mcnach

More like £150-160. It's still not cheap but it's 25% less

The 2EQ pat is not that different. I do think it's less shrill on the treble and the bass a bit tighter... but there is not much between them. The reason to replace the original, for me, was adding the semiparametric mids. If you go for a MMSR, get the 3-band. With the mid control at the centre detent it does nothing and you get the usual 2EQ goodness. But when you need a bit more control over the midrange (for any value between 100 and 2000 Hz), that extra control is there for you and comes really handy.

If you are ever in Edinburgh, send me a message and I'll happily let you try my 2002 Stingray (with a 3-band John East preamp) and my 2003 Made in USA EBMM SUB with original 2EQ. Personally, I find a lot of other basses are ok. I had a long honeymoon period with OLP basses in particular: once you find a nice one, they're a good platform to modify. But nothing really compared to a nice genuine Stingray, except the SUB. edit: sometimes various MM/J or MM/P basses have been suggested as getting close, even the G&L L2000. I cannot agree with that. They can be very nice, but when the pickup is not even close to the position in a Stingray, you just cannot get close to that. The Ibanez ATK series gets a bit closer, but it's still very much not-Stingray. I had an ATK300 in natural for a while. Beautiful bass. Great sound. Not Stingray like, just another very nice sound.

I don't think you can compare two instruments and say that any differences are due to one particular component, no. But you can, in theory, devise a way to measure the effect of any given component, by having a single instrument where you try multiple units of the component you want to measure: essentially keeping everything the same except that one component. Whether anyone should be bothered, is another matter

Exactly. That's why the only 'practical' (for a strange definition of practical, I admit ) way I see to address this is to use a single body/pickup set/strings and attach to it a large number of similarly produced necks, some rosewood, some maple fingerboards. There can be other factors such as how well the necks have been fitted etc, but with a large enough sample the effects could be ignored if we accept they willl randomly affect both types of neck. Then start measuring and get plotting. Get a sense for just how much variation there is within each type, and how the two populations compare to one another. I'd expect to see that the variation within each type is larger than between types. Maybe I'm wrong, of course. Either way, I'd expect that it would illustrate quite well why it's hard to predict the result, even if there may be a slight tendency to favour one direction. Measuring the variation could also be interesting to illustrate how big the effect -if it exists- is. Or rather, how small, and how little it means when you consider the signal processing applied to any bass output, especially in a band mix. Just my expectations. I'm certainly not interested enough to go to the trouble to do this Which is why 20 years from now someone else will be having the same discussion

It's common on AliExpress. It gives the seller a bit more time before the transaction can be closed as unfulfilled. It costs them, so they don't want to get there. You're still protected, you're merely agreeing to postpone the initial delivery date.

No need to get that far, and that would not work either because the trees will not grow to be identical anyway. My view is that there is so much variation between similar instruments, that even if say maple 'tended' to be brighter, the effect is small enough to not really be a factor when designing an electric instrument, especially considering how the results cannot be predicted with any degree of accuracy. I'd be happy enough taking a single instrument and trying similarly constructed necks, just with different fretboard materials, say 100 of each, and see what the spread of the data is in each case. My empirical and non-statistically significant experience suggests the spread would be quite wide and the overlaps very large. There may be tendencies for some woods to be darker or brighter... but if we continue discussing this without reaching an agreement it's probably an indication that there is not a clear cut answer. Much like in Jazz vs Precision threads there is never a clear winner.

Good points well made.

If you take a couple of instruments that look and are built the same, they often still sound different, as I'm sure you might have experienced in a shop when shopping for a specific instrument...

I heard a difference. I don't know what it was due to. I design experiments and analyse data for a living... That was not a real experiment

I actually agree with just about everything, with a couple of little qualifications in places. It even contains the "best bass for metal" (kind of) issue... Just a bit of fun

Damn, I should read the whole thing before replying... always late to the party

Helix -> Helices

It works in the sense that he gets the effect he seeks and he likes what he hears. But he seems to be disregarding the audience's health and 'listening pleasure', by many accounts... and it is 100% avoidable. Seems a little donkey-headed to me, when he is in a position to be able to afford whatever system he wants to use. If the sound onstage is so loud that it makes mixing FOH difficult... you need to wonder whether he plays for his own pleasure or for an audience.

Exactly. I get very controllable feedback onstage without crazy volume using my Stingray with overdrive by facing the speakers and twidding my mids EQ control. And if I can do that with a bass... There are several ways to achieve it that don't require stripping the plaster off the walls with sheer volume.

Very interesting. A while ago I was tempted to get a bass from a seller/builder on AliExpress that had pretty good reviews. I wanted a cheapish 5 string, and after talking to them it was obvious they could get any configuration I wanted, which was key, as what I wanted was not really available elsewhere, and I was willing to take the risk at around £250... at worst I'd get a wall decoration: I'd have to pay a lot more for a Picasso Their examples showed a Fender logo. I asked for no logo, or to use my own. No problem, they were happy to do that. In the end, I got cold feet and my interest for a 5-string went away so I never ordered anything... but it showed me that if you want to avoid a blatant counterfeit, you can. Some of those sellers do produce decent stuff (for a budget instrument), but it is risky at many levels. I would not spend money that I cannot afford to lose (although AliExpress customer service is good, light years ahead of eBay!, not sure about DHGate), and just don't go for a straight copy using someone else's logo etc.

+1 on Chris

If not, post your general location and I'm sure there must be somebody near that can help. It is a really quick repair.

I'm not sure what @Stub Mandrel really meant with signature sound, but I suspect he wasn't been a precious diva and meant rather basic differences in bass tones that different people use. I haven't got a huge amount of experience recording, but it is interesting to hear what the engineer/producer's take is on bass sound sometimes. I sometimes get a rumbly mess without any definition... and that's most definitely what my bands DO NOT go for. Once you explain, or show them, it's usually "I see!" and they get it right. If you're in a punk band playing a bright precision, you're going to want that 'clank' and not a dub kind of bass. That kind of distinction. Which brings me to your point there: absolutely right. Doing away with loud speakers on stage that interfere with the mix is definitely desirable, in my view. I think a lot of the 'arguments' come from people having vastly different experiences with regards to the kind of venues and bands they play in. The best onstage sounding gigs I've ever played were on large stages, supporting rather than being the main attraction where I could have a reasonable bass rig behind me and/or good monitoring. It makes playing a joy, which I'm sure reflects on the performance. That is possible on large venues. The smaller the venue, the more the onstage sound can interfere with the FOH mix. Bass in particular. Some people seem to dismiss IEMs as something you would only use when you get 'big' and play large stages. I think it would actually be very beneficial for bands playing the typical bar gigs.

True. But unless the sound guy knows what you want, it's a lot easier to give him something close to what you want and let him take care of the mix, than giving him and entirely blank canvas. You can achieve that without an amp, of course, and I can't wait for the time when I can use IEM routinely and be done with loud bulky beasts onstage... but unfortunately I'm not there at this point.

If only...;)

I don't think it's so much arguing which EQ is better, but the fact that someone may want a specific sound and give that to the sound guy, rather than having the sound guy choose the sound as well as doing the mixing.

Indeed. I would have likely bought one if the option existed.

I like the subtleness in Pea by the Red Hot Chili Peppers: "F**k you a**hole, you homophobic redneck d*ck" The phrasing is superb.

Nice amp. I had the pleasure of using one at a recent gig and was very impressed by it.