Gareth Hughes

Folks - here's my delayed review on these great strings. In general - it's both thumbs up and thumbs down, but not for negative reasons in that what I found negative in one setting was a positive in another. I love me a good 'mwah' to a note which, on my bass, they didn't provide which left me wanting for more on a recording session and a gig with two different singer/songwriters. BUT where that lack of 'mwah' was a bonus was on several orchestral rehearsals and gigs where I found the strings had an amazing solid foundation to each note that was lacking in my previous strings, Velvet Blues. The notes were immediate and full, right through the registers - well up to the second C on the G string, after that I daren't show myself up in public. When I first put the strings on I was totally in love with them. I was doing 'The Sound Of Music', 'West Side Story', and a community orchestra gig within a few weeks of each other and I loved how responsive my bass was - also seemed about 20% louder than before, possibly down to the Innovations being a higher tension than the Velvets. In these scenarios the strings totally excelled anything I had tried previously on the bass (Kolstein Heritage, D'Addario Hybrids and the Velvet's). So for these gigs, battling against a small orchestra and a percussion heavy pit band, the Innovation's had an authority to them that allowed me to be heard clearly and effortlessly. So to sum it up - If I had two basses I'd definitely have a set of these on and make it my arco bass.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1369417953' post='2089126'] Could you mount the thumpinator under the board? [/quote] That's what she said (sorry Ian, couldn't resist)

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1368625600' post='2079367'] What buffer/preamp are you using? Piezos into low impedance sound dreadful with bowing, nasty scratchyness. [/quote] Used either a Fishman Dual Parametric Di with a 10Mohm input or a Boss TU2 tuner pedal, GK MB500 head or Genz Benz Streamliner head, all with a 1Mohm input and always the same result. Just a peculiar thing, considering the pickup (forgotten the name) is similar in design to an Underwood, Schatten, K&K - wing style pickup.

I don't know if all piezo's are created equally, regardless of cost - but I do have a cheap-ish one at $40 or so, and whilst it sounds great for plucking, it produces hardly any signal at all for bowing. So in this instance I can't use that pickup when I know I'll be doing some bowing sadly. I've gotten great results from the K&K stuff found at www.gollihurmusic.com

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1368388674' post='2076510'] I tend to struggle once you have a mid dip cab, a bass heavy amp, and a jazz bass! Mid dips all over the place. Sounds nice though. [/quote] This sums up my set-up to a T!!!! It's a cruel irony that I love all of these elements but they just won't play nice with each other.

Thanks for the link Hamfist - I've read thru all of it over the past few months in search of ideas. I think a big problem is simply user error - the eq and input controls operate in such a drastically different way from what I've been using the last 20 years, so it's a steep learning curve that one is never too far away from falling off.

Folks - thanks for all the food for thought. More experiments will continue. I like the bypassing the amp pre and going straight into the power amp idea, but the Streamliner pre really is lovely. There's a softness to it that I'm loving after a lifetime of being a solidstate user. And for that reason I'm finding the Markbass LMK a little too dry sounding now.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1368273925' post='2075173']... That would make me think that the amp is to blame as much as the cabs. The Streamliner has very limited EQ and has a big "pillowy" bass, as do Epifani cabs, therefore all this low end is probably overpowering what mids there are. [/quote] Yep, and that's the conundrum - wanting to use, and not have to replace, my Epifani cabs because they work great in some regards but with the Streamliner not so much. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too. And not end up with a pile of different cabs!!!

Mr.Foxen - you're right. Ish. I love the cabs for my electric basses, and with my Markbass head, but for my upright bass and the Streamliner they just seem to have a blanket over them. And I'm reluctant to sell them because they work in so many ways but one. And then the geek in me wants to get another neutral cab, but then it feels like a case of having a cab for Monday, a cab for Tuesday, etc...

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1368268888' post='2075101'] Usually you cannot put back what is not there. However, a graphic before the amp may allow you to cut the frequencies that you have too much of & maybe even a slight boost to where the missing frequencies are could help too. [/quote] Yep, that's the problem. And cutting the lows to accentuate the mids seems to result in a bit of an anemic sound.

Hey folks - I'm hoping some of you more technically minded people can help me with this conundrum: I have a few Epifani cabs which I love for the most part. The part I don't love is that they can be mid-shy with certain amps, in particular my Genz Benz Streamliner. So my question is this - rather than selling these cabs and buying ones that are reported to have more mid-range emphasis, like some Gallien Krueger cabs or the Genz Benz Focus cabs, can I use a parametric DI to bring the mid-range back to life or am I trying to shine a light on something that isn't there in the first place? I have tried using the extra EQ approach, and it seems to work for the most part, but the downside is that it alters the DI signal a little too much, so it's fixing one problem but creating another at the same time. Any help and advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

OK folks - I'm ready to take these off and send them so who is next? I think I screwed the order up on the first page, so is it p_w_m or someone else? Review to follow!!

Sadly piano scores are more frequent that I'd like - which is a real pain when there's a repeat of several pages!!! One way to get used to it is to practice them on a five string bass as these below-the-stave notes are (with the exception of Bb and A) all found on the B string up to the fifth fret.

That's something about a train station, right?

NIce one. Go for the original black. I had a late 70's one that was as sexy as all get out. Were it not for my short arms I'd have happily kept the beast.

Hey Chris - and welcome. Mainz is a good place, did a good gig there once in the SWR studios. I've just come home from a five week tour of Germany. Been touring there since 2001, about 10 tours by now, and sadly the most I can say is 'Ein cafe zum mit nehmen' and I'm sure I've just spelt that wrong. Anyway - welcome and enjoy!!!

A Boss TU-2 does the job fine for me (and has a handy 1Mohm impedence). Try plucking the string close to the bridge or the nut - can make it easier for the tuner to read the note. Or the octave harmonic.

You know you need a tester for your Meatball clone And for the SFT clone too

NIce one.

Think Thomann sell the volume pedal version of this. Yep, here it is: http://www.thomann.de/gb/amt_llm_1.htm

9 pages of feedback?!?!?!?! It's because the bloke is a legend. Just bought a GK MB500 amp from him. We're at direct debit stage now. Buy with supreme confidence and lust. (For the man and the gear, in that order.)

Fraid not Milty. Haven't been to Nutt's Corner in a lifetime - back in the bootleg gigs on cassette's days.