BassBod

The best strings I've used for fretless are DR Sunbeams - nickel rounds, but a bit less tension than most. They seem to be pretty gentle, and sound fantastic but in my experience fingerboard wear has a lot to do with how you play. Some people have a lighter touch, some just hammer it down. The wear needs to be bad before it starts to mess up your sound, so I'd go for the sound you want first and deal with the wear later. Depends on the thickness of the board, but you can get it "dressed" a number of times before you run out of wood, and then you can still replace it. Superglue can be used, but very thinly, to give a protective matt finish that doesn't change the sound as much as a full glossy coat. Its a pain to do, but works well. The other thing to try is black plastic coated flatwounds. The ones sold by Status sound wonderful...not a full Jaco sound, but a bit of Ron Carter?? BB

With a good preamp (LR Baggs) I can get a decent tone out of the BP100 on my Clifton EUB - but that's already going into an active onboard Bartolini circuit for buffering. Take some of the upper mids and scratchy top away and you're left with a good sound. However, the Realist sounds "better" even if its plugged straight into an amp - much darker with a good thump. Sending a mic to the house and using the pickup mainly for stage monitoring is the best option - but not much use on my EUB! BB

Always liked the Alien look, but never seen a real one. For the money it would be better if it had some solid wood instead of all laminate, but I guess its also a bit more durable. Not a fan of Fishman on-board electronics either, but again custom stuff is expensive. Would love to try one....but doubt if I'd ever buy.

I bought one of the Harvest Leather (canvas) ones from Overwater last year - it still looks brand new! Best bag I've seen, and much better than the Warwick ones - but it does cost.

Look out for a used Euphonc Audio 1x12 - the best all rounder I've ever heard. A bit "clean" when you first try it, but mine is great (on every gig, and that's rare).

I seriously thought about getting one a year or two ago, but to be honest I chickened out. Its a lot of dosh (to me) and I read a fair bit of grumbles on the interweb about pickup and electronic problems and long long delivery times. Now, I never got in touch with them, or their UK distribution so this was pure interweb hearsay - but it was enough to put me off. I know they get good reviews, but what doesn't!? I'm even poorer now...but I still wonder if its the perfect all-rounder for a lot of my gigs! BB

From my experiences here, people are much better informed/realistic about value - yes, there are some "traders", but most are real enthusiasts looking to change stuff they don't use for stuff (they think) they will. Far less hassle then certain popular auction sites...but use the feedback. It is our only defense against scammers/idiots. For the record, I've sold a JD, Manson, bitser J, traded a Streamer SI, fretless Fender, and bought an Alembic, and a few more I can't remember now with no regrets. If I'd could have found those deals in shops (no chance here) it would have cost me a fortune.

My Clifton shortscale is all cherry - English body and american neck. Nice wood, the English seems like alder, but with more interesting grain. The american cherry is denser, with a darker reddish colour, but has resin pockets that can pop up when you start carving it. Look at Mo Clifton's site (www.cliftonbasses) for more info... BB

Mansons - the shop has its own repair shop, or Hugh if he's around or even Andy?? There's also a guitar making school in Totnes, and Chris Eccleshall is somewhere thereabouts.

Looks like Sunday for me......

Not sure if I can get away....but I have a plan....as long as no "money" gigs come in for that weekend. (Goes to stare hopefully at almost-empty diary).

Ooooerrr...sorry to hear that. Hope it arrives safe and sound! bB

And the verdict is ???? BB

My comments are based on experiences with Clifton basses - the 5 string was routed for circuitry and battery, but I never felt the need to have it fitted as the two Kent Armstrong humbuckers sound great. My short scale fretless has one Aaron Armstrong humbucker, with only a series/parallel switch (I only use series..) EMGs are fantastic pickups, but have their own (very clear and clean) sound. Its easy to make a passive bass sound active, but pretty hard to make active pickups sound passive. I love the idea of a piezo system, but I've never seen one fitted by CT? My impression is that he's got his own way of doing things, and I wouldn't want to get too experimental on a bass thats taken years to get made. Carl often uses passive KA humbuckers, so I'd go for a "typical" set up (two KAs?) but maybe have a series/parallel switch for each? BB

I've never had the pleasure of playing a real life CT (but would love to!) but here are some thoughts. EMGs are great pickups, but because they have internal active preamps they do have a reputation for always sounding like EMGs, regardless of what bass they are in. In the case of an expensive CT, I'd like to hear more "wood". Think about the passive Kent Armstrongs that Carl often uses, with no active circuit? In the UK Kent Armstrong designed/hand made pickups have been used by most luthiers (except Jaydee and Wal?) at some point. They really are good pickups, and you can always plug into an external preamp (Aguilar, Sadowsky, Sansamp etc) if you feel the nedd for a more "active" tone. It really comes down to the sound you're looking for..but I'd think about passive first. Hope you love the bass - I'd love to see pics when it arrives! BB

I think you'll need to replace the pots - your EMGs are active pickups (each has a tiny active preamp inside, in addition to the seperate preamp). The 25k pots won't be good with passive pickups attached, although you'll get some sort of output...The convention is for 250k pots for single coils and 500k for humbuckers but either will work fine - its a matter of how much high end they allow through. BB

[attachment=12522:DSCN0737.JPG] Here's my modest Epic - great all-rounder, with simple but superb sounding electronics...but it still sometimes reminds me of an 80's Aria......or Westone. BB

Sounds like a good one - I know one local pro who swears by his Demeter preamp, and I think he'd tried a few beforw he settled on it. May be worth an email to the company - you might be able to convert it to UK voltage by a simple change to the transformer connections. Many companies that make an export version use the same components (but not always..) Enjoy BB

Yup, move on and do what feels right, but keeping your "best" bass is a good idea if you can afford it. "Best" is the one you play the most, regardless of value... BB

If you have space for two batteries, the Aguilar OPB1 is great - very much like the Sadowsky (or Musicman) preamp, with great bass boost. Doesn't add any gain as such, so if your pickups are lowish output, then it may still seem a bit low. Also doesnt do any active pickup mixing. Are your pickups active or passive? I'd also be tempted to try the ACG/East filter preamp.....expensive but looks good! BB

If you have space for two batteries, the Aguilar OPB1 is great - very much like the Sadowsky (or Musicman) preamp, with great bass boost. Doesn't add any gain as such, so if your pickups are lowish output, then it may still seem a bit low. Also doesnt do any active pickup mixing. Are your pickups active or passive? I'd also be tempted to try the ACG/East filter preamp.....expensive but looks good! BB

It is annoying..but its also part of the local market. As said, you can pick out the serious buyers/sellers, and the timewasters, and there is feedback so use it. Evilbay is the place for real open market, and all that goes with it. I like to think people here are better informed and generally easy and polite to deal with. That's not to say its all been easy...but reasonable. BB

What BF said. Virtually all background noise usually gets buried in a performance situation - but some amps are hummers, some are hissers. I find the hummers worse to live with. If the hum level changes (gets noticably worse, with nothing plugged in) then you should get it checked. BB