Kiwi

I think that sets the gain level, depending on what is best for your mixing desk. I would speak to your sound man on the night as the requirements may differ depending on the desk he's using at a gig. The PRE/POST allows you to select whether to take the DI before or after your equaliser settings. For live work, normally its best to take it before (pre eq) otherwise any settings you've dialled on the amp for on-stage monitoring may differ to what works for the PA. The sound man won't have to add extra compensation on the mixing desk eq for your bass through the PA if there's any mis-match or overlap. The ground lift (GND/LIFT) is just for any situation where the DI is causing buzz. I'm not totally clear on why buzz should be present in a shielded DI but usually I have mine set to GND unless the sound man instructs me to do otherwise.

I thought it was bad too. Nevermind, here's some more Pino... A god amongst men. (imo)

This one? I'm not so sure Pino is THAT tall but why take my word for it, he's on this clip: I can't tell to be honest. Dollar could be major short arses.

[quote name='Shockwave' post='361401' date='Dec 22 2008, 09:02 PM']Well. 72 hours after selling my red SR5, I am now expecting a nice new white SR5 through my door soon [/quote] Hahaha, nice one Rob. Easy go, easy come yeh?

I nearly pulled the trigger on that Stingray 5. But no, I'm going to be good and wait for the Shuker to be finished... :wacko:

I've been using a couple of basses for a while now. In a previous band, I used a fretted and fretless, so I got matching instruments to reduce the eq faffage needed when I swapped instruments. Then I left that band and joined another (made up of people from the old band) and there was no need for a fretless but I still needed two basses because for the Chic songs we played, a jazz bass or smith/spector just didn't work. So for a while I was using a rack mounted 1u mixer and then a couple of weeks ago I picked up an EBS Microbass II off MXM and plug both the Spector (which runs hot) and the Stingray (which doesn't) into both channels and switch between them. Because the Shuttle 6 is so small, I don't really need a rack and the Microbass seems to do the job reasonably well, although it would be nice to have the same eq on both channels. At the moment I put the Spector on Ch B because it already has a sweep eq, and save Ch A for the Stingray. The pedal has a faint colouring that reminds me of a sonic maximiser. Nothing that gets in the way of the basses midrange though.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='360715' date='Dec 22 2008, 09:43 AM']I'm pretty happy with my LMII, it does a fine job but I'm very Shuttle curious - especially as I have a GB Neox 212. Anyone AB'd the two heads?[/quote] I did at Bass Direct Al, there's not a lot between them but I would say that the Shuttle is slightly firmer in the mids than the LMII. Apart from that they sounded very similar to me.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='360769' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:46 AM']I'm a bit scared of using a headless bass - does that make me a headless chicken?[/quote] I'm sure there must be a road crossing joke in there somewhere too, Al.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='360767' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:41 AM']Absolutely lovely bass Steve, you have remarkable taste - can't wait to see this one finished [/quote] Wow, thanks Al, I'm flattered! I never imagined the birdseye curly redwood might look so good when I bought it off Ebay 3 years ago. With the masking tape removed off the fingerboard, I imagine it might be a bit of a birdseye fest!

[quote name='Merton' post='360738' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:03 AM']Steve, what a gorgeous bass! Bet you're like a kid waiting for, er, Christmas [/quote] Yeah! I have been for quite a while. The facing wood is filled with tiny pockets of resin which prevented the finish from drying. Jon said he's had to partially strip the bass three times because of the finish issues but he's going to get the finish "perfect" (his word). He ended up wiping the bass down with acetone to dissolve the resin and then filled in the pockets with superglue. Some of these 'pockets' are tiny, literally pin pricks! Then he put about three layers of barrier coat on top and refinished in some coats of poly. There are still some air bubbles in the finish that need sorting but its getting there. I saw how uneven the finish is after it goes on, there seems to be a hell of a lot of flatting that goes into the instrument to make the finish mirror smooth. We did a gig in a chapel last night and I sat down with the Spector 6 and just jammed on some latin chordal+melody stuff after soundcheck so I could enjoy the acoustics. I hope to do a bit more of that with the Shuker bass in the future! [quote name='eude' post='360740' date='Dec 22 2008, 10:05 AM']Back on topic, your headless bass is making me GAS so damned hard for a headless 6er of my own, I think I might have to stop checking this thread till I can afford a deposit!...[/quote] Headless 6'ers make so much sense to me in terms of their design and ergonomics. The Shuker feels SO comfortable, it's almost too intimate. I hope it will sound ok! I suspect its going to be a little brighter than the Smiths but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[quote name='eude' post='360728' date='Dec 22 2008, 09:53 AM']Don't suppose you clocked an all black Jazz Bass while you where there did you?... Cheers, Eude[/quote] No I didn't mate, sorry. I only had 45mins there and couldn't really hang around.

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' post='360036' date='Dec 21 2008, 03:30 AM']Which preamp did you use?[/quote] IIRC it was a Summit. I didn't really get a chance to try it out with another preamp. I've played an Avalon too and found that quite sweet as well. I would have liked to have tried something solid state just as a benchmark, in an ideal world.

[quote name='Ant' post='360282' date='Dec 21 2008, 03:50 PM']that looks awesome, did you see any other basses while you were there?[/quote] Jon showed me a few necks including one he's building for a bass for the bloke in the Kaiser Chiefs apparently. I also picked up Veil's 5 string and tested it for ergonomics and weight. Its a very nice instrument, medium light and feels very comfortable. I'd be very happy with it if it was mine I also had a go on the daphne blue jazz bass that Jon has on the Shuker home page. I didn't quite know what to make of it, the instrument was definitely not jazz sounding. The midrange was full and very solid and not at all scooped. I wondered whether the pickups were in phase with one another instead of out of phase like on most jazz basses. I think I'll have to talk to Jon some more about how he's set the electrics up. I also tried a single cut headless 5 that he's very happy with and that had Jon's typically solid mids/lower mids. Jon is also building me a headless guitar with some Steinberger parts I'd scored off Ebay and a Fernandes Sustainer. I'd left the body up to him to design but said I liked his standard body shapes.

The neck profile is based on my Smith 6 and its a load more shallow than the Spector (which I'm actually more used to now because I play it exclusively apart from a 4 string). I'm all for the idea of getting used to one bass now, I've found switching instruments too often screws up my muscle memory and it makes playing quickly a bit difficult. So I'm going to get used to one instrument for a while and see what happens.

OK, so Friday night I went up to Leeds via Peterborough and Mr Shukers place in the Peak District. Picture me leaving Jon's place after arriving late. I probably accepted too many offers to try various new basses he's made out and because I was late, I was hurtling through rain soaked back roads cross country trying to make up time on the satnav. (BTW don't get me started on the one-way system and bus/taxi gates in Sheffield city centre, my satnav couldn't cope and I may have been on the receiving end of a ticket). Finally made it to Leeds at 5:30pm and caught the van unloading as I arrived outside the Town Hall for a corporate gig. Incredible venue! Really elegant, such an impressive organ (fnar) and so much space on stage! Mewsie dropped by to say hello and to return my Pentabuzz and she stayed for the soundcheck. The acoustics were really appalling and the large stage presented us with monitoring issues (plus the guitar amp had apparently been left behind at Wednesdays gig that I didn't play) but it was an interesting experience. Not as many people stayed late, but the people who did seemed to enjoy themselves. The food was good (christmas dinner AND sandwiches AND drinks vouchers for the bar) and we even had help from the town hall staff with our load in and a security guard for our dressing room! Then yesterday we did Fawsley Hall out in the wopwops near Daventry. Very very remote venue but sumptiously laid out inside. We had an easy load in through double giant doors straight into the stage area. We set up, sound checked, and were down for doing three sets. We were all knackered after staying the night in Leeds but we managed to put out even more energy than for the Leeds gig! (How does that work out?!) The crowd were very entertaining with all sorts of oddly arhythmic but enthusiastic dancing styles and we had the bride and groom up on stage for Valerie (we do that if they are really nice people and the crowd are particularly appreciative). I played my ass off too, I pushed the boundaries of the songs a little bit by taking a few musical risks and they mostly paid off, at one point I could even feel a cheer go up from the crowd as I dug in a bit on the intro Shake Your Body Down and I pulled out all the stops on Think and just went for it. Bass was definitely boss last night . Tonight we're at a wedding in Westgate on Sea in Kent.

I went to see Jon on Friday on my way through to a Leeds gig and managed to get a few shots of the instrument. He still needs to deal with some blemishes and flatten back some overspray but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I tried one out at Bassdirect (although it was a 310 I believe). It was a very nice sounding cab but I came to the conclusion that (with the preamp I had been using with it) the cab was almost too sweet sounding for live work.

He wasn't a junkie either, in fact his problems began when he STOPPED taking his medication. He was diagnosed manic depressive (although today that could just as well have been bipolar).

Assume its all going to go tits up from the start and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Then, if it doesn't, its a pleasant surprise. Works for me, at least. Helps me abdicate any sense of responsibility for my f-ups too. There a clip of me playing on youtube somewhere, we're doing The Conga and I come in 4 bars too early. A song I've played hundreds of times before and the one time its recorded for posterity I f*** it up. No abdicating that one!

We did a gig at a place in Sloane Square on Monday. It was a corporate do for a chain of hairdressers. Went OK, the punters were mostly young and I guess enjoyed themselves but I don't think we were cool enough for some and if we had been cool enough, we would have lost broader appeal. I dunno, it was a forgettable one probably apart from the MD's 'Christmas speech' which went something like "you've all done ok this year but there's a sh*t storm coming in the new year with the recession so lets be 'focussed'." Really cheered them up no end! Had to pack down and lug gear through the dancing and drunk too and narrowly missed clouting a couple of them. We have a triple bill this weekend with Leeds Friday night, Northampton on Saturday and Kent on Sunday. Speaking of which I need to get packing.

No bass in sight. Puts a different dimension on the whole man/myth thing surrounding him, I think.

[quote name='johnnylager' post='358279' date='Dec 18 2008, 09:04 PM']Get pissed, click BIN, feel sick, lie to wife, enjoy it when it arrives.[/quote] LOL, like THATS never happened.

I'd be looking for a 5 string P/J myself. Have a chat to Mr Shuker if you're not in a hurry and are looking for a relatively standard model. Wiring can be tweaked to give different results with different pickup settings.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='357457' date='Dec 18 2008, 12:02 AM']Can I bring my Marmy?[/quote] [i]No Jaaaahn, you may NOT bring your marmy. This is about you and you alone, the presence of your mother would create an unnecessary distraction at this juncture. If you think she would require my assistance, I'm sure we can make some arrangements to fit her own session into my schedule. Besides which I don't recall that we established a strong link between your mother and your bass guitars. Perhaps this is something we should explore at a later date? Yours sincerely Dr Hannibal Specter.[/i]