MichaelDean

This has been a nice Friday afternoon distraction when I should have been working! My list is rather modest, but here it is (green still own, red no longer own): Aslin Dane Jazz Bass - my first bass, bloody heavy solid ash body, though it was crap when I was young, set it up earlier this year and it's not bad at all, but Jazz basses aren't my thing Epiphone EB3 - Played my first gig with this in a pub in Stroud when I was 15/16, got told I played Walk on the Wild side like the guy heard it live. Silly and neck heavy Hohner Arbor P Bass - I wanted a P style bass and this came up on eBay as a birth year bass, currently set up in drop C. Apparently P basses aren't my thing either... Fender Mustang 1976 - I bought this in terrible condition off eBay for about £500. It had a horrible black finish over the original sunburst and I refinished it in rattlecan nitro and racing stripes. My first actual bass love. Toured Japan and the UK with it and recently had it refretted. Never going anywhere! Squier Jaguar SS - Bought as a backup to the Mustang and I made a new pickguard to fit a mustang pickup in. Went on tour too, but not used. Currently storing for any children if my wife and I are lucky enough to have any Sterling by Music Man Ray 5 - Bought this to join a hip hop band, it was really solid, but I moved it on after the latest acquisition Homemade 5 string - Still a work in progress and a labour of love. Never seems to be enough time to finish it! Only started it in 2012... Dingwall Combustion 5 - Love this thing. It was an enagement present from my wife. Sounds huge! Perhaps given my track record with making basses, I also shouldn't have a neck and body blank in the loft waiting to be made into something! 🤣

I remember when I bought my Mustang nearly 15 years ago, it was really hard finding a short scale that was cool looking. There were some Hofners, but that has never been what I'd call "cool" (YMMV!) and vintage Gibsons have never been in my price range. The only 'stangs made at that time were Japanese models which were around £800 plus import tax. I managed to get a cheap 76 USA Mustang off eBay for about £500 that was in terrible condition and repainted it. Then a couple of years later the Jag SS came out and then so did the Gretsch electromatic basses (2202?). Cheap short scales that gave people something to try that also looked a bit unusual. I think they sold really well and gave a lot of confidence to the market to start doing more interesting short scales that don't have to be clones of the longer scale catalogue but shrunk. Happy to be proven wrong, this is just how I saw the SS market expand.

I think I understand what you're after. If you use it in Memory mode, you can have say preset 100 as a base patch (and include any amp sim, cab, compressor, etc. that you fancy or just entirely blank), 101 as B7K and delay plus the base, 102 as a lighter drive and reverb plus the base. Then you can switch between those few things from the footswitches and not go into the Stomp mode and attempt to tap dance. I used mine like that when I was in a covers band for some dirty synthy stuff and a reverb/delay swell that I could flick on and off. These days I tend to just use mine in stomp mode for delay and reverb, but for that it's still cheaper than buying the pedals individually and sounds great.

I started playing a 5 (SBMM SUB Ray 5) after joining a hip hop band and finding that my Mustang wasn't quite the right vibe. Sometimes you need the situation to force your hand. Now I like moving between my shorty 4 and multiscale 5 (Dingwall Combustion) - I play a bit differently on them both. Sounds like you've tried plenty. If you don't need the low B, maybe just get a de-tuner on your favourite bass for the occasions that you want to go a bit lower? Alternatively, what is it about your 4 stringers that you like so much? Or what didn't you like about the 5s you've had? Is it the mindset or the instruments you've tried?

Bought some Payson strings from Dave, and we've had a chat about our Dingwalls and various mods too.

I'm a big fan of a 212. I got a neo cab from Zilla a couple of years ago. Sounds great and it has a small stage footprint. The colour scheme I picked went better with my old Ampeg head though...

This is coming together really nicely! Can I ask what lacquer you're using?

Yeah, it's all a bit mad isn't it! The guitarist in the last band I was last in decided to replace all of his pedals with a helix because he was sick of the various things that go wrong with patch cables. After a while he decided he wasn't using the helix to it's full potential, sold it and went back to pedals. He then spent the first practice with individual pedals trying to troubleshoot it! There's pros and cons to every setup.

I don't know more than I read from the product description and reviews, I was hoping to hear from someone with real world experience! It's basically a multi-effects pedal but using your iPhone, iPad or computer for doing all of the audio processing. You plug in your bass, send the out to your amp/PA/poweramp/other, and plug in your chosen device via USB. From the device, you can then load up an app, use the effects/amps from there and turn them on or off with the footswitches. No idea how well it works, but I thought it was an interesting approach. Plus if you don't like the available sounds in the app you have, getting a new app should have a lower outlay than deciding you don't like your Helix and buying a Kemper. That and most people update their phones every few years, so apps will probably keep improving as your phone does. The drawback that spring to mind are that app updates sometimes do weird things which can change or remove functionality. I used to be in a band where the guitarist looped everything live, so after using a mixer for ages, we ended up running in ears going through his laptop. It took a really long time to get that set-up right. It was really powerful once we had it all in place though. He even started adding additional crazy reverbs to his signal before feeding it back to his pedalboard and we added our own effects to the singer's mic before sending it to FOH.

I was nosing around on Thomann earlier and came across the MP-500. To the uninitiated, it is an audio interface you can hook up to an iOS device or computer and then control a virtual rig with the footswitches. Anyone tried it out? Seems like an interesting alternative to a helix. Link: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_mp_500_interface_foot_control.htm

I respectfully disagree. The 36.25" of the E on a long scale Dingwall is not pointless. I know people go on about the B strings, but the E strings are really something else. Add in some Payson reduced core nickel strings that are specifically engineered for that scale and you have magic. I sometimes wish my Combustion was a 4 string - I write differently on 4 and 5 strings. A 4 string multiscale is also great for people who want to tune in some super low tunings. I say this as someone who also still greatly enjoys a Mustang too. It's all horses for courses, YMMV, etc. and a reason to buy more basses 😁

Nah, just look at this Harley Benton: https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pb_50_fr_vintage_series.htm?o=4&search=1581757674 As long as the headstock is different enough (and I'd say this is), I don't think Fender do much these days.

Just received a strap courtesy of Tim, nice guy and easy to buy from

I don't know if I'm asking in the right place or if build diaries is better. My Mustang was in bad shape when I bought it years ago and I refinished the body using Manchester Guitar Tech nitro. It was always a bit patchy and very thin but I was young and impatient. Buckle rash has taken off a lot of the back paint and where I'd meant to leave it matte, my forearm has eventually buffed the contour. So, I'm planning to refinish it in the summer when the weather is a bit better! I've got an idea for a black grain filled and white blonde finish and wanted to get some Ash offcuts to practice with. Anyone know where to look? EBay only seems to have planks or stuff like that for £20+ which is a bit more than I'd like to spend on trying it out. I could also venture out to the Bristol Wood Recycling Project to see what they have, but you never know what's going to be there and how much prep work I'd need to do to it first. I've attached a couple of pics.

There is no whine 👍

I just upgraded my power supply in order to be able to ditch the additional power supply for my B3N and got one of these: https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Fame-DC-Junior/art-GIT0040359-000?campaign=PSM_UK/kelkoo&ProgramUUID=MrLAqJarZEUAAAFobL.P7Dz7#rating-area With 500ma off each output, it should power just about anything I throw at it. Seems solid so far!

I saw someone on the Dingwall thread on TalkBass who had one made and echoed your sentiment. He was a bit nervous to start with, but practice made it much easier.

You can buy the RM 210 and 115 on the Ashdown website in different colours. Unfortunately, it looks like they only do custom covers on those two models though. Could be worth an email to them to see what they say?

There aren't a lot of aftermarket options if you're looking for Mustang specific parts. The bridge you'd have to get second hand as Fender don't sell them separately and there are no direct aftermarket options if you're after the classic look. Pickups can be purchased easily enough, but if you want Nordstrands or similar, often they don't come with the pickup shells (ugh!). The control plate and pickguards can be found easily online. Necks and bodies are harder to come by though. I think because there aren't any off the shelf replacements like you get for P and J basses, necks and bodies just don't really get separated. Your best bet is probably to put your DIY efforts into something else and just buy a Mustang.

After playing a Mustang for years, I got a Sterling by Musicman Ray 5 for a hip hop band I joined. It sounded great and was a good intro to 5 strings. They're also reasonably priced second hand. That wasn't a super budget nor super expensive way in to 5 strings. I only moved it on because I got a Dingwall as an engagement gift from my fiancée.

Yeah, exactly this on mine too.

I got one a few weeks ago - as all have said, they're great amps! I particularly like the bit of edge engaging the valve gets you. I have it set so it's not in your face, but it just adds warmth and will snarl a bit if I dig in a bit more. Enjoy!