ReeV0

Hi there,

I've been using my cheap Ibanez SR500 for the past ten years, and bought a basic Stagg soft gig bag with it at the same time. It's been carried around in it ever since. I like the gig bag because it is very light and comfortable to wear on my back. However, it offers little protection.

Now that I have joined a band, I bought a new and significantly more expensive bass - an Ibanez ATK810! I definitely don't want to be carrying it around in the Stagg gig bag. The bass came with it's own hard case, which fits the bass perfectly, but... it's very heavy and unwieldy, and has no shoulder straps...

So on recommendation I purchased this, however, I am returning it as the bass does not fit very well inside it and it is extremely uncomfortable to wear on my back!

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Bass-Guitar-Foam-Case-by-Gear4music/C87

After having a little search online, I have yet to find a soft gig bag for my new bass that looks to offer similar protection to a hard case. I have a soft gig bag for my acoustic guitar, it is somewhat formed, with thick fur on the inside and shoulder straps. It is very light and comfy to carry. Is there a similar gig bag like that for bass?

Any suggestions welcome!

What's the weight?

36 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

...but it wouldn't be £680! 

 

£680 + shipping = £800 + 25% = £1000

 

So your £680 bass is in reality £1000 and you really have no idea how good it will be when it arrives.    

 

This one just sold on ebay for £30 more but you could have picked it up and tried before buying.  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165593451318?hash=item268e238b36:g:ThYAAOSwKZBi06zu

Sorry I meant just the cost of the bass. Gutted I missed that one on ebay!

5 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

It’s not that good. You’ve forgotten about the exchange rate. Which sucks at the moment.

 

 

I'd pay £680 for a Stingray, seen them go on here for £1000-1500

19 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

you’ve misunderstood.

 

Bass + shipping gives a total. Then add 20% vat to that. Then add import as well at about 4%. 

So the 25% rough total is on top of the shipping AND the bass total. The percentage stays the same.

 

Vat is added to any item that hasn’t been in the UK before.

 

This is why many “bargains” from the US aren’t really bargains when the maths are properly worked out.

 

$140 shipping from the US is cheap. And probably not insured!

Ahh ok understood, thanks for explaining. The bass is a genuine Stingray for $800, which aside from the shipping and tax, is a great deal 🤑😁

21 minutes ago, Teebs said:

As an example of buying from the US, I just bought some machine heads from Hipshot in the US.

 

The parts cost $174.24;

Shipping (USPS with $200 insurance) cost $61.71;

Customs Duty - £3.32;

Import Vat -  £33.87;

Clearance Fee (zero Vat rated) - £12.00.

 

Total Cost - £244.59

Original Cost of parts - £144.30

 

The package also took 2 months to arrive, due to various cöckups on the way.

 

Jeeez... Yeah, I think I'll avoid it. Even if the bass is a really good price.

49 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Bass cost plus shipping, then add 20% vat and then import which is about 4% I think.

 

Basically take the bass and the shipping and add 25% and you’ll be close enough. The vat applies to the shipping as well.

 

Do not undervalue it as that is a criminal offence that can lead to confiscation and destruction of the bass, and if it gets damages any shipping insurance will only pay out on the declared value.

I think it would be more than 25%, I just did a quick quote on USPS and shipping alone came to $140

so if I bought it I'd have to pay 20% VAT as well as import duty? I thought I'd just have to pay the import duty?

Hi all, apologies if this is in the wrong section, please move if required.

Does anyone have experience in shipping a bass over to from the US to the UK? A TB member has offered me a bass, but would mean shipping from the US to the UK. Any idea how I could estimate shipping costs and import duty tax?

Thanks

13 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Have you tried and succeeded in recording an ordinary conversation wth the Zoom..? It might be that the thing is just 'stuffed' (a technical term...), and is, now, incapable of recording cleanly. Worth a try, just to check that it is at least working correctly..? A recording level of 1 (out of 100...) seems extremely suspect, to me (although I don't know personally this particular model...). 

Yep, works fine normally.

Seen an old 1992 Yamaha keyboard come up with a built-in 16-track sequencer! I used to have one back in the day and they were fantastic. Always regretted selling mine. Too bad it's collection only...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155081563574 

4 hours ago, skidder652003 said:

surely if the gain is set really low, like -12dB its not going to distort?

Always easier to bump up a quiet signal than try and work with a distorted too loud one?

 I don't think the Zoom tells me the decibel reading, but I have the input manually set on 1 (out of 100) and the recording is still distorted. Also, quieter segments of the song become inaudible and there is no dynamic range. I have fiddled about with the limit/comp features, to no avail.

I've ordered an SM57, thought might as well give it a go. I typically place the Zoom in the middle of the room, as the drums and amps are in all the corners.

7 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Have the Zoom much, much further away..?  

 

...

 

(I hestitate to advance the notion that maybe, just maybe, the distortion is coming from the genre you're playing..! ).

It's just in a rehearsal room, I try and put the mic as far away from the drums as possible

Hi all,

I've been trying to use my Zoom H4n to record my band practice. Unfortunately it does a terrible job and it always just comes out completely distorted. I've tried using auto-level, setting the level manually, using the limit and compressor functions... Nothing helps.

The only thing I havent tried is plugging in an external mic. Would using a Shure SM57 help? Is there a better mic?

Thanks for any help

31 minutes ago, christhammer666 said:

defo go with the nords. i put some in my sr500 (in my avatar) sounded tons better

Thanks, which Nords would you recommend?

The bass currently has the Bartolini (Cort) Mk1 pups. It's already had a good setup and have tried many different strings, but never liked the sound of the instrument.

I don't suppose anyone could recommend one of these? Don't think I'd get on well with the Blade as I feel I'd be hitting it with the string and get that undesired 'tapping' sound 

https://nordstrandaudio.com/collections/4-string-soapbar-bass-pickups

Hmm so just need to decide whether to upgrade the preamp or pickups. Can't really afford both as that's £400 and I might as well just buy a new bass

21 minutes ago, Cliff Edge said:

I put Nordstrand Big Singles in my SR900. Straight swap for the Bart’s. The pre amp isn’t great but the bass now has a much better tone all round. 

Cool. They're about the same price as the Aguilar preamp... Not sure what to go for!

Hi all,

I've been using an Ibanez SR500 for years but never been satisfied with the tone, especially the bridge pickup. I was wondering whether I should change the pickups or the preamp. I haven't altered the bass (or any bass) before now...

It currently has the fake Bartolini Mk1's installed, and the stock preamp. I have found someone selling a Bartolini MK2-4R bridge pickup for £25 but can't find anything about it online. I emailed Bartolini and they thought it might have a bit of an impact, since the Mk1 is a split-coil and the Mk2 is a dual coil humbucker. However the Mk2 is 10mm shorter than the Mk1 so not sure how that would affect things...

The other option is to leave the pickups but change the preamp. I like the look of the Aguilar OBP3TK, but not sure I'd have the technical know-how to install it. From the pictures it looks like there are only 3 knobs, but currently the bass has 5 (other two being volume and pickup blend). Does anyone know how straightforward it would be to install in the SR500?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Hi guys,

My Cioks DC7 frequently reaches temps above 50c, too hot to touch. Is this normal? I contacted Cioks but they would not tell me the max safe operating temp of the unit.

The HX Stomp also reaches around 38c which is pretty warm.

Thanks

Can you post to London?

Hi guys,

In order to complete a fancy dress look, I need to find some black gloves to wear whilst playing. Does anyone have any suggestions? I need some gloves that will still allow me to do fast fretting on the left hand, with slapping/fast fingerstyle on the right hand. Would something like silk gloves do the trick? Just thinking because they should be pretty low resistance...

Thanks

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

It would be useful to know if the problem is at the MIDI out of the DMC or the MIDI in of the HX Stomp.

It's a problem with the DMC because you can see how slow the numbers move, also I just tried it with the C4 and it was laggy

7 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Got it.

Are you experiencing the same latency with the expression pedal on the C4?

I haven't tried it yet because I don't currently have a patch that uses the expression pedal, but I presume the issue will be there since the expression pedal is running through the DMC

6 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Looks like a combination of poor MIDI implementation on the part of the DMC.micro combined with a the HX Stomp being much better at processing the direct input of the expression pedal. Converting an "analogue" signal to MIDI will always involve some degree of latency, but it shouldn't be as much as you are experiencing in the video. 

Do you NEED to run the expression pedal through the DMC.micro? 

It would be useful if you could give a complete (non-video) run down of how all your devices are interconnected and why, so it might be possible to suggest an alternative setup that will work better.

I would also suggest getting in touch with Disaster Area Designs to see what they say. It could be that your device is faulty? If you have the facilities record the pedal movements against a click track into a DAW so you have a visual record of the latency to show them.

I've got the expression pedal running through the DMC because it then frees up both external inputs on the Stomp (meaning I can run two extra footswitches for scrolling presets). Also it means I can use the expression pedal with my Source Audio C4, which is connected to the DMC.

This is my setup, sorry it's probably a bit confusing