fretmeister

Why are Dogal's even more expensive? They make the Dunlops look cheap! Who knows? Perhaps the construction is unusual to the point that the manufacturing overhead is just a lot higher? Maybe the factory they are made in is in an expensive location? Fodera basses could be half price if they were built in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere rather than being in New York state. I really like them but I don't think they are necessarily superior to La Bella - they are quite different in feel and flexibility though. I find they suit different basses. I do find they play far nicer out of the packet though. I find La Bella to be quite grabby on the finger tips - especially when it's hot and I'm a bit sweaty. The Dunlops don't have that problem for me. Ultimately though - they've been around for donkeys years so if they are a high overhead item they are clearly selling enough of them at that price to make it worthwhile making them.

La Bellas are often £20 cheaper at Bass Direct than everywhere else. 760FS (45-105) flats are £65 at Strings Direct and £42 at Bass Direct! £23 difference! Strings Direct are taking the piss. Dunlop flats start at about £95 (RRP) and go up to about £120 for a 5 string set. I only buy them when I spot a blowout somewhere. Fortunately they do last donkeys - but so do the La Bellas.

This issue of NI and ROI confusion comes up a fair bit. I even had someone in my local post office ask me to fill in customs forms for something I was sending to NI! Anyway - customs charges would be the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller so he doesn't need to care either way. I'm wondering if the person is just getting cold feet about selling the bass at all.

I really like the Rotos, but with my nickel allergy they give me blisters after a couple of hours. It's most annoying. TI Flats are nickel too so I can't use them either anymore. I really must try some of the La Bella low tension ones at some point.

Different speakers and tweeters. The Energy ones use the same as the older cabs. The Pure use a new model and apparently is more modern.

Alan just bought my Barefaced One10T. Good all the way. Nice to meet you!

Flatwounds vary massively. Some are super bright, almost like roundwounds like the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats, and then at the other end you get the thuddy old fashioned tone of La Bella Deep Talking Flats. Everything else is somewhere in the middle. Apart from plastic / tape wound things which are different again. They also vary massively in tension. La Bellas are quite high tension, Thomastik TI Flats are super low tension and very flexible. La Bella also do a Low Tension string, but I haven't tried them. Some flats are ruinously expensive so trying a lot is not always practical. However you will find that people sell their old flatwounds on here so at least you can try a bunch that way. As per the last video in this post, Ed Friedland came from an upright background and though the La Bella Deep Talking Bass was what he was looking for. I'm a big fan of flats, and I have different ones on different basses. Shortscale Sandberg Lionel passive PJ: Fender Stainless flats. Then I have 2 shortscale Jim Deacon precisions - one has proper old La Bella Deep Talking Flats and the other has Dunlop Flats. Medium Scale Ibanez 5 string - Dunlop Flats Sandberg TT4 (active Jazz type) usually has Ernie Ball Group 2.5 flatwounds. From memory so you can listen to examples: La Bella Deep Talking Flats: Duck Dunn / James Jamerson. Both famously liked their strings very old to the point they would grease up new ones to remove any twang a new set had! Dunlop Flats: Michael League of Snarky Puppy is a fan. Very expensive though. Ernie Ball Group Flats (different from the Cobalts): Joe Dart of Vulfpeck / Fearless Flyers / The Ollam always has these on his passive stringray bass. Pino Palladino - Thomastik TI Flats are on his signature model. Also expensive. Comparison of La Bella Deep Talking Flats and their Low Tension alternative Dunlops, DR, Rotosound, and or course La Bella. Do note that the Rotosounds are a nickel alloy called Monel. It has a very high nickel content so if you have any sort of nickel allergy (as I do) then they are not the best choice. and finally - Ed Friedland talking about his favourite and that some of his La Bella's have been on for 20 years on his old green P bass near the end of the vid. As Ed says - he's an upright / DB player and he found the La Bella's to be just the thing he was looking for. Prices are all over the place. Stings Direct tend to be really expensive for many of them. Bass Direct is usually the cheapest for La Bella. Dunlops come up cheap on Amazon occasionally - stick some in your "Save for later" and keep an eye on the price. Everytime have a look everywhere for the best deal. Hope that helps a bit.

Up a gauge on what you are already using. They'll probably be a bit tight in Eb and just right in D.

There are 3 books in this series: https://www.basslinepublishing.com/product/the-bass-guitarists-guide-to-reading-music-beginner-level/ I found them very useful when learning to read music. I also bought a bunch of exam example pieces for Double Bass and Trombone and just ignored any mention of bows and slide position. Like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1860960340/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The secret about reading is to do little and often. You'll make far more progress doing 10 mins a day rather than 90 minutes in one sitting at the weekend. The brain needs the repetition to work - just like any other language. A difficulty in learning to read well is going back to older pieces that you already know - are you reading or remembering them? So books of short sight reading tests with dozens of example makes sure you are reading and not remembering. Good luck with your studies! Being able to read really does open up the instrument and gig opportunities. I didn't bother for years and then got a gig with a Big Band (20+ horns / reeds / piano / drums etc) and I was so out of my depth. I was the one who always said "I'll take the music home and have it nailed by next week" rather than being able to play it there. I didn't like being the odd one out! I did 6 years with that band and by the end got quite competent.... mostly in flat keys due to all the transposing instruments! I'm still rubbish at reading the sharp keys!

Dibs!

they are 50s P bass pickups in a J shell, and hum cancelling. Anyone tried them? Or know of a J sized alternative?

Sandberg Lionel is lovely.

I’d love to try the flats but as they appear to be at least a nickel based alloy I won’t risk the money. Nickel allergies suck.

I'm very pleased with it. Good full sound, more than enough volume. The HS7 is passive cooled so no fan noise either. The only thing I'd mention is that as with most monitors the cones are not protected. So be aware of children and pets!

I think my oldest set of flats are about 3 or 4 years old. La Bella DTF. So they've got a good 15 years left in them. My oldest set of rounds is only about 6 months old - trying some Elixirs for the first time.

I have to say, I really liked that tune on the youtube link.

Personally I find the X series EMGs to be a lot better than the regular ones for Precision types. Just sounds more open to me. https://www.emgpickups.com/bass/extended-series/35p4x.html

Just the 4s.

Not necessarily. Gauge is a very poor indication of stiffness and tension.

Holy Necro thread Batman! For some reason I thought about the Players School today. What happened to it? It seems to be 100% online now, and nothing like it used to be. I always fancied doing one of their short courses in person.

Cable ties, or remove the rubber bit on the bottom. For some pedals - like Boss - you can buy metal only replacement plates for only a few quid.

Put it last in the chain so the di can be used as a di if needed. Put an envelope filter, octave, compressor and maybe a drive in front. Job done.

BF X10 series are pretty much Ampeg inspired and will handle anything an Ampeg can. I've used a One10 for everything. An SVT sound has been used by everyone from Duck Dunn to Jason Newsted, with and without other fx. I find those cabs work really well with Darkglass and EBS drive pedals and with fuzz, although I'm not much of a fuzz user for bass, at least not without a blend.