Lfalex v1.1

[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.

If it balanced well, felt nice and sounded good, offering a good variety of useable tones, I would not care in the slightest what it looked like. And less still what colour/finish it was.

And to counterpoint the previous post (which is entirely valid, BTW); I've got my Fretless 'Ray 5 tuned E-A-D-G-C, as I find I have a greater use for the higher registers on a fretless instrument. It also offers better sounding (but not "more") chordal sounds, assuming I can get the intonation right!! I have the good fortune to have another 5 and a 6 which are tuned B-E-A-D-G and B-E-A-D-G-C respectively for the deep stuff. Buy what you like, and tune it in the way that suits you/ the music you play with that instrument best. There are no hard and fast rules!

[quote name='Alun' post='581699' date='Aug 26 2009, 06:28 PM']....I'm guessing Billy may have something similar ( previously his double neck was an EADG neck and a BEAD one) Cheers Alun[/quote] That's what I'd guessed.

The Streamline has just done what few other basses could do. I've put it in the boot of my (small family) car with 3 suitcases and a baby buggy and driven 600 miles across France. It's got hot, cold, dry, humid, the lot. Took it out. Still in tune! No buzzes, rattles or squeaks. Nothing. Have also brought an MP3 player, Korg Pandora PX4-D and a pair of Sennheiser HD215. Practice heaven, and it all fits in the Streamline's bag apart from the headphones. This is partly what I bought it for, and it has delivered in spades.

I've yet to play a duff one, either J or P. Some have been better than "proper" MIA equivalents.

[quote name='henry norton' post='580399' date='Aug 25 2009, 04:37 PM']Slightly off topic but on the odd occasion I've looked at on board pre amp bits all the very best quality, lowest noise ICs tend to draw a huge current. As most people don't want to change their batteries every other week most pre's use ICs chosen for their low energy use rather than performance. Maybe more use should be made of pedalboard mounted power supplies - Alembic is the only bass I can think of that uses them.[/quote] And (perversely) Variax basses are also powered from their pedal PSU/DI unit. Admittedly, the greater current requirement is for a different reason. I guess you could use 48v phantom one way up an XLR whilst the signal went the other (as with many phantom powered DI boxes) That could do the trick, irrespetive of what devices were being used in the EQ.

[quote name='JBassist' post='576598' date='Aug 21 2009, 12:16 PM']...but i also like deep fingerstyle sounds ie jamerson, John p jones and im not sure if you can get that sound on a fretless[/quote] Changing your plucking hand position can help a lot with this; Resting on/around the bridge pickup of a Jazz will help give you the Nasal "Jaco" sound Move right up to the tail-end of the neck, and you can begin to sound like an upright. And everything in between...

Wouldn't mind; Vigier Passion or Arpege S2 (4 string) A Ken Smith 5 or 6 of some sort A BassLab L-Bow Amps? Dunno. All the solder would run out of them when they saw me coming, so it wouldn't matter. Cabs? Another Trace 1048h (Circa 1999) will do nicely. Can't seem to break those. Edit for; EBMM Bongo V with coil switching and a matching headstock, Born2Rock JAZZ (which AFAIK doesn't exist, but it will!), Chapman stick (10 or the Graphite8) a NS EUB, a Spalt Hybrid.etc. etc.etc.

Just out of interest / morbid curiousity, what's the most costly (fiscally or in terms of sentimental value) breakage that you've suffered? Don't be shy! It's not the object of the exercise to mock the afflicted! Has anyone bust anything seriously boutique or with a good reputation for reliability? Anyone managed to break/bend a Status/Vigier/Modulus/Kramer neck? Please include amps/cabs/pedals and any amazing escapes that your gear has had. I dropped my Ibanez EDB600 (Luthite) on the floor at home. It made an explosive "crack" and sheared the bottom bout and control cavity clean off! That was it for that one, I'm afraid. I stuck the headstock of my Yamaha Attitude through a ceiling above a stage, and it survived without a scratch! Shame about the ceiling- big hole, not helped by the tuners snagging on the edge of the hole as I pulled it out - still playing, of course. A guitarist in an old band was leaping around and smacked the headstock of his Ibanez on my Iceni Zoot. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for him, he hit the briddge. Result; Bass:Nothing Guitar: Last two tuners (6 inline) and associated area of headstock broke off! Off you go!

I've not tried the new Jazzes. Next time I'm near a music shop, I'll try one out. It'll have to be good to better my '04 Ash bodied, Rosewood 'boarded S1 Jazz. It "only" has the old-style bridge, but [i]is[/i] strung thru-body. Perhaps it's the DR Sunbeams? Still, I bought it because I thought it felt good and sounded good (in 2005) I still think that now, so I guess all's well. It was as least as nice to play as a 'Ray and better than the Warwick Corvette (Ash), plus it mullered the Variax I was [i]thinking[/i] of buying on all counts... The moral of the story? Try before you buy, and buy the one you tried whenever possible!

From the two that are out at the moment... (I look forward to measuring the Vigier and Status!) Warwick Infinity SN4 45,65,80,100 Elixirs tuned EADG 2.5mm @3rd 3mm @12th 3.25mm @17th I'd consider this relatively high. Looks like I ought to stick an Allen key in that Just-a-nut! Ibanez SRX700 (neck-through) 45,65,80,100 DR FatBeams tuned EADG 1.25mm @3rd 1.75mm @12th 2 mm @17th This is as low as it'll go. There's some fret noise and a good deal of clatter, but this particular bass sounds good that way- Fast, Raw and Aggressive. I'd class it as low. Certainly low for such a slender neck!!

[quote name='Alun' post='570354' date='Aug 16 2009, 12:45 AM']This should be interesting. I always found the U necks too thick on the 4 strings, although they didn't feel so bad on the sixes where the dimensions seemed to work better. Cheers Alun[/quote] And the fives, too. I don't mind the (old!) 4 profile, but I'd hardly call it my favourite. [i]Edit for afterthought[/i]- it might also make the necks a little lighter, helping to stop the (mild) neck-dive that some models suffer from

And a few more thoughts, six months in... My only "complaint" (if it is one!) is that I should've got the 5 string! Otherwise, it's still superb. I might try tailoring the tone and balance by getting a piece of brass (or the alloy that's used for tonearm counterweights (tungsten/lead?)) machined to fit the string retainer clamp and screw it in using the threaded holes. This may; i) Stop the neck bobbing around when I get "stuck in" (yes, I know I play [i]too[/i] aggressively!) ii) May give a bit more depth to the tone in the way a FatFinger does - I like the way they work on most headed basses...

[quote name='The Burpster' post='567291' date='Aug 12 2009, 08:48 PM']Alex, I can see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure I can agree with you there..... As always it depends upon what you start with and how much you spend...... No one on here denied my H1 P bass wasn't worth doing, and it lit Voxpop's fuse when he initially liberated it from me. Even something as simple and inexpensive as a Squier or Mex Fender can be made into a quality playing instrument IF the wood bits are really good to start with and some of them are that good![/quote] Perhaps I should've added a caveat regarding making aesthetic changes at the same time! If, as a result of "upgrades", you end up with a better looking instrument, or (better yet) a genuinely new look, then it's a win-win scenario.

I've 3 wall hangers; 1 in my bedroom - often with the Ovation on it. 2 in the back half of the lounge They're very useful. Unless you own certain Status/Steinberger/Hohner (etc.) models...

Two points regarding sustain; You can't replace any sustain that may be lost on basses that are deficient is this regard. You [i]can[/i] damp notes on basses which have a longer sustain. There's a qualitative aspect to sustain, too. The tonal characteristics of a sustained note are important, too. It's often the case that sustain reflects on the design, construction and build quality of the instrument. That was 3 points, wasn't it?!

This at an acoustic gig; Before I played some tasty supportive chordal stuff... And this with a folk band; Alright! I was being a bit bloody-minded!

Is it not like "Trigger's Broom" then? All that's original is the body... And consider this; Manufacturer "X" gets his bridges, Tuners, Nuts, etc.etc. far cheaper than you can @ retail prices. They can make a whole bass for less than you can buy the bits! Unless you have a [i]serious[/i] sentimental attachment to a given bit of timber, it probably isn't worth it. Whatever the results.

Dunno if I can make it because of work, but if I [i]can[/i]; Status Streamline IV with series/parallel coil switching Warwick Infinity SN IV + One other of my choosing Maybe my Trace + cabs, but the list looks a bit amp-heavy (!!) how much room is there?