dc2009

What BRX said. I'd gladly shell out 10,000euros for a ritter if I had the money to spare...

Same problem, love earplugs at band practice, but can't hit a note if I can't hear myself well...

Will give it a listen when I get home, cheers.

Car speakers and music in question are two great points already mentioned. I would say if you listened to 5 distinctly different genres of songs recorded this/last year, by and large you would hear 5 different bass tones IMO. If you're listening to Lady Gaga you get what you heard, it'll be different on a RHCP record and on a Killers record and on an Iron Maiden record and on a Cannibal Corpse record etc etc I would also add that the role of the basslines will alter the sound from band to band. A band where the bassist never does a fill outside root + 5th + octave will probably not be fussed about the bassline sound or volume, where it carries the tune, i.e. Hey (NOT Snow Hey Oh) by RHCP or Mr Brightside by the killers, the bass has integral lines as is mixed as such.

High slap sound and huge low sound sounds like two different settings to me. So you either need a footswitch for your (pre)amp and something like an easily switchable Sansamp, or perhaps you need something like that. Alternatively you could have a tonally versatile bass, something that flicks the pickup from one mode to another (the $$ warwick's spring to mind for that, but not for the woods you have specified). I reckon Sandbergs are worth a good look.

You sir, are a genius - it looks great! I smell a very distant project of my own coming on....

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1348627' date='Aug 23 2011, 02:04 AM']Every bassist should have a Precision.It's the rules.[/quote] What about if they hate the neck shape, like me? That fotoflame P was gorgeous, I was drooling over that one for a while, congrats! However, as much as I've loved the sound, I've always hated the neck, to be honest, I love the sound of my P pickup on my non-Reverse TB 5 - it is a solid, meaty sound and it doesn't have a neck from hell.

[quote name='Evil Undead' post='1348556' date='Aug 22 2011, 11:12 PM']Ok here's one - and this is the thing that I would be most interested in hearing about - what if a custom build doesn't turn out exactly as you hope? Has this happened to anyone?[/quote] You know plenty enough about my custom, Mel. The thing I would say is, don't deviate too much from something you have played in your design. Mine was just a custom top wood, I therefore knew I was getting the exact same great sounding body wood, neck, fretboard and electronics combination I fell in love with in the shop (over a number of visits and try outs). I'm not saying you can't change one or two things, but as soon as you start messing about with something because you've heard it sounds good, rather than because you know you like it on a bass, you will get back something which you're not expecting. I'm not saying don't be adventurous, but don't go for stuff for the sake of it, and just because the optional extra costs extra, doesn't make it any good for your bass! IMO this is all part of a philosophy I have on design in general. I think that design evolves gradually and that it isn't an instant process. Whilst this doesn't endear itself to your bank manager, with you buying slightly different (custom or not) basses through the years, it does mean that you learn something from each one and can improve on your next one with this knowledge. As for the benefits of a custom build: Owning something unique is fantastic. I can't stress it enough. It's hand-built, almost always by someone who knows what they're doing - something you'll rightly pay through the nose for. IMO it's worth more than a 'unique' instrument where someone has modded the hell out of an off the shelf bass. Downside: Hard to sell if you ever want/need to. It becomes harder to sell the more obscure the bass and more personalised the designs (DON'T get your initials at the 12th fret lolololololol), a 6 string lined fretless singlecut monster made with all sorts of exotic woods and electronics may just take a while to find the right buyer.

[quote name='bh2' post='1348465' date='Aug 22 2011, 09:52 PM']As I said someplace before... looks like a fender marketing ploy to me... nothing more. Daft pup combos, they haven't thought it through IMO. The Jazz should have at least one jazz type pickup, prob at the bridge position, same for the P, should have at least one split pea pup in the regular position.[/quote] Meh, IMO the jazz body looks far better, and the P neck is too fat to be used by most, I hate it anyway, and the P pickups are by far the best sounding. The bridge P pup seems retarded to me though, don't see any need for it.

Very much like the look of the J bodied, J necked, P pickuped beast! Wish they did more colours though, and dare I say it a fiver?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1346048' date='Aug 20 2011, 07:39 AM']Thanks for the info. In that case it's the original version of the [url="http://www.americanshowster.com/product/american-showster-57-guitar"]American Showster 57[/url], which is a guitar I'm very much interested in. Sad to hear it's a bit crap - hopefully the new ones are better... BTW I have one of those Wesley acrylic basses and I don't think it's too heavy.[/quote] That's exactly what it is. It is a looker but this one isn't great for the reasons I said. That said, it's not in great nick and my guitarist is bloody clueless when it comes to guitar maintenance and setup so I think if you found one in better nick and perhaps put a neutrik locking jack in place of the existing one, perhaps sorted out the locking nut/floyd rose/whatever it has, it could be a fairly decent instrument. Very, very heavy though, and the balance is not great either. So you could find a good one I think, and it could be good if you put money into it, but maybe the new ones will be better. I used one of those acrylic things at band practice a few years back as the guitarist had one, played it for a few sessions, really, really struggled with the weight, one of the heaviest I've ever played IMO.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1345923' date='Aug 19 2011, 10:37 PM'] Sorry, shouldn't laugh but thats the best Ashdown comment ive ever read.[/quote] Glad you liked it. Hope I didn't offend anyone, just not an ashdown fan one bit. @BRX, i'm not entirely sure, but will find out for you. I know it's called a somethingorother-caster and is fairly old. Made by a company that made them to look like old Cadillac tailfins (if it worked properly there's a brake light and everything!). The company has apparently just come back into business but this is an old one. It's a hunk of junk, doesn't hold leads very well and doesn't keep in tune very well either, it's also about as heavy as those terrible see-through Westfield basses. The guitarist loves it though and it does turn a few heads, there's more photos at our facebook page: [url="https://www.facebook.com/medusauk"]https://www.facebook.com/medusauk[/url]