Sean

I bought an Eastman MD505 from RG. All good. No issues.

Years ago the band I was in (3 of the 4 of us) went to a live sound mixing workshop. I think it was about £20 each at the time. There were about 10-12 people there and we learned the basics of mixing live sound. Everyone had a good time, we learned loads and sounded better afterwards. I've no idea if these sort of workshops exist but you could find one and make a day of it.

This is how I'm running the 550 if it helps any. It has different pre but it still sounds very Bob Gallien. I also have the MB Fusion 500 set up exactly the same. Bright and Deep both engaged (difficult to see in photo). I don't use the contour although I've tried it and it's all very useful and makes sense. GK gear seems to have more usable tones than other amps I've used. What I mean is that pretty much whatever you dial in would be useful for something/ someone whereas with other amps I've got/had, you just operate them between 10 and 2 o'clock otherwise they start getting unusable. The caveat here is that I'm running a Spector with EMGs and everything dialled to max except for a few songs where I just roll off the treble on the instrument a touch and get hold of a plectrum. I've used it through a Marshall 810, a Peavey Nitrobass 410 and my own pair of BF TWO10s and yes, it does change sound/voice a bit, especially through the old 810 but I don't move the EQ much more than 0.5-1 from where they are in the photo.

I've had an MXR DI 80+ a few times, a Tech21 SansAmp, an Aguilar ToneHammer, an MXR Bass DI, a Tech21 DP3-X, DHA custom units, the EHX Battalion (shocking thing), the EBS one with the sticky out valve, a couple of others I've forgotten and the first one that does exactly what I want (and more) is the Plex.

Speak to Lee at Laverack Guitars. He makes Toltec pickups. They are handwound near Leeds. He'll pretty much make what you want if you chat to him and explain what tone you're looking for. He really knows his stuff and is good at demystifying it all. Also, it won't cost you much more than £100 for the pair. I have a pair of Toltec hot vintage pickups and although they aren't being used at the moment, they're so good that they've gone in the box of things that won't go up for sale.

I have a tapered 145 D'addario on my E5LX. No issues. Is there any looseness or rattling at the bridge or nut? Are all the saddle blocks tight?

Only one way to find out. Iceberg!!!!

HAZ vs Darkglass Tone Capsule I'm struggling with the DG. I'm now completely acclimatised to running the LHZ-03s on 10 and rolling back the treble for a few songs. Awesome (like a hotdog 😉). Is the DG designed for folk that have time to potch (mess about) with knobs and stuff? Why on earth would you hide one of the controls inside? Why would you design something that is unusable when dialed to 10? What am I missing with this thing? I can get some nice usable sounds but I feel like a safe-cracker getting the shower temperature just right (another EI reference, sorry).

I did this today. After fitting the LHZ to the still nameless maple board Euro 4LX. I've decided that for the covers project I need my comfort-zone analogue boxes. I don't really need much and this does it all and more. A quick run-through: 1. The SFX Microthumpinator is essential (it's like an air fryer. How people live without them, I have no idea). 2. The GK Plex is my favourite pedal/box/effect/DI ever. 3. The TC Chorus just uses the Duff TonePrint, I don't need anything else. 4. The MXR filter (3rd time I've had one of these) is used on 2 songs. 5. The Made by Mike (London Era) ZVEX Woolly Mammoth clone, that I've had forever, is there in case I need to use this rig for the originals band. Other: It's all sitting on a Pedaltrain Metro 16. Power is from a T-Rex Chameleon and the buttons are Orange, Vimto, Vodka, Strawberry and Lime. Tuner? It's in the Plex. Compressor? See above. Overdrive? See above. Amp sims? Guess. USB Interface? That too. Emergency Backup DI? Plex again, folks. Headphone amp? Ole Bob G thought of that too. Space inside for your stash? Damn right.

Another TonePumpectomy today. I said to @cetera and @Eldon Tyrell that I was going to time how long it takes me to do an installation without distractions and interruptions and it's about 45 min for a soldering installation including everything. It'd be a few mins less for an EMG flying lead installation but there's still a few joins when doing those. This is my 4th. I've got one to go but I am determined to understand that Darkglass Tone Capsule before it comes out. Then it'll be up for sale. Which reminds me, is there a market for old TonePumps???

I went again last night and it was fab. A really welcoming crowd especially the regulars. I chatted to lots of new faces and even had a dance. My friend got mistaken for a drug dealer but we put that to rest quickly. Amber had some compliments on how good she sounded being played with a pick and all was good with the World.

I saw The Warning this week supported by the bassist-less Sophie Lloyd. Sophie had a bassist back in December when I saw her in Cardiff but all bass parts are on a backing track now. I understand keys and horn parts being on backing tracks because keys players generally want to stay at home and won't lower themselves to play in bands but not having a bassist! Come on.

LHZ-03 with everything up to 10 makes life very easy. The only adjustment I need to do is to roll off the treble for a couple of songs.

I absolutely love it but the all seeing one who is never wrong said very flatly, "hmmm, nice but it'll show the dirt".

What year, what pre, etc? What needs doing to sort the intonation? Is it more than the usual adjustments?

More weird coincidences.

How're you getting on with it? What do you play it through?

I think anything new from Hartke is worth investigating, it's a brand with huge history and reputation.

Thanks. Are you asking if £6k is enough for a new USA instrument built to your spec? £6k buys a lot of used US Spector but the right NS5-XL will take some finding. I think we'd all be interested to know what you've learned about the differences between the US and CZ build processes.

Not from an apples with apples comparision point of view, no. One has a Darkglass capsule and the other has an adjustable TP. The DG is totally new to me and seems to have a lot of top end but how much of that is from the ebony board, I dont know. The TP is something I'm very familiar with and I want to say that the one with the maple board is bright sounding but until I get the LHZ-03s in each I won't really have a reference point. That's a job for the end of next week. I'm focused on learning 30 new songs at the moment and as much as I love modding, every moment I have for bass stuff has to be on getting those songs into my bones. And I'm learning them all on the Amber Euro 4 with rosewood board, full maple wings, the LHZ-03 and light bridge, so that's the reference bass for when I do the comparisons. I could do some mp3s of them to compare and see what we think.

These basses are made in Korea apparently.

He's still writing the book.

I was there too.