mcgraham

Ouch! That's a fail. I've not checked it out thoroughly just yet. I know most of what I want on my pedal board I'm just deciding on the last few integers. This is definitely helping with that.

I know. I couldn't use it at work, but my home computer (Safari on Mac) worked without needing to download anything.

Not had many. Had one guy come up to me after church who turned out to be Ben who runs bassguitarblog.com who was interested in my Klimt. Other than that, I do get the odd hobby musician coming up to ask 'how many strings do you need?' or 'how many frets does that have?' I usually reply 'this many' I'm normally the gearspotter, but it's more unintentional now than it used to be. I went to an event recently where there was a band setup beside a screen, but the bassist had his bass on a stand behind the screen. I could only see the very edge of the bridge and bridge end of the bass... and I instantly knew what brand and model of bass it was from the bridge alone. Partly indication of good branding (it was an Alembic Epic) but also sign of geekery on my part.

Just came across this myself yesterday. Quite useful! I didn't realise how many Boss sized stompboxes you could fit on the Mini. Looks like I could have 5 pedals on the Mini rather than just 4. Also useful for comparing relative sizes of stompboxes if you've not seen some in real life.

I used to be very possessive of my basses, but am significantly less so now. I often surprise myself! A week after I got my (then new) W&T Klimt I took it to band practice and everyone was amazed by it. The keyboard player (who's a bit hyper, but gotta love him) strapped the bass on and proceeded to 'faux slap' the bass... which basically involved him violently beating the body of the bass and banging the strings like it was a drum. There was a moment of :| in my head, but I wasn't too fussed. I trust my instruments not to break easily. I do prefer to supervise but people rarely ask. Most people I know/meet seem to realise how seriously I take music and seem to appreciate it's not wise to act dumb with my gear.

+1 for Mark and Bass Direct. The new shop is great. The sheer amount of top quality gear he's added to his stock is amazing. Highly recommend a trip down for those who have not yet been.

I know what you mean. I do keep a cheaper bass around for just such gigs. But I know I'm a musician for the sheer joy of making music (with or without other people). I'm not going to deny myself the pleasure of making music through playing an instrument that I love just because I'm gigging places that (IMO) 'don't warrant' a nice bass. It's not about the gigs, it's about my enjoyment of music. The gigs are a means to an end, the music is a reward in and of itself. A quality bass only adds to that.

[quote]How many basses do you currently own? Why so many? Sell them all and buy one brilliant bass[/quote] +1. That's always been my philosophy. I can't play more than one at a time, so unless each bass has a radically different sound that I'll actually use then it's wasted space having more than one. I now have a stunning fretted bass and superb fretless bass that each cost about two/two and a bit US standard Fenders. They are the best basses I have ever played and would not trade them for anything else. If nothing else, come on down and check out what they play like. You may find yourself coming round to a more 'one-bass' way of thinking. Mark

That's right! I'm trying real hard to get one of them

Thanks Si I'm getting as much practice as possible on it so that I can really do it justice at the get-together.

I'm well surprised no-one else has posted on this! It'd be great to see some other W&T owners, and it would also be great to see other BC'ers and bassists who want to check these basses out. I'm planning to head down on the Sunday with my Chronos Klimt, my Zoid Hyperbass, and I will also take my Berg IP/EX stack with SFX preamp. It'll be a great day! Anyone else up for coming?

TC Electronic Polytune and Pedaltrain Mini. I'd like to build a mini board with a tuner, OD/boost, delay/reverb, and looper. Something that would work with all my different instruments (guitar, bass, acoustic).

Indeed! At first I thought 'oh... this feels muted and a bit crap' but after I started playing it more often I realised that all that treble that often accommodates tweeter equipped cabs is just not necessary.

+1 Toasted. Interestingly, I found that the horn in the IP seemed 'subdued' when i first got it. But after I started using it I realised that this was what a balanced sound was, and this was the way horns/tweeters should sound. Made me realise that all other cabs I'd used with tweeters just had too much top end. It's all subjective Jake just being honest and sharing my opinion.

Well, if you could discern and quantify the difference between the two clips then your ears are more finely tuned than mine... and I like to think I'm pretty picky. I heard two clips that were so similar that any slight difference I might have perceived could easily have been due to slight variations in how the bass was played into the respective devices. If you're interested though, please do drop Max an email as he does amazing work and will happily listen to and accommodate your needs.

Back at you!

Don't you just love the low end extension? It was a moment of pure joy when I listened to the IP on its own, then added the EX112 and heard the difference. It was stupendous.

I didn't say 'no mwah', just less mwah I prefer a cleaner tone, too much mwah irritates me. Whilst I normally prefer lower action, the slightly higher action suits this bass. The E string is a tad high at the nut, but nothing serious. We'll see how it goes over the coming weeks/months before I decide if it needs a slightly different setup. I love how the whole instrument requires a high level of precision of touch both for tone and intonation.

Excellent choice sir! If you're considering the Avalon U5 might I suggest SFX m:D2? [url="http://www.sfxsound.co.uk"]SFX Sound[/url] It sounds remarkably similar to the Avalon but at an absolute fraction of the cost. Max is also a top guy to deal with so if had any custom options you'd like (I got loads on mine) he'd be more than happy to oblige.

Deal! Would you prefer a weekend or an evening weekday visit?

Congratulations Jake! What preamp are you using with it? Make sure you save as quick as possible for the extension. I thought I didn't want it til I actually tried it, then I realised I [i]needed[/i] it... it's just [b][u]THE [/u][/b]definitive bass sound with massive low end extension that appears from nowhere. And the headroom... forget about it!

I was playing for about an hour last night. What a bass. Build wise, this bass is a work of art. The fingerboard is amazing as it is a completely black continuous piece of ebony. I don't know how they managed to get a single piece this large, but it's great! The body is an extra thick acoustic chambered piece of bubinga, with figured curly bubinga top and back. The neck is a 3 piece neck made all from ash. There are also two ziricote/bocote stringers lining the very outer edge of the fingerboard. It is extremely light due to the chambering, and the neck seems slightly thinner than my Klimt. All in all it balances well and is extremely wearable for long periods. Tonewise, this bass is the best fretless I've ever played and exactly how I hoped it would sound, even though I had no way of guaranteeing the tone. I'm a fan of fretless tone without too much 'mwah' and the slightly higher action on this bass helps me get that sound. The attack is very Michael Manring sounding, but the tone is much woodier and warmer. I've not used it in a band situation yet but I will be sure to do report back once I have done. With regard to features, I really like the preamp. Much more subtle and very useable. It's not as extreme as the one in my Klimt but does just what is necessary, i.e. eq to taste rather than fundamentally changing the character of the bass. The extended fretboard is fantastic, and is presenting the challenge and potential I hoped it would. I'm spending much of my practice time getting used to playing in that last octave to try and build my muscle memory. Also need to work on getting a good tone from that high up the neck. With such a fantastic tone, and the range and expression of this instrument, I've got a lot to work on

I played for about 5 hours over the course of the weekend. Needless to say, it is stunning in the flesh. So understated, yet so beautiful. It is also the lightest bass I've ever owned despite being an extra thick body. That's obviously due to the chambering. I'm particularly keen on the preamp. Much simpler and significantly more subtle than the preamp in my Klimt. I'll give you guys a proper debrief once I'm home this evening

Cheers Si It'll be worth the work though. I do like a challenge.

The bass arrived at Bass Direct earlier this week. I am going down to pick it up tomorrow morning. If anyone is going to be around you'd be very welcome to try out this new bass Mark P.S. I believe there's also a new Chronos in that would be worth checking out if anyone was thinking of visiting Bass Direct sometime soon