Lfalex v1.1

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1037223' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:42 AM']I'll be honest, the only things more fun than playing bass are driving and playing computer games (excluding gentleman's sports with fair ladies).[/quote] That's an interesting set of priorities! Your candour is appreciated! Which calls in to question which cars you've been driving, what basses you've been playing, and with whom you're being (un?)sporting! Computer Games don't even come into it! Meanwhile, back on topic, the Highway 1 Precision is a good bass. The last one tried was better than any of the (pre-2008) US Std models. Only catches are limited colours, Nitro finish (if either of those bother you) and the fact that they only come with Rosewood Fretboards.

Please don't let him do "Shake hands with beef" or "Pudding Time". I actually like those....

Your choice may well be governed (at least in part) by what features you need the pre to have; 9/18v electrics Number of bands Sweepable mid-Frequency Slap pre-shapes Passive bypass Trim pots / Dip switches (usually inside the cavity) and so on...

You'd be welcome to try mine, mate. You could have done at the last 'Bash in Surrey- We were both there and I had it with me. I tried plenty of your basses! Unfortunately, I live more than 30 miles away, and by the time you'd got to me, you might as well have driven to Colchester! There's Bass Merchant in Colchester, too. Well worth a visit! Are you going to the Bash on the 27th Nov? If I go, I'll be taking it and a couple of others... Assuming my buggered Achilles tendon will let me.. All the best with the leg! Alex. Edit- Chiswick? Have an ESB from the Griffin (Fuller's) brewery for me!!!

[quote name='Musky' post='1024247' date='Nov 15 2010, 07:34 AM']I've got a bass that's been modded to receive remote power. It has an XLR instead of a regular output jack, although that connects up to a seperate power supply rather than an amp.[/quote] Variaxs get their power from a combined PSU/DI box via a Stereo 1/4jack lead. Similar sort of thing... I like the way the East P-Retro gets its attached cells charged- by a dc adaptor that plugs into the bass when it's not being used. Otherwise, the reason that I've heard bandied about is that it's more difficult/costly to supply the requisite quality power remotely (by whatever means) than to simply make the bass battery powered. At the moment, I'm having a bizarre vision of someone playing live using a wireless unit but having their bass powered by a wired remote supply...

So... More of a Cello hybrid with frets, then? Guitello? Celluar? And where does Baritone (Guitar) figure in all this? Am I right in thinking (in general terms) that it goes; soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1025680' date='Nov 16 2010, 11:44 AM']Three works for me. If its Close To The Edge, Supper's Ready and The Ring Of The Nibelung [/quote] As soon as I saw "3 songs", I thought; Tubular Bells 1 (side a) Tubular Bells 1 (side Rime of the Ancient Mariner That's a good 65 minutes' worth. Think Bilbo's might be longer!

And I hate leeks, but love onions! Does this mean I should buy one or not?

Dave_Bass 5 and I seem to have almost exactly the same stuff! Korg Pandora (which works just fine!) Sennheiser HD 215 (The mk1 were closed back and I love mine. I think the mk2 are open and "leak" sound in and out) A cheapo mixer. I bought mine for something else entirely, and whilst trying it out discovered that it has the cleanest sounding pre-amp I've encountered, and has enough gain through the 1/4" inputs to amplify even passive instruments comfortably. I can mix in the MP3 player easily, and being mains powered, it can cope with whatever headphones you plug into it. It'll take 4 instruments at once (!) as it's an 8 track, and can phantom power DI boxes via its XLRs. It's SO good, I've started using it at rehearsal/live through a big power amp.

As a slight aside. I see he's advertising Kronenbourg 1664 playing an acoustic version of Ace of Spades. Traitor! Traitor!

Check out the for sale section. Bongos come up from time to time. Millers less so, though.

Neither are bad instruments at all. I fall into the "Don't like the stock Fender pre-amp" camp. Plus, for some reason, I'd like a passive tone control in passive mode. That's part and parcel of what makes a passive Jazz sound the way it does (for me, at least) Otherwise, they're generally good players, if a bit of a hotch-potch aesthetically. The two Bongos I've played were very good indeed. The combination of the Neodymium pick-ups and 4-band EQ give plenty of clout and flexibility. Fit and finish were to to the usual high EBMM standard. Having bemoaned the aesthetics of the MM, it seems out of sorts for me to say that the Bongo is fine (if a bit of an acquired taste!) Bongo for me, but I've already got two quite different Jazzes. Do factor in some decent strings at some point. I'm sure that something like DRs, D'Addarios, Elixirs etc. would constitute an improvement over the stock strings in either case.

Dingwall Combustion Series ticks a lot of your boxes...

In addition to the already good info posted; Pick-up wise, Barts were quite common (I've seen EMGs, but they might be retro-fits, but MECs have replaced nearly all the other manufacturers. The only exception being 6 strings, which it seems MEC don't make. The pick-ups are then either Duncans or Bartolini. My ('97)Streamer LX has Duncan soapbars, and they're just fine. +1 on the comment on MEC pick-ups vs. MEC pre-amps. My ('04) Infinity SN4 has MECs in the J/TwinJ configuration with an MEC (NOT Duncan as specified) Pre-amp on 9v electrics, and I wouldn't change a thing. Otherwise, I do feel some are hamstrung by the MEC preamps. The inclusion of a sweepable mid would be nice!!!. I don't know exactly when they went over to the two-piece bridges from the single piece units they used before (Schaller 3D?) I believe it to be about 1990. Not that it makes much odds. Both are good quality units. With regard to necks, I think Broadnecks came in as an option on 5 & 6 strings around 2006/2007. Just-a-nut III replaced Just-a-nut II around 2002. Many prefer the II as it's less prone to breakage / cutting your hands. Also, the strings are individually adjustable for height, whereas the III just tilts on 2 grub screws.

[quote name='RichardFoggo' post='1020534' date='Nov 11 2010, 06:53 PM']i like the NT corvette, the rest are . . . meh![/quote] +1 Looks like a $$ neck-thru with 2xMEC JJs instead of 2xMMHB. And blocks on a Maple 'board. Nice. But even better if they'd move the bridge pick-up closer to the bridge as on the Infinities and Dolphins. Gives a nice "tight" edge to the tone.

Yes, I saw them twice just recently on two other forums, LuteChat and TalkLute I don't know how well they'd hold up against the gut strings I'm going to have to use... I'll have a look over on ViolinBanter. They had a thread on the effects of covering your Stradivarius in creosote, too.

That's odd. Of my favourite few basses, 3 are fully painted and have phenolic fretboards. One of them has NO wood in it at all. Of course, being a Status... [i]What's the expression?[/i].... Every note is ugliness! Fortunately, my Warwick can save me! I'd just love to know what alternative materials this guy uses for frets, truss rod (!) and so on. That does raise an interesting issue- Is it possible to make a bass that is totally devoid of metal? That might be one for someone to try when they've got some (considerable) time to kill. I wonder how it migh sound (apart from likely being fretless, of course)

Quadruple post! Is that some sort of a record?!

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1016715' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:48 PM']Haha! Listed three of my favourite shapes LOL! A vampyre with the Corvette $$ pickups would be almost my perfect bass, (if it were a 5 or 6 string it would be even closer!) I really love the Double buck tone, but i don't really get on with the body shape as i dislike the uppr horn =/ Do warwick do soapbars? Or Is it the Corvette (normal one) with soapbars? BTW also agree, the Clayton is horrible, with soapbars and the normal stryker body and it might look alright, Looking forward to trying out a rockbass series![/quote] Haha! Indeed! Sorry 'bout that! They do a Streamer $$ as well, you know. Soapbars only really appear on the 6 strings (Thumbs, Streamers & Corvettes) and used to be Barts or Duncans, simply because MEC didn't make anything that'd do the job. Don't know if that's changed, though.

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1016715' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:48 PM']Haha! Listed three of my favourite shapes LOL! A vampyre with the Corvette $$ pickups would be almost my perfect bass, (if it were a 5 or 6 string it would be even closer!) I really love the Double buck tone, but i don't really get on with the body shape as i dislike the uppr horn =/ Do warwick do soapbars? Or Is it the Corvette (normal one) with soapbars? BTW also agree, the Clayton is horrible, with soapbars and the normal stryker body and it might look alright, Looking forward to trying out a rockbass series![/quote] Haha! Indeed! Sorry 'bout that! They do a Streamer $$ as well, you know. Soapbars only really appear on the 6 strings (Thumbs, Streamers & Corvettes) and used to be Barts or Duncans, simply because MEC didn't make anything that'd do the job. Don't know if that's changed, though.

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1016715' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:48 PM']Haha! Listed three of my favourite shapes LOL! A vampyre with the Corvette $$ pickups would be almost my perfect bass, (if it were a 5 or 6 string it would be even closer!) I really love the Double buck tone, but i don't really get on with the body shape as i dislike the uppr horn =/ Do warwick do soapbars? Or Is it the Corvette (normal one) with soapbars? BTW also agree, the Clayton is horrible, with soapbars and the normal stryker body and it might look alright, Looking forward to trying out a rockbass series![/quote] Haha! Indeed! Sorry 'bout that! They do a Streamer $$ as well, you know. Soapbars only really appear on the 6 strings (Thumbs, Streamers & Corvettes) and used to be Barts or Duncans, simply because MEC didn't make anything that'd do the job. Don't know if that's changed, though.

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1016715' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:48 PM']Haha! Listed three of my favourite shapes LOL! A vampyre with the Corvette $$ pickups would be almost my perfect bass, (if it were a 5 or 6 string it would be even closer!) I really love the Double buck tone, but i don't really get on with the body shape as i dislike the uppr horn =/ Do warwick do soapbars? Or Is it the Corvette (normal one) with soapbars? BTW also agree, the Clayton is horrible, with soapbars and the normal stryker body and it might look alright, Looking forward to trying out a rockbass series![/quote] Haha! Indeed! Sorry 'bout that! They do a Streamer $$ as well, you know. Soapbars only really appear on the 6 strings (Thumbs, Streamers & Corvettes) and used to be Barts or Duncans, simply because MEC didn't make anything that'd do the job. Don't know if that's changed, though.

For that sort of money, the components will want to be absolutely top notch. All the more so when you consider that you're doing the bulk of the labour outside of the neck finishing / fretting. I didn't see much in the way of options, just 4 or 5 string, active or passive. I'd like to think I missed fretless & maple board options etc. Looks easy enough for anyone who's set up a bass before and who has some basic soldering experience. The lengthy bit will be finishing the body, with all the finishing/sanding/finishing/waiting to dry/rubbing back/rinsing/repeating.

I still like some of their designs / configurations (Fortress, Infinity, Dolphin) Some are ergonimcally/sonically fine, but merely "ok" (Thumb, Streamer, Corvette, Jack Bruce SG) Others are a disaster zone (Stryker, Vampyre, Buzzard, Nobby Meidel, That Adam Clayton Monstrosity )

:Waxed: