GrammeFriday

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1404907528' post='2496839'] The best 'post-hoc' Fender 5 string I've played is an American Deluxe Jazz V. Really good instruments with a great B string... but that might just have been the one I played They're not cheap, however. [/quote] £1,522.00 from GAK - more expensive than my MTD AG5! Now that [i]is[/i] a proper 5-string bass ... [size=4] [/size]

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1404899137' post='2496738'] I've decided to return the bass to the shop I bought it from, and pick another 5er. I need to like the overall tone before I can worry about the differences in timbre between strings [/quote] Good plan. FWIW I would recommend focusing your search on 5-string basses that were actually designed from the ground up as 5-string basses, and not on 4 string basses that have had a 5th string added post-hoc (e.g. Fender/Squier stuff) - you are much more likely to have a trouble-free low B experience that way. (I'm not saying that there aren't any Fender 5ers that play well, but I do think you will have to try out a lot before finding a proper goodun.) Anyway, do report back when you've made your trade and let us know what you ended up getting!

Good points. I should have said that I find 125 perfect for my MTDs (which are 35 scale) but 130 works better on my Stingray 5 (which is a 34).

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1404823787' post='2496034'] I find that using a really fat B string can accentuate the difference in timbre and volume over the other strings. I use a 125 gauge B on both my 5ers (TRB5 and SR5) , the tension is fine and the string balance sounds good. To my ears anyway! As with all these things, how you setup (relief/action) and how you play can make a big difference. [/quote] +1. 125 I find to be ideal for both string-to-string balance and tension.

6/10, but the ones I didn't know don't matter anyway! BTW, gosh, never realised Ray Winstone plays bass for New Order!

That's why it's nice to have a sixer in your arsenal - you can have both the thunder and the heavenly choir at the same time!

Could just be a one-off duff string - it does happen sometimes. I'd try changing strings/brand of strings before starting to fiddle around with pickup height adjustments, etc.

[quote name='6feet7' timestamp='1404809781' post='2495822'] Graham Wheeler near Shoreham - £200 but not sure if that would include stripping off poly paint. [/quote] Great price if it does - stripping off poly paint is a BIG job and a major PITA.

Correct - he plays both fretted and fretless E-C.

Sims are well regarded, and even if you don't go with them you can use their pdf price list on the following page as a point of comparison: http://www.simscustom.com/html/00sprayshop.htm Looks like it's not going to be cheap ...

Hi Oliver All wise words above, and it may well be that the Ibanez is the one for you, given how it clicked so immediately with you. Nevertheless, as bassmayhem says, the single biggest factor to consider before parting with any cash is what string spacing you really prefer. From memory I think Ibanezes are very narrow at the bridge, so it might be a good idea to find out whether this is your thing, or whether a wider spacing might suit you even better. As it happens, I also live in Brum and you are very welcome to pop over and have a go on my MTD KZ6 (see avatar pic), which has wider spacing - 18 or 19mm, I am not exactly sure which. I picked up this bass 2nd hand from eBay and upgraded it with Nordstrand pups, which have made it apocalyptically loud and aggressive, so it's a fun bass to play. Anyway, pm me if interested!

Stuck in conventional tuning as well at the mo, but have been wanting to give DADGC a go at some point since coming across this Youtube vid a few weeks ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxrUYvsmr9U

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1404654092' post='2494418'] In terms of amps there are only really two brands that people tend not to like at all - TC and Ashdown. [/quote] OK, maybe those of us who like TC are tiny minority weirdoes, but is Ashdown really that unpopular? Plenty of Ashdown love here, for example: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/239687-ashdown-at-festivals/ [quote name='molan' timestamp='1404654092' post='2494418'] Of course there are a few brands that seem to be universally liked as well so it's not all negative stuff [/quote] I'd be interested to know who these brands are - and I bet a few seconds of searching the threads here will find plenty of posts slagging them off!

Good to hear! I am partial to a bit of dad rock myself, so this makes me want to try once again to persuade my covers band to include a cover of Back in Black! (Not holding my breath, though ...)

True. Can't remember the last time I wasn't playing DI into the desk myself, so really should have thought of that before posting. But my original point stands nonetheless. Do people in this thread [i]really[/i] think that JPJ only uses TC equipment because they pay him to? FFS ...

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1404655935' post='2494434'] I used to run sound systems and PA's long before I learned Bass so I have an interest in how something is working as much as if it sounds great or not. In my experience something that sounds great in one situation won't in another - why that is is interesting. [/quote] Yes, absolutely. That's why I'm particularly interested in the comments above saying that TC gear does not work in a live band mix. The 'tone sucking' stuff I have heard before and consider spurious, but there may be something in the live mix issue worth thinking about. I wonder whether it may be something to do with the kind of music being played? I have no problems at all being heard in the mix in the funk and pop covers band I'm currently in, but maybe if I were playing dad rock or bog-standard indie then maybe it might not sound so good? Dunno … just thinking aloud! (Always a risky thing to do on BC ...) [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1404655935' post='2494434'] Interestingly, in a thread about the upward creep of amp's rated wattage the TC electronics stuff is a useful anomaly where the RH750 putting out a continuous 236w RMS into 4 ohms - which is probably not that much different to your old 80's trace elliot stuff. Which is interesting in itself. I know which one I would rather carry! [/quote] As someone who used to lug a huge Trace Elliot stack up and down various grotty pub back stairs in years gone by, I say amen to that!

Thanks for this info, LukeFRC. To be honest I tend not to read manuals, and I don't work in a bass shop - I just play bass, listen with my ears, and form my own views on what sounds good.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1404641727' post='2494307'] … The most common complaint is that they just seem to suck all the life out their tone. Maybe there's a lot of artificial compression and tone shaping baked straight into them and this is robbing the bass of its natural sound. [/quote] Interesting post - thanks for your thoughtful reply, Molan. The RH 750 does have an onboard compressor, but you have to dial a dedicated knob to activate it, so I'm not sure about there being any artificial compression baked into it as a default setting. Maybe, but not that I'd noticed. On the contrary, to me it sounds very neutral when everything is set flat. In fact that was one of the things that I most liked about it when I first tried it out. But that leads me to wonder … how does anyone really know what the "natural sound" of their bass actually is? OK, there is the acoustically natural sound of an unplugged bass, but once you have plugged it into an amp - any amp - it is going to be coloured to some extent by the characteristics of the amp and cab(s) you are plugged into - which means it comes down to personal tone preferences - which are often very subjective, and probably only perceptible to us as bass players anyway. And to be honest I think the differences between modern amps are much less significant than the similarities - if you have an Aguilar, or a TC, or a GK, or a Genz, or a Markbass, or (name your own favourite modern gear) then you probably have a really nice sounding set-up, and the only people who are going to tell you that your tone sucks are other bassists who happen to prefer other brands of amp. So, when you say that people complain that the TC amp robs their bass of its natural tone, I can't help but wonder whether they really mean that it sounds a bit different to the amp that they usually use and are most familiar with - which is in itself no more 'natural' than the TC sound.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1404642516' post='2494321'] Janek only ever seems to use Aguilar - that does seem to be a brand that a lot of gigging pros use. [/quote] I'm afraid I'm not on first name terms with him so must bow to your superior wisdom on this point! But I can already see that it was a mistake on my part to throw in a flippant joke about celebrity endorsers - far too easy for nay-sayers to shoot down. All that really matters is that my TC rig works for me, and it does that in spades.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1404642213' post='2494311'] An endorsement is just that. It doesn't necessarily mean that these people exclusively use a certain product. [/quote] You don't say? Gosh, how deluded I have been to think otherwise all these years! [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1404642213' post='2494311'] John Paul Jones generally uses SWR gear, for instance. [/quote] Yeah I know, but he was using an all-TC rig last time I saw him (playing with Supersilent) and the sound was amazing.

Love it. Tom can do no wrong in my eyes.

Excellent. All is well.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1404004260' post='2488516'] I have read a lot about TC's measurements and methods. My biggest concern with them are they when I've gigged one it was the biggest sucker of any usable tone I've ever encountered. Literally awful sound in a live band context and yet sounded good when tested in a shop and set up at home. [/quote] I currently run a TC RH750 through 2 TC cabs (1 x RS212 and 1 x RS210) and, contrary to the above, am getting the [i]best[/i] live sound I've had in decades of playing. Amazing power, clarity and versatility, and in an extremely cleverly designed package, too. Loads of compliments from FoH guys (not that that necessarily means anything, but whatever) and it does everything I want a bass rig to do, and do it really well. I totally understand that tastes differ, and each to their own, fine, but I really cannot understand how you could have had such a bad experience with a TC amp, Molan. Might the problem have lain elsewhere, perhaps? For a company that makes such horrible-sounding equipment, TC certainly have some very impressive endorsers - John Paul Jones, Janek Gwizdala, Nathan East, Ida Neilsen, etc. etc. Must be paying them a lot of money to put their names to their products!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1404567626' post='2493808'] Its a perfectly reasonable thing to do on several counts: to get a consistent tone irrespective of volume, massive reduction in size weight compared to say a real svt, rig will not be fragile or need servicing (and as added bonus for me, will look like a modern piece of electronic gear rather than a 1960's gramaphone). [/quote] Quite. I also prefer to use Class D gear because I have a bad back and have to do my own roadieing!