jrixn1

What size are the control plate holes?  I recently needed to replace the electronics on a CIJ jazz bass (broken pot in my case).  The control plate holes are smaller than the standard size.  I took advice from basschat's KiOgon whose concern was sourcing quality pots in the smaller thread size.  Instead, he enlarged the holes so they could accommodate standard pots.

In terms of increased tonal options: by default, jazz bass pickups are wired in parallel, but one option above the usual volume-volume-tone is a pull-pot to connect the pickups instead in series.  This gives a meatier tone and volume boost.

I'd recommend contacting KiOgon if you want a drop-in solution; or http://www.ak-line.com/medium/Bassschaltungen.pdf if you want (many!) diagrams to do it yourself.  There are an inspiring - or perhaps overwhelming - number of options... I think #333 is the series option mentioned above.

I liked the stock pickups but changing them is always an option.  One approach is to do the electronics first and see what difference it makes, and then you can always switch the pickups later.  Using solderless connectors makes pickup experimentation hassle-free.

On 06/08/2023 at 23:04, Geek99 said:

Sire basses seem to get good reviews 

so like a jazz bass, not roasted maple, white, natural or sunburst, available in five string though you may have had the four. Active, used is fine 500£ tops or £600 new which I know will get me “less”

If you've decided you want a Sire and you're asking which model, then based on your requirements you've really only one decision: V7 or V7 Vintage.   The difference is the pickup construction, pickup spacing, and bridge.

The Sires I've owned were well made, looked good, played well, and sounded good. The necks are really nice. I personally found the preamp too fiddly with its three normal knobs, two stacked knobs, and a switch.  Also they are generally on the heavier side - Sire's own FAQ has the V7 at 4.67kg - if that's a concern for you.

On 07/08/2023 at 08:51, Geek99 said:

It’s the price point, the quality of a sire seems to be same or better for less, I’d like active as I found passive fives a bit muddy.

I don't know what other basses you've played, but what I've found is the split between 'good' and 'not so good' is not necessarily along the passive-active line.  I had a G&L L2500 Tribute with an extremely good B string, and I only ever played that bass in passive mode.  Currently £449 at Andertons.

Sold some pickups to Dave - thanks for the fast payment and great transaction!

1 hour ago, Richard Jinman said:

I'm playing with 2 bands btw - trad and gypsy jazz. I like/love the Spiros, but I have zero experience of any other string. Is there life beyond Spiros? I'm imagining something perhaps a little easier on the fingers without going completely gut etc, but which retains or even improves the Spiro sound.

Gut substitute (or actual gut of course) will give the better tone for those styles of music, which predate steel strings.  They are a lot easier on the fingers too.  You'll likely have to raise your string height (assuming you currently have a relatively low action for your Spiro).

The ones I can personally recommend:

For a lower price you could try one of the cheaper Gut-a-Like sets https://www.thomann.de/gb/gut-a-like_strings_for_double_basses.html

Or better, but more expensive - about £200 incl import costs - I am really liking Aquila Gold Springs.

https://aquilacorde.com/negozio/corde-musica-moderna/contrabbasso-corde-musica-moderna/g-d-set/gold-springs-synthetic-set-g-d/

You can sell used strings in the marketplace so you will get some money back if they are not the ones for you.

P-bass pickups from a Matt Freeman Squier precision bass

Nice vintage-sounding (rather than modern) pickup.

£20 posted

Still for sale - and I found the box and USB cable.

Ernie Ball Slinky cobalt flats

https://ernieball.co.uk/guitar-strings/bass-strings/slinky-flatwound-electric-bass-strings/slinky-flatwound-4-5-electric-bass-strings#P02816

Five-string set, 45-130 gauge.

My favourite flats - brighter and versatile tone, and respond nicely to EQ/tone pot changes.  Selling only as I no longer own any five-string basses.  Bought new in Sept 2023 and were on a back-up bass, so not much used.  Cut for a 4+1 headstock.

£45 posted

1/2" Hipshot Ultralite licensed clover tuners

Originally shiny chrome, these have been reliced.

I feel they are a little bit stiffer to turn than brand new Ultralites.  It's hard to quantify something like this, so I'll accept returns if you are not 100% happy.

All dimensions here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1574/0577/files/206K.PDF?147414096911308745

£60 posted

KiOgon P bass loom

Bourns 250K log pots
6mm splined shafts
Switchcraft jack socket
.047uF cap

Solderless connection, using a screw terminal connector (mini screwdriver + instructions included).

£15 posted

RightOn "B-Charm" strap

https://www.rightonstraps.com/en/bassman-b-charm-brown-bass-strap.html

I love these straps - I'm keeping one for my existing bass, but I've ended up with more straps than basses.

Comfortable for long sets, and secure system for adjusting the length.

Width: 3.15" (8cm)
Length adjustable from 38.58" (98cm) to 60.23" (153cm).

£25 posted

Sandberg gig bag

A quality gig bag in good condition.  There is 10mm of padding, an internal neck velcro strap, and backpack straps.

Originally came with a Sandberg TT5 - will fit any four- or five-string Fender-sized (jazz/precision) bass.

£30 posted

Reduced now to £700 collected or £720 posted.

Can you identify your strings here? https://gollihurmusic.com/string-identification-chart/

Once you see the prices of strings, you'll want to find a single...

A 3/4 acoustic upright is around 42" (unlike bass guitars, there isn't any particular strict measurement which define the size of an upright bass)

Sold to basslondon with fast payment and no problems. Thanks Craig!

On 22/07/2023 at 11:41, jmmc said:

They said driver would bring the label and I just gave the parcel to him.

Can you paste or screenshot the instructions Thomann sent you for the collection?

55 minutes ago, Nickthebass said:

Did you use the Shuttle because that’s just what you had to hand or was it a deliberate decision?

Before the Shuttle + Big Baby 2, in fact I too had a Streamliner + Barefaced Compact (but no Midget T or any other second speaker with a tweeter), which sounded quite good for some specific things (Motown) but not so great for others.  There was basically no high end - turning the high EQ either way made pretty much no difference.

I was happy with the Genz Benz brand and quality, and a friend happened to be selling the Shuttle + Big Baby 2, so I just moved on that.  So it was not a deliberate decision - but a great discovery that all my tone could come from a pedalboard and that the amp and cab could function specifically just to make it louder, transparently.

Then after a while I moved to powered speakers (RCF 732A, QSC K12, etc) and never looked back; the additional advantages are that the power amp and speaker are matched, better dispersion, all the benefits of DSP, built-in wedge option, more compact to transport and store.

1 hour ago, Nickthebass said:

Did you ever do it with a power amp and passive speakers? What was the additional EQ stage that you were using?

I've not had a setup based around a power amp, but for a while I was using a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.2 and a Barefaced Big Baby 2.  It was a flat setup (Shuttle is flat with the EQ set neutrally), and I used the DI in pre-EQ mode so that any EQ was just for the stage.

When I switched to powered speakers, I had an MXR M81, a clean DI which I used similarly in pre-EQ mode.

Is there a reason you want rack gear?  It's large and heavy...

4 hours ago, Nickthebass said:

The back-line rack would only need to deal with volume and the oddities of the room. The pedal board deals with tone shaping, compression, drive and all that. I'm giving FOH a "finished" sound for them to balance / tweak to the room and mix and want to do the same with my back line.

Which Barefaced cabs do you have, and what type of venues are you playing?

I have a pedalboard setup into an active PA speaker for my stage monitoring, and the same signal DIed to FOH.  I used to have that extra step where I could tweak my EQ independently of FOH but I never really used it, so got rid of it and don't miss it - I credit the active speakers in giving me a consistent on-stage sound, which I never previously had with traditional bass cabs.

I do sometimes make small EQ tweaks during soundcheck from venue to venue, and so yes those will go to FOH - but as you say, FOH make their own balances and tweaks on top anyway.  I'm not sure there's any value to anyone to be sending literally exactly the same unaltered tone from one venue to the next.

Ah, I see.  Could work some of the time.  FWIW I've been pulled up by ParcelForce for having the wrong dimensions.

(Edit: Actually I'm doing myself a disservice - pretty sure my dimensions were correct; they claimed I was wrong and would have to pay a fee before they delivered it; I asked for a photo of their measurements and a copy of my order showing my declared dimensions; they never replied and did finally go ahead and deliver the item.  The point is that some carriers might sometimes check - just something to bear in mind if underdeclaring.)

18 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

DPD, always use DPD.

 

They're the only courier who always turn up on time, and whose tracking always works.

 

Others shipping stuff to me use every courier known to man, with entirely predictable (and usually unhappy) results. I've used only DPD for the last five years when shipping stuff to others, and I have yet to encounter a problem.

 

I agree DPD are great for the recipient with their accurate live tracking - but as a sender, I can never get their website to accept a bass-sized package (e.g. 8kg, 130 x 50 x 20cm).

I just looked it up, and https://www.dpdlocal-online.co.uk/help-centre/parcels/question/pricing/what-are-the-size-restrictions-of-the-dpd-local-online-services says "Max length: 100cm".

How are you doing it?

The thing to watch out for (which is basically a scam) if you go with ParcelForce etc directly is that they will happily charge you for insurance but by their own wording, "musical instruments are excluded from enhanced compensation" (https://www.parcelforce.com/help-and-advice/sending/items-we-exclude-compensation).

I've been using Overland Express - https://www.overlandexpress.co.uk/musical-instrument-courier - who partner with ParcelForce, DHL, etc; but importantly the difference is that they will insure musical instruments.  It's about £40 to send on a 24-hour service within UK with £1000 of insurance.

Best to read their T&C yourself, but to qualify for insurance you need to send the bass in a hard case, inside a cardboard box.  Take photos of the whole packing process, and ask the recipient also to take photos when the bass arrives.

I haven't had to make any claim myself but the recommendation came from another basschatter who had used customer service and reported that they did make a proper effort to resolve any issues.

 https://www.johnhenrys.com/amplification.html have a large space with loads of amps and cabs.  They are mainly set up for larger touring acts but check with them if can you still just pop in and have a browse as I have done in the past (although it was about 15 years ago).

1 hour ago, NickA said:

My best advice is to save up the £1800 and take it bassbags or better stil to the doublebassroom in Hastings and try a load (eg https://www.thedoublebassroom.com/product/1950s-west-german-bubenruth-3-4-size/).

Good call - and btw he takes credit cards, if that helps with the finance side of things.

13 minutes ago, joelcmj said:

will have a look into rentals but I also found a website Caswell strings that do finance but will wait it out because summer is quiet  (teach guitar in schools)

If you decide to rent, consider doing it before September, because what I've heard is that all the instruments get snapped up by students when term starts.

@joelcmj

If you qualify for gear4music credit, you can just as likely get a bank loan - then you can buy privately.

I'd vote for acoustic upright.  I'm sure I wouldn't have a lot of my work (jazz, theatre) if I was playing EUB. Like you say, people do value authenticity - certainly, an acoustic player isn't going to lose gigs because he didn't play EUB.  Probably depends on your specific network though - perhaps you can just ask your bandleaders/contacts outright. 

I had my adjusters fitted by mail order - https://www.mjbl.co.uk/double-bass-bridge-adjusters-for-sale.  I posted him my bridge and he returned it with the adjusters fitted.  It's about £100.

Alternatively, http://bristol-violin-shop.co.uk/ is an hour from Cardiff and comes highly recommended by many basschatters.