Lfalex v1.1

I'm sure they're lovely, but not for me at that price!

That is frighteningly complicated. I'd not know if I was coming or going!

Her catalogue contains one of my favourite performances, too. The song itself even polarises my own opinion; The lyrics are quite clever in their use of metaphor. The bassline and bass playing are superlative. And yet the song as a whole is perhaps somehow less than the sum of its parts. Babooshka.

Don't know them all, and can play maybe half of them to a reasonable standard. Not only do I feel for any potential vocalist, but if your drummer can do them justice.. That's Paice, Ward, Bonham, Torres (?) (That I can think of !) Yikes!

The Reflex, I think, if you include the switching.

I like the pre-amp on the Big Al... but it's concealed by the body. Which is.... uh... not so great?

I had a 1990 Stingray5 Fretless. Wonderfully made, lovely thing. But it never gelled properly for me- retrospectively, I think my choice of strings were poor. I moved it on at zero loss after a decade and stuck my neck out, buying a second- hand NS5 CR EUB with the funds. That's the sound I was looking for. And I can still use chorus (!) It just sits there on its tripod, ready to go whenever I feel like it. (Much smaller footprint than a DB, easier to store and transport, plus no mic'ing, volume or feedback issues) I always have at least one fretted hanging on the wall, also ready to go, and rotate them to ensure they all get played occasionally. Edit- I might get back into fretless eventually, but it'd need to be a special instrument indeed!

I've used- Korg Pandora A Cheap mixer NUX Mighty Plug They're all perfectly serviceable solutions. The Pandora did well for having a built in tuner and effects. The mixer has the greatest flexibility, and is a generally useful item to own. The NUX wins for portability and the fact that it reduces cabling to just a headphone cable. All are perfectly adequate for silent home practice, but any battery powered unit will be better for use away from the home environment. I use a mobile phone to supply music. It has a headphone socket so can be connected to other devices via an Aux cable. The files are stored on the phone, so I don't have to rely on Internet availability to practice.

I seem to recall having played a fan- fretted bass at some point. There doesn't seem to be a very consistent approach in terms of scale length; For example a 5 string Dingwall is 34-37", whereas their Super P4 is 32-34.5". Surely there's an approximately optimal length for any given string/pitch as determined by maths/ player consensus. The latter seems to favour about 32" for a G string and around 35" for a B string. I don't think I've seen a (5 string) design that seems to embrace a short scale approach for the higher pitched strings and a slightly longer than long scale (34") for the lower pitches.

(I have no connection to or affiliation with Newtone Strings) I mailed Newtone with a query about Chapman Stick Strings. Neil replied with the precise measurements relating to my query... 2 minutes later. Wouldn't normally make a big deal about such a thing, but excellent service should be recognised. I'll check the measurements tonight, and I'll be placing an order straight away.

No one in that demographic! Which raises an interesting (albeit tangential) question; What is the bulk of the bass-buying demographic, and does it shift dramatically with manufacturer and style of instrument? Relevance here; who is buying the Joe Dart? Under 30's? I'm much older, and I only know of him from threads like this...

It's not like Flea or Tony Levin got one (other than TL's OLP) Surely they're two of EBMM's more prominent long- term users?

Beginning to look like a Mike Dirnt, but with a more contoured body/ different scratchplate. Can't comment on pickups, mind.

I just don't think that recordings can do justice to every aspect of a performance (or even series of notes) at once. Irrespective of methodology, something gets lost, even without compression, EQ etc. in play. Maybe it's just the shorter signal path. Maybe it's the complication of ADC/transcription/DAC (assuming digital recording) then replay equipment.

Which is infinitely better than sledgehammering a carefully placed (land) mine..

^^^ I have a 5 string (Vigier) Passion... (I've never gigged it- Studio use only!)

Must've missed this one! 🤣 I'll probably never be good enough. I expect to continue improving, even after 30 years, but as bass playing is a leisure activity for me, I'm not going to force the pace of that progression. I find it much more worthwhile when I happen upon something (be it techinique, theory, technical) for myself than when I'm introduced to it by other means. I had lessons briefly, and really didn't like being just shown what to do, although I acknowledge that it probably has stopped me developing some bad habits. I then reflect upon all the things that my tutor didn't really cover that well/ at all that I've learned subsequently (mainly technique related), and find more value in them as a result.

Like trying to bake a cake with lead shot. It always ends up too low in the mix.

Proper flight case. Insure it to the hilt. Just because it's now virtuality indestructible, it's not so large that they can't lose it, nor inadvertently send it to the wrong hemisphere.

It wouldn't put me off. If an instrument feels/sounds good and can be set up to play well, that's (more or less) enough for me. I've owned basses with Phenolic, Maple, Rosewood, Ebony, Pau Ferro and Wenge 'boards. All I've discovered is that I don't seem to be that great a fan of Maple.

https://youtu.be/fNjcunc8U5s I think this sums up Stuart / Big Country rather well. Especially where they pick up again so smoothly.

Vino Palladino?

^^^ If I were retired, I'd be doing that, too. Alas that my work schedule is incompatible with any such activity (another reason that I hate gigging- and work, too) I've been working working for nearly 34 years, and retirement still seems an aeon away. Not wishing to be unduly grim, but Death in Service is looking quite likely. That or medical severance on ill health grounds (I'm fine at the moment!)

Virtually nothing. Not a great fan of Maple 'boards, nor of Gold Hardware. Neither are deal-breakers, though. Edit- I will walk away from poorly set-up instruments in shops if the retailer won't address the issue. I've walked away from a Burns Bison whose strings were all flat to the board at the right tension (!) and a Status Electro fretless that didn't have a 9v battery- shop said they didn't have a spare (!) I just put the basses down and walked out. That says more for the retailers than the instruments, though

Use them as a complimentary pair? And when playing live; Core tone from the bass DI >>>> the desk EQ the amp to compensate for "on stage" sound issues.