Bigwan

How is your master volume set on the amp? The DI is, I believe, post master volume on the M900. Pretty major flaw in the design which I believe has been rectified on the new M500. Try turning volume up. The hiss may just be the signal to noise ratio being all out of whack because you're trying to boost a low signal as your volume level is (I assume) so low. If it's not down to the volume level you may have an issue...

I love my 08 P. You could say I'm married to it as it was a wedding present from her-indoors. I also have a Yamaha Pulser 400 that's tip-top (feels very like a Nate Mendel I played recently) and an ACG Finn that's basically a P bass in a fancy suit (sorry Alan!). But having played a friend's 64 P, nothing I have compares to the feel or the tone of that bass, and I'm slightly annoyed by that!

Billy's use of distortion is well known. Even his clean tone has distortion on it. But he's also a very heavy user of compression. Hearing his distorted tone without compression is a real eye opener!

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1509467331' post='3399177'] Many drops make an ocean. Wisdom comes in many forms. [/quote] Wow... Deep...

Not everybody see's this as a "problem" - some people seem to invent problems that fit a specific argument! Is the OP Harvey Weinstein all of a sudden? Wise up guys, seriously...

You might find it a challenge to get the size of nut file exactly correct. Perhaps a smaller file with a piece of emery paper wrapped around the cutting edge would get you closer than the bigger size?

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1509464526' post='3399139'] Yes, arguably, although that is based on the individual watching. There is almost certainly a difference in reaction to all watching when presented with the following titles: [b] Stunning girl, instrument, playing and composition!!![/b] [b] Stunning instrument, playing and composition!!![/b] Which do you think is more fair to her when presenting her playing to those who don't know her? [/quote] I'd say they're both fair, just termed differently.

[quote name='clivem' timestamp='1509463494' post='3399118'] Eh??????? I have no idea whether the "cute" dental receptionist even plays a musical instrument...... [/quote] I knew what you meant...

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1509463196' post='3399112'] it demeans her musical output to refer to how she looks first and foremost even if you effetely caveat it with her musical skill. [/quote] Not wanting to wade too deep into this one, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you see her first before she plays a note. What's going to come to mind first? "She's cute" or "She's a shockingly good guitar player"? Serious mountain/molehill here gents...

I've literally typed 5 different responses to this thread now and deleted them all... Some folk are so PC it makes me want to vomit... Edit: I should add thanks for the original post DE! I've been off and watched some more of Yvette's playing solo and with her band Covet. Really good stuff.

Can't have too many P basses! How does it rate compared to the 50s Classic?

Last one of these I saw went for silly money - £137 my gmail tells me.

Probably not what the OP is looking for, but for general info the Way Huge Pork Loin's clean channel is based on the Neve 1073...

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1508776778' post='3394351'] There ought to be a Dremel cutter with a tiny cupped tip to get the shape close to spherical before finishing. Never saw one though. [/quote] I watched a YouTube video a while back where a guy used just that, but he had to make his own dremel attachment using a standard abrasive wheel which he wore away into a cup shape. It was for a fanned fret guitar with cnc milled fret slots. He pre-cut and rounded all his frets before fitting them. Looked amazing whenever he was finished. Can't for the life of me remember who it was... Edit: easier found than expected! https://youtu.be/moxUw3Ke2Q0

I voted cream, but it very much depends on the quality of the tort. When tort is bad it's really, REALLY bad!

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1508877071' post='3395128'] You need to try a Hudson Broadcast pushing into the front end of those. Lovely stuff 😉 [/quote] I have the schematic for one of those... Being a diy fan I might give that a rattle!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508837048' post='3394684'] Pretty much everything about the necks (and to a lesser extent the chunkiness of the bodies) which are all about low-skill, low-cost manufacturing with the technology that was easily and cheaply available in the 1940s. Leo Fender did a good job back then, but technology and manufacturing techniques have moved on and a lot of the compromises he had to make for the sake of hitting his price point with a workforce that were not luthiers is unnecessary these days. [/quote] And yet look at how many people still enjoy them! For me, there's nothing more pleasing than a good P-bass, so why would I want anything different? I've been round the houses. I've had all the active doo-hickies (still do!). I've owned graphite necked basses, hell I've owned an all graphite bass. But I've returned to the tried and trusted design because it works best for me. The sound works for me. It's ergonomically comfortable for me. Any change would just be for the sake of it. But each to their own!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508832607' post='3394634'] It seems strange that the luthier has gone to all the trouble to "improve" the Thunderbird, when there still plenty of things on the Jazz and Precision bass that could also do with improvement, but his take on those seems to be identical to Mr Fender's. [/quote] Explain...

[quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1508785874' post='3394441'] Well I've ordered one. [/quote] Cool! I'm gathering up (more) things to sell to fund a Soulmate. I think what I have might pay for the extra frills so far

Da web say: Using higher value pots (500K) will give the guitar a brighter sound and lower value pots (250K) will give the guitar a slightly warmer sound. This is because higher value pots put less of a load on the pickups which prevents treble frequencies from "bleeding" to ground through the pot and being lost. I can neither confirm nor deny... But my thoughts are that this only comes into play if you turn your volume down from max, otherwise how could it make any difference as you're shorting out the pot's resistance with the volume all the way up? Perhaps it's why passive diehards say their basses sound better with the volume at 90%?

Try wiring straight to the jack with one pickup. That should rule out phase issues and the internal controls. If that's still weedy change pickups for something with a bit more oomph! Passive you could go to SD Quarter Pounders or Dimarzio Ultra Jazz, but the world's your oyster really!

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1508760341' post='3394181'] OK, get a coffee. For a decade plus, I worked for a very successful wristwatch company - if you search my posts you'll find out who they were easily enough and hey, you know I'm buying a Lull, so you you must have done your due diligence. Our product was pitched from the low end/catalogue business up to pieces with a retail price of c.£650/700. Largely because of one key piece of technology (that no one else had), so we romped home year after year through a combination of sales betterment and a strong marketing strategy. At one point were the 3rd biggest watch company in the country by sales (only behind Rolex and Omega) and top by volume by a country mile. Because we were doing so terrifically well, one bright spark in our managerial structure decided that we should start punching out of our weight and bring out a [i]Signature [/i]range of watches that were pitched at £2-£3K range. Pretty much everyone in the business was horrified and correctly so because in hindsight was a massive failure. Now this wasn't down to the product being rubbish, it was because no one wanted to pay that amount of money for something they could buy a Rolex or Omega for. It didn't matter that these pieces looked great (albeit a bit too blingy in my eyes), or that they were handmade by watchmakers in Japan, or that they synchronised with the atomic clock or had diamonds or had crystal glass etc. no one bought them because they were overpriced and it cost the company a whole lot more than just money and we got our ass handed to us on a plate. It affected our market share, our reputation and standing in the sector. All because of strategy and one man's folly. Now juxtaposition the Lowlander with the above and apply the same analogy. The Lowlander is representative of the Signature range we did, because passion, commitment, workmanship, innovation don't necessarily come into things when you're in business. Maybe he can sell a dozen a year and live comfortably off the profits. Granted, he may only make/sell five of these basses and then consign the design to the bin, but ultimately he's an unknown luthier asking potential customers to stump up nearly £3K for a bass that kind of looks like a Thunderbird, but really isn't. £3K will buy you a lot of bass elsewhere and would likely go some way towards a 70s Gibson Bicentennial Thunderbird or a '60s model if that's your thing. Looking at his other models, the same applies. Custom shop prices for guitars that ape Precision, Jazzes and Strats, but aren't Fenders. This ultimately is my point, but I make no apology for you not being able to read that into my post. I mean, credit to the guy for trying, but at the end of the day, he is pitching a £3K bass into a marketplace flooded with better(?) £3K basses; Spectors, Lulls (heh), Sadowsky, Warwick and so on. I think you can probably pick up an entry-level Fodera for that money too. And when you do actually pull that £3K bass out of it's case, the shock will be that you've paid £3K for something that people will squint at it and say, 'What the hell is that?' I'll look forward to seeing how you get on with one if you decide to buy one, but suspect there won't be an order winging its way to Ballymena any time soon, but please feel free to prove me wrong. [/quote] Sander De Gier didn't just crawl out of the woodwork yesterday! He's been building and selling basses successfully for years AT THIS PRICE POINT. Much of what you say could be leveled at any luthier. Where would that leave us? Stuck at the mercy of the mass manufacturers! You're right about one thing though - there won't be a Lowlander winging its way to Ballymena any time soon. Likely never. Much as I appreciate what has gone into the design, I'm not a fan of Thunderbirds at any price. I am giving SERIOUS consideration to one of his Soulmates though... My issue isn't that you balk at De Gier's pricing, or the Lowlander design. It's that as a member of this forum you would wish a bass maker out of business the way you did with your original comment: "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Sorry, but man alive, [b]with a sales strategy like that, this company needs to go down the toilet[/b]." If you can't see what is wrong with that statement I personally don't see any point talking to you further.[/font][/color]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1508754581' post='3394138'] Great video with nice range of likely uses! I love T-birds, and this one seems like a great version. Lots of attention to detail. The cutaways will be the main point of contention (beyond the fact it's a 'bird). I don't have a problem with them, although they do jar a little with my [i]expectations[/i] when looking at the bass. The pickguard seems a touch clumsy, surprisingly so on what seems such a meticulously designed bass, but I would be pretty chuffed to be rocking one of these! [/quote] If you look at the De Gier instagram account there's pics of the unfinished bass without the pickguard. I think it looks better without it! Having said that I can understand why dyed-in-the-wool t-bird fans wouldn't like the body shape...