideways move , and that is true on expensive basses just as much as cheaper ones [/quote] Look at the wide range of pickups available for Jazz basses, from any single big decent manufacturer like DiMarzio. I would not say one set is better than another, but they vary A LOT in sound. You may not like a perfectly respectable pickup, but like another also perfectly respectable. Jazz bass pickups in particular, I have gone through quite a few in a limited number of basses,, so I got to try the same bass with different pickups: there is quite a big difference between, say, Seymour Duncan SJB-2, Fender USA (forget the model) and DiMarzio Model J. Oh, and Nordstrand NJSE. Which one is better? That's subjective, and it depends on the actual bass too.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379343268' post='2211471'] Interesting! My experiences are completely the opposite! Doesn't make yours wrong of course (or mine) but just shows how differently people perceive things. I've found that a new (and decent) set of strings makes the biggest difference. Then pickups (which don't have to be all that expensive, but it is worth doing your research first). Tuners can be a cheap but worthwhile improvement. IME, "upgrading" the bridge makes little or no difference to the sound or playability of the instrument. YMMV, caveat emptor, IME, IMO, etc!! [/quote] That's exactly my experience too. Pickups may make little difference, or a huge difference. There are so many different ones out there! But it's generally, in my experience, a pretty sure way to change the sound of a bass, cheap or expensive it does not matter. The change may not be necessarily for the better, 'though! Tuners... I have never found a bass that needed new tuners, unless they were broken. It's not exactly hi-tec, and cheap tuners can work just fine. Bridge? I won't even go there. Strings and pickups is where it's at, for me.

[quote name='Junkyard Rocket' timestamp='1379359317' post='2211799'] Don't Markbass amps already have a built-in low pass filter that does the same job as a thumpinator? I'm almost certain I heard that somewhere. [/quote] I don't think so. The Thumpinator clearly has a very pronounced effect on mine. The VLF and VLE filters are something else entirely, if that's what you were referring to.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379328955' post='2211226'] Leave them some feedback to the effect that they can be a bit pushy and/or unreasonable [/quote] Please, do. That's what feedback is for, not just to say "awesome guy/girl!" everytime. I mean, most times that's what people are, but I'd appreciate being warned that someone could be a bit impatient. It would not keep me from selling them something, but it would make me be extra communicative with them and warn them in advance of when I think I could post so that they don't get upset.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1379327618' post='2211208'] I would have thought the point of having this would be to put it at the end of the chain? No point taming the lows from the bass to add them all back on with fx! But yes, I'd like one too. [/quote] Yeah, that's how I use it and how it made sense to me to use it. But I heard of enough people who claim certain pedals appear to respond better when placed after the Thumpinator. Octavers, for instance. Presumably removing extreme low end makes pitch recognition a little bit easier and so it improves the tracking. I haven't tried it myself. The Thumpinator seems to have no noticeable effect (regarding pronounced speaker cone movement) when using my TC RH450. It appears that amp already has a markedly low high pass filter which removes a lot of the subsonic low end. My RS cab's speakers move a lot more when using the Markbass through them. I had a gig last night to which I took the Markbass and used the Thumpinator. It was just as loud as usual, but the speakers moved noticeably less. That has to be a good thing. Actually, someone came afterwards to comment just how nice the bass sounded and was raving about the amazing little amp I was using... but I doubt what he heard was a lot to do with the amp, but just that the sound guy we had knew what he was doing. Someone else who has seen me play with the same band many times before, a bassist himself, told me he thought the RH450 I used previously had more "oomph"... but we had different sound guy last night compared to other times, so who knows what was due to the amp and what to the sound man. On stage I prefer the Markbass. I find it easier to get a midrangey but fat sound out of it. BUt I digress...

[quote name='Dandelion' timestamp='1379109086' post='2208903'] Mouse mat. Or those rubberised placemat things.. [/quote] This. Well, to be exact, two of these I superglued two mouse mats, rubber side out.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1379195051' post='2209806'] What a lot of people are missing is that some things cannot be executed simply by practicing it a lot. A flute will not sound good in the piccolo register simply by practicing playing as high as possible for hours a day. There are better ways than others to achieve the best result. [/quote] We were not talking metaphysics, but a very common bass technique

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1379181277' post='2209607'] I find it's best to start with a click at a very slow tempo, however slow it needs to be that you can play the figure consistently then once your brain and your fingers know what they are doing, up the tempo by say, 5bpm and only moving up when you can play that consistently too etc. Personally I would hit that lick with 1st finger then 2nd and 1st for the 2 16ths, raking back with that first to begin again. Hope that makes sense. If you start very very slow you will probably find what suits you best. Any good with a pick? Could be easier that way. [/quote] This. It's a matter of starting slowly and being patient. It'll eventually work. I also rake back to the first note, with practice it becomes a soft rake and you don't really hear it once you're playing full steam. I find that I lose the ability to do it well unless I practice it often... so keep at it!

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1379085964' post='2208544'] Ahem,cough..hidden in FAQ's [color=white]What about thomann exchange rates if I am based in the UK?[/color] As we are based in Germany, we can only trade in Euros. This means thomann that all prices given in pounds on the website fluctuate with the markets and should be used for guidance only. If you are paying by credit card the exchange rate of the day we take the money from your card applies, please note that we only charge your credit thomann card shortly before the order gets shipped out. It is possible that your credit card company applies a different, more unfavourable exchange rate, please note that this depends on the credit card company and we unfortunately have no influence on that. Some credit card companies might also charge thomann extra fees for international transactions, which has nothing to do with the exchange rate itself. Again we have no influence on that and can´t be held responsible, sorry! [/quote] so, as previously noted... nothing much to do with Thomann. You are buying from Germany, in euros, regardless of whether you can see the price in GBP too. Final cost and fees will vary according to what method you choose to pay... imposed by the credit card company, not Thomann. It may be worth making a list of which companies' cards result in extra costs, so we can avoid them. I have always used my debit card (Natwest), as far as I can remember, and never incurred in extra charges.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1378986809' post='2207350'] Thanks Jose. Ah yes my bad. I don't have any official pics of her yet because she's not officially finished but just for you mate.... Goldie Alder bod - maple/rosewood heid Audere JZ3 VB G&L humbucker (of course) weird grey bobbin ex-Tokai J pup (possible one-off custom job) G&L bridge Schallers clear plexi thumbrest oh yeah Datsun gold paint on bod (the reverse is black) and heid [/quote] Not normally a fan of gold, but that looks very nice. Black on the back you say? Nice! I like where you placed the bottom strap holder too!

Not as good as the previous too... but this is one of our latest attempts to put a video together to give people something to look at while listening on youtube [url="http://youtu.be/9n5sYmb0BlY"]http://youtu.be/9n5sYmb0BlY[/url]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1378946140' post='2206992'] Last showreel I did - [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkCUkYczSzo[/media] Find us at [url="http://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk"]http://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk[/url] [/quote] awesome! really sleek!

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1378940459' post='2206961'] Bit of solo effort this. Woke up this morning with an idea for bass, recorded it then edited up a video for it. All the music is played on bass. [media]http://youtu.be/eHmlIijkCzg[/media] [/quote] beautiful. Only one glaring omission: we need a picture of the "homemade bass". It's a rule.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1378823271' post='2205123'] I suspect that the shim has always been considered to be part of the factory adjustment procedure in bolt-on basses. If the pocket is designed to give the correct neck angle and elevation with a small shim in place, there is scope to adjust the angle in both directions (either by using a larger shim or removing the shim) to correct for manufacturing tolerances. If it was designed for the perfect angle without a shim, adjustment would only be possible in one direction and any instruments that needed to be adjusted for less neck angle would have to be rejected. Viewed this way, it seems like a smart bit of design for production line instruments. [/quote] That's also my view. After all, Fender was all about making it simple and cheap to manufacture. You don't need a neck pocket and neck made to tiny tolerances, extremely precisely... all you need is to be reasonably in the ballpark, then finalise it during set up with an appropriate shim when needed. It works beautifully. It may not be very elegant, but it certainly works.

Try watching a video from BC's own "dood": [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2AG3n8KVzA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2AG3n8KVzA[/url] I found it very very useful. It's long, but worth the watch. I watched it with my pedal in front of me, so I could mirror some of what he was doing... and it was much better and affective than reading the manual

I finally got my hands on one. I wanted one as I noticed that my Markbass CMD121P's speaker was moving quite a bit sometimes... Ok, it's not that surprising as it's a very loud beast, famously so, and therefore it must move enough air... and all that orange just makes it more obvious. Fine, I'm sure I never pushed the amp too hard and that it operates within the expected parameters... but I felt that I wanted to try one of these Thumpinators and see how much of that movement was unnecessary. First test today. At home friendly levels it never moved all that much, and as I want to remain in good terms with my neighbours I did not want to push the volume up too much. But I did push the bass knob. More than I normally do. I then slapped a bit,, nothing too aggressive. The speaker was moving quite a bit. Then I used the Thumpinator... and it was just as loud, as far as my ears could tell, but the speaker moved a LOT less. I'm keeping it! I'm curious to test it in front of effects like octavers, and see how it affects tracking (some claim it improves tracking noticeably), although I think I would rather have it at the very end of the chain, especially if using envelope filters etc. Cool little gadget. It makes me feel less concerned about using the Markbass combo on its own sometimes, when I end up playing it pretty loudly, if it tames unnecessary speaker movement.

Digital!!! There really is no question about it: do you want a car with all 4 tires or just three?

We used Dischromatics for our album earlier this year. EXcellent job.

Just bought a SFX Thumpinator pedal from Ted. Very pleasant exchange of PMs, really easy going, and he posted the pedal so fast that by the time he PM'd me to confirm it was posted, I had it in my hands. Thanks Ted!