TRBboy

I bet the STMP-01 sounds great, but yeah a little pricey.

Had a response from Glockenklang saying that I would probably have to install a battery box. I know I said I didn't want to chop it about, but I'm wondering about just cutting a slot big enough for the battery, extending from the end of the control cavity back towards the pickups. Maybe I should just do it. I did say it's the bass I'd never sell anyway!

Don't know if there's any major issues with the battery being fairly close top the pickups?

Ok, it doesn't look like anything active is gonna work, don't know if my cavity is just super small or what.

Does anyone have any experience/opinions/preference between the Dimarzio Model J or Ultra Jazz?

Also, does anyone know where to look for a Sadowsky outboard preamp and how much they go for?

Just had a measure up. and I don't think a Glock would fit. In fact by my measurements, I'm not even sure that a J-retro would fit! Boo....

It certainly looks like a Bigsby style trem. They don't stay in tune on a guitar so god knows what they're like on a bass! Might be ok if you play very gently and try not to touch it......... looks cool though.

First Bass Owned: Squier Precision
'Go To' Bass: MIA Fender Jazz Bass
'Your' Bass: Sandberg Basic 4

I do now really fancy the Glock - I think my SD's might be fine with a bit of a helping hand (and it's about the cheapest option!), but I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to fit it and the battery in my cavity. Has anyone fitted one to a Jazz bass?

On another subject, can anyone recommend a good quality replacement nut for a jazz?

[quote name='bh2' post='1180255' date='Mar 28 2011, 11:27 PM']I put DiMarzio Model J's on mine, the ones with the cream covers, although the added J-Retro helps a lil bit![/quote]

I've never had the chance to play a bass with a j-retro in - are they worth the money? I've read great reviews and I know people love them.

[quote name='Schnozzalee' post='1180208' date='Mar 28 2011, 10:39 PM']Dimarzios and Glockenlang - I'd choose the same for myself[/quote]

I reckon that would be an awesome combo, I'm just not sure whether the Glock would fit I'm the cavity. Perhaps I'll email them and see if they can tell me anything.

Out of interest, which Dimarzios would you go for?

I've had a look around and can't really find anywhere that you can buy the Delano JMVC 4 FE/M2 from. Am I missing something obvious?

I've got 4 at the moment, although my 5 string very rarely gets played at the moment. I guess I'm generally a straight-up 4 string rock player for the most part, but I bought the 5 last year when I was playing with a funk/soul band. Hoping to get some gigs with the local soul choir this year, so I'll probably hang onto it for now.

My problem is that I think I'm addicted to buying gear. I buy a new bass and either sell it later because it's not as good as what I've already got, or it ends up being my favourite and my others don't seem as good! Then I have to upgrade one of the others to try and make it as good, or end up selling it to buy something else, and then the cycle starts all over again!

If I wasn't so poor I'd probably have loads!

That said, I have always been fairly practical and usually if something's not getting used, I'll sell it and buy something that will (the 5 string may yet go that way to buy another Sandberg!).


Maybe someone should set up a rehabilitation scheme for bass addicts!

You haven't had much luck have you!

Glad you've finally got the bass, shame about the dodgy input. Keep us posted.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1179940' date='Mar 28 2011, 08:06 PM']Why not get some delanos like your sandy will probably have?[/quote]

Well I've got the Basic 4, so it's a MM, but not a bad shout. What do the Delano J's sound like passive? Aren't they a fair bit more expensive too?

Yeah that's a good shout, and you've just reminded me that I've got a Radial Bassbone which isn't doing much at the moment! Maybe I should get some Dimarzio's and use the bassbone - even if the pedal dies at least I should still have a decent sound.

I'm still open to other suggestions though guys, I am notoriously useless at making decisions!

My main bass for the last 14 years or so has been my trusty MIA Fender Jazz. Many other basses have come and gone, but it has stayed. I did upgrade the pups to SD Quarter Pounders a few years ago, which are ok, but the trouble is, since I got my Sandberg a few weeks back it just seems a bit feeble. So I'm now trying to decide what to do to give it a bit more balls. I like plenty of output, guts, growl and punch, but still defined and articulate. I don't want to chop any wood out (e.g. battery box, side mount jack) so that's another consideration. I did try an Aguilar OBP2SK before but it was just too much to fit in the cavity.

I realise that the obvious answer is to drop in a j-retro, but I need to do this cheaper if possible, unless of course anyone knows of a cheap one for sale somewhere.

If I went the active route, I would ideally like to have a passive bypass just in case.


So the options I've thought of so far are:

- Dimarzio Model J or Ultra Jazz set - hotter output and more modern sounding than my SD's. No need to worry about batteries. BUT will they satisfy me. Anyone have any thoughts about either model?

- Glockenklang 2-band preamp w/stacked pot (keep the SD's) - Impressed with the Glock in my Sandberg and it has the passive bypass. BUT will it (and battery) fit in the control cavity?

- East BTB-01 (keep SD's) - Really not sure if I'll fit this and a battery in, the circuit board looks fairly big.

- EMG J Set - Quite like the idea of this BUT no passive option. I'm guessing that the battery would fit in the control cavity as there's not much else to get in the way.


HELP!!!



Any other suggestions greatly appreciated!

[quote name='sykilz' post='1178266' date='Mar 27 2011, 12:47 PM']Just looked at the Dimarzio, would look fantastic on an all black bass.....good shout!!!![/quote]

My thinking exactly.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=71320"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?act=attach...st&id=71320[/url]

I've got quarter pounders in my jazz, and they're ok, but if you want a bit more punch, growl and clarity, I would have a look at Dimarzio model p. I stuck a model p and j in my yamaha recently and they blew me away! Well worth a look. I think I got them from Axiomatic Music who seemed to have the best price at the time. You can get them in cream if you like that sort of thing.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1177361' date='Mar 26 2011, 04:04 PM']re: log vs linear... isn't it the other way around? Meaning that our ear perceives these changes in a log fashion, so for us to hear a smooth (linear) change we need a log pot.[/quote]

Yeah, I believe that's the reason log pots are more commonly used, because they're better matched to the way our ears percieve the change. A linear pot is more directly proportional and accurate but might not sound as we expect it to.

I know what I mean, it's just hard to explain it!

It's ok but not really my cup of tea, plus I bet I could probably buy about 6 decent basses for the cost of it. Does anyone know how much these are? I found a thread on an american forum from 3 years ago which said they're about $9k!

Awesome playing man!

FWIW I preferred Bass 2 for both Pups and slap, but Bass 1 for bridge pup. Bass 2 sounded a bit thin on the bridge pup for me.

Axesrus have got quite a handy little guide to pots and caps down the right hand side of this page.

[url="http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm"]http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm[/url]

Can't get link to work properly so copy and paste.

I used to have one of these, and it was ok for the money, but I later had a Yamaha BB614 fretless which was a much much better bass for not much more money IMO.

As well as changing the cap, you could always try swapping the existing tone pot out for a linear pot. Most passive basses have audio taper (logarithmic) pots which don't really do much from about 1 - 5, so effectively they go straight from 0% to 60 or 70%. This results in all the control being at one end. Linear pots are proportional so 3 on the dial will give you 30% and 8 would give you 80%. These pots are fine for volume or tone and are more commonly used on audio equipment, although logarithmic are more common on passive basses.

I'm not big on electronics, but I'm sure if I'm talking complete nonsense someone will correct me pretty quickly.

I agree that couriers are generally crap, but I would still kick up a fuss with Thomann about it, especially considering how long this has dragged on and what a series of cock-ups there has been.

Tell them that you had to take a day off work to wait in for it and no courier came, and now you're gonna have to take another day off to wait for it again! Lay it on thick and make them feel as bad as possible. At the end of the day, you've chosen to buy from them because they're a reputable supplier that you expect a certain level of service from. At the moment they're failing to deliver the level of service that you're paying them for, and failing to live up to their reputation.

It might be worth asking them to verify the delivery address and ask them to check which address the courier attempted to deliver to, because they might have tried to deliver it today, but to the wrong house!

I always take two basses, and all of my basses are different, but I like the way that all of them play and sound so it's fine. I guess they've all got fairly slim necks.

It is all down to personal preference really, one man's chicken in a basket is another man's coq au vin...........

I think the Yamaha is a good choice if you want more of a traditional sound, and still pretty versatile, but the Ibanez's are really comfortable and probably lighter and more versatile (they do a great 'growl' if that's what floats your boat!).