fretmeister

Wood varies massively. I”ve had 8lb jazz basses and 10lb jazz basses. Each tree is unique so it’s impossible for basses to all weight the same for a particular model.

Man - I would have loved to see that gig!

The modern approach of having the kick drums amazingly loud is so annoying. It just kills everything else in the same freq range. Seems to be infecting more and more genres too. It used to just be modern metal, but now it's everywhere.

Also... I've been on the Analogman King of Tone waiting list for 6 years now. Still not at the top! But you don't pay at the beginning for that. Only pay when you confirm you still want it when you reach the top.

2 years is after they actually put in an extra production line a few years ago! If they hadn't done that, then it would have been 4! I got mine in 1 year almost to the day in 2023.

I never knew about that back off the volume thing - that's really cool. I don't think it will work with my EMG loaded J though! The tone stays as is when the volume is reduced.

They used to be happy to get something out of a box and weigh stuff, but now they don't. I suspect their new massive automated warehouse system would get in the way of wandering over to get one off a shelf. It's a shame but I kind of get it for them - they are probably warehousing hundreds of incoming basses a day. It would need a dedicated team to weight stuff on the way in and stick it on a site like smaller places can do. But it is also why I won't buy a bass from them anymore.

I've never had an Aguilar amp. I think partly because I couldn't decide which one to get. Mind you, every few years I go round the houses with various amps and cabs and always end up back at Mark Bass so I really should stop spending money.

Definitely - sonics and the feel of the bass are inspirational to me. I play my basses very differently. Among the collection I have 2 nearly identical Jim Deacon shortie P basses. One with an Aguilar 1960s spec pickup and La Bella Flats and the other with an EMG P-X and Elixir rounds. Even with them being so similar I play them completely differently. The Aguilar one is my first choice for finger style Duck Dunn / Jamerson / Cogbill sounds. It's just deep, thick, and chewy sounding. The EMG one is my JJ Burnell / Foxton / etc for pick playing. It's really aggressive and sounds amazing with a bit of drive on it. I have long scale basses too, some of them being a lot my expensive than these budget shorties, but I'd be more upset if the shorties got pinched than the expensive ones. I'm going to be looking for another one to turn it into a PJ I think.

I was the other way round - started with J types and had no idea what to do with a P bass. Finally got there - I really love both, for different things.

Only if you don't know how to EQ for different basses.

Do they only do 45-100 and no other choice?

Walrus Audio Eons? No blend but very versatile.

I put some Fender 9050 on my Lionel - the 55-105. I have had them before and I remembered why they annoyed me... The string gauges are stupid. I found the 105 to be just right and the others to be far too stiff for my tastes. In the past I've had the 45-100 and thought they were good apart from the 100 which is too floppy. So in a moment of alcohol fuelled silliness I ordered the lighter set and made up a hybrid set. So I've massively over spent... but it's still cheaper than a set of Dunlops or Dogals etc. Now it feels how I like, and they do sound very nice. But with buying 2 sets I'll be upset if I don't get 8-10 years out of them! I have no idea why Fender discontinued the good old 45-105 and the 40-100 sets, and they don't even sell the currently available ones as single strings.

Yes it does - the output sockets are balanced when you use a TRS cable. Electrically no different to using an XLR connection.

There’s a thread already

I think that works once you are familiar with the system. You and I both have used the HX system for years now. I'd be happy doing that too. But probably not when I first got a unit.

I find it quite easy but I've been using the Helix system for 5 years. For the Stomp I hardly ever plug it into my PC and just do it all on the unit. I only plug is in if I want to do a firmware update or if I download a patch from Customtone or similar. Setting up the sounds at gig volume is vital. Even with very good headphones or studio monitors it really isn't close. Just like your real amp settings are probably useless at a gig. I definitely recommend a Technical Rehearsal for that - where the tones / mix etc are the focal point rather than performance. Then - and this is the best bit about all modellers with loads of memory - when you soundcheck at a gig, save the patch(es) under the name of the venue for any venue you visit more than once. Then when you pitch up next time the sounds that worked at the last gig are ready straight away and as long as the venue PA doesn't change you'll be up and running far faster. It's the modern equivalent of the FOG guy's little black book of settings. If you have your own PA and it has memory slots - do it with that as well for the other instruments / vox etc.

I think we can be thankful he hasn't been lighting his farts.

That's £359 though! Could almost buy a real.... never mind!

This is my bass + guitar board that I've just assembled. If it was just bass it would be the Stomp, the EBS and the Spectrum. That would fit on a single row board like a Nano+ and leave room for something else too. It gets all the tones I want - ranging from Motown and old R&B, through funk and metal to modern FX stuff like Muse.

I kind of get that - but at the same time, youtube etc is no different to other sources of news and opinion pieces about news. Everything from newspapers to TV news to IG, to radio stations to everything needs readers / viewers / listeners to survive. Whoever gets the scoop wins. Then everyone else follows it because of the audiences desire to know more and to hear different opinions on it. The smaller youtube channels are no different to the local newspaper level in comparison to the nationals. Whether the Over-50s like myself think it a bit odd is irrelevant - news is a highly perishable product and social media now spreads it far quicker than any traditional medium. A side effect of that spread is to make the interest in that specific story run out far more quickly. Most of them have already moved on to other examples of music based fakery and outright theft. Then there are those who weren't going to do anything at all - like Beato. He said he did the vid because he got so many requests. Like any good businessman - he gave the public what they wanted. That increased his views and subs numbers. If he hadn't done it, then he would not have been a good businessman. I don't see any problem with the smaller ones doing exactly the same. I don't think it is "bandwagon jumping" any more or at least any differently than BBC and ITV News covering the same thing, and then Channel 4 doing a documentary about it later, and then Channel 5 mentioning it as a throwaway line in a drama etc etc. Personally I'm quite pleased about the entire thing - people Turra ripped off have been trying to get him to stop for 5 years without success. Now he's far less likely to get away with it again. I'm not good enough to play for a living and neither is Giacomo Turra - but he stole from people who are. I'm glad he got caught and I'm glad that loads of people know about it.

He started to get called out 5 years ago. He promised he would stop. He didn't.

If it was a private sale / trade then you have no rights against the maker. If the second hand item was obtained from a business then you do have some. Your contract is with the business - not suppliers to that business. So if you got it from a shop they should deal with it - not pass the problem to the pickup makers.

I really like that. It’s the sort of drive I like. More about harmonic content rather than straight filth.