fretmeister

I’ve owned 5 string Sandbergs and Stingrays. I found the ray a lot more comfortable. It’s only 0.5mm narrower at the nut, but the neck shape itself was a lot better for me. The ‘berg seemed to have annoying shoulders on the neck shape. The ray also has 17.5mm spacing at the bridge which is a fair bit narrower. So the neck stays a bit narrower all the way. Some people find that a bit tight, but I like it. I’d have another 5 string ‘Ray, but I wouldn’t have another Sandberg 5. I should point out I really like Sandberg 4 strings.

I had the same experience. The 18v wasn’t just headroom, it overwhelmed anything I plugged it into. It was lovely to play though. In hindsight I should have swapped the preamp for something sensible. Personally I am confused why anyone goes for 18v / High Headroom bass preamps and then runs it into a compressor. Kind of defeats the object, but then again high headroom on an instrument that already has a huge dynamic range is a bit odd too. FOH always has to tame it down again. Amps are still built with passive P and J basses in mind simply because they are by far the highest selling instruments. Some basses are just so damn loud the input gain or active / passive switch isn’t adequate anymore. I’d have another Bongo, but I would modify it.

Source Audio Aftershock can load 40 different drive sounds.

Some are - but it's also not always necessary depending on the equipment being used. Some take the capture directly from the speaker outs (and a loadbox). Others only require close mic and then the signal being sent through the amp by the capture unit is a bunch of weird reference tones and nothing like a guitar. More of them come out well than you might expect.

I think Fender now sell necks with the "wrong" bass model on for this purpose. They definitely do one that says Precision but is Jazz profile now.

Mark Bass always have a delay between turning on and making sound. It's part of the speaker protection system. An entire minute does seem to be on the long side though. I've had a lot of MB heads including an F1 and I don't remember any of them going longer than 30 seconds. My current AG1000 is about 10 seconds I think.

I remember seeing a mate's band many years ago when between songs some eijit came up to him very loudly.. "Can I have a go on your guitar?" "Only if I can have a go on your girlfriend." Did the trick.

Markbass announced their new 2x10 combo today. No doubt it will be about a grand, but it’s also 6.5kg lighter. I bet Boss gets feedback from the shops and are working on a V2. They’re mad if they don’t.

After trying one a couple of weeks ago (and really enjoying it) and then talking to a chap at a large music shop chain - they are absolutely sure that the Katana Bass combos would sell massively, maybe become the highest selling product in that category if they weren't so much heavier than the competition. He told me that he gets plenty of people into the demo room, they plug in and play and love the tones, and then try and lift it and are no longer interested. As he put it - it's too heavy for kids and older people to carry, and the people in the middle are happy to spend more on something lighter. They sound great and the only reason they are not selling is the weight.

That Lurid Machine sounds excellent. Why is it, that every time I discover a pedal it's sold out or discontinued? FFS!

Amazing colour!

Sandberg VS4 would be very nice too.

LT / Floor / Rack.

The Joyo Double Thruster is very close in tone to the B3K. It's a very good clone. Certainly close enough to try for cheap to see if that is in the right direction. Amazon have them, and their returns are dead easy.

The AO drive sound is very different from the B7K / B3K Darkglass sound. If I was the OP, I'd swap the amp for the MT900 v2 instead to get that B3K and Vintage Microtube tone options.

The Henretta Engineering Orange Whip is the smallest I've ever seen. https://reverb.com/p/henretta-engineering-orange-whip I'm sure you could remove the switch and wire it to always be on as well if the switch got in the way. The other controls are inside on trim pots.

All entirely normal. Part of the speaker protection system. I'm a big fan of the brand and over the years I've had LM2, LM3, F1, a couple of combos, the Goldline Marcus head, and now the AG1000. They all do it, by design.

My favourite for a transparent, doesn't affect the normal tone at all is the Boss BC-1X. It's so good I sold my Cali76 / Darkglass / Empress etc etc It just works in every setting, and doesn't do any annoying volume dip and swell that some compressors do with high output pickups. For a dirty compressor that is really a tone changing machine my favourite is the Fairfield The Accountant.

Dremel it.

I think he’s using them to check intonation. Very clever idea.

Drugs certainly make it easier to listen to the songs I've written.

Lovely!