sixdegrees

Great cabs. I've used mine exclusively for the last five years. I load it in and out of my hatchback on my own, and it's the same weight and footprint as most 4x10 cabs; with the added benefit of more speakers closer to your ears.

I felt a little guilty of not using the pure tone from my amp before reading this thread. I use a TC rack compressor with the first engine in front of the preamp (as a limiter) and the second engine in the effects loop for parallel compression. Added to this is an Aphex BB/AE which acts as a room-fixer and is set according to the venue. I find that this setup adds punch that amps alone cannot achieve. Although I switch the Aphex off during arpegio lines, otherwise the tone can be a little too thick with the added harmonics.

Thanks for the reply :-) I think I'll give it a go. It's the only brick I've found that offers both 9 and 12 volt at over 400mA. I guess time will tell whether I'm more bothered by a little ground noise or the convenience of one wall plug.

I'm looking at a power brick for my new pedal board, and this one seems to fit the bill perfectly. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B015XZQWIU/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1453990153&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=vitoos&dpPl=1&dpID=41IObxMSABL&ref=plSrch 8 x 9v outputs at 300mA each 2 x 9/12/18v outputs at 1000mA each It's described as isolated, but I'm not sure if each output is isolated or just the switchable ones from the other 8. Regardless of being fully isolated, it seems too good to be true at the price (£36.99 inc p&p), and covers the awkwardness of powering a couple of thirsty pedals at both 9v and 12v. Is there anything I've missed, or should be aware of before pulling the trigger?

I've found that the P basses are not as well finished on the neck as the Jazzes. This is mainly due to the bound neck edges on the Jazzes. Some of the fretwork on the Ps could genuinely cut your hands. It's nothing that can't be sorted with a fine file or wire wool, but I wouldn't buy one without trying it first. QC is extremely variable. I can't comment on the P basses sound quality, but some of the Jazzes sound really good, and I wouldn't hesitate to gig with one.

It's passive now, with a volume for each set of poles. Do you mean sit in the mix, or cut through the mix with regard to the 2 band eq?

Has anyone got an opinion on the quality of the original pups in these? I've been planning to upgrade my MM3 OLP 5 string with an SD alnico pickup, and retrovibe stinger preamp. I've since realised that the SD pickup has a much wider string spacing than the original. Would the preamp alone make more difference than a replacement pickup? Does anyone rate the original pickup, or does it need replacing to get any benefit from a preamp?

Brilliant! Thanks, Tim. I'll have a think about the design and be in touch soon. Lee.

Does anyone on here make custom pickguards? I'm currently modifying my OLP MM3, and would like a new one. The ones commercially available are the 4 hole ones, with the slider switch; while the one I require is 3 holes, and will accommodate a slightly wider pup than is standard. Online prices seem a little silly, especially when I have one to use as a template (I don't want to have to butcher the one I have in case I decide to put it back to stock).

I run a Fender P through an Ampeg head, and MB cab. It's articulate, punchy, and great in the mix (even up against a heavily scooped Mesa guitar rig). The same bass through an Ashdown rig sounded horrid, unless I used extreme eq settings (which still sounded horrid, but at least I had some cut). However, a Jazz; neck pup, tone rolled off, sounded really thumpy and old school through the Ashdown. Absolutely useless for Geddy-esque burp and clank with the bridge pup though.

Funny you should say that. The bassist with the band that supported us last night had to use his spare Harley Benton, and I was really impressed with the tone. As with any budget bass, the quality will vary. If anyone wants a corker of a J&D - go for the blue jazz at Digital Village in Romford!

I played one of the J&D Jazzes a couple of weeks ago. They'd be fantastic basses for twice the money. I thinking of buying it for any less desirable gigs, but it's too good for that. It seems we've found a replacement for the discontinued Sue Ryders!

I've always thought that block necks should be accompanied by binding, and reserved for Jazz basses. Always looked out of place on a P to me. And, although I'm a massive fan of b/b/m precisions, doesn't the Matt Freeman model fill that particular niche and price range?

Thanks Kirky. My amp mute switch is at the preamp stage, so mutes the input. Otherwise I'd do the same as you. So I wouldn't have the option of putting the tuner on standby, and turning it on and muting the amp to tune up. I'd have to have the tuner as first in the chain, rather than using the tuner out/in option. I guess the only option I'd have would be to have the tuner first, then the amp, and tolerate the light display going on behind.

I'd like to know a little more about the practicalities of the Pitchblack Pro too, and hook one up in a similar way to Tom's idea. Does the mute button still work if the input on the back of the tuner is being used? Surely one of the mode settings should've been to bypass the tuner? My rig has enough flashing lights already. Having a tuner doing its thing constantly may be a step too far on the good-taste front! Any opinions on the DTR2000? I may hold out for that model instead.

A scratchplate is the most necessary thing for hiding cavities and superfluous controls on a bass that has to be customised, due to it being commercially unviable to mass-produce. Is this more an issue of aesthetics, rather than functionality? Otherwise you could just tape-up the pots to their required settings (bridge pup only, tone wide open), and tuck them under the scratchplate.

John Paul Jones plays a maple fretless Precision too.

I bought one a couple of years ago, and I'm yet to switch it off. I only use the 3 band 'studio' setting and use a wet/dry mix for parallel compression (one of the best features of this pedal - I want most of my playing dynamics unaffected). The noise gate is one of the best I know of, should you ever need to make use of it. You can also calibrate each side of the pedal to individual basses.

A Zoom MS-60B might be the answer. You can blend each effect with the dry tone, and have 4 effects at once, therefore retaining lots of low-end that individual pedals may be cutting. It's the only pedal I use for live stuff now for that very reason. An 80/20 dry/wet mix is about perfect for layering effects, while still cutting through. You can go heavier on the blend for chorus effects for that glassy tone, but distortions, synths, and wahs work best at lower levels.

Is the strip stuck to the inside or outside of the grill cover? What adhesive did you use? And how easy was it to get the strip to bend around the corners? This concept is utter genius!