fretmeister

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1430150851' post='2758415'] Royal foggin' blood watch out. Runs parallel. Octave up "guitar" signal into small stone and Flyrig5. Other "bass" channel is TLC, VMT, Wah. Trinity reverb will be replaced with a TC Ditto looper later this week. Ownage. [/quote] Does the Octave up signal still get combined and into a bass amp, or do you run a guitar amp as well? What's the Taurus like? I have a MicroPog but it sounds a bit artificial to me.

[quote name='FretNoMore' timestamp='1432964551' post='2786596'] Nice, very nice ... I'm curious about the Mic Mechanic though, do you use it with bass or is it for vocals? [/quote] Just vocals - it's a brilliant little thing and if it's on my board I don't forget it, and it's powered from the Gigrig system underneath. That "TONE" control on it cures an awful lot of problems with crap PA systems and deaf engineers!

This is all good news. I'm in the mood to purge unused pedals and amps so with a bit of luck I can raise the dosh.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1433315855' post='2789910'] I have to say, though, as a fretless player for nearly 30 years, I don't play with 'fretless effects', I just play bass. It is surprising how many of the tricks you are describing can sound derivative. I guess it's how and where you use them. [/quote] This. I like my fretless because of it's basic sound. Deep and plummy and it sits in the mix wonderfully. Overuse of slides and vibrato is grating to me. And I have no idea why so many fretless players seem to insist on layering a metric sh*t-ton of chorus on it, hiding the lovely natural sound of the instrument.

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1433322994' post='2790018'] No way it will cost Thomann £10 to post some strings, therefore they most probably receive £35-36 for each set. I wonder if they are just selling them at cost that way? [/quote] No! - because it costs them more than £10 to post a large and heavy pedal or a sub 199 Euro speaker cab! The shipping fee is standard across all orders under 199 Euro. So a 25kg item that costs under 199 Euro is still only £10. Any "savings" or "extra income" on a £10 shipping fee on a packet of strings is offset against the loss incurred on shipping a much heavier item for the same price.

It's not underhand if the terms are easily visible before ordering. Thomann have had a flat delivery fee for all purchases under 199 euro for years. Nobody buys a £30 item and then "tops up" the order by another £140 ish to get free delivery. It's more likely that a punter is about £30 short of free delivery so decides to spend the extra to get that free delivery, thus only spending a net increase of £20. With the volume that Thomann sell a flat delivery fee is a very sensible approach. Of course £10 is too much if you are just ordering a dozen plectrums. But £10 on a heavy pedal board is cheap. The shipping fees are clearly visible on the site so the punters are not mislead, the approach is not underhand. Thomann offer their service and the customer decides whether to use it or not. If there is a dispute between Thomastik and Thomann (and I've seen no evidence of that) then that is a commercial dispute between them and it's up to them and them alone how they want to deal with it.

You can get UV reactive stick on versions if you want cheap. Or you can trust someone like SIMS to install them properly. Be prepared to hand over enough cash to buy a new Mexican Fender though. If you want someone to drill holes in the neck of your favourite bass without ruining it - there is "do it properly", or there is "do it cheap."

8.5lb would still be lighter than any of my other basses!

If they weren't real Thomastik could have obtained an injunction against them already. So, assuming they are real, Thomann are buying them from a third party who is buying them from Thomastik. The third party won't be making a loss, and Thomastik won't be making a loss. I can see that they might be annoyed if Thomann are making a conscious effort to drive down the perceived worth of the product and thus drive down the price - but considering how long these strings actually last that seems a really dumb idea. So, if Thomann have decided to suffer a loss on these purely to get more customers who might not have bought from them, then I am happy with that. FWIW - I never thought Thomastiks were worth the RRP anyway.

I need to find a shop with stock I think.

Anyone got one? I'm mostly playing 5 strings, but I quite fancy a 24fret 4 string for slappy tapping nonsense. Anyone know what the weight of them is? The Ibanez site doesn't give weights, but PMT suggest about 3kg - which is under 7lb. That seems like a misprint to me - it's far too light! But I wouldn't be upset if it is true!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1433009412' post='2787049'] Guys - Please use caution when buying. I cannot see how these strings can be sold at that price. They're high quality, and have a price tag that reflects that. [/quote] It's Thomann.de There is no way they are selling dodgy ones. They will be getting them from down the road in bulk. (and I get mine from Thomann. Always been fine)

You can always find another guitar cable at a gig. Can't always find a spare insert cable!

There is also the UK made Pedal Decks http://www.pedaldeck.com/

Is there enough room underneath for a power supply?

Flux Capacitor delay pedal.

$6000 for a posh P bass?

Smack your bitch up. Great wedding song.

This is really interesting. They are close enough that it could be the same bass, but being played by a different player I think I would be happy with any of them. Except the Fodera which now seems a tiny bit expensive right now!

Pictures please! Was it the one that was in the shop a little while ago? I meant to try it while I was there, but Vic kept me loaded with coffee and I forgot!

I'm going to do it in stages. First of all a MM5CS into the standard position. That pickup comes with a simple Vol and Tone. While I don't mind thinking about a proper EQ system later my main aim is to make the Ray useable with the music trust orchestra I play with, and often a simple tone control seems to work best in that environment. If that gets me where I want, then that will be great. If not then I'll be looking at installing a neck pickup too. I am in 2 minds on the model. Either another MM5CS to give it that HH ray look, or a Jazz type. If I go with a Jazz version then I will get it in EMG's soapbar casing so I can easily swap with other same size pickups like their DC40 and the (whatever it's called) P bass version. This is all about making an excellent bass a bit more versatile so I can play it more. I only play with the orchestra but that is about 4 hours per week + home practice. The easy playability of the Ray is wonderful for playing 4 hours straight, but the sound does not fit well with the other traditional instruments. No amount of EQing can change the fundamental sound of a ray. Yes I could use a different bass, but it wouldn't be as easy to play and the sessions wouldn't be as fun.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1432804517' post='2785080'] I'd start with an outboard preamp. Find the sound you like first, before you've made any irreversible changes. Me? I'd just put all that money and effort into finding the right bass. [/quote] I am. The right bass is a 5 string stingray that weighs less than 9.5lb but sounds less like a ray and more like a modern jazz. If you can name an off the shelf 5 string modern jazz bass with 17.5mm string spacing, with a Ray 5 profile neck then I'm all ears!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1432763924' post='2784842'] Yeah but classical is a different animal in a way that I think is pretty obvious to anyone here, so frankly anyone bringing that up is just spoiling for an argument (and one in which I shall not be engaging in any further). [/quote] Not spoiling for an argument. Music is music.

http://youtu.be/tS-tpgPFUpI There it is. Sounds good to me!

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1432758341' post='2784756'] Would be interested in how that sounds! I'm also going to be in the minority here and say that the exposed pole piece pickups that are standard on Stingrays look horrendously ugly to my eye. [/quote] There's a good YouTube video with a guy who put DC40 in his Ray. I'm going for a MM5CS