Lfalex v1.1

I need to get around to- A Ritter A Parker Fly Basslab L-bow 5 Wal, if only for the pre-amp Ummm, er.... Um... Dunno about a fifth!

My streamer lx6 has Seymour Duncans in it as standard. MEC didn't make pickups big enough in 1997! Having 2 MEC equipped Warwicks for comparison, I'd say the MEC pre hamstrings the otherwise decent Duncan's. I'm tempted to swap out the pre for a more appropriate unit- East, ACG 01, or similar. The MEC pickups work fine with MEC EQs. I think the EQ works best with either hotter passive pickups or active pickups...

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1373138640' post='2134120'] Thanks folks. I'm leaning toward another Bongo Spacing - if the Bongo 5 is indeed the same as the SR5 - I'll be fine. CB [/quote] Same bridge on both, isn't it?

Stingray and Trace Elliot ah300smx / 1048+ 1048h or 1548... Very 1990s, but good enough for the Levin, though.

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1372978809' post='2132537'] Yeuch, Bassocaster. Hideous. IMO. But then I play Bongos and Steinbergers so what do I know about style? CB [/quote] Yup. And I own a Streamline, NS upright and a Purple Yamaha. Which all together aren't worth £7k, so I guess I'm in the same boat....

Got a friend you trust in the audience? Got one of them new-fangled active basses? You can use these assets to out-smart almost any intervening equipment and sound men...

I favour big frets. It's just that they're what most of my basses seem to come with. I have a feeling that my crazy Yamaha Attitude 10th Anniversary has thinner frets as you go up the 'board... Jumbos by the headstock, banjos towards the bridge. N nice bass. Bleedin' weird, though.

I wasn't actually aware that liking one genre of music (as defined by someone else, in any case) precluded you from liking another musical style. People frequently find my (so-called) taste in music hard to fathom...

I replaced my Stingray 5 with Fortress Masterman 5, and am happier for it. It's more versatile, and you can get away from the scooped sound by favouring either half of the pick-up using the pan pot.

If the fees had been in place when I attempted to sell 3 items on here in the space of 18 months, I'd be between £21 and £40 out of pocket. None of the items sold. Strange, because I subsequently sold them elsewhere for precisely what I wanted. Latterly, I just use EBay/Gumtree etc. and have had none of the issues encountered on here (time-wasting, low-balling and so on) Conversely, when I've bought on here, It's been great, as have all the BCers I've met in person. In fact, all the people I've sold to by other means have been pretty OK, too.

If one were so inclined, why not simply "start again" with a pick-up design? Sure, look at other good/great designs. Examine the pros and cons of each, and then try to do better still. Really experiment. Go back to first principles. Develop a pick-up/ group of pick-ups that work using a separate coil per string in individual housings. The Wal units are humbuckers. Try single coils or taps, whatever works. Just because they're good, doesn't mean they can't be matched or bettered..

I Have No Idea At All

Nice bass, the Fortress Masterman. One of the better balancing Warwicks, and once you've mastered the odd EQ, there's some good tones to be had. In perfect condition- £500 Max Adjust accordingly for wear and tear. £350 to £400 seems about right.

Fees, low-ballers, lack of TIM, lack of funds... There's some reasons for a marketplace showing a decline in interest/input.

Just one of the reasons I get my strings at Strings Direct.... I get to drive past the Vulcan parked on the apron at Southend Airport.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1371282492' post='2111998'] They also generate massive amounts of handling noise. Every time I've been tempted by what looks like a nice "acoustic" bass, 30 seconds of playing through an amp is all I can take before the extraneous noises being picked up and amplified drive me nuts - and that includes some very expensive models from the likes of Shuker and Rob Allen. [/quote] I sold both my Stingray 5 fretless and Ovation acoustic. I bought an NS CR5 Instead. First piezo pick-up I've played that really does the business...

[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1371211604' post='2111236'] Not sure they are totally spherical but i'm sure there must be a non mathematical way of determining volume utilising a bath of soapy water or some such.... [/quote] Well, if you're thinking of trying some sort of displacement technique, doesn't that only give you the mass and not the volume? Besides, they look nearly spherical in that clip! (This thread has gone utterly and hilariously wrong, BTW)

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1371219654' post='2111373'] No deal [/quote] Which no doubt means they are de-bassered.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1371153407' post='2110682'] Alembic did it in the late 60's and it was a fairly elegant solution using brass rails...almost steampunk in its aesthetic. Gibson, Westone and Spalt have all had their own take on the idea as well with varying degrees of success. I've often thought about better solutions and I've managed to come up with one that doesn't require any hole. [/quote] Ah! The Westone Rail and The Spalt VViper! And I managed a design with 4 separate units (like the Japanese Atlansia ones) that were totally concealed by the top/ a ramp, and adjusted from behind. Isn't there an example of a bass with motorised pick-ups and presets out there. Out did I imagine it? If he doesn't want his salmon pink Jazz, I'll look after it for him....

[quote name='megallica' timestamp='1371136957' post='2110357'] I'll have a D please Carol and another [/quote] 2(4/3πR³) !

Googled a query about basses. Can't remember what it was. Found some site called Bassworld with this lurid blue colour scheme Moved over to BC and the v1.1 bit on my username got added...

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1371136409' post='2110341'] Yes - but.... what is the music on your favourite live albums?? More than often it's a live version of a previous studio recording. There's a reason for that. No need for a chicken/egg debate on this one - the art comes before the craftsmanship. [/quote] Sure it's a live reproduction of a studio track. Not much point in playing a song that absolutely no-one in the audience knows! But do consider the fact that many songs are written (or at least glued-together) in the rehearsal environment. So the progression is more like: Idea > jam > record > play live [B]Edited to include the fact that I wasn't really answering any kind of chicken/egg question... More the rest of the original post[/b]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1371133736' post='2110256'] A gig is a gig - it's gone in a heartbeat. A recording attracts repeated listening. Go for the feel you like in a proper recording environment over the one off performance every time. Studio albums are a pice of work. Live albums are a souvenir. [/quote] You can have both. And sometimes, just sometimes, the ambience and energy present in a good live gig (warts and all) can overcome all the machinery in the way and become a genuinely good recording in its own right. I have some live recordings of one band I was in, and in some cases the tracks are more energetic than their more polished studio counterparts. And in answer to the op, every band I've been in haven't recorded something we couldn't reproduce faithfully in a live environment.

Because in many cases ( though not all ) the j is markedly quieter than the p, and worse still, in a PJ, it's at a point where there's less string excursion than the P sees, so the mismatch is made even more acute. Having a twin J at the bridge can help balance it out (think mk1 Fender MIA deluxe P) Or a humbucker in a single-coil housing...

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1371047921' post='2109082'] .... In an ideal world, I would have a selection to choose from for every gig but until then I need to be careful what I spend [/quote] I think part of the answer to your question lies in the bit I've quoted. It would be nice to have a choice, and every mediocre instrument you buy will actually only serve to delay you in reaching your objective. It'd be funds spent on instrument/s that are only OK or passable (in your opinion, that's the only one that counts!), rather than saving for a better bass you actually want. Can you foresee a point at which you may own something "nicer" than your current T-bird? Would you then relegate that to back-up status? Maybe that's something to aspire to if you so desire. Just as an aside, are you in a "pro" band or is it a hobby? When I've been in gigging (good, but non-pro) bands, I've never felt the need for a spare. In a decade of gigging, I've never had need of one. If I were doing it as a job in a function band, I'd carry a spare.