JapanAxe

Some 10-11 years ago I took a trip to Bass Direct. Among the models I tried was the 4-string version of the bass pictured below. According to the photo's name it is some kind of ABZ, but many of that range seem to be active. This one is passive, with just volume, tone, and a 4-way rotary pickup selector.

Can anyone giveime a definitive model designation?

TIA

Nothing makes a stage look messy like white mains leads. I use black ones, and preferably black plugs too.

That doesn’t answer your question but I had to get it off my chest!

The 70s. Not necessarily in general, but I’m a big Bowie fan and during that period he had a phenomenal run of brilliant albums and singles. These are just the studio albums:

1970 The Man Who Sold the World 

1971 Hunky Dory

1972 Ziggy Stardust 

1973 Aladdin Sane

1973 Pin Ups

1974 Diamond Dogs

1975 Young Americans

1976 Station to Station

1977 Low

1977 Heroes

1979 Lodger

If those albums were all I could ever listen to I really could not complain.

In the various bands in which I play bass, the guitarists use:

Kemper

2 Kempers (one each)

Fender Twin

Fender Deluxe Reverb

Meant to say - I have seen battery-powered standalone speakers, but only at the cheaper karaoke/solo-entertainer end of the market.

If you're engaging amp and speaker sims in the Dwarf then as you say you'll probably be best going into a PA system, FRFR speaker, or at least a very clean and 'flat' bass amp setup.

I’m a Precision guy and I did have one that sounded great at home but just didn’t punch through live. I moved it on quite quickly.

You have mail @hooky_lowdown!

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

Funny you mention the selector switch. I used to prefer that too. I thought they sounded better but I also thought that was just in my head!

 

Then after talking with a pickup maker I got my first lesson about insertion loss when 2 pickups are competing with each other via different pots or a passive balance control. Using a selector switch and just a single vol & tone solves that but then there are no blended tones available other than 50/50. Or more like 70/30 on a P because the P pickup is much more powerful.

 

So on my j type I put in an EMG active balance control that removes insertion loss issues. Now I get the full J type tone no matter where the balance is set.

 

I liked it so much I’ve done the same with my Ibby Mezzo too albeit with the EMG PJ-X set. The P alone sounds just like a P should, and the combined tone is much better. The P usually overpowers a J but with this set up I can balance it properly without any of the frequency loss that annoyed me when trying to balance passive PJ sets.

 

The only trouble is that EMG active blend - 2 models, ABC and ABCX, are a bit expensive to buy as a single item, but for their full preamp systems that include a blend it is an active one.

Good point about passive balance pots. I much prefer to stick with passive circuits though. I'm happy to live without the full range of blended tones as long as I can achieve one good sweet spot e.g. by setting pickup heights.

Just now, pineweasel said:

That site is all AI generated nonsense by the look of it

Beat me to it!

That article looks like it was written by AI!

I find a Precision works for me at least 95% of the time, hence the list of basses in my signature. There are times when I fancy a bridge pickup, but not a Jazz one, rather something fatter like a MM or other humbucker. I also can’t be doing with a VVT control setup - just give me volume, tone (passive) and a pickup selector switch.

I’ll repeat what I’ve often said - use what works for you. Despite my best efforts I’ve yet to find a Jazz or J-type that works for me. Who knows though, maybe that day will come.

My resting face is borderline stabby so I have to make a concerted effort to smile whilst playing. If I'm sight-reading, forget it. Here's a rare snap courtesy of Mrs Axe:

4 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

That's brilliant, although I think it was the older lady 3 to her left.

Depped with Dire Streets in Dorking Halls on Friday night. Massive hall (pretty full) and huge stage, with a nice easy load in. Most of our IEM receivers were picking up terrible interference (regardless of channel) so we had to go with wedges.

I previously did 2 emergency deps with the band where I read dots (my own transcriptions) but this was my first time doing it all from memory. I’ll admit I made quite a few mistakes, but nothing disastrous. We were very well received, especially by the (possibly inebriated) ladies in the front row - during the moody start to Private Investigations one of them said, ‘Ooh I like this one!’ loud enough to raise a titter in the hall.

The journey home seemed interminable as some idiot had decided to close both the M4 AND the M3!

 I’m now learning the entire 2-hour show on rhythm guitar for my next 2 gigs with the band.

Pics show auditorium on arrival, and as we left the stage:

@disssa has reviewed all three on his excellent website https://www.disssa.de/ and has compared the PF-20T and PF-50T in the text of the PF-20T review.

10 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I have to admit I’m seriously considering this route too. All my gigs have FOH & stage monitoring so I’m finding more & more reasons to get in on this.

It’s not my first choice - I’d much rather use my lovely amps and cabs - but on a gig where no-one else is using backline, everyone has IEMs (just bought a setup myself), plus all the kit is travelling in a splitter van, it makes a lot of sense.

Update - bought a smaller case and added a compressor and a smaller power supply.

I had one too, no lack of volume in either a 3pc pub covers band (through a BF Super Twin) or a 4pc country band (through a BF One 10).

3 hours ago, Quilly said:

I understand Ampeg have some sort of function for their 20 and 50W tube amps that allows them to be used without a load, dont ask me how they do that.    

I had the Ampeg PF-50T and there are some ceramic resistors inside to form a dummy load, plus a ventilation grille. I wouldn’t like to play it hard that way though.

3 hours ago, Stoneham said:

I've had an idea of changing the way the standby circuitry works - so while on standby, which removes high voltage to the power valves, there would still be power supplied to preamp and enable the DI out to function as well as rest of preamp.

Then, if a valve pops during a gig (which normally stops the amp from working at all)  you can at least get a DI signal out of it.  Very minimal cost or complexity to do this

Excellent!

2 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

100w worth of dummy would be a bit of extra weight.

Not to mention cost.

My bass rig for last weekend's gigs. I was reliant on a wedge monitor and it took me a little while to find my sweet spot. Future gigs with this band will have the benefit of IEMs and the ability to control my own monitor mix.

The glasses case? I was sight reading my own transcriptions of the band's 2-hour set!

Just played 2 nights with tribute band Dire Streets, at Tavistock Wharf and Tetbury Goods Shed. I was already booked to play a bass gig with them in May and a couple on rhythm guitar in August/September. Their regular bass player had a family emergency and fortunately I had already transcribed all the bass parts and had them in ForScore on my iPad. I wouldn’t normally take dots out on a gig like that but this was at 36 hours’ notice! It was also my first time going amp-less, but more on that in another thread.

The band were pleased with my work and so was I, in the sense that all the preparation paid off. Both nights were packed and the appreciation coming back from audience was phenomenal.

Now looking forward to my other gigs with the band, where I will get a rehearsal!

On 13/01/2023 at 14:11, JapanAxe said:

Should the sad day arrive when I have to go amp-less, it will be this plus a tuner pedal:

 

Well that day is tomorrow, and indeed the day after. I have a couple of last minute theatre gigs with a tribute band who all go direct to the PA. Apparently I’ll get a monitor though, rather than using my IEMs.