Lfalex v1.1

The valve is an AX7. As it's only one, might as well be a Good'un. If you want a bit more grunt, try getting a slightly higher gain one. Mine's good but bland. Needs more grit..

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' post='606503' date='Sep 23 2009, 10:58 AM']matthew hopkins (witchfinder general) - Cathedral[/quote] Quality choice! Chuck in some appropriate Danzig/Misfits/Marilyn Manson/White Zombie?

[quote name='JPJ' post='377263' date='Jan 11 2009, 11:45 PM']Ok Egor, my evil plan has taken a step nearer to fruition. First, we buy the black five string version. Then we take our trusty chop saw to the headstock and replace it with a ball end holder. Then we add Status style tuning keys at the body end of the bass. And then Egor, having solved the infamous neck dive issue, WE TAKE OVER ZEE WORLD HA HA HA HA HA[/quote] Or... You could get a L-O-N-G strap and stick a strap button on the back of the headstock (like the old Fenders) Or... You could get an Acoustic G****r strap- The type that ties just above the nut- and use that. I'm inclined to think that would cure the Tbirds inclination for declination

[just speculating] I've often wondered if those of us that play relatively hard (generating a good deal of string excursion) run the risk of having the string move [i]beyond[/i] the "view" of the polepieces- particularly with 2x4 pole "P" pick-ups, 8-pole Jazz pick-ups and MM style designs. I guess blade-type pick-ups have broader coverage in terms of string sensing. What impact this may have in terms of tone I couldn't begin to say, but it strikes me that [b]lowering[/b] the pick-ups may give better tring sensing at extremes of excursion- provided you play hard enough to compensate for a decrease in output. [/still just speculating!]

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='603596' date='Sep 20 2009, 02:37 PM']Thank god for that! I thought I was the only one to use 3 strings, although it`s the G I dont bother with. Jez[/quote] I have a "3"; Is this [i]sub[/i]-standard (no offence to budget MM owners!)

Does it [i]have[/i] to be Alder and have 4 strings? If not; [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=61004"]Luke's Vigier for sale![/url]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='585676' date='Aug 31 2009, 11:36 AM']Well, Status wins through again. Took My Fender Jazz/Sadowsky pre combination as well as the Streamline to the band call for two weeks of the "Footloose" stage show starting this week. Tried the jazz and it just wouldn't cut through the rest of the band (trumpet, saxes, guitar, piano, bass, drums.) The sound was just buried! Strangely enough it sounds much cleaner and more prominent through the MarkBass rig with the horn units, but that's way too much for a theatre. Once I plugged in the Streamline, it cut through everything else like a scythe - Much better Rich.[/quote] He-he! You should try one with series/parallel switching! [i]Cut through[/i] doesn't describe it!!

I. Still. Need. A. P. Toilet euphemisms notwithstanding.

[quote name='molan' post='551270' date='Jul 25 2009, 06:13 PM']I've tried them all (albeit briefly) and the Vinnie is by far my favourite in terms of sound and tonal options. It's damn near a perfect gigging bass - assuming you can get past the looks you get when you get on stage with one [/quote] Looking forward to the incredulity when I step up to the plate with me' Streamline and shake some bits loose.....

Looooooonnng shot from the left field; Vigier Passion (std) series III. Twin Single coils. 21 Frets. Alder body. Maple through neck. Phenolic Fretboard. Superb upper-fret access... 4 out of 5 ain't bad!

Leave it tuned to BEADG and capo it? This assumes that you want/need the equivalent of "Open D" or "Open C" to play off of or pedal against etc...

Me in Ibanez action...

I'm liking the car analogies. it works slightly differently for me, but it's still about priorities. "Because I play a Vigier,Status,Yamaha,Ibanez,Musicman and Fender, I drive a decade-old Skoda. At least the Trace stack fits in the back with the seats down..."

My name is Alex. I have issues with GAS, though they are abaiting with increasing age and a growing collection (14) of basses. I like to have at least one of each of things. See my sig! The Status in March has helped a lot...

[quote name='simon1964' post='594714' date='Sep 10 2009, 01:22 PM']A tip I saw, I think on the Musicman website - once you've got the pole pieces clean, paint them in clear nail varnish. Apparently it will prevent any gunk coming back, and has no effect on the sound/performance of the pickup.[/quote] I did this on my Ibanez SRX700. Works a treat. Oddly, the AlNiCo poles on my Ray5 have never tarnished. Nor those on an SD basslines MM unit in my Zoot... must be non-ferrous alloys (?)

IIRC the fundamental of Low E is about 41Hz. Low B is around 32. The first harmonic of each (in terms of pitch rather than position on the fretboard) is the same pitch - if your intonation's on- as the fretted note at the 12th fret. This is at TWICE the frequency- 82 and 64 Hz respectively. Trouble is, the harmonic content of any "note" on a bass is not restricted to just the first harmonic. There's a second, third, fourth etc. The sky's the limit. realistically, EQ does little that most of us mortals with ageing (if not damaged) ears can detect above about 8kHz, and there's probably not much content up there anyway. Be aware that over-application of EQ in the higher reaches of the audio spectrum can induce unwanted noise, just as too much low end can cause distortion and possibly clipping if your amp starts to run out of puff.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='590661' date='Sep 5 2009, 02:20 PM']All joking aside, Wayne, but had you considered getting a 5-string bass (or retrieving Wesley maybe) and turning it into a 3-string. Put the E where the B should be, the A can be left alone, and the D goes up to the G position. Then you'd have a bass where you could pick SO hard on all three strings, and be able to do at least simple arpegio-type riffs in I / IV / V songs. Just saying ...[/quote] I have done this to a Hohner B2a 5string. I'm using E,A & D on alternate saddles at the bridge. Only problem was, with the strings in every other nut slot it seemed odd. So I put them in the 3 centre slots. God knows I had trouble getting the intonation right, but the end result is hilarious. It's actually really good fun to play- plectrum, fingers, slap, whatever. And it has the guitarists running for cover. Theoretically nothing there that you couldn't play on a 4, but no G to reach over for big fat chords, plus you can really lay into it with utterly naff technique and get away with it. Kind of like the bass equivalent of Banger Racing!

[quote name='The Burpster' post='587957' date='Sep 2 2009, 08:54 PM']...For me tho' it would have to be the original XL-2 or a Status Streamline 4 which is an up-to-date evolution of the original idea using todays tech for the construction...[/quote] I bought the Streamline. I have played an original XL-2 and own a Hohner B2A (V). The Streamline lacks the weight of the Steinberger, and sounds (accordingly) different. Still very robust, though, and has a voice all of its own. The Hohner's never given me any trouble. The neck's thicker than the 4-stringer and seems to stay put. The E,A,D and G sound fine, but it's lacking in response below Low "D", which I attribute to the [i]very[/i] light weight.

[quote name='witterth' post='586182' date='Aug 31 2009, 11:56 PM']Iv'e been offered a 4 ohm Trace elliot cab 2x10 and so,was thinking of looking for 4 ohm 4x10 or 1x15 to go with it, then have these powered by my (old) stereo mk v AH500 gp11 head (with a crossover setting/switch thing on the back) therefore running both cabs "full range" rather than hi-pass/low-pass is this possible? is this a bolix idea? do 4ohm 4x10/1x15 cabs-300w exist? and with a AH500 gp11 (made around 83/84 I think) will they deliver the good poke (matron) that the 8 ohm 4x10/1x15 cabs did? I'm not sure of the ohm/impedance maths on all this,I know my old (broken I think)cabs were 8ohm untill all this rarity of 4 ohm cabs and ohmage thing came to light I thought I was getting somewhere..now.. any Trace elliot gurus out there to help? I understand that most cabs up for sale are 8ohm,is that right? I want to get on with doing some playing ATB Witterth[/quote] Most are 8 Ohm, including 1048, 2103, 1153, 1818, 1518 etc. Only exceptions that I can think of (excluding the bright boxes!) are; 1524 (2x15") 1084 (8x10") The cab numbers run like this (generally speaking) [b] Driver diameter, Number of Drivers, Impedance [/b] Hence 1524 is [b]15[/b]" (x)[b]2[/b] [b]4[/b] Ohm I really can't recall what the V-type cabs were called, or what their impedance was! I think they did a 2x15, 4x12 and 4x8 at the very least. They may be worthy of investigation...

I own (and still like) albums by; The Thompson Twins Nik Kershaw Howard Jones Tears for Fears All of 'em had [i]some[/i] good tunes! Er, can we chuck The Smiths in, too?

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='585687' date='Aug 31 2009, 11:51 AM']Worth bearing in mind that the guy who plays on your actual recording is unlikely to play exactly the same version live - all the bands I've seen in recent times seem to have a 'live' arrangement of the numbers they made popular and no-one carps about it 'not being right'.[/quote] And also to stave off the boredom of playing it all the time on tour! [quote name='RhysP' post='585700' date='Aug 31 2009, 12:05 PM']Totally. I've been playing for 30 years & I feel like I know less now than I did when I started.[/quote] I know exactly what you mean after 15 years! Odd how greater experience breeds more uncertainty. When you're first starting out, you just go at it in a triumph of energy & enthusiasm over technique and analysis. Worse still, in a musical "Zen" kind of way, neither approach is more valid.

I believe that stringsdirect do, too. Naturally, same applies for the Elixir "B" string as above

[quote name='NickH' post='583527' date='Aug 28 2009, 01:30 PM']I believe Ibanez' EDB / ECD range of basses, plus a few others, are made of a composite they call Luthite in their blurb. No idea what materials go into making it though. I used to own an ECD705 back in the day. I got the feeling they wanted a pretty body and put in some rather <ahem> flavoursome pickups to compensate for the resulting sound. It didn't have a great natural resonance, and sounded pretty dull. I guess caveat emptor - you could spend a lot of time and money crafting a synthetic body only to get a lacklustre result.[/quote] I had an EDB600 in Luthite. It was an excellent instrument (aided by the fact that I paid £80 for it!) Sounded really neutral and even to my ears, but one man's neutral is another man's dull... Downsides? They chip and flake rather than ding. Mine bit the dust when I dropped it - the whole body cracked irreparably.

Probably: "The Chain" - Fleetwood Mac (though for fingering only) "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana (lots miss the odd F# on the build into the chorus and is there an Ab in there somewhere?)

Here's mine; The prototype. Used in some of Mike's earlier advertising. 2-piece maple top over 3-piece Ash body. I [i]think[/i] the stripe's Walnut. [b] Edit- No it isn't. It's Purpleheart. Just remembered![/b] 18v power feeds East E-Pro Eq and a passive tone. 3 pots are Bass/Treble/Bright (I believe) SD Basslines MM Pick-up with series/parallel switching on volume pot pull-up. The switch does active/passive. Sounds fine on its own. Sounds weird if you play along to other basses. Excellent in the mix or live/rehearsing.