BigRedX

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1463480528' post='3051620'] I have to say this is something I've never understood. My basses don't go, and have never gone, outside the door unless in a hard case. They're too precious to me. [/quote] It's the case of having the right case for the job. A good hard case is essential if your bass is going in the band van or needs to be stacked with other gear in your car. However it's not going to be very convenient if you've got to carry it several miles to the venue or rehearsal room. I've done it a couple of times with a Hiscox which is probably the lightest hard case and it's not much fun. That's why I have both gig bags and hard cases and use the one that is going to be the most appropriate for my mode of transport.

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1463476815' post='3051575'] That was my point. With road crew you can presumably have [i]anything[/i] you want, big and heavy OR smaller and lightweight. A lot of people in this situation elect to choose the former. Whether this is for purely sonic reasons or aesthetics is another matter of course, but I would like to think how the rig sounds would be the main factor. [/quote] I would imagine it's a mixture of familiarity, ignorance and inertia. If your Ampeg SVT and fridge goes wrong you'll be able to hire an exact replacement in most parts of the world. Once you step away from in front of your rig on anything but the smallest of stages you are dependent upon the monitoring system to hear your bass and only those in the audience who are right at the front in the "line of fire" are going to hear anything that hasn't come through the PA. Is it any wonder that players stick with what they know that looks the part and is easy to get hold of?

[quote name='operative451' timestamp='1463491396' post='3051756'] 80s? Still a bit crap but improved. Technology was starting to work, people were actually getting the idea that racism and sexism were a bad idea, and the Young Ones was on the telly. The tascam 4 track was invented. [/quote] There were Tascam 4-tracks in the 70s. Even the Portastudio. [quote name='operative451' timestamp='1463491396' post='3051756'] 2016? Tech is now so cheap you can get a mobile phone for £3.50. Same with clothes as primark exists. There is a permanent space habitat with a UK astronaut who goes on instagram. Planet's pretty knackered though and nobody seems to care. [/quote] The planet's fine. It's just the human infestation that needs sorting out.

Well my Bass VI has arrived. I'll be posting some thoughts when I've had a bit of time to play with it.

[quote name='bassist_lewis' timestamp='1463483283' post='3051655'] I have a Callowhill MPB short scale 5 string and, to my ears, it's the best low B I've played. its one of the few Bs IME that's useable beyond the 4th fret. There's nothing special about the neck construction (one piece maple, maybe quartersawn?), the luthier said it was to do with angles at the bridge and nut. The only thing I've done is test a few gauges of low B (125, 130, 135) and, not surprisingly, the 135 was the best. [/quote] That's hardly surprising. If you look at the figures for those manufacturers that publish them, the low B string in a standard 5-string set is very low tension compared with the others and I'd go so far as to suggest that the E string could do with being a bit heavier too. Break angle tricks to decrease to compliance of the string help, but nothing beats actually increasing the unit mass.

The problem with the Mono M80 and nearly all of the other new breed of semi-rigid gig bags is that they are all about the same size and weight as a Hiscox LiteFlite hard case. They have IME two advantages. 1. You can carry them on your back if you find them comfortable. I don't. My M80 is awkward and bangs against the back of my legs as i walk so it's not much good for me on anything but very short journeys. 2. There's a bit of give in the case, so if you're trying to fit it into a very full car it may squash into a space where a hard case won't go. They're not even cost effective. For the same money you could by a Hiscox and a decent £30 gig bag that is comfortable on your back.

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1463270111' post='3050126'] Also, ever noticed that an awful lot of pro players with road crew still favour heavy valve/ big cab rigs? Just sayin.... [/quote] If you've got a road crew it really doesn't matter how heavy your rig is. It is someone else's job the carry it. Also the sound of the bass rig becomes less important the larger the stage is as the bass will most likely be DI'd before the amp and most of the on-stage sound will be delivered through the monitors, and the FoH will come almost entirely from the PA.

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1463464796' post='3051463'] It now has a 1/4" jack, what did it have before? [/quote] IIRC a TV ariel type connection.

I wasn't able to vote. My main rig has a lightweight amp - Tech Soundsystems Black Cat which is a P2P wired valve pre-amp coupled with a dual class D power amp, but it sits in a 6U rack case with a load of other gear so the final package isn't particularly lightweight at all. My backup amp is a Tecamp Puma, but again it is rack mounted in a case with a load of other gear so that isn't really light or compact either. The speakers are EBS Pro-Line and I can only lift the smaller of the two cabs on my own. However the backup cabs are relatively light weight (although nowhere near the lack of weight of something like a Barefaced). Both sets of cabs were purchased on the basis of good reviews from users here and because the price was right. They have been kept because I like the sound. TBH weight isn't too much of an issue. All the gear goes in the band transport, we all do the load in/out, and some of the drum cases weigh considerably more...

Looks like mine has arrived in the UK and will probably be delivered on Monday.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1463146105' post='3049021'] To be fair, you ordered after working hours on the 9th in that case, so would have been looked at for the first time on Tuesday. It in Germany, I know they said 2-3 days but I wouldn't get too upset about it not being here by the end of the week, I wouldn't necessarily have expected it to be. Reckon you'll have it Monday, and under a week's turnaround for an international delivery is decent in my book [/quote] I expect it will end up being like ordering from Thomann. No matter when you place your order the item(s) will arrive on Wednesday of the following week. Hopefully I'll actually be working from home that day.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1463141455' post='3048948'] I planned white until I was in GAK and bought black. Good luck with setting it up. [/quote] Thanks! I'll probably start with a new set of strings - what are the recommended round-wounds? I'll add the other stuff as and when I decide they are necessary.

[quote name='Wooks79' timestamp='1463140052' post='3048924'] Pretty much the same here, except the DHL tracking ref I have doesn't work for me :/ Luckily I'm in no rush. Only thing I'm wondering, since they put the price back up, is anything gonna get sent out even though the email already says it has? I'll wait and see... [/quote] Well according to the tracking information that I have the bass has left MP and travelled to Köln from where it is supposed to be exported to the UK. So hopefully it is actually on its way. I don't really mind the wait, but if they say 2-3 days, then I expect it to arrive in 2-3 days. And although I normally work from home, it looks as though I'm going to be out for much of next week, so it would have been good if the bass could have been delivered today when I am definitely in. I might not be in a position to have it redelivered until the following week.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1463140248' post='3048928'] Which colour? [/quote] White - looked the best to me and the sunburst was already more money when I went to place my order.

Not very impressed with the shipping times... I ordered one pretty much as soon as the OP went up, and got a confirmation first thing the following morning (Tuesday) with a message saying that it would be delivered in the next 2-3 days. Well today's Parcel Force delivery has been and gone with nothing for me, and the tracking information has the bass still stuck in Köln...

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1463125131' post='3048746'] You cannot spell Bass with a B! My problem with non 35" basses for a very long time was that the B did not sound like an organic part of the instrument. It was almost like an aftermarket body kit on a car. You knew it was super cool (!) but it did not seem to sit well with the rest of the car. Both my 33" are strung with a B. They do not sound like a 35" but then the rest of the instrument does not either. For me, with these basses, I can play below E and not get cross inside because the tone changes. [/quote] Very much this! There are too many manufacturers who don't seem to realise that there is a lot more to making a 5-string bass than taking one of their 4-string models, widening the neck and pickups and adding an extra saddle to the bridge and machine head to accommodate the 5th string. So long as this continues to happen we'll still be seeing 5-string basses (of all scale lengths) that don't deliver a decent sounding and feeling low B and people who try a 5-string and say it not for them because they couldn't get on with the sound and feel of the strings.

The questionnaire was about reading? IIRC all the questions said "playing". My reading is about a bar every 5 minutes for something reasonably simple, but I can play in any key (although I probably won't know what the key actually is). Also the bass guitar (and guitar) is a very versatile instrument when it comes to deciding where to play the actual notes because most of them occur in at least different locations. Also you can simply retune and make something that was previously very difficult a lot more straight forward to play. As an example: back when I was a teenager learning the guitar my playing took a major step forward when I realised that instead of struggling with all those complicated Eb, Ab and C# chords I could simply put my capo on the first fret and play the much easier D, G and C instead!

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1463053806' post='3048102'] What is the Behringer DI model ? And the EMO ? [/quote] It's a [url=http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Signal-Processors/DI-Boxes/DI100/p/P0062]Behringer Ultra-DI 100[/url] and the EMO is the [url=http://www.emosystems.co.uk/Products/Passive_Direct_Injection_Boxes.html]E520[/url].

For some reason the Behringer DI box won't work with our Moog Etherwave Theremin. And it's not just an isolated instance. Every time the PA engineer can't get a signal from the Theremin it turns out he's using a Behringer DI. As soon as it's swapped out for the EMO one that we carry as a spare it's fine. Any ideas why this might be?

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1462774767' post='3045498'] Does a different scale length make a fundamental difference to the quality of the B? If it doesn't then why bother making long scale basses? [/quote] As I said in my first post, IME you need to significantly increase the scale length from 34" in order to make a noticeable difference without addressing the more expensive aspects of the bass such as how the neck is constructed and how it is joined to the body. So there are the Overwaters from the 80s with a 36" scale which works well although the D and G strings tend to be a little on the stiff side. Therefore the Dingwall fanned fret approach of 37" B and 34"? (I looked on the Dingwall site and couldn't find any mention of the actual lengths of the strings) for the G. Or if you want some seriously low notes you could just get a 39" scale Knuckle Quake. The problem I have with 35" scale is that a lot of the time it's a cheap cop-out by the manufacturers. After all a neck for a 35" scale instrument only needs about 3/4" of extra wood over one for a 34" scale. AFAICS it's an approach favoured by makers of instruments with bolt-on necks. However IME through neck construction or a good set-neck joint combined with an overall stiffer construction for the neck itself will give far better results.

Looks like a different scale length too? Check the bridge positions of the two basses.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1462735440' post='3045351'] Not ideal to play sitting down.... [/quote] No-one is going to buy that in order to play it sitting down.

Just customise a keytar steam-punk style: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/13055149_10153922231088387_8843124477969231286_o_zpswnl7druw.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/13055882_10153922231078387_3703998150687279634_o_zpshmahvh7n.jpg[/IMG]

IMO it's all about the construction of the neck and how it is attached to the body rather than a 1" difference in scale length. The other important factor is finding the right B string for a particular bass. What works on one won't necessarily work on another. Bear in mind that going from 34" to 35" is not even a 3% increase in length so by all means go for 35" scale if you like the longer spacing between the frets, but don't expect a single inch to make any real difference in how the B string feels and sounds. Also IME 35" scale is used by a lot of cheaper basses to try and compensate for the fact that the construction of the bass isn't really up to the standard required for a 5-string. It doesn't work. Any manufacturer capable of making a 35" scale bass with a good sounding a feeling B string will be able to make one with a 34" scale length just as well. Scale length only makes a significant difference once you go to 36" scale or longer. Of all the 5-string basses I have owned, the best B-strings were on the 34" scale basses (Gus, Sei and Warwick). The next best were my 2 Overwater 36" scale basses. The two 35" scale basses I owned (Reverend and Traben) were, apart from a very cheap 34" scale bass, by far the worst when it came to the B string.

[quote name='Chownybass' timestamp='1462531328' post='3043790'] You know what mate? Let 'em try! It's SUCH a ballache that I think anybody who approaches it casually will drop out anyway. You also need deep pockets to get started (unless you are VERY lucky) My current model prototypes are doing my head in. I have the rage today. [/quote] In that case I can't wait for the blog. Bring it on! Any while we are here, a quick question regarding the long-scale model. I see from the current photos that it uses the same body as the short scale which means that the pickup positions are more biased towards the neck, how does that change the sound compared to the CH1?