Ed_S

Well I shifted most of the bits and pieces I intended to this week, but didn't get a good enough offer for my 4-string bitsa that was in storage at the studio, which is unfortunate given that I'd already bought its cheapo 5-string replacement. Said cheapo arrived in a humorously unplayable state, but I kinda bonded with it whilst sorting its many and varied problems and now find that it'd be a shame to just stick in the corner of a cold gear-store for occasional travel-light rehearsals. In fact, it's maybe even worth getting it some nicer tuners since they seem to be its weakest remaining link. Maybe a nicer bridge while I'm at it - just to get into 'free postage' territory, you know. So I intended to sell one from storage and two from home, but I managed to sell 2 from home, bring 1 home that never lived here to begin with and gain 1 that wasn't supposed to live here but probably now does. But the money from selling the two (plus some unloved pre/amps and studio outboard) is now burning a hole through my head and there's a pimp-grade purple sparkle Ray35 that keeps crossing my mind. Maybe I'll break even, but it's looking like I might end up actually gaining one! Oh well...

That sounds like a perfectly sensible collection to me! I've had a couple of US Standards so I totally get the attraction - they sound good but they have a certain feel as well. And a smell when new. New US Fender smell - probably the only thing I've not seen bottled and advertised on telly in the run up to the festering season. Sentimental value is a funny one; I've had instruments that have been with me a while and done some cool gigs, or been bought for me either as a milestone birthday gift or by somebody who's since passed on, but I've never let that stop me from using or selling them. It's always been either a mixture of pristine-ness and probable future scarcity of new replacements, or true one-in-a-million-example-ness, that puts things into the home use category for me. When I played Precisions they were all fair game for gigging since I didn't feel I'd ever have a problem getting another new Precision, and when I stopped playing Precisions I moved them all on without any real hesitation for the same reason.

Historically my odd approach has been to find a bass that I really like, then get another one exactly the same to be the appointed 'main gigging' bass since I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to my new favourite, then get a cheaper range version to be the appointed 'gigging backup', then realise that I like the two expensive ones equally for different reasons and wouldn't want to risk either of them getting lost/nicked/damaged, then get another that's essentially the same but in my second choice colour scheme so I artificially like it less and don't mind taking it out. The pandemic has given me time at home to really trip over stuff and wish I had more space, though, so I traded 7 last time I had a week off work, and I have another 3 lined up to go next week. That gets things back under control for now!

Very true, though if you have no objection to playing a P or J at a gig when you're likely to be working with a sound engineer who maybe lacks a bit of experience, then giving them something they feel instantly comfortable with when you only have a few minutes between bands can be a good tactic for getting an overall better result. I bought my first P bass because I liked it, not because I felt I needed it, but I soon noticed the advantage when it came to line-check-only gigs. If playing something else (or simply not playing a Fender) is more important than the chance of that slight advantage, or you just don't play those sorts of gigs, that's cool.

Oh aye. I had one of those when they first came out, and it sounded absolutely immense through a BF Super12, so I can imagine the Four10 does it at least equal justice. Had a real 'bounce' to it, if you know what I mean! Sadly mine popped a capacitor and died so I ended up with my money back, but it left quite an impression and I must admit I do occasionally find myself considering buying another.

I imagine that the construction of each model of bass, the specific model of Aguilar pickup in use, the model of preamp fitted (mine were both the TonePump with the internal trim pot) and the player's preference in strings and setup probably all need to be factored in, along with player technique and amplification. For the same bass in all but colour, with the same preamp, strings, setup and same me, through the same onward signal chain, the DCBs sounded polite and grown-up, whereas the EMGs... just don't! 🙂

I had two very nice Rebop 5s - one I bought second hand with Aguilar DCBs installed by the previous owner, and one I bought brand new with a pair of EMG 40CS from the factory. The Aguilars were nice pickups, but I came to realise that nice isn't really what I wanted from a Spector so that one moved on when I was having a thin-down, and the 40CS which has a more aggressive character to it is still here. I've never had anything with 'proper' Barts - just MK1 and BH2 types - so I don't really know whether I'd like them or not, but even so, if I was ever ordering another Spector it'd most likely be one with EMGs fitted.

Their XLS DriveCore 2 series do as well. The original silver ones didn't, so my previous attempt at a rig based around a Sansamp RBI and XLS1500 was very disappointing indeed. I picked up an inexplicably cheap XLS2002 a few months back, though, and whilst I haven't tried it out with a preamp yet, I'm generally more hopeful for when I finally get round to it.

If it was a v3 500 I'd be tempted to say it might have been dodgy or damaged. I've played through a couple in addition to my own and never had the 'under a pile of blankets' experience.

Agreed. I have both of those combos and I sound like me no matter which one I'm playing through.

I first went round the houses trying lots of different electric guitar strings and settled on D'Addario XLs as being the most consistent and reliable. GHS Boomers sounded unappealing, Dean Markley felt unappealing, Ernie Ball stretched for miles before they'd hold in tune, and there were others that I can't recall. D'Addario XLs just went on, stretched in, tuned up, sounded good and lasted well. My first basses were Yamahas which came from the factory with decent but anonymous strings on them which lasted ages because I was only learning, and then Ibanezes which at that time came from the factory with Elixirs on them... so also lasted ages as you'd expect. Consequently, it was a while before I got into buying bass strings, but when I did, I went straight for D'Addario XLs because they were what I played on guitar and I figured they'd be a safe bet. They were, and they're still my favourite go-to string for the majority of basses 20+ years later, though I do also use Dunlop Super-Bright nickels on my USA Jazz as I just like the feel of them on there, what with them being naturally a bit more flexible but the bass being string-through-body. I played Prosteels for a while and liked them but they eat frets, used Rotosound steels when they were cheap and didn't mind them but they eat frets even faster, tried EB Slinky but they didn't seem to last well before sounding dull, tried Elixirs of different coatings but couldn't justify the cost over just changing sets of uncoated strings, tried DRs of different colours but couldn't put up with the DoA rate, and most recently tried Warwick Red nickels as a nod to being economical but they're too rough for my liking. I'm not a great user of flats so I've not gone as far down that road, but Fender 9050 were nice enough, Rotosound Monel were like torture implements, D'Addario Chromes weren't smooth enough, and I've currently got some Galli jazz flats which are very smooth indeed and I'm enjoying the novelty of ...in small doses ...for now!

Nah, just standard UK conditions - humidity in the house is usually about 50% relative. All three basses arrived like it and never flinched one way or the other while they were here as best I could ever tell. One maple and two pau ferro boards with the same 'feature' as well, so not just one type of wood. But yeah, I think it's going to be one of those little mysteries. I wouldn't be put off buying another Sandberg, but I'd want to check it first to make sure it wasn't similarly afflicted.

That was where I would have gone had I kept them - I actually even bought the glue, precision applicator tips and micromesh pads to do the job. I still don't get why they were like that in the first place, though.

Yeah, actual fret sprout due to board shrinkage I've got the tools and ability to deal with - the reverse was a new one on me too. Sadly I could feel it quite clearly when I was playing. The only commonality between my basses was that they were all early cedar body super-lights, made before they switched to paulownia. I never actually tried to contact Sandberg about the issue since all evidence pointed to it not being a manufacturing defect on just one neck, and by the time I'd stopped trying to convince myself to keep them as they were, I no longer needed them anyway.

Yup, exactly that! I tried really hard to persuade myself that I was ok with it because, as you rightly say, aside from that they're great. I considered trying to fill the ends of the slots myself, but over the enforced break from gigging I ended up going back to playing 5s so the Sandberg 4s were sold before I could make a mess and reduce their value! Probably for the best... Shame about the lack of email response - not ideal.

I had three Cali 2 Superlights (two TM4s and one TT4) and ended up moving them on because as nice as they were for weight, body shape/size, neck profile, hardware stability and indeed sound, I just couldn't get used to how they felt in my hand as a result of how the frets were fitted. They all had whatever the opposite of fret sprout is, and it must have been intentional rather than a defect as all three of them were exactly the same irrespective of fretboard material. I couldn't make myself ignore it, as much as I wanted to, so would advise that you make sure it either doesn't apply or doesn't bother you.

Fairly recently had a positive first-and-only experience of dealing with Live Louder in Altrincham. Friendly and helpful on the phone, gave the bass I was after a full look-over for any dings it might have picked up in the shop, packed it up well, sent it out as promised and even wrote me a little note on the invoice to say they hoped I'd enjoy my new toy! So far, so good. WD Music have always been very good at replying to emails, and they sent me a replacement for a duff tuning key in a boxed set I'd bought without any questions at all. I've never experienced any messing about when buying tools and parts from Northwest Guitars, Vanson Guitars or Glued to Music either.

Time to ring the speaking clock? 😉 ...is that even a thing these days?

Epic 🙂 To be honest, I was never strongly against these when they first came out - there was just no way I was going to pay the ticket price for one at that point. If I was still playing 4 string Precisions I'd have actually been quite tempted to give this one a go when it came up for sale, but I'm on the 5s at present. Agree about the bridge - the slightly curvy Fender high mass one that they used on the USA Standard / Professional models might look quite fitting. Hope it's a success!

One of those 2013 closet classics that looks like a Bronco?

I'm in a somewhat similar place, but it's my band and bass parts. We're only just about to get back together after an extended break due to the pandemic and our lead singer having to move away for work, and during the hiatus I've switched back to playing 5s. I've spent the last 10 years with that band playing 4s. I've arrived at the conclusion that I'll give a better performance if I just play the old songs how I want to hear them now, and if that's using the additional low notes then so be it. If I try it and those notes don't work, then I'll hear that and I won't be tempted to play them again, but if they do work and I'm just forbidding myself to play them then that won't last very long.

I’ve found the cleanest way to remove tape residue can sometimes just be to use more tape. Put some new tape that isn’t going to fall apart over the residue, then peel it off and it often takes the old stuff with it. Repeat as necessary with a fresh section.

Oh aye, I'm not calling myself any kind of mic expert either, and if an SM58 had turned up it would probably have performed fine. Just like a P bass, even if you have a preference for something fancier, you're generally hard pressed to argue with the ability of a standard workhorse to get the job done. On that basis, if I find myself auditioning for a new band at any point in the future, I'm taking my USA Fender Jazz 5, because as much as it's not my favourite all-rounder to play, aside from the extra string it's as unarguable a bass as I can manage.

The fact that she'd turned up with any mic at all signalled that she might be a keeper. That and the big gloves.

I was once told by a guy behind a mixing desk that I should change all my gear for whatever would get me "closer to the ideal of a perfect sine wave". He'd clearly been smoking a lot of assorted garden clippings, so I just nodded and smiled. I have, but I did it in line with the 'if you want me to use it then you can provide it' sentiment. Our last singer turned up with a Rode M2 which did her voice no favours at all and really didn't behave well in a loud rehearsal room, so I offered up a selection of others to try and we arrived at a Beta 57a for rehearsals and an E838 for gigs. At no point did I suggest that she needed to spend any money.