BigRedX

If you like the sound of the Sandberg, why not get one of those instead of an Overwater?

Are the songs don't use A=440 still in fairly standard "guitar" keys? Normally when old recordings don't use A=440 it's either because the studio tuning reference is different, but then all the tracks should be out by the same amount, or because they have been vary-speeded at mix-down to improve the feel, but that tends to involve making them faster rather than slower. I'm just wondering if instead of being slightly flat they should actually be considered to be not quite a semi-tone sharp?

The SY-1000 is going to be used with my recently acquired Eastwood Hooky Bass 6 (a copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass) and which has a 13.5 string spacing at the bridge which is too wide for the guitar version and too narrow for the bass version of the Roland pickup system, hence the need for the custom pickup. This has turned out to exactly the right Bass VI for my playing style, and so the others I currently have will soon be up for sale. Believe me, if I could get away with an off-the-shelf solution, in this case I would be more than happy to do so. However because of the nature of the pickup I've chosen, it has to be properly fitted to the bass which will mean a custom body for the routing for the pickup and associated electronics as I don't want to alter the original body. Also it's not so much scrimping on the cost, but more of a result of spending most of my playing time on the 70s and 80s having to make do with all sorts of compromises with the equipment I had, either because I couldn't afford something that did what I needed, or at the time it simply didn't exist because the technology hadn't caught up with my imagination; therefore now that I can afford most of the things that I want and that someone, somewhere is already making them, I don't mind paying the money to get the right tool for the job.

Which gauges did you pick? Last time I looked at the custom gauge set on the LaBella website it was less than simple to use. I suspect that also the existence of the Newtone Axions and the now the GHS Hooky 6 set will have negated much of the advantage that LaBella used to have.

No definite time scale yet. It will very much depend on 1. my band getting back together for rehearsing, which won't be happening until all this COVID-19 nonsense is over and 2. Getting new body made for the Eastwood Hooky 6 Bass with routing for the custom 6-way pickup which I'll need for the SY-1000. Regarding using synths or stringed instruments with synth pedals, I've found that even with my appalling keyboard technique, there is less practicing required for me to be able to play convincing synth parts from a keyboard than it is to do the same using a guitar or bass.

The worst bits were all near the beginning from where you had posted, both in terms of glitches and where playing the part on the guitar showed how much more appropriate (and easy) it would have been using a keyboard synth. Having spent a good deal of my younger years trying very hard to firstly make synths sound like guitars and then make guitars (and bass) sound like synths, I now realise that both the controller and the sound generating system are equally important, and that choosing the right method of playing a sound is just as important as the sound itself. For that reason even when I do get an SY-1000, I will still be playing some parts from a keyboard. For me the SY-1000's strengths are the ability to do synth-type sounds and general sound modification via signal processing rather than pitch to synth engine conversion. And the ability to process separate strings with separate sounds, which will be ideal for the band where I use the bass VI as I won't have the change patches when swapping from "bass" to "guitar" sounds.

Thanks - I know Momento Mori - I'm pretty certain one of the bands I've been in has shared a stage with them at some point...

I have to disagree with that. Some nasty glitching of the sounds, a few good demonstrations of why some of these parts were played using a keyboard to control the synth rather than a guitar, and many of the tunes that I recognised sounded liked they were being played using a cheap Casio Keyboard. Luckily I'm sold on the overall concept, because based on the video alone I'd be having second thoughts about buying one.

I've owned two Overwater Originals - one with the Overwater pickups and filter pre-amp and the other where the pre-amp had been replaced with a Ken Smith one. The all Overwater electronics suited what I wanted far better. That's not to say that the Ken Smith pre-amp was bad it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Headstock very carefully photographed so you can't see if it's been broken and mended.

Unfortunately he's paired them with the a very stinky poo cardigan

Yes you can. It should be automatically included in your claim when you make it. You should also be able to claim interest on any money owed, during the time between when you paid and when you actually file the claim.

Freur-Underworld tend to be forwardly rather than backwardly compatible, if you liked Freur, then you'll probably like Underworld Mk1 and Underworld Mk2, but not the reverse.

Karl Hyde is actually a pretty good singer as is Rick Smith (who doesn't do vocals at all in Underworld Mk2). Just have a listen to the harmonies on the two Freur albums, or Underworld's pre-house output.

Thanks! I liked that a lot. Who were you playing with in your "hardcore goth" days?

That's the thing. Just looking at Epiphone they have produced a lot of different basses all called Thunderbirds, but most of them being very different instruments to the original 60s Gibson Thunderbird, and many of them have nothing really in common other than they have similar looking bodies. They even made a non-reverse model that in every respect other than the body shape was a J-Bass!

TBH I'm not one to spend ages agonising over relief adjustments. So long as I'm not getting fret buzz, but at the same time the action doesn't require a vice-like grip to hold down the strings I'm happy. If you are into measuring, either go with the same amount as you are used to on your other basses; alternatively since it sounds as though your truss rod is not too tight for your current strings, slacken it off until the fingerboard is perfectly flat, and then release it slightly until the string buzz disappears. BTW do you have a link to your band's music? It will probably be exactly to my taste.

I find music to be too much of distraction to have on for anything apart from the simplest work.

It depends what you want. Once you step outside of the Fender (and it's copyists) market where the parameters of an instrument are clearly defined, i.e. if you buy a P-Bass you know what body shape, neck, construction, pickup arrangement and electrics you are going to get; things are much more fluid. All of a sudden there is a lot of variation in design and construction of supposedly similar models to the extent where sometimes it only the general shape of the body that two instruments of the same model have in common. So you have to ask yourself what is it that makes a Thunderbird for you? If it's simply the body shape, then the bolt-on neck Epiphone may well be fine. If, like me, you consider the essential features of a Thunderbird to be the construction and the pickups, then you will probably be disappointed.

I also had the Flanger kit. Both eventually ended up in a 1U rack unit for studio use. Also because of the semi-kit nature of these pedals, you didn't worry as much about modifying them. My flanger pedal had an additional input which allowed me to use a control voltage instead of the built-in LFO. Got some interesting sounds out of it using the envelope CV from a Korg MS20 synth to sweep the flange.

I don't think you can count anyone whose first language is not English or American.

I'm surprised that Newtone say the Axions are too long for the Hellcat, as they fit perfectly on my Burn Barracuda, which has a Strat-style bridge and therefore no more excess string after the saddle than on the Hellcat. The Hellcat is 30" scale length isn't it? If you are now getting fret buzz around the 7th to 9th frets it's probably because the LaBella strings are lower tension than whatever was fitted before and the truss rod needs slightly slackening off to compensate.

Obviously we play our Bass VIs in completely different ways, since IME the LaBella set with it's 95 to 26 gauges is only just heavy enough for my needs. I have a set fitted to my Squier Bass VI, but if I decide to keep this instrument (unlikely as the neck is too thin even by guitar standards for me) they would be replaced with the Newtone Axion strings - 100 to 24 which suit my playing style far better with bass-style strings for the bass and more guitar like strings for the G/B/E. However having said that I am very much liking the feel of the GHS strings on my recently purchased Hooky Bass 6 - 105 to 30, and I haven't noticed that the strings (particularly the higher ones) are quite a bit heavier than the Axions. What I have noticed is that very rarely do one set of strings suit every bass guitar of a given scale length and string number. Hopefully the OP will find something that they like from the various suggestions. I would recommend that they try the Newtones because they are less than half the price of the next cheapest Bass VI set, and therefore well worth a punt, especially as The LaBella's aren't working out for the OP. I do take your point about the heavier strings being too thick for the typical Bass VI neck - one of the reasons why I'm probably going to ditch the Squier, and in my quest to find the most comfortable Bass VI for me I've ended up with the two with the widest necks, the Burns Baracuda (38mm E-E) and the Eastwood Hooky Bass 6 (43mm E-E), where the extra neck, and overall string spacing, width allows these heavier string to really come to life.

The clue as to why these might not be the right strings is in the name. Baritone. Baritone is not the same the same as Bass VI. They are two separate instruments with which are tuned differently and have different tonal characteristics. From personal experience with both baritone guitars and a variety of Bass VIs from different manufacturers I would be very reluctant to go with anything lighter than a 95 for the low E, and experience with both the Netwone Axions and the GHS Hooky 6 strings shows that 100 and 105 respectively give a much tighter sound, with a better defined note, which if you are playing goth/post-punk music is what you want.

The Newtone Axions should be fine. I have them fitted to a Burns Barracuda which has a Strat-style bridge and therefore not as much excess string length after the saddles. Alternatively you could get a set of GHS Hooky Bass 6 strings. The Hooky Bass 6 is a replica of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass and has a BBOT style bridge so there shouldn't be any excess length. I wouldn't bother with the D'Addarios, the E and A are way too light for a good bass sound. Given the prices, I'd try the Newtones first. Edit: I couldn't find the Ernie Ball Bass VI strings on their web site, so maybe they have been discontinued, and the only sets left are those in the retail chain? Besides at 90 and 74 respectively, IMO the E and A are still too light.