The Burpster

Sadly the early PRS basses were a bit flat tonally, and whilst they made good funk and reggae basses they didnt 'hit it' well in all the other genres. Mr Smith was a bit miffed with that, and they didnt sell very well. When he designed the EB IV (the ones that I have) he set about a fair chunk of the design himself and recruited LR Baggs to help design the electrics so that the new ones was more tonally versatile, whilst it worked to a degree the pre amp is still a wee bit limited and I have found slapping a Bartolini pre amp in there (and if I had more bottle a set of Bart pups) opens up the spectrum. The set neck Electric Bass 4 that Robbie is playing in that clip is a wonderful design and they feel great, some of them are works of art. Sadly they are sought after more because they are collectors pieces now than 'kick ass' basses which I find a shame. Also a shame that Robbie was never an official endorsee of PRS. Gary Grainger kinda makes up for that though having his own 5 string priavte stock design. Oh and BTW someone started a thread exactly the same as yours with another youube clip about a year ago....!

Isnt the Orange Terror dual head usable for g'tar and bass.....? I seem to remembr reading that somewhere...

[quote name='silddx' post='698830' date='Jan 2 2010, 04:50 PM']Thanks very much for the pinch on the Status fellas! Unfortunately, I am convinced it won't fit without major surgery. I leveled and dressed the frets and the action's down a little, I think I can live with it, possibly [/quote] Is it the whole action thats high or just one side....? Was wondering if a shim might help.....? B.

PM'd urgently!!!!!!

[quote name='merello' post='697559' date='Dec 31 2009, 08:28 PM']Now, the force still pushes me towards Fender but I'm not that bothered about style and fashion and have started looking at:[/quote] Just remember what happened to Anakin Skywalker when he was seduced by the Force..... Fenders can just be too hit and miss for me. You could end up getting a Korean Squire that plays and sounds better than a MIA. That would be just too much of a gamble for me. German or Jap would be my guidance from your list, but as said above - I would advise you try as many as you can and try not to think of the price. Sooner or later one will decide on you rather than the other way round.....

I've just had a thought..... If a slightly dodgy party gets in in the next election and we end up going to war, all of these will be confiscated by the government to make Spitfires......

Oddly, this place keeps me motivated as I have to log on every day. There have been days this year when I really couldnt be arsed to think about basses. However coming into the new year I'm into a new pimping project, I'm desperatly hoping my time has come for one of my necks to go on holiday to the US and come back fretless and superb. I have made a pact with my geetarist to play more and maybe record some bits... (oo er missus!) I am going to start jamming with a couple of guys from work too and see where that goes...! All thanks to this place...... Being a mod can be a PITA at times but you know what..? Its impossible to be negative for long around a community such as this! So I absolutely empathise with you Rhys, and I genuinely share your optimism!

Eeeeeeee lad, a Barnsley fightin' guitar......

[quote name='silddx' post='695840' date='Dec 29 2009, 07:19 PM']Thanks for that, I hadn't thought Status might be able to do something of that order so the suggestion is gratefully received. I thought i might struggle with this one to be honest. The existing neck isn't too bad but it won't take a low action, got a bit of a snake relief going on so a serious fret level is the only other option.[/quote] Yeouch that sounds ugly....... Would a fret level sort it? sounds like if its warped that much then a stoning job wont help...... If carbon neck is a step too far, maybe just source a Warmoth neck thats straight....?

[quote name='Buzz' post='695821' date='Dec 29 2009, 06:47 PM']I think it's just that time of the month for dear ol' Burpster.[/quote] OK I apologise..... I'll get meself down the chemist and get me some lilets........ As to the alteration of tone, the beauty of these is that the amount the rubbers damp the strings can be tuned. There is also 2 settings on the cam lever so you can increase it if its not enough at setting one. On mine with flats the 1st position just dulls down the sustain, the 2nd dulling it to an EUB like thud, which for 12bar blues is excellent. If I had more time at the mo I rceord a few bits and put them on as MP3s.

Oh dear, have I been abrasive.... If I have appeared to be, its because too often folks diss a piece of kit purely because of its cost. They have more than likely never come into contact with the piece of kit in question but because it costs £XX they quote it as a waste of money. This piece of kit allows you to damp in the way I pointed out. Do I pick up that you are implying then, that because I state that a Bassmute would allow it to be used bewteen notes, that I have to be able to damp between notes to have a bassmute fitted? Will you also tell me I have to be able to slap 16ths to be credible..? I dont have sufficient skill to damp to similar amount repeatedly with my palm and I end up being hamfisted, hence the reason I bought and use a Bassmute. I dont have the luxury of being able to practice for hours on end, and playing is not my career so it is not essential for me to be able to palm mute with a high degree of skill. I use it to deliver a sound that I require. It is for complete tracks most of the time, but I can and do flick it to damp for parts of tracks if I need to. Why do folks find it neccassary to give a critique on their opinion of 'what something costs or is worth' when that was not the question I originally posed.....? I was genuinely interested to see if others had bought and use this piece of kit. I was not interested to see if anyone thought it 'value for money' or if they could 'justify buying one'.......

Mapas, unfortunately Al is correct. If you are going to practice live with drums and guitars you will need a 100w solid state or maybe just less (75w+) valve amp. if your drummer is using real drums (as opposed to digi drums) you will not be able to be heard. Of your basses mentioned above I'd go for either of the Warwicks and try to push for the 60w blue cab amp! (you might just be heard with that!)... OR get the Warwick bass then look for a good 100w combo 2ndhand.....?

I'll put money on your strap having a suede or suede effect inner to the strap....? Levys are like this, which is great if your bass is very nuetral balanced which it sounds like yours maynot be. Get a strap with natural finish on the leather on teh inside and it will move more freely (my PRS straps are the same hide but differing colors on both sides) these move easily over clothes teh Levys straps I have dont - they pull clothes around just as you describe. Any help?

Rob at Status might be able to cobble something together from one of the 'off the peg' models...? If Moses dont then your really gonna struggle is my honest guess....

Greetings ancient mariner. Interesting subject and there is a wealth of info and experience on here to help. I found this a help when I first started [url="http://www.tunemybass.com/"]http://www.tunemybass.com/[/url] but I have moved on a bit since then. I'm going to move your post to the repairs and tech section as the folks that browse there will answer pretty much anything you care to ask!

I think you may find that if you play a Status Streamline, you may struggle to want to play anything else afterwards!

[quote name='gjones' post='693759' date='Dec 26 2009, 03:23 PM']I could never justify spending actual money on a piece of kit to do the job a bit of foam rubber could do for free.[/quote] Hmmmmmmm, justification is relative isn't it. This device is completely tunable, to allow varying degrees of mute. That is across all strings or on each individual string. Whilst I agree with a lot of to55ing about you could do that with little bits of FREE foam..... Could you however, i) flick into and out of the damped string mode between tracks or indeed between notes while you are playing? I think not. ii) you replicate EXACTLY the same amount of damping that you set up with your bit of foam over and over again? I think not. iii) you select how much damping you use mid track? I think not. I am endebted to Ellio and his team for developing a quality peice of kit, and believe me it is. Whilst this doesnt fit into a 'minimum budget at all costs' approach to basses, you may have noticed that these are both fitted to my PRSs so that isn't on my agenda. This is a superb piece of kit. It works. It may cost as much as some basses do, but then it only costs the same as a quality effects pedal with which I would have to s0d about with to try to get the effect that this produces and it is not in the signal chain. The exchange is crap at currently so they do not seem like a 'bargain', but then would you spend £100 on a pedal...? My guess is that you probably wouldn't, I mean why would you spend 'actual money' on an overdrive when you can just turn the gain up: Right?

[quote name='ped' post='671493' date='Dec 1 2009, 08:07 PM']Let's see some PRS pics BTW![/quote] OK Pics you want.....? Sorry for the delay! Its Boxing day, and FINAlLY I have some spare time to do stuff! Pics of the boys and their toys....

Two Makes.... Schaller or Hipshot. Both very high Quality engineering and Uber reliable. I'd have anything out of either of thier catalogues.

For me "Albatross by Fleetwood Mac". My part is jaw droppingly boring, but to watch Neale play both parts simultaneously on his PRS with new strings, makes my eyes damp every time.... :wub: Actually I must record it and put in on here soon!

Its your bass - do as you want/need...... IF you intend to keep it. If you dont then think long and hard about mods..... Thats my advice FWIW.

Do quadruplets count.....? My 4 PRS EB IVs are all the same model but they are not all indentical..... In fact considering they are all the same model they all 4 have distinct characters.....