Sean

What a brilliant day. My first ever bass bash. A big thanks to @scrumpymike and family for pulling it all together and also the rest of the team locally. Great to see so many basschatters from far and wide (Scotland to SE London) all coming in for the day. @Phil Starr thanks for the demo with the cabinets/drivers. Lots of food for thought.

The awesome Grainger Hades going through a Laney Nexus Tube 400 (8XKT88) + LFSys Monaco. I'm a big fan of a Spector through a GK + LFSys but this was next level. Look closely, there are 3 LFSys Monaco cabs and a Monza in this pic.

I've just booked a hotel for the Friday night after a gig. So I can go to the show and then return West, do another gig on the Saturday and then go home after that.

Mods, please can we move this to Repairs & Technical?

When I have one of these mystery faults, I plug in and wiggle each little part or connection until I get closer to the fault. Methodical trial and error to find the bad connection is the way to go. Keep us up to date, it's probably simple to fix but difficult to isolate.

This is a process of elimination without being able to get hands-on. Run the soldering iron over the connections on the pickups. Just melt the solder and let it set again. Sometimes a dry joint develops. Are the pots OK? I fitted new CTS to a bass today and the "common" leg wasn't connected properly. This can happen with use too.

Are you bringing a BC112 by any chance? If you are, I'll leave mine at home 😉

I used a few sets of Black Beauties and another coloured coated variant some years ago and they were fantastic for about one rehearsal and 2 gigs and then they just suddenly died. I haven’t been anywhere near DR as a brand since. I remember playing them for the first time on a Spector Euro 4 LX (with an East Preamp) and thinking “wow” but then at the following gig I thought there was a preamp problem but it was the DRs that had just given up being zingy.

I’m in.

Yesterday I was swapping pickups in my Valenti P and noticed a big difference in the build between the two P pickups. I've changed the pickups in the Valenti a few times just to have a change from time to time. What I've been chasing this time is high end grit and sparkle without losing any bottom end. My go-to chap over the last couple of years is Lee Laverack of Laverack Guitars, who makes Toltec pickups. He's based in Leeds. I bought a pair of Toltec J pickups a couple of years ago and they blew me away. Earlier this year I asked Lee to make me a pair of J-based splittable humbuckers for the BB1300 and worked his magic way above and beyond. The original Yamaha pickups weren't great but the bass is a peach and he did it proud. In the early stages Lee likes to understand what you're looking for in the sound, so likes a chat to establish what you like and don't like in a pickup. I've been playing the Valenti a lot lately and have found that it doesn't sound like I want it to these days. It's a PJ and I used to play it in a rock covers band, with two guitars, playing it mainly with a pick. I decided to have a conversation with Lee and see what he could do. At this point it's worth saying that Toltec pickups are very competitively priced compared to other handmade UK boutique pickups. The custom made (to my spec) P+J set I've just received cost the same posted as a P from other UK boutique makers' standard products. Here's the Toltec P (2) compared to the HotRod Thumper (1) that I took out. You can see it's much taller. The sound and character of the bass has changed completely. Lots of top-end and sparkle. it's a tall bobbin, overwound with higher gauge wire to bring out the dynamics and reduce the compression. It'll be at the Bash tomorrow and at the SE Bash next month.

Pretty much like the records. Solid drummer. Good audiences. It gives a good insight into who you're replacing and in this case, who he replaced. Lots of videos going back years. My #1 takeaway was on what bass to use at the audition, or rather, in my case, what not to use.

Well, after yesterday's exploration I think checking the band's social media and any YouTube videos should be towards the top of the list. I also got some trusted 3rd party input. What I saw/heard yesterday: 1. How the band ends some of the songs. 2. How close or not close to the originals they play the songs. 3. How your sound might fit (or need to be tweaked). 4. Areas for improvement and what you could bring to the band.

Those clever product managers, eh? Making them in different colours for different tastes. Cunning.

I've just got half way through re-stringing the 12 and the pair of ee octave strings are missing from the pack. Check your packs. This is the second packing error from D'Addario in a month.

It is said that these are very close in quality, playability, sound to a Stingray. All those MM basses are really off my radar so, what's the verdict with these Z7s? Are they up there with the ATK as a "Stingray Killer"?

It's back to £52. What's going on? Dynamic pricing!

The B12L will be getting gigged on 5th Nov. I'll be singing and playing two cheap trick classics with a couple of friends at The Vic in Swindon. HX patches done, I just have to learn the lyrics properly 🤔

It's showing as £65 again now.

Currently £52 delivered with Amazon Prime.

Lots of measuring and comparisons over the last hour or so, and I can say that the bodies are as close to identical as I can measure and perceive. The differences in bridge positions translates directly to the difference in overall length. The LXs are almost an inch taller than the NS-4CR. Edit: I would like to point out that I've played/practiced 6 hours today. It's not been all forensic analysis measurement fun; I've got an audition to prep for 😉

Geekery Corner - Spector European Edition With the new arrival yesterday (NBD thread to follow when the sun is out in the Shire) I had a penny-drop moment. Now, we’re all familiar with this lovely poster of the history of European-built Spectors and most of us know the differences off by heart but I spotted a significant difference between the models [it is significant if you spend your time wondering about Spector minutiae 🤓] yesterday that I thought was worth noting because it affects what I call the “hanging geometry” of the instruments and although no one has officially confirmed it to my knowledge, I think I’ve deciphered what “LX” really stands for and it’s not “Luxe”, “Luxury” or anything like that. Get your latest prescription goggles on and have a look at this: The 2001-2003 Euro series has a longer neck! The bridge is further North (pickup terminology) on the Euro. The nut is closer to the player on the earlier model. Then we move on to the Euro LX series and that bridge has migrated North again! Here’s some real world examples from the herd this morning... First up are two Euro 4 LX examples Then a Euro Then an NS-4CR I reckon “LX” must be “Long X-tension”, “Xtra Long” or something like that. A Euro LX is not a step up in “luxury” compared to a Euro, it’s mostly different wing construction. The question here is, why?

@woolf thank you, Graeme for a great buy and such an easy transaction. Great to meet you and hopefully see you at a Bash in the not to distant future. Another BassChat win all round. 😀