fretmeister

Definitely! This reminds me - I need to get my ACS plugs replaced. My ears have clearly changed shape a bit over the last few years so I need fresh impressions taken. I should really organise that before I start looking for a new band.

How are you finding the Legends? they are one of the few flats I have not tried. Apparently they are roundcore so they are supposed to be a bit more flexible than the equivalent hex core strings - is that your experience?

Reaper is dead easy to use with a Scarlett. Loads of YouTube tutorials for it as well. Then you either mic up your cab or use plugins to simulate amp tones and so on. Should be recording something within 30 mins.

Uptown Funk works very well. My old big band did that and the baris would either play the bass part or trade with it. Sir Duke definitely works too, as does Poker Face.

All my instruments have a strap attached all the time. I cannot be bothered to adjust them when swapping. And different straps suit different instruments. If I only had 1 strap then I would definitely be the person who turned up at a gig without it!

I'm going to try and save what I would have spent over the year. I really miss having a good 5 string. So that's my plan - Start a fund to save for a Stingray Special 5 string. Obviously if I win the lottery this abstinence pledge can do one!

I'd love to have one. I really like JD's playing and I'm a fan of heavy compression and of those EB flats he uses. If I had the money I'd have bought a USA version already, but at the moment I don't have the cash for the cheap one! Hopefully they'll do another run at some point, and figure out how to get the shipping cheaper. I bet they would have doubled the orders if the shipping outside of the USA wasn't so high.

The synth sound he gets at about 16:10 is fantastic!

I was just going to post that - thanks!

Anyone know if custom neck plates are available- custom engraving? I’ve got a Fender plate but as I m building a parts bass it’s not a Fender so I’d like something else on it. ta.

I’m very interested in the maths. That’s why I weighed my original tuners on my Ray5 and saved about 227g. On a different bass I also swapped the heavy brass control knobs for plastic ones as that saved over 20g per knob. That was another 80g. That’s 307g running total savings. Then I decided to go passive. That lost a knob and pot completely and the 9V battery. A Duracell 9v is 45g. Then I took the pickguard off too to save another 25g. As any engineer working in a field where weight is an issue, cumulative effects are also very important. As you can see I got very close to reducing the weight by an entire pound, with 227g of that at the far end of the neck making massive improvements in balance as well. That was a saving of approx 13% on the total bass weight. That’s very far from a couple of chocolate bars. Have a crack at explaining the fulcrums if you want. I’ll get my daughter to check your maths when she’s having a break from working on wing design and wind tunnel maths. EDIT: I found my spreadsheet. The pickguard and screws together weighed 77g. Yes, I am that obsessed with weight to have spreadsheets. Colin Chapman was right about it for cars and it works for basses too.

Strings and repair items are allowed I presume?

Are the existing switches really switches and not signal sending units?Some foot switches look like physical items but actually just send a trigger signal for the actual change to be done elsewhere in the pedal.

The trad EBMM tuners (not the new specials) were heavy. I had a 2005 5 string ray that was 9.1lb with the originals. And smack on 8.5lb with Y shaped USA ultralites. Y keys are a little lighter than clovers. I wish I still had it, but like an idiot I sold it.

Has your niece had multiple operations that means that any weight saving at all is a benefit? Also - the difference between old fashioned big plate Fender tuners to Ultralites actually works out at over 1/3lb and on a 5 string over 1/2 lb. I'm not talking about swapping a modern tuner for another slightly lighter modern tuner. I'm talking about saving maybe 1/2 pound - that's 227grams and that is very noticeable when it's at the end of a neck. Both for balance and for overall weight of the instrument. It's often the easiest way to reduce the weight of an instrument to something manageable. Balance is changed massively when you take half a bag of sugar off the headstock. Try it the other way if you don't believe me. Get your best balanced bass and put half a bag of sugar into a carrier and hang it from the headstock and see if it made any difference.

I wasn’t impressed. The Yamaha DXR10 was a lot better.

By the time you’ve bought the kit to make it work properly and rehearsed with it (unavoidable) you might as well have hired a drummer to fill in until your regular drummer is ready to play again.

Is it heavy?

That looks great! And what a bargain!

Nothing.

In my band or marriage?

This. Borrow or even hire another cab until you can get it fixed. It's just not worth doing half a job on an expensive cab. You could pick something up on Reverb or Ebay for buttons if you can cope with a heavy old cab for a gig or two.

Presumably Barefaced can replace the driver for you? Anything else will massively devalue it if you ever sell it on.

I've had 3. Status Energy Defretted Fender mex Jazz Zon Hyperbass. I liked the sound but I never got comfortable enough to play them live. Possibly because I was singing as well and I want to concentrate that much! I'd have another J type or PJ though.