Black Coffee

Thanks for these replies guys.

Ok. I have a son at university studying music and chosen instrument is double bass. He has decided he needs a pickup but I'm at a complete loss as to what to buy, where to buy it, and how much this will/should cost me for something which will do justice to his playing and sound clear and worth the effort. Can anyone help me please ? Cheers.

Just bought a blue P bass from Tom. Delivered sharpish and very well packed. Pleasure to do business with. Cheers Tom

Having said that. I think it looks good.

Im intrigued on how well it will be received. I dont see a lot of folk playing tbirds.

Refund seems the best way to peace for you. B stock shouldnt mean anything more than ex showroom model or maybe a couple of cosmetic nicks. Its a musical instrumant and as such it needs to perform the basic setup and playing functions. By the sounds of it you are not happy that it does.

Ive just got an email from a mailing list about these. Anyone have any experience or opinion ? The more recent rumble series were good kit, i had the 500w combo and loved it.

I dont have a real pet hate in basses, possibly a jealous dislike of stuff which costs more than i earn in six months. I dislike bassists whose opening line is -" oh youve only got a squire". Or other brand name less expensive than the dollar laden beast in their case. Oh, also cant understand the continuing fascination with warwick. IMO. Loadsa money for - eh something bland , in my experience.

Peavey grind bass - the mahogany one. Solid build and sounds just as i think a passive bass should. From a diatance the wood looks like a more expensive bass than it is. Also the BB 425 yammies are a steal, i love mine.

[quote name='EmmettC' timestamp='1457345440' post='2997473'] I have to admit I didn't like the Sadowsky I tried either, I'm holding out hope that I find one I like (and can afford) at some stage, but I tried a lot of Jazz fives and the Sandberg was the only one I really liked, the Marcus Miller was the nicest Fender and the Sadowsky felt like a Fender with a nicer preamp (and a bigger price tag). [/quote] Ive always wanted to try a sadowsky, i like the looks and finish in pics etc but i e never seen one in the flesh/wood - whatever. Sandberg nearly is too good to be true. Never played one but may in the near future pull the trigger on a secondhand one. Recently i bought a sire and loved the electrics, weight , finish but the fretboard radius was the undoing over time of what id hoped would be a happy partnership. Maybe we are too fickle with too much choice available and too much easy to borrow money to buy.

[quote name='EmmettC' timestamp='1457341940' post='2997427'] Add Sadowsky and Lull to that list for me, I can't seem to afford them, so I never end up with one. [/quote] I scraped across the line of affording a Mike Lull and of all the £1500+ basses ive played or owned the Lull was the shabbiest. I understand that for others its bass heaven, but i was really disappointed. Just IMHO. A good usa five string fender jazz i owned was the best passive fiver i ever played, the Lull was just - mmmhh :-( - cant really say i got the warm fuzzy feeling when playing it. Id like to believe id drool when playing a £5,000 fodera but i will likely never know this side of retirement.

Id like to try one, maybe some day and find out for sure if the hype is worth it. I've owned £3,000+ dingwalls and they are mutts nutts, but how much better is a £5,000 fodera bass over a £3,000 Dingwall bass - I dunno..... It's all in the satisfaction I suppose. My biggest gripe with expensive basses was the worry of somebody (or me) putting a ding in it and ruining the perfect finish. Shallow maybe. I dunno. My yamaha bb series is meeting my needs currently and I could replace it a dozen times before out pricing a good fodera.

I've never got on with fodera basses. I don't earn enough money to be able to afford one would be my biggest gripe. Alembic too.

Ric are having a bad day in this thread. I'm sadly gonna add to it and say I've had three separate rics and none worked for me. 2x4003's, one fretless and one fretted; also a 4004 in red finish. Love the look, love the sound when the bridge pup is wound down but the playing position just ain't comfy on the 4003 without U-bend surgery and the truss rod on the 4004 was pathetic in that it didn't do anything; quite ridiculous really for £1800 of bass. Might plough the ric field again some day but it's a while away yet. Also warwick thumb basses, the first fret top string feels as if I'm stretching too far to play it. Shame as they look pretty cool.

Sire 5 string is the best value for money in a long time. I loved the finish and sound of mine but the more I played it the less I was getting on with the radius of the fretboard. It's not a negative thing, it's just that it wasn't for me as I prefer a flatter fretboard. You could do worse than a yamaha BB series as a fiver.

I parted with my USA sub musicman 5 string and shouldn't have. Ballsy thick massive sounding bass and comfy to play. It knocked spots off every other MM I've played since, including a rather expensive 25th anniversary HSS. I didn't know how good it was till i parted with it to apparently upgrade. How much of a non upgrade the full SR wasn't was incredible. I know who owns it and it resides and plays about 8 miles from where I live. But I'm over it ---- honestly.