Lfalex v1.1

I struggle with the fact that (as with almost everything in life) the theory is considerably less interesting than the practice. My fear is that it will erode my enjoyment of playing, and that's been in enough jeopardy before without theory pushing it over the cliff. I read about stuff and just think; "Er... what?" I think I'd probably get it if it wasn't so one- directional. Bouncing a few questions off of someone knowledgeable would probably resolve it. I guess I'm a prime candidate for lessons, but I struggle dramatically with tuition. Teachers only ever want to teach you what they want or think is best rather than what you actually want to investigate; "...We'll cover that in lesson #438"

Do I even dare? I'm trying to learn to play slap. I've looked at Youtube until my brain hurts and am getting nowhere. The frustration is compounded by two factors; I'm a reasonable (two) finger-style player (ear and technique > theory) an injury to my middle finger on my right (plucking) hand has turned me into James Jamerson- index or nothing. Online videos and tuition do precisely nothing to address useful basic questions to which I have no answers, so here goes... I hope also that this may give others a starting point or at least a basis for comparison. Instrument choice- 4 or 5? Active or passive? Single or twin pickups? String spacing- narrow or wide? Strings- Age, condition, material, gauge, design... does it even matter? Gain Architecture- Instrument volume up full? High gain and lower master volume? Or less aggressive gain settings? EQ- On the instrument and on the amp. Do pedals/ fx help? Which leads nicely to... Compression- None? A little? Or a lot? Technique- Where does the motion originate; the elbow or the wrist? What even is thumb up and thumb down? What direction am I striking the string in; downwards or inwards so it hits the last fret? Where should I hit it? Up by the neck, over the pickup? How hard!? Which digit should I pop with? Index, middle or either? How much finger should I by using to pop with? the best sound I can get is by using so much it won't fit between the strings! Less, and it deteriorates into nothing. Thanks in advance for any and all input. Now all I have to do is find somewhere in the house that neither cats nor humans will roll their eyes as soon as I put thumb to string!

Only experience that mirrors yours with a 1990 Fretless SR5. Excellent bass. Why not just go back to a single H SR5?

Definitely go used. £1k goes a long way. If it has to look Fender-ish; G&L, Sandberg, Lakland, Sire and (naturally) Fender all qualify. If you only need the J/J configuration, Warwick, Ibanez and others enter the fray

I might not run away. Just walk quickly away. Just the way the bridge is strung tells you everything you need to know about this instrument.

That's a great idea.. but it'd only work if they didn't use it on any other body style; Can't be having a Jazz in "P" Green.. 😆

Can't you just slide one pickup off of one and put it on the other? Or does a 2 pickup Rail defeat the object? 🤣

Agreed. I've a Warwick with a good Low B, plus the Vigier and 2 Ibanez. All are 34" scale. String Choice (type/gauge/manufacturer) also plays a part.

Welcome to the forum. If I may be so bold, have a look at the basses for sale on here. Ebay can be a bit hit-and-miss. If I were selling to you as someone (presumably) new to playing bass, I'd make sure you were getting a tidy, well set-up bass that'd hopefully be all you'd need for at least a couple of years. I'd second any suggestions of Squier Vintage Modified or Classic Vibes. Something more contemporary? Keep an eye out for Cort or Ibanez basses.

That'd work nicely with my NS EUB, and possibly even the dreaded Chapman Stick.

My most recent acquisition is super-light. Ibanez EDA. My Status Streamline was also featherweight, but had issues and was almost uncontrollably light. The Status seemed to lack something. The Ibanez does not.

Yeh, sorry. But that makes it easier!

Can't you bend that pesky last position up a tone? 😜

See also; the pickups in the Fender Roscoe Beck. Poles in between the strings.

Here's my amp history. Tells its own story! 80w 1x12 combo 150w 4x10 combo 150w 2x10 combo > 300w with an extra cab 600w power amp into whatever cab was unlucky to be around. The first two were never enough against a drummer. The 80w 1x12 would just about hold its own against 2 acoustic guitars and a singer with hand percussion. It's always better to have a bit of power to spare. Most (solid state) equipment sounds audibly strained when pushed to its limits.

Iron Maiden for me. Anthrax supporting- Definitely just after "No prayer for the dying" was released. It was at Wembley Arena. Quite likely the same group of gigs that @RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE referenced earlier. Adrian Smith had left and Janick Gers had joined. Maybe Bruce was half out of the door, you never know. Nothing like as good as Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour was. That stands out as being a bit lacklustre among many really good gigs I've been to. There have been some really surprisingly good ones, too; They Might Be Giants were utterly superb. Witty, Funny, didn't take themselves too seriously.. musically excellent, though. Frank Black and the Catholics played some Pixies tunes for a laugh and had an uncontrollable mosh break out during Debaser and Monkey Gone to Heaven that left the band somewhat perplexed. 🤣

No more for me, I think. I used to go to lots, and have been to some enjoyable gigs/seen some good stuff and have fond memories of it. Alas that it has been, at various times, displaced by; Own band commitments, preferring to play rather than watch others do it, lack of time, lack of money, work schedules etc.

More... uh... Stravinsky.

Or get an all-black one and swap just the chrome spiral saddles onto it? Probably won't look too bad unless the whole bass is a "stealth" effort.

Spot on, though I could never get the input gain red light to trigger on mine, even with the hottest pickups / lots of onboard EQ. Might have to turn up the output level controls on any pedals you use to get there..

AFAIK, Trace SMX preamps were all rackmounts. The "SMX preamp" legend on the the front of this unit is only highlighting the fact that it has one incorporated into the overall design.

Don't think that'll be an easy retro-fit to a Warwick Streamer 😜

The implication being that SRXs are wired in Series? If that's the case, I'd love one wired in parallel...

I am not the most mellow of players! Nor am I a "Pro" 🤣 The SRX700 just sounded dynamically constrained- like it was flat out all the time and there was no way to tame it. From my experience with an Stingray 5, I quite like AlNiCo magnets..

Out of interest, which SRX did you/do you have? I had an SRX700 for a good while, but never did like the pickups, so I eventually moved it on. A shame, as it played brilliantly, but was just too "shouty" and seemed to lack a full sounding bottom-end without turning it up until it sounded bloated.