brensabre79

Buying £100 worth of parts and making an instrument yourself should yield better results than a £100 Bass. The thing that often drives the price tag up, and something a lot of people forget is the amount of time taken. Fender knockoffs are an excellent example of the disparity in pricing for what essentially is the same item. Sure a £1,500 Fender will have the best quality timbers and hardware (in theory) but the reason for the price tag is that on a MIA Fender you are paying American wages to the people who spend time putting the thing together. By an equivalent MIM and the quality of materials may drop a bit but the hourly rate of the people building it drops considerably. Take a look at the ones made in the far east and the man hours drop again (as does the quality of materials) all of these mass produced instruments are designed to a budget that includes man hours. If you buy yourself a ready made swamp ash body and a nice maple neck of eBay or wherever you'll pay a small premium for ordering a small quantity, but where you will save money is doing the work of putting it together yourself. Depending on how good you are at this the result could be on a par with the £1,500 Fender from less than £500 worth of bits - then again it could be an absolute dog. If you're really adventurous you can buy the raw timber and start from scratch, but by the time you've tooled up and spent weeks / months making the thing you will have spent plenty of time and money. The people who do this also want to be paid for their time (they have to make a living too!) - hence a handmade bass will cost you plenty, but you can have exactly what you want. If you buy a ready-made bass for £100, remember that a proportion of that cost is for the time of someone building it. So the materials will have cost far less, and the quality of them should reflect this.

hi Kevin, used to live in TW just down the road from you. Welcome to BC - and like others say avoid the for sale section at all costs!

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1331744886' post='1578195'] I'm sure he would have said. [/quote]

I think most of the Harley Benton stuff is rebadged old stock / end of line from other manufacturers. For instance they had a small bass amp on there a while ago which looked suspiciously like the old Roland bass cube just after the new Roland Bass Cube was launched, exact same specs except the amp modeller was replaced with some FX.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1331739160' post='1578064'] I initially thought it was rudeness, then I reread it and realised that statement makes no sense at all. [/quote] ditto, maybe hes on strong meds or something

Yeah I'm not sure about that one, I was going to bid just so I could just pretend to play bass but he appears to have outsmarted me!

Yeah and its not just GK stuff either. PITA!

never heard of this make, looks nice enough if you like that sort of thing but I especially liked the signoff: [size="5"][font=Trebuchet MS][b]Reminder you are bidding to buy not to then pretend you can play bass[/b][/font][/size] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mania-active-4-string-bass-guitar-rare-woods?item=320866045774&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26itu%3DI%252BUA%26otn%3D12%26pmod%3D270932223315%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6996460794639220410"]here[/url]'s the link...

I think the TC amps have some sort of compressor limiter thingy (technical term) built in so that they seem louder than they actually are. When you start to fiddle with extreme EQs this becomes even more noticable as markstuk points out... There are many people who are quite happy with the way the TC amps squash the signal to get maximum volume. Most of the Class D amps are the same power section though, because only one company makes them (B&O) and everyone else licences the amps from them.

You can download a sinewave mp3 from Barefaced site. Plug the mp3 player into your amp and run the sine wave signal through your new Cab to run it in. (just like you run in a car, a sine wave is the equivalent of keeping it under 30 for the first few miles while everything loosens up)

[quote name='bumnote' timestamp='1331571667' post='1575060'] I bought my first acoustic a 450 head and 406 cab from Kingfisher in fleet, about £700 if I remember, an absolute fortune, and it was worth every penny. The first bass amp I had that did the business. I tried HH, Fender, Marshall, Simms Watt, and they didnt come close I bought a 220 and a 406 four or five years ago [and er then a few more] and they are still emminently giggable even today, if you dont mind the size. I still have a 320 and a 406 cab and its fun to rattle the glasses off the shelf. [/quote] Is your thumbnail pic from the back of one of your Acoustic cabs? I seem to remember mine having something like that on a plate on the back...

hi Barry, re: Squier VMJ - When I got my VMJ I already had a 1990s Fender MIA Deluxe Jazz bass and a 79 Musicman Sabre, I originally got the VMJ as a spare for £200. Then I played it and the American basses stayed at home! I'm not saying every one of them is as good as mine, but my MIA Jazz is a beauty to play and so is the VMJ. Now I have modified the VMJ quite a bit from the original to be honest, but the important part for me was the neck - everything else is easy to come by and to fit but a good neck is not. I have changed the hardware, the pickups and the electronics over time and I now feel that I have a bass that is not only better to play than the MIA, but has better hardware and pickups too. That said, the hardware and pickups on the VMJ are perfectly adequate (and no worse than a MIM), and the mods were done over a period of 6 months. Everything apart from the Wizard pickups was secondhand off eBay. If you decide to get a VMJ, you will love it but you will probably want to upgrade some of it, but it still won't cost as much as a MIM Fender! Theres a reason Fender has also now started making basses in the far east factories that make the Squiers, the same reason they started making Fenders in the japanese Squier factories many years ago. Those Squiers are now highly sought after and I wouldn't be surprised if the CV and VMJ ones are too in a few years. my only regret? I don't have the original bits from the VMJ any more so mine won't be worth diddly squat!

it looks like the radius of the corner of the neck is larger than the radius of the neck pocket from the picture. Not sure if this is normal or not but I wouldn't expect it from a G&L. The ones I have played have all been top notch. I can't see it affecting the sound much but if its going to annoy you then look for another one.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1331513949' post='1574129'] The OHM stuff was pretty pokey for it's size and sat between Laney and Peavey pricewise. I can remember using one for a pub gig one night just to try it out and it was pretty reasonable, just not as good as the Peavey stuff. [/quote] Oh I remember the Ohm stuff too, I thought it was 80s though so I didn't mention it. My dad had an Ohm for a while he traded it in for a Polytone Minibrute 1! Weren't the ohm cabs concrete lined or something? - they were very heavy iirc...

[quote name='barkin' timestamp='1331408636' post='1572606'] Some good onfo at [url="http://acoustic.homeunix.net/"]http://acoustic.homeunix.net/[/url] [/quote] Excellent site! like stepping back in time (and helped me explain myself to Mr. Foxen too!)

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1331316682' post='1571372'] Do you mean the 301? The 360 was a preamp and went with a powered W horn cab, think was 3 or 400w in the bottom of it. Acoustic were serious expensive toys in the UK then. Definitely more the cabs that weren't up to it than the amps, I'm rocking 70s amps now and they can do it with modern cabs. [/quote] Yes I meant one of [url="http://acoustic.homeunix.net/twiki/bin/view/Acoustic/BassPreamp360"]these[/url], with one of [url="http://acoustic.homeunix.net/twiki/bin/view/Acoustic/BassPoweredCabinet361"]these[/url], (the [url="http://acoustic.homeunix.net/twiki/bin/view/Acoustic/BassAmpCombination361"]whole thing[/url]) and you're right it was probably the Cab that wasn't up to it. I used a 301 for a little while (borrowed) which I used a Trace Elliot head for. It was equally unwieldy - awesome sound for the dub/reggae I was doing at the time, just not much power to weight ratio. I also had one of [url="http://acoustic.homeunix.net/twiki/bin/view/Acoustic/BassCombo126"]these[/url] which I left in a flat in Salford some time in the early 90s. I can't believe I let all that stuff go but it was so impractical!

I think the reason is that whilst guitars are quite easy to amplify given their frequency range. Bass has always been difficult and the amplification has historically been inadequate. Take Jack Bruce for example, his classic 'sound' is actually just the sound of a Marshall guitar rig, the speakers distorting from the low frequencies, the amp maxxed out through it not being powerful enough for bass. Things were a little better in the 1970s, lots of companies experimented with better speaker technology and more powerful amps, but the ones that have lasted have generally been enormous and heavy. I used to gig with an old Acoustic 360 1x18" it would only take about 150w max, but it was quite efficient, and extremely large and heavy! It wasn't until the 80s that transistor amps and the now standard 4x10" speakers came along that bass was able to be amplified cleanly at high volume. Even so, we are now in a period of another leap forward in terms of technology with lightweight cabs and class D amps.

I'd try and go with something similar to what you're used to playing. i.e. if you have a precision copy, get a fretless precision/copy or if you use the warwick more, then go for similar - it just makes the transition easier and means you don't get confused if swapping between songs. Having said that the Squier VM series are fetching almost as much secondhand as they are new at the moment, and I'm not surprised about this because they are very good! I wouldn't be amazed if these get discontinued soon , or changed to an affordable Fender badged range instead. I'm sure MIM Fender sales have been affected by the VM Squiers!

Fascinating read this. Unfortunately none of the links are active any more (even the google cache trick didn't work for me) so I still haven't seen what all the fuss is about! I hope the issues with this have all settled down now and the bass can be enjoyed by its rightful owner. It would be great to see a pic or two though...

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1331228197' post='1569927'] just checking, is it the fretless with the ACG filter based preamp in it? [/quote] Yep, Fretless Jazz ACG/East EQ • Fretted Jazz's EMG/Artec 2 band fixed frequencies - similar to musicman 2-band.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1331226270' post='1569874'] If you're doing gigs at a 'professional' level I don't think you should be drinking before or through the gig. I wouldn't turn up to work pissed, I don't see why anyone who cared about their musicianship would either. [/quote] +1 if you're being paid to play treat it as you would any job and expect to get the heave ho if you're tipsy/stoned whatever... A place we played at once didn't pay much, we thought we'd show them what we could do and negotiate up after that. They were really please with us, and said we were so much better than the usual bands they have on there, in fact the best band they had had, and tried to book us back. They would only pay half our usual fee though but they said - yeah but the bands always get a free bar! I did the maths, 10 pints each on top of what they were paying and we would be getting close to our usual fee. I put it to the landlord that this policy may go some way to explaining why we were the best band they had heard in a long time...

I have to say I have one of those Eqs with sweepable frequencies. Works great on my fretless where I typically dial in one sound and leave it. To be honest, having a little preset for the frequency inside the control plate would probably suit me better because it keeps getting knocked away from the sweet spot. i never mess with this, just roll off the treble for a bit of Jaco and thats it. On my main Jazz bass I have a simple 2 band, similar to the MusicMan one on my Sabre - For me this works fine, its not over complicated and I can get what i want in an 8th note rest. I found the ACG a bit complicated in a gig situation to be honest - wonderful though it is. it reminds me of the hofner guitars in the 80s that had a graphic EQ built in, 1,000 sounds in one guitar... only one of them is any use though! A lot depends on how you use onboard EQ. I think its best to set your amp up right first then just use the Eq on the bass for when you need a little bit more of something for a particular song. I tend to use the onboard quite sparsely, but it definitely helps to be able to add a bit of twang or boom when needed. I never turn the EQ all the way around. The EMG 2 band BTQ? i have in my main Jazz is quite good in that you can select the high frequency as well as the curve (HPF or Bell curve) with little preset switches inside. It took me a few goes to get what i wanted but now I have the right amount of the right frequency on tap.

Or you could just put a series/parallel switch in (push pull vol pot or Fender S-1 switch) with your existing pickups and you won't be far off

It might seem old school or even controversial but I would avoid powered speakers to be honest. If the amp fails you have to replace the amp AND a perfectly functioning speaker or get it repaired - which might not be cost effective. I would also say the biggest factor contributing to your problems is probably putting the keyboards through the PA. Keyboards cover a huge range of frequencies from sub bass all the way up to beyond hearing range harmonics and to reproduce all these frequencies you need something similarly powered to your bass amp. Same goes for anyone miking up the bass drum and sticking that through a vocal PA - it sucks all the power away from the vocals and distorts. First off i would ask the keyboard player to sort out a decent amp and get them away from the PA system. See how it works then - you might not need to upgrade the PA all that much. you could also take a look at below and see if you can just add to what you have as some of it may be doing OK as it is... Next I would invest in some mid/top pa [b]speakers[/b], we use Yamaha ones capable of about 400w RMS each and drive these with a Behringer iNuke 3000 [b]amp[/b]. Due to the impedance of the speakers we would never get more than about 600w in total out of this however we never need it because [u]only vocals[/u] are running through it. You should get a [b]desk[/b] with built in FX (for ease) and you should get one with twice the number of channels you think you'll ever need. Because you never know... So if you have 4 vocal mics, get an 8 channel desk. I would also strongly recommend a [b]graphic equaliser[/b] (and learn how to use it) to get rid of feedback frequencies - this will drastically increase the output level you can get to. I would get a stereo one and use one side for the front (running in Mono) and one side for the monitors... Again, I would avoid powered monitors, they are a pain in the arse for the same reason as above. We use the other side of our iNuke amp to power the two [b]wedges[/b] we have, once again, because you are only putting vocals through these you don't need to spend mega money. Something capable of 300w in total should see you right on stage. We use Yamaha ones with 10" cones and a tweeter. We frequently play large function rooms and marquees, we have never run out of power and because all of the amp/graphic/effects/desk are in one case, already wired in setting up is easy, just running 4 mic cables to the desk and 4 speaker cables to the speakers. Ring out the feedback frequencies (Front and monitor) and we're ready to go! The key thing though is understanding the equipment you have and how to get the best from it. you could spend 10x your budget on top of the range gear but if you don't know how to use it you might as well sing into a paper bag. Sorry for the long post, i guess theres quite a bit to cover!