MichaelDean

I installed the drivers for my GX on my work laptop so that when we have company wide briefings, I can route the teams audio out the headphone jack and noodle away 😅

I know it's a different range, but I've done it with my GX-100 which just does dry and effected (both in stereo). The ability to reamp without buying extra gear is super handy. On my MacBook, I created an aggregate audio device (not possible with Windows as far as I'm aware) with my audio interface and my GX-100, sent the dry back through some effects, then into my head, took the DI out into my audio interface, which I fed into a cab sim.

Even when they do go, take the head out of the wooden case, pull the old valve out, plug in the new. It's a preamp valve, so no biasing is required. It's really easy.

Not really. The preamp doesn't see massive voltages like power amp tubes. It should tick along happily for years.

Fender released the Musicmaster as a "beginner" or "student" model. For some reason, that's stuck in some people's minds and had short scale basses labelled as cheap/bad for the last X decades, despite some very prominent players using them. I think the tide is changing on that as more and more manufacturers are making them as more premium models. I love my Mustang. It sounds great and I've had loads of compliments on the tone too. Any excuse for a picture too...

Decided to take my Revelation PJ tonight in lieu of my Dingwall on account of running a bit late and this is the bass that lives in the case until I swap it out. It was surprisingly fun with this one. Even the 105-45 strings going down to drop C wasn't terrible. Less muting to worry about overall, but there are some phrases I find easier on the fan frets. I'm also starting to wonder if I prefer a gloss neck to a satin one... Seems like madness, but my EB3 was gloss, so is my Mustang and Revelation, and my recent Harley Benton LP is also gloss. Doesn't seem to hamper me in any way.

The Loui looks so much tidier than it used to! Not hard, but it's nice to see a bit of an effort has been made. Haven't played/been there in years now despite it being in walking distance. Ought to rectify that.

When you load it up in stomp mode, the DarkPre takes up two footswitches on the board. The one one the left engages/disengages the effect, the one on the right turns the boost on/off. I'd assume the boost is off by default. From the manual:

Not sure how well a mosh pit would go at a jazz gig 😅

Depends on the band you're playing with. I've had people sit on the beer stained carpet of a venue to intently listen in my old post rock band. That was cool. I've also had the whole place dancing in the hip hop covers band. Maybe trying to get a pit going should be my goal for the (doom) metal band I'm in now? Not sure that doom is really the one to get people going like that though...

Played at The Pit at McCann's Rock and Ale bar in Newport last night. Really good fun. Good setup with cabs and drum kit provided, so you just need to rock up with heads and breakables. We hit everything a bit too fast, which we haven't done previously. Need to work out a signal to slow it down a bit. I dropped my pick twice as well, which doesn't usually happen, so that was annoying. Still, good fun and people seemed to enjoy it! We played with a death metal band called Cremulation and a another doom band, Damek, who we're hoping we can arrange for them to come to Bristol at some point. This was the setup. We're Hora, and the gear I used was my Dingwall into my GX-100 and then my ABM-600.

I've cycled around with a bass on my back before. Wasn't overly comfortable. The neck kept bashing into my helmet. I didn't have to worry about an amp, as there was something decent to use at the studio. It didn't feel overly safe cycling through the middle of Bristol like that, but I never had any actual issues. Most pannier racks/eyelets are rated for 25kg, so a small combo might be ok bungeed on, but I wonder if the bass might hit it? A trailer seems like the safest option to my mind. Pop the combo in that and the bass on your back? There might be a cheapish second hand one you could buy and refurbish/sell and replace if you decide it is a good idea.

You may have guessed from the silence, but I've never seen a non-Hipshot one available to buy new. I think the answer is "no".

That is a super neat solution. Replace one end of the cable with a locking jack socket and I reckon the hairbands would be hold up to some jumping around.

I feel like the sales comms are a lot better with their new system. I ordered new strings yesterday, I had an email confirmation, email to say dispatched, another with tracking details and I received them about 40 minutes ago.

I broke a bass string. For the first time ever. They've been on for about 6/7 months and needed changing, but yeah. I've been playing 23 years, never broken one. To be fair, it was a high string that's tuned up from the optimal. Just snapped at the bridge! Good practice otherwise. I think we're ready for the next gig on Friday after I get some new strings.

It's a design choice. My Lekato doesn't always stay in place. It can swing all around.

I sent these round the band yesterday after I had an email from GAK about them, saying we could all have matching guitars. One guitarist was very keen. The other decided not to comment 😅

I think we're doing alright for just getting going. Played 2 in Bristol so far, got another 3 (Newport, Bristol and Swindon) coming up. The Newport one came up as we sent a load of messages to other bands to drum up some gigs. One of the ones we messaged had to pull out and suggested we play. And then they offered us the Swindon gig to play with them too!

Yup, on the Gibson Grabber.

@Al Krow - Here's an AliExpress link for the ZAR! https://a.aliexpress.com/_EJb41o7

Bluetooth should be fine for that. The iPad should delay the video to match the audio. Bluetooth only becomes an issue in this situation where it's the headphones that are Bluetooth. The delay at that point can't be countered for with software. If you're using wired headphones, you should be fine.

Why do you need it to be plugged into the iPad? You can stream audio and access the editor via bluetooth to the Katana Go. Set up a tone, then practice...

I really enjoyed my SBMM SUB Ray 5. It was a solid instrument, made better by a Retrovibe Stinger preamp. Played plenty of gigs on it. Only moved it on when I got my Dingwall and was told I had too many instruments. Every now and then I fancy getting one again.

I've always heard that they're generally good players, but I've never quite liked the look of the more modern ones. I've not been a fan of the quilt finishes on some, the horns on a lot of them seem too thin to me as well. I don't understand why they haven't done a (maybe slightly lighter) reissue of the T-40. Surely that has enough of a cult following to shift a fair a few of them.