TRBboy

24 minutes ago, SamIAm said:

My latest go at a pedalboard.  I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of the X5 effects, but at present no OD hence the MXR (Inserted using the FX loop between the octaver and chorus, the X5 is chained R to L).  The X5 tuner does not cope with a low B hence the KORG at the front of the chain.

I have a lot more tweaking to do with the settings on each of the X5 toneprints to dial in my 'perfect' sound.

And I need to sort a wider board so the KORG is not sideways! (Slight OCD).

Sam x

Love the simplicity of that board Sam! 😍👌

I was only looking at these Mikro 5 strings yesterday! I appreciate you've tuned yours differently, but do they actually work in standard tuning? Where do you find a string set the right length? Very cool things though!

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

Looking at the manual, if you are in the MEMORY screen, you can select a patch from (presumably) the current bank of 3 using footswitches 1-3, and if you are in the EFFECT screen you can turn effects on and off with buttons 1-3.

Thanks for this, that's how I was reading it too, but then I wasn't so sure 😅

Hey folks! 👋😁

I have a query about the B2 Four, and I'm struggling to find the answer. I'll try to explain myself, but might make a mess of it 😅.

In the manual, it says that you can have up to 5 effects in each patch. What I want to know, is can you then assign a patch to each of the three footswitches to toggle on and off, or can you only use the footswitches to turn effects on and off within one patch at a time?

I know you can change patches with the square buttons, but I'd really like to be able to assign a patch to each footswitch.

Hope this makes sense!

Ta,

Oli

It'll be fine, I've done it that way around before purely because it was the only way I could get my pedals to fit on my board. It's not like the compressor is going to change the pitch of the signal 😅

I'm not fussed with amp and cab Sims, just effects, so sounds like it'll be just the ticket. Still in a quandary over whether this or the B2 Four would better suit my needs, and at the same time I'm still trialling the B1 Four 😅

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

 

With both Cort and Ibanez bringing out headless models (or ranges in the case of Ibanez), they've presumably seen that there is a good commercial opportunity. I think Mark was shifting a fair few Corts at Bass Direct from what he said. Steinberger has kept going with the Spirit range.

 

Headless instruments are better ecologically, as they use less wood - none wasted on an advertising billboard at the end of the neck.

I don't know why Cort and Ibanez insist on using the MK1's so much, they aren't great and most people (not all) seem not to like them. They'd be better using some of their own brand soapbars, or charging a little more and putting something else in there.

48 minutes ago, Shiveringbass said:

Hello,

 

Is it me or does the Bass the world review speaks of 35" scale whereas Nate one says 34" ?

 

They are 34" I believe

So, I've had a chat with Gregor Fris, and he said he will pass on the concerns around communication to Holger. They are aware that they're having an issue dealing with emails, and are working on improving that. 

Although I know it may not suit everyone, he said the best way to contact currently is via FB or Insta - it is a separate team dealing with these enquiries, including himself I believe, and probably Marc Stranger-Najjar. If you message Sandberg socials, you will certainly get a quicker response.

I used Catswhisker for my build last year, on recommendation from a more experienced builder from BC. I hadn't heard of them before but took the plunge.

Allan was super helpful, and happy to accommodate whatever I wanted. The price came in a lot less than the big brands, and I can honestly say they're the best sounding pickups I've used in nearly 30 years of playing! Very happy with them indeed.

@Mick Dolan I only ever conversed with Allan via email, and it doesn't look like they have a phone number listed on the website. Is he not replying to your emails?

I only use Spotify, the family subscription is great value, and I like how it works. 🤷

So sorry to hear this, top guy! 🥲

Condolences to his family X

I know no-one's posted for a while, but I thought it better to revive this than start another thread.

Third practice last night with the new rhythm guitarist and drummer, and it's going fantastically well! It still feels a bit strange playing the same material with different people, after having played with the same guys for the past 13 years, but it's going really well! It's not better or worse particularly, just different. The pace and feel of some songs is different, and I guess some of the 'pushes' and such from the drummer.

The new guys are coming to our last gig with the old lineup in two weeks, to get a feel for how we usually do things. I'm not expecting them to be exactly the same, but we need to try to have a similar feel about us at least as we're keeping the name and have existing bookings through the year. They're really looking forward to it!

I also gave the B1 Four a run out last night. @SamIAm has kindly loaned me this, as I was curious about them. There's some great sounds in there, but I need to tinker around with it a bit more to see if I can get what I want out of it. I'm not sure if it's just my perception, but I don't feel like the effects are quite as 'good sounding' as my old B3 at the moment, but maybe one I play around a bit more I'll get there. Not sure what the difference is in effect quality between the two units. I am struggling to get used to navigating patches, I'm so used to just having my B3 set up as 3 stompboxes, which I can just turn on or off as the mood takes me. 

And last but not least, my relationship with 'Pinky' is blossoming! Such a great playing and sounding instrument, even if I do say so myself! There's still a bit of fettling I need to do with it, but I'm really enjoying it!

So, a great practice overall! 😊👍

1 hour ago, Aidan63 said:

I have made three more attempts to contact Sandberg by email, using their website, service@ and home@ email addresses and still no reply. Why bother having a contact form on the website and hiding your sales phone number ?

Any company that is only open to using social media for customer contact can do one afaic

I'd say it's typical big company arrogance, their way or no way.

What's the point of having a configurator if you won't discuss the details with the customer.

If they can't be bothered to deal with a potential individual customer in order to make a sale they are unlikely to be responsive once they have the customer's money. If they replied and said I need to go through Bass Direct or another dealer they are happy to use as intermediary I'd understand that but no reply at all ? wtf

I love the Lionel fretless but they won't be getting my money for a fretted one, they have lost a sale, I'd much rather give my money to a UK luthier who will actually appear to be interested in making me an instrument, or even give Fender too much money for a JMJ with a finish I hate but a pickup and neck I like 😲🙃

That's a real shame, they've always been a bit flaky on Comms, especially via the home@ email, but I've always had a response from service@, even if not especially quickly.

I believe the official line on the configurator is that you need to discuss it or request a quote through a dealer; you can't order directly from them.

Sandberg remain a pretty small operation, and are focussed on building instruments rather than running a contact center. It makes things more streamlined if they can focus on receiving and fulfilling orders from their distributors/dealers rather than fielding loads of individual queries from different customers.

Hi Steve, I don't have any experience with them as such, but I did pick one up in Guitar Guitar Birmingham the other week, and I was really surprised how sharp and badly finished the fret edges were, surprising for Ibanez!

If I were in your position, I think I'd be looking at something like a Yamaha TRBX305/RBX375, an Ibanez SR305, or something similar.

Very nice indeed! I tried the 1005SMS at the show and was really impressed.

The wood finish is supposed to be like that, it's an 'open pore' finish. I really like it. 😊

I have to hold my hands up I guess, I do currently have a rack case for my amp! 😂

I only got it because I was worried about damaging the graphic sliders if I just had it in a bag, and it ONLY has my amp in it.

Just out of curiosity really, I notice on the FB groups that a lot of our American peers LOVE a massive rack unit filled with all kinds of stuff. I'd say they're a pretty uncommon sight in the UK, and probably haven't been for the last 20 years or so. I'm not saying no-one uses them, just that it's more unusual here.

Just wondering why that is? I get that power conditioners are common over there due to the nature of the electrical infrastructure, but then to also have a bass amp or power amp, preamp, compressor, tuner, etc, etc just seems kinda old school I guess, with the developments in technology.

I suppose it stands out more when it's sat on top of a compact lightweight cab, I've seen a couple recently where the rack unit was bigger than the cab!  😵‍💫

Again, I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with this, just a discussion point out of curiosity. 😊

Photo from Google

6 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

How are you getting on with the B1-4?

I suspect to @tauzero's shock, I will say that if there's one niggle I have with the Zoom B1-4, it's that it's a noisier than I would like with one of my gigging basses and I end up using a "Motown" patch with a cut at 1.6kHz and 3.2kHz plus the Zoom noise reduction sim on all of my patches as standard. But given the flexibility it offers elsewhere for its ridiculously low price point, I've been able to live with that work around. Don't know if other B1-4 users have had a similar issue?

 

I'm hoping that the MS-60B+ with its improved chip set will be less noisy.

I've not had time to do much with it yet, arrived Thursday. Did manage to spend a little time setting up some sounds last night, but needs done further tweakery. I'm using the Dark Pre fire my crunch/light OD sound, and I've setup a choice of two patches for higher gain, Dark OD and DI+. Also a chorus patch; I've gone with the Corona for now, but struggling to decide which I like best. I prefer the chorus on the B3 though at the moment. 

I'll just be using them as standalone effects, no amp/cab Sims, comps etc.

Damn you! I tried to buy this last week but you must've beaten me to it! What a gorgeous bass for a bargain price!

Might be worth getting in touch with Headstock Distribution RE the wiring schematic. 👍

I would order cheap 250k pots off eBay first and see if they fit. I only use generic pots these days, and never had an issue with them. I used to use CTS, but I had some really crappy scratchy ones, so stopped bothering. Cheap, generic pots, I've never had an issue with, all have been smooth.

What's wrong with the standard pots, or are they a different value?

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Well it seems the Pod Express is not being pitched as for live use pedal by Line 6:

 

"You'll notice none of our in situ photography shows POD Express on a stage or with other pedals—it's always shown on a desktop or outside at the beach or campground."

Eric Klein, Chief Product Design Architect, Yamaha Guitar Group | Line 6 | Ampeg - Talkbass 8 Mar

 

I'd love to find more beach use for my bass playing, just can't see that happening any time soon.

That's nuts, it's an effects pedal with footswitches, surely you use it however you want, live or otherwise. Maybe they're getting twitchy that it's been received (so far) much better than the HX One, and might make that product irrelevant in their range.

We have a Nate Navarro video now too 😊

Second half of this video is a bass demo, although done by a guitarist 😅