Sean

I've always loved Status flatwound strings but they haven't been available for years. Do we know who made them or if they're available from the original manufacturer under a different brand/name?

A 15 year old zombie thread resurrection. Well done 😀

I shan't say anything other than this post is offensive. Carefully considered offence. Especially to those of us with hearing loss or those of us that have been doing this for a long time and have evolved with many ƙinds of tech. So, what's being said here is that because I'm passionate about big valve amps, I like my hearing impairment? It's difficult to interpret this in any other way. It's a nasty vibe. Hearing loss/impairment is not a joke and ACS wasn't a thing we were aware of in 1985. It's rare that we see such a vibe on BC. The original post has the sanctimonious air to it that tries to belittle those that don't align or agree. Vile.

What happened?

£262 for a Bart P? I could buy a Monty's P and have a semi-extravagant hour out in Cheltenham with Mr Monty himself for that money. Christmas Eve!!!

I put an East MMSR 3 knob in one. Then used the switches to do pickup selection between Series/Parallel/ Single, Active/Passive and Neck/Both/Bridge. It was wired so that the inner coils were the ones activated when in "single" mode. I did this to make it not like a Jazz but it can be configured to mimic a Jazz if you wire it for the North coils. It's all very different from original but it gives a lot of tonal options. For someone who plays mainly PJs with everything on 10 it was overkill for gigging but endless fun noodling at home.

Beat me to it by seconds 🤪

What cereal box cardboard is best for metal?

I've just gone back to Schallers on my Spectors; all with 4" padded leather straps. At <4kg each they are super comfy. The new type Schaller with the hex drive screws and locking security rings are 1000× more secure than rubber washers and there is less chance of smacking your bass on something when removing them too (don't ask). On my Yams and Valenti I have the D'Addario clips, again, much better then the rubber washers. These live at home mostly so the straps are permanently on. With the Spectors, because of the placement of the strap buttons, the straps stay on when they're in transit in the Mono gig bag. I had a Dunlop strap lock disintegrate on me at a wedding gig sound check in 2009. I gaffer taped it for the gig and haven't gone near those

Toltec pickups. Lee will make whatever you want.

In more ways than one. After a dubious start due to that preamp, Peacock has now moved into the top slot and is an instant favourite.

Thanks. That’s really annoyed me 😬. Especially since I like everything just right. I’ll blame the heat and lack of sleep last night 😴.

My 5th LHZ Glowup The DarkGlass Tone Capsule is out. LHZ-03 #739 is in. It sounds like it should now. And it sounds subtly different to the others. In fact my four 4s all sound a bit different from each other, which must point towards wood differences. They've all got newish D'Addario EXL170s. This one, Peacock, has an ebony board. I also treated her to some Schaller strap pins. The new strap pins used on newer Euros are rubbish. Photos are: 1. Before opening. 2. The DG 3. The LHZ 4. A happy patient recovering well from the op.

These don't come up very often. Not my thing but surely someone here could give it a home https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146518443184?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=yFb8bu-2SNu&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=6MnoMIQiQQC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I think we should have a rule/guideline where we don’t post people’s names in the subject of the thread without some context. Yet again, I looked at this and thought, "oh jeez, bless her but at least she had a good innins." I used to exchange emails with her years ago, I even got a reply on Christmas Day once. Bruce Foxton was the last one to not be dead when I opened that thread..

Jon Shuker did my Valenti #005. He can pretty much give you whatever profile you need. If you know the measurements of the Ian Hill neck, he can replicate it. Crimson Guitars (spendy) or Laverack could be other options but Jon would be my first call. Neck shaving and refin is at the luthier end of the Tech to Luthier scale.

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!!!!