BigRedX

Probably the Thumpinator then. However as has also been said check that there isn't a device in your signal path already doing this first. I'm not sure about the Broughton pedal, you'd need to try it, but for me looking at the spec 12dB/oct isn't steep enough to be as effective as the Thumpinator.

What do you want it to do? Remove sub-audio frequencies or tame the audible lower end of your sound?

Eventually every design in existence will have been slagged off in this thread...

I helped out in my local music shop at the end of the 70s, when they were undergoing a transition from being a home organ shop that also sold some budget guitar brands like Columbus and Grant to being more aimed at rock bands, and to that end they had become main dealers for Aria, Ibanez and Fender. Aria and Ibanez had recently made a move away from copies to original designs for their export markets, and while most of the guitars still had obvious design roots from the classic US instruments, the basses - in particular the Aria Pro II SB range - were very different. They were streets ahead of everything indesign, construction and finish, with only the more conservative looking Ibanez basses coming close. By comparison the Fender instruments they were getting were little better than the Grant copies that had proceeded them, although you do have to remember that the late 70s was probably the lowest point for build and quality control at Fender. Incidentally, Nobuaki Hayashi who was responsible for most of those fantastic Aria Pro II instruments now makes guitars and basses under the Atlansia name.

There are HPFs and there are HPFs. The OP is asking about devices like the Thumpinator which are designed to remove sub-audible frequencies from your signal path which are below normal human hearing and therefore don't contribute in any way to the sound of the bass. These devices all have a fixed cut-off frequency (around 30Hz) and slope of at least 24dB/oct. You can't hear them working because you can't hear the frequencies they are removing, but your amp will have been wasting power trying to reproduce them, and they are potentially damaging to your speakers. This has nothing to do with corrective EQ for taming excessive audible low frequency boom.

You shouldn't be able to hear what a HPF is doing. The cut-off point should be set below the range of normal hearing and just filtering out those frequencies that are causing excessive cone movement but aren't actually producing any audible bass.

There are Arias and there are Arias. An SB from the late 70s, especially if it has "The Aria Pro II" on the headstock is a great bass and will be still be holding its value. Unfortunately there's also a lot of very ordinary and average instruments with the Aria name on them. The ones own the links you posted are examples of those.

15000 people with me in the audience at a gig? My worst nightmare. It's bad enough with 2500 at Rock City. I'm thankful that none of the bands I really like are popular enough to attract that size of audience.

None of the technical info published so far actually says much about the innards of these amps. If there were actually valves in there, I'm sure that Backstair would be making a big deal about the fact. Since they don't I can only assume that these are all solid state, with class D power amps for the higher power models. Weird considering the only real reason for having top mounted controls these days is that it can allow a more cost-effective and compact arrangement of the valves and speakers within a combo format.

Where no-one else looks at them either.

Fair enough. I went through a phase bout 15 years ago, when I got my first decent digital compact camera, of taking lots of gig photos. I stopped doing it when I realised that even after deleting the ones that were crap I rarely looked at any of the others not matter how good they were. Also I found gigs were far more enjoyable when I didn't take my camera or phone and consequently didn't have to worry about what I was going to do with them when they weren't being used.

And have you ever looked at or listened to the clip since?

I'm sorry but if your kids can't manage for a few hours without needing you to text them back, then you probably shouldn't be leaving them on their own while you go to a gig.

They don't confiscate anyones phone. If you'd read the article in the OP you'd understand how it works.

Before I started hanging out here and becoming a lot more knowledgable about the more mainstream guitar and bass brands I'd have assumed that any Rickenbacker shaped instrument missing these features was a knock-off.

Why do Rickenbacker even make any models that don't have the triangle inlays or binding. Surely these are essential iconic features of the brand?

I find it far easier to simply not take my phone with me when I go to big(ger) gigs. Since I'm not obsessed with recording every concert experience, I don't really need it with me. If it don't want to leave it with my coat in the cloakroom I'll need to find somewhere in my gig-going clothes to put it and TBH there isn't anywhere where it isn't going to be either a nuisance or a liability at a gig. Besides I'm at a gig, enjoying myself. I'm not going to answer your phone call, read your messages or comment on your Facebook post so there is absolutely no point in me having my phone on my person. If anything important comes up I'll deal with afterwards when I'm back home and I've finished having fun.

But you are forgetting that the string retainers put another kink into the path of the string (one that looks less obvious because of the plane it is in) but is adding a second point in the string path where the pull angle changes which IIRC is worse. Remember also that every string changes the angle of its path as it passes over the nut. Those designs that don't have a straight string-pull look worse (and may be worse depending on whether the nut has been cut the allow for the fact that the angle is occurring in two different planes), but it's still just a single change of direction in 3D.

Why are the controls on the top? Sure it looks cool and retro, but it's also no longer the 1950s and we don't put our amps on the floor and stand behind them when we play any more. As soon as you stack this or use a tilt-back stand you won't be able see the controls properly. Also no weights or dimensions given. Back to the drawing board for Backstar I think.

These days there is absolutely no reason why you can't have both elegant form (although that is completely subjective) and ergonomic function at the same time. Any manufacturer that isn't striving for both, simply isn't trying hard enough.

I think you've misunderstood. My point in the post that you quoted was that Rickenbacker (and all the other companies making basses that aren't simply Fender copies) exist to produce something different for those of us who want something different. Also while a straight string pull over the nut is a Good Thing, IMO a properly cut nut that allows for an angled string pull is preferable to string trees and other retaining gubbins required to get a decent break angle for all the stings on a non-angled headstock. Having said all that I'm not a fan of the looks of this new Rickenbacker. They've left off the triangle fret markers and body binding - two things that in my mind are essential to the looks of the 4001/4003 design, and the headstock while being a bit of a kludge to try and get 5 machine heads in place without changing the shape, there are plenty of other basses with equally poor designs for their 5-string models (Warwick aren't much better). I'll reserve further judgement until I've seen the price these will sell for in the UK and I've had the chance to actually play one.

+1

IME every single MIDI guitar and bass that I've tried required so much modification of my playing technique, that I ended up learning to play synths using a keyboard instead.

Exactly. Surely the whole point of the Rickenbacker bass is that it isn't a clone of a P or J? BTW before 1980 they'd have been playing a 4001...

The Meteora looks a bit different. However it needs more interesting electronics than those off the world's most boring guitar (the Telecaster) and some much funkier finishes.