BassBod

Also very interested........

Yes....passive DI after any sort of preamp is good....Yes...sansamp (mostly) has DI output anyway....Yes, passive bass into passive DI can work, but it might be a bit dark and dull/low level ....all is Yes

Yes......

The little GK combos can be sneaked in, and hidden under tables..... On the rare truly "acoustic" situations where I've dared to play EUB I have put the combo off stage, or way back out of sight. I've done the same with ABG with good results..and almost forgotten there is an amp!

Mine is landscape - so the side mounted handle is on top. Works fine for me, but you have to remember the handle is not centred when you put the cover on.

Thomastik flats are very nice, but acoustically very quiet - great sound if you use the pickup (as I'm sure you do!). Might need to raise the action, as they are very floppy. I've got D'Addario black plastic flats on mine (fretted Martin four string) and they are the best compromise I've found for fullness and warmth.

[attachment=121451:stanleyk4uo.jpg] Try this - I'm guessing this was mid 70's Stanley gear. I think the multiple tiny speaker thing was copied/borrowed from the Alembic Wall of Sound PA.

With the current market, I would hold on the the old Fenders for a few more years. I can't imagine they will ever be worth less than now, and could be worth a lot more in a couple of years, when there is more "disposable income" floating around. But I know exactly how you are thinking...and it sounds like you are much more sorted than many! The physical thing is really important - my current jazz bass is the lightest Fender type bass I've ever owned, and easily the best sounding, so its worth a long look around to see what you can find. Mine was mostly made in Cornwall....

I'm between Bristol and Bath, and Shaftesbury is about an hour away....

I'd be interested - its not that far from Bristol, although we do tend to panic if it isn't just of the the M5! I enjoyed the Shaftsbury one a year or two ago...

Lack of power was never a concern for me - it coped with some loud blues gigs through a BF Midget, but I did use a Sansamp in front to get it sounding "appropriate" for the genre!

What he said, although I never needed to open the top of mine. The eq is gentle, but effective and it has plenty of power (it keeps getting louder past the half way point of the master volume pot...not many amps do this) and the fine tune/trim controls for the channel gains is a nice touch. The DI is a pain (stereo jack to get a balanced output) but you only need a short stereo jack to XLR cable made up to sort it. But I never did, I used a mono cable to a passive DI box instead ( that probably weighed more than the amp!). Great amp if you like the sound of your basses, and are happy with modern surface mount construction style, and need something very portable. I opted to go for an older style low power amp that I can get serviced for the remainder of my playing life. No offence intended to EA - they are great at helping you out, but once that amp is out of current production its beyond help (like all other contemporary micro heads).

Nice - I got to see/hear Mr Manring up close a few years ago, and it was great fun..especially when he starts de-tuning. I was surprised at just how skinny and floppy his E and A strings looked, he must have great control to get any depth out them without loads of rattles. Enjoy the bass!

I've never used it, but most beeswax furniture products will leave the back of the neck feeling sticky, the only one I know that doesn't is the Warwick finishing wax (it seems to be a thinner product that doesn't build up so quickly). Worth looking on the Music Man forum, as they've used oiled maple necks for years - Birchwood Casey gun stock oil/wax. I'm not keen on it because of all the cautions on the label, and it isn't that easy to find over here. I got some from Thomman a few years ago, and its good stuff, but it seems very "petrochemical" in its make up. Try just cutting back the gloss first and see what it feels like?

First thing is to remove the existing hard finish - can be done with steel wool or light grade sand papers..but I'd go for steel/plastic wool as you won't really be touching the wood. You may find that just taking the gloss off the existing finish is good enough. It will go shiny again in a few months, but its easy to do. If you want to oil it after taking off the finish, then Liberon Tung oil is good - follow the instructions, as its very easy. Don't over do it (two or three diluted coats should be enough) and clean/ re-coat every years or so. Don't use anything waxy (except the Warwick stuff) its too thick and sticky.

I still think those cream DiMarzios are great pickups...however "wrong" they may be to vintage enthusiasts. And they don't hum.

I've swapped - the stacked version has a bit less output, and seems a bit warmer/smoother. It could just be a gain difference, but I felt there was a bit less "burp" to the back pickup. Overall, I prefer the three knob version - less to think about, and frankly the more subtle tone variations are lost on most gigs!

I'd ask Overwater first...or maybe Picato? Otherwise I'd guess D'Addario chromes come in an extra long, but that may not be long enough for your bass.

Something tells me you should go gentle with those AI cabs...probably over cautious, but I've seen a few with rattling speakers. I know what you mean about getting your sound from a box of tricks...but aren't valves just fancy light bulbs anyway?? For me, an easy load in always wins over "the sound" - I seem to get paid much more when no-one is listening anyway. My holy grail box is the Alembic F2B (single rack space, very light) but most of the time I just don't want to cart even a small rack bag around, its stealth gigging and every bag/box has to be essential.

I got very nice results from an AI Clarus amp by putting something "dirty" in front, and using it as a powered speaker. The AI amps are great, just very clean with eq so subtle it passes me by. My old Sansamp worked well, as long as you're gentle with the eq and the blend control,as did the VT pedal and a Sadowsky..or a SFT clone (but grungier..) there are loads to chose from. Also worked a treat with Euphonic Audio amps. Its not real valve grunt, but I found it was very useable and most of all convenient and cost effective!