fretmeister

AG-4P precision pickup. 1960 specs.

I've changed the pickups in every Sandberg I've kept. Aguilars if it's passive, EMGs for active. I suppose they are just the sound in my head.

Was it cliched when it was released? I recall it was lauded as a breath of fresh air among the hair metal and shedder bands.

If I do it I'll probably take it to Feline. They do excellent work like that, and I know they have experience with paulownia. I actually have a boxed set of EMG PJ-X pickups sitting around. They are my favourite pickups. I'll have to give it some serious thought.

The mid scoop can be cured / reduced a lot with EMGs and their Active Balance Control. I have that set up in a few of my basses for that very reason. But when I pick up a different 2 pickup bass I have to recalibrate my thinking EQ again!

The thing that cannot be named definitely doesn't help - the online Sandberg parts store will not ship to the UK anymore because of it. Have to go via the UK distributor or a UK shop at a higher price. I get why the online store won't do it - the hassle of customs forms and things for a part that might only be £8 makes it non-viable now.

I got my Superlight Lionel via Classic & Cool. I got it in 1 year last March. I suspect the model and what custom options a person wants has an impact. The aging process takes a quite a bit more work so they might even do them in batches. I knew in advance that the waiting list was going to be at least a year. Bass Direct carry them too - as do GuitarGuitar but I don't know if GG accept the custom orders. But yes - all orders and quotes for unusual stuff have to go via a dealer. The configurator cannot possibly have every option on it. I had a chat with Mark, exchanged a few emails about spec and paid a deposit. That locks the price in and the balance is paid when lands at Sandberg UK distribution. I'm still playing mine every day. In hindsight a PJ set up might have been more versatile than just a P but I'm also nervous about getting it routed out for a J at the bridge.

No. but it is an increasingly obsolete view. He, and others like him, have musical careers. They are getting paid to play. That it is not to your taste is irrelevant. That they are getting paid by advertising revenue rather than getting 2% of physical media sales is also irrelevant. He is not releasing music on 78 speed vinyl, he's releasing it on youtube and he has built an audience over years of hard work. And it is hard work. It's coming up with 4 or 5 new vids a week. Planning it, filming it, editing it. Dealing with copyright issues, etc etc. And that ignores the investment of the time needed to be able to play as well as he does. He's probably putting in more than 40 hours a week on it. That's a lot more than most musicians do, or even attempt to do. Complaining about modern ideas is a weird thing. We are on this forum because we play an instrument that has only been around for about 70 years and was laughed at when it was invented. I suspect that when Bottesini asked for a 4 string double bass rather than the traditional 3 string one the response was "Why? What's the point?" as well. Things move on. People like him do not affect the traditionalists ability to get pub gigs, or record what a traditionalist gatekeeper has decided is valid musical expression, or any of what has gone before. It's just something new to go into the pot. And like or not - he's inspiring people to play. 99.9% of them will never reach his ability. But they are playing and increasing sales of kit and making manufacturers invest in more product ideas etc etc. For some reason I had this view that bassists were somehow more rational than guitarists - many guitar forums are filled with people complaining that many new young guitarists say they were inspired to play by Ed Sheeran! Who GAF how they decided to pick up an instrument? The important bit is that they did! As for the amazingly dim sounding "I bet he can't play in a band" type argument.... ye gods that's a poor argument to present. Loads of the flashiest players spend most of their day doing sessions for other people. Just holding down the bottom end, playing roots. Marcus Miller does it. Billy Sheehan does it. There is zero reason to think that someone who can play like CB cannot play what a song needs. I used to play Classical Thump and Colorado Bulldog etc. And I had no problem joining a 25 member jazz big band and just playing what was written. I loved it just as much.

Buy a seat for it on the plane.

I love my Helix. It's amazing. It is now part of my home recording set up so I'm thinking about a Stomp for when I'm out of the house.

I used mine with a SuperTwin and now use it with a pair of One10 cabs. It will work with any 4ohm to 16ohm set up. I assume the Midget has combo jacks so you can you a regular speaker cable and not a Speakon at the cab end?

Hotone Thunder Bass. 5W only, but an amazing lounge amp. Sounds just like a good SVT. Under £100!

With some of the bands I've been in, the others would have sold my gear in that time, and used the money for booze!

"Unnecessary..." iPads were deemed unnecessary. Laptops same. Home computers - same. Carbonated drinks - same. Etc etc. You never know what the next generation will think is a necessity.

When I get a mo I'll do a rough recording of random riffs with and without drums and bass so you can hear it. I have no idea what pickups he uses. He owns a studio that is open to others and he has a massive selection of instruments for people to use. I have 3 guitars - a strat with Lollar vintage single coils, a LTD EC-256 (the cheapest les paul type they do) that has their own brand humbuckers in it, and an Ibanez RG7321 7 string loaded with EMG Mick Thompson active pickups. I usually like EMGs but these ones are not really for me. I'll swap them at some point but used 7 string pickups don't come up often and they are expensive. So I will cope for the moment. I usually prefer mid output pickups, especially for metal. I just like the way they react to my picking more. I want to add my own compression if I want it. I don't want the pickup to cause it by being so damn hot.

Man who earns money on youtube is a PITA for promoting the way he plays the bills? What a weird complaint. Like it or not, YouTube playing is an entirely different sport to band playing. YouTube playing is a different product to band playing. Loads of YT people are honest about it. Like drummer El Estepario did an interview and explained he spends far more time learning drumming tricks for social media than actually playing songs because that is his primary source of income. Just playing four to the floor wouldn’t earn money on YouTube. I don’t know why anyone would think either of them couldn’t play simply for a band though.

On a shorty bass with full sized tuners you can use any strings you like. Long scale ones will be fine. If the tuners have small posts then short scale strings are needed as the fat bit of the string won't go round the tiny post well - and flats will just snap while installing them. I find it easier to get strings for my 2 shorties with full sized tuners than I do for my medium scales with small tuners.

Phil. A legend getting old. Happens to us all. Apart from Keith, obviously.

I was in a very good band with a great guy but his problem is that he never thought a song was finished. Even when we played together again after an 18 year break he was still saying songs we had gigged in a set form for years were not finished. I nearly formed a new band with him again, but ultimately decided against it. I can’t be dealing with that approach. No art is ever finished, it is only abandoned, but it’s futile to keep going back over and over again at the expense of moving forward.

Agreed. The only artist patch I though was any good was Jeff Waters guitar patch that was included in an update a few years ago. I'm a fan of Annihilator and initially I wasn't that impressed. Then I read some L6 posts and it turned out it was a recording patch rather than a live patch. So I recorded a few things with it - not adjusting anything at all - and then double tracked it properly. It then sounded fantastic. Thick and full, but with loads of articulation. His EQ and relatively low drive settings were the secret.

Barefaced Super Twin (with or without a Tweeter) Barefaced Big Twin 3. Both 4ohm and very light. And, more to the point with your amp, very efficient drivers.

ah damnit. It's always the good ones. RIP.

Nice!