Jakester

5 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I'm still thinking about some of these.

For those that have them - how are you getting on now that they have played in a bit?

After playing a couple of gigs with them they’ve settled nicely, they do feel really buttery now, but it’s just not the sound I thought I’d get from them!

Hah, that's wheely good!

I found the Stomp could be a little sensitive to being run off the same power supply as other pedals, even if it's getting the correct supply. I use a CIOKS Sol with their own recommended Stomp cables and I found if there was another power-hungry pedal off the output next to it, it didn't like it (even though they're supposed to be isolated). Swapped the outputs around a couple of times and suddenly it was fine, so might be worth trying that? 

Or you could try an pedal noise isolator like the Joyo ZGP and see if that helps? https://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/joyo-zgp-guitar-effect-pedal-filter-isolated-output-power

Probably also worth noting it's a pretty decent DI too. 

1 hour ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Does it out you off the buyer though? It’s either going to be a complete chancer or someone who doesn’t really know what they have and have now lowered it after being made aware. Both scenarios I find off putting for a purchase.

It could just have been someone using the eBay recommended pricing, which is hardly ever accurate but may well have just used a standard USA Stingray as the template. 

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

 

Part of this comes down to how you view relationships online and with Basschat members.
 

As part of a community here I’d consider people to be friends and expect them to treat me that way.

 

(I remember when my band started. York5stringer gave me a £500 PA and told me to send him the money when I had it. That’s from a  person I’d never met and had only ever interacted with virtually.)

 

If you consider us all as individuals with a virtual relationship and no moral responsibilities to one another, then it’s fair game.

 

Each opinion is valid. I subscribe to the former if I’m honest, but I’m knowingly quite naive.

 

 

 

Well, my personal view is more nuanced than that; some people here I have met in person, some I haven’t; some I consider friends, some I most certainly do not (and BTW there’s no correlation there!). Most interactions here have been positive but some have not. 
 

I don’t generally expect anyone to do me any favours just by dint of our mutual BC membership, but then IME most people here are generally decent and I would try and help a fellow BC’er if I could. 
 

I have had some experiences over my time here which call that into question, including a recent fairly substantial purchase which was very much not as described, but like anything, there are risks and rewards. 
 

My view is that if someone parts with something without any express caveats or conditions applied to the sale, then I’m free to do with that item as I will. I’ve certainly seen items given away with the proviso its to help those in need, or to help education etc. 
 

Obviously in relation to this particular instance I’ve clearly been the beneficiary of good fortune, but equally I took a risk it could have been a complete nail and fit only for the bin and wasted £50. The seller could easily have done what I did, with the same result. Not sure why that is morally objectionable. 
 

(I spent a very pleasant afternoon with Hamilton at Bowspeed who talked me through the history of the maker, value, possible sale options  and recommendations, and I also talked it though at length with some orchestral string players I know before offering for sale, so it’s not a price pulled out of thin air. I’m also pleased to have been able to support Bowspeed as well - it was amazing spending the time in there and listening to the decades of acquired knowledge). 

 

21 hours ago, TorturedSaints said:

There’s a double bass bow that was sold on here for £50.  It’s been overhauled by a specialist (max £300) and is now being offered for sale at £850 at various places (but not here). It’s not selling. 

@TorturedSaints I suspect that’s mine you're talking about. 
 

It is priced based on a valuation (which was considerably more than it’s offered for) by Bowspeed who also did the work. 
 

The valuation came as a great surprise to me when I’d dropped it in for the work to be done.  I’d assumed it was just a cheapy which would be good as a backup.
 

I’m a hack on DB so I thought a decent pernambuco bow in excellent condition for less than someone might pay new might be of interest to better players than me, but what do I know. 
 

I haven’t advertised it here because frankly I didn’t want to rub it in the seller’s face, but then, they could have had it repaired etc themselves had they wanted to. 

@dudewheresmybass it’s about 106cm. 
 

The specs say 8 or 4ohm - I'd assume therefore it's minimum 4ohm. Using an 8ohm and a 4ohm cab at the same time would potentially take you below that to 2.67ohm, which I suspect it won't like.

3 minutes ago, synthaside said:

Turns instruments have grounds and the fault was in the wall cicruit "  so as i played and sang bass i was shorting the PA and bass amp VIA MY LIPS dug about on the net as to what was happening
 a reddit post / article explaining the likely fault with enough detail they had it tested which failed hard.

We have " some discounted rehearsals " but im not sure i fancy it again ... 

Yikes! 

As someone who's been injured by dodgy equipment in a rehearsal room in the past, and have the scar to prove it, I absolutely wouldn't be going anywhere near it again!

Er, is this one of those ‘dress is white/blue’ things again, because this definitely looks bronze/gold to me?

Thanks @TheGreek, the immediate pressure to sell is receding, so I'm beginning to change my mind and may well keep it.  

Hi, sorry, only just seen this. I'll measure and come back to you.

This comes up a lot - a venue can insist you have your gear 'PAT-tested' as a condition of playing there, but it isn't a legal requirement on you to have it done and (other than making it a condition of allowing you to perform) no-one can force you to do it.

Employers are under an obligation to ensure the equipment that their employees use is safe under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, but the Regs don't specify how an employer is to do that. PAT testing is one way of meeting that obligation, but not the only one. 

Venues use it as a short hand for ensuring equipment is electrically safe, but you don't have to have it done. By insisting on it, they are trying to push their own responsibilities on you to try and avoid liability if someone is injured by your equipment, but it misunderstands a) their wider duties and b) the relationship between the venue, you, the audience, and their own staff. 

I often ask for a copy of their own electrical inspection certificates if asked for PAT records and you'd be surprised how often they can't provide them....

You can also buy a portable appliance tester, do the competent person test (which is online) and then you can do your own, if you want. 

On 05/06/2025 at 21:38, Jakester said:

Well, they’re on, and TBH not at all what I was expecting. La Bella suggest their Superpolished strings are somewhere between a round and a flat;, but to me these sound and feel squarely in the realm of roundwound.

 

On a quick first noodle they feel almost sticky under the fingers, and at least as rough as the D’Addario nickel rounds that they replaced.  
 

In sound, they’re super zingy. I mean, really bright. I know they’re polished stainless strings so maybe this is on me, but from the description I’d expected something like some well played nickels, but these sound just like, well, new stainless rounds. The zingiest strings I’ve used were DR Stainless High Beams and these remind me of those, both in sound and feel. 
 

So, initial impressions are mixed. I’ll take the bass with them on to rehearsal at the weekend and update then. For now, I think it’s a case of slightly confused messaging with the marketing!

So, played them for a good few hours at rehearsal yesterday, and I'm warming to them. The slight stickiness went pretty quickly and once I was actually up and playing with others, they felt fine - as @Sibob says, like a well-played in roundwound. The sound was great, though - from sounding really toppy and bright at home, they fit really well into an ensemble context, with a really strong fundamental tone. 

I'll be sticking with them for now (not least because of the price!) but I'd say they managed to improve on rather mixed first impressions. 

I found when I needed to raise the nut a little a slip of paper did the job enough - might be worth a go before you start hitting it with the glue?

Just now, BassApprentice said:

Might not be a bad string, but maybe not what you're expecting when you buy them.

That’s certainly my first impression, particularly when listening to IMA’s playing and tone etc with is very often quite old school.  

Noodle also wanted to help with the restringing,so here he is with his very own offcut:

Well, they’re on, and TBH not at all what I was expecting. La Bella suggest their Superpolished strings are somewhere between a round and a flat;, but to me these sound and feel squarely in the realm of roundwound.

On a quick first noodle they feel almost sticky under the fingers, and at least as rough as the D’Addario nickel rounds that they replaced.  
 

In sound, they’re super zingy. I mean, really bright. I know they’re polished stainless strings so maybe this is on me, but from the description I’d expected something like some well played nickels, but these sound just like, well, new stainless rounds. The zingiest strings I’ve used were DR Stainless High Beams and these remind me of those, both in sound and feel. 
 

So, initial impressions are mixed. I’ll take the bass with them on to rehearsal at the weekend and update then. For now, I think it’s a case of slightly confused messaging with the marketing!

18 hours ago, Jakester said:

I’ve just ordered some, will report back. 

Just arrived - first impressions after getting them out the packet are they are far more like round wounds in feel (whilst still coiled) than I expected - not getting the 'buttery' ATM. They feel quite similar to the D'Addario nickels on the bass currently. I'll get it all strung up and report back. 

I’ve just ordered some, will report back. 

I dep regularly for various bands on both bass and drums (not at the same time!). I usually get whatever the regular guy gets - occasionally if I’ve had to travel further I might get a contribution to petrol, but that’s about it. 
 

Most of mine are covers bands so getting the tunes down is reasonably straightforward. Most bands I play with want at least one run through because they all do the standard covers band tunes in a different way.
 

For example, one used backing tracks but the versions were different to the originals, so had I just been going straight in, that would have been quite the shock. 

I don’t generally want lots of rehearsals though - that’s mainly why I like depping so much. 
 

I’m not a pro by any standard, but I’m reasonably capable and reliable, and that’s what’s got me regular dep gigs. 

Aaagh I have literally just bought some new flats!

Just sold a couple of pedalboards to Jim - a great buyer, hope you enjoy them!

Behringer XTouch universal control surface for sale. 

Motorised faders, LCD scribble strips - ideal for use with a laptop if you have Behringer XR18/X32R etc. 

I've used this successfully with Reaper, Logic Pro and my old XR18 mixer. 

It's just not being used now as I tend to do everything on the laptop and for mastering/editing I have a Presonus Faderport. 

£230 posted?

(Sorry about poor pics - it's not as filthy as it looks!)