ingmar808

Thanks for the replies, guys. Nice to know I have an early model rather than a home custom job. BTW my Electra sounds great and is really well made - I really can't see how a California series would be much of an upgrade?

My Sandberg Electra TT4 Jazz has upgraded pickups and pre-amp (done by a previous owner) - and its battery compartment is roughly behind the control panel. But every pic I see of the current TT4 has the battery compartment behind the lower horn. Do you think mine is an early model, or was it re-jigged when installing the new pre-amp?

The Ibanez IEBS4C are about half the price of Elixirs. I have four basses in need of strings, and obvs would rather spend €90 than nearly €200. But who knows if they're rubbish, or really good... Any opinions?

I've recently gotten into flats, and am about to return to gigging. The last gig I played (a few years ago) so incredibly hot and sweaty I had trouble holding down some notes. And that was with roundwound strings! I'm assuming it'd be even worse with flats - but I've never heard anyone else mentioning this as a problem. Is this combination a recipe for disaster, or am I overthinking it? What are your experiences?

Thanks for the replies... The spikiness is way beyond solving with a bit of EQ - also that would just be trying to hide the problem rather than find the cause. Turning down the gain on the desk wouldn't help, as the spikes are caused earlier in the chain. I think it's down to something over-sensitive in the pre-amp design. It sounds great played with fingers, but with a plec it seems to only work with modest gain before getting nasty.

I love the tone and practicality of this amp, but it appears to have a major defect. When using the head as a pre for recording, playing a P-bass with a pick, there are lots of nasty pops on the attack transients. Backing off the gain to below 12 o'clock gets rid of the problem - but also gets rid of the saturated sound I wanted in the first place. The clicks and pops aren't noticeable through the cab - maybe the power amp and/or the 15" speaker aren't fast enough to catch them? Anyone else notice this, and do you have a solution short of miking up the cab? I've tried all the output options: XLR out, pre amp out, fx send - same result each time. Is this a fault with the Ampeg, or do all Class D amps do this to some extent?

Thomann Premium bag is 35 euro. I have one and it's really good. 30mm padding, loads of pocket storage - can easily take a few pedals, leads etc. Originally for my Precision, it also fits a big hollow body bass like my Hagstrom Viking. https://www.thomann.de/ie/thomann_e_bass_gigbag_premium.htm

If anyone's still following this topic... Can't believe no one has mentioned these - they do the job really well. I got it for a Precision, but it also fits my Hagstrom Viking. If it fits the Viking, it'll fit an Epi JC. It's Thomann's top of the line, 30mm padding, loads of pocket storage, straps etc - really good product. https://www.thomann.de/ie/thomann_e_bass_gigbag_premium.htm

Are they good and solid, or in any way flimsy? Also, I've heard that the fake 'tweed' covering is a bit meh? Apparently the Epiphone Jack Casady case fits the Viking perfectly, and is around the same price. I already have an Epiphone case for a Viola bass, and it's truly excellent. While it would be 'nice' to get the matching brand case for my bass, it wouldn't be if it's rubbish... These things are 150 quid. So does anyone know if the Hagstrom case matches Epiphone's standards? Or should I just get the Epi JC case? TIA

I think I've found the TB thread to which you allude... Seems that this tone control weirdness is a consequence of the PUs being wired in series, and that parallel wiring would cure this, but not sound as good when the PUs are used together. Maybe the PUs were in parallel when the thing was designed, with the two tone controls working independently as they should. Then someone discovered it sounded better when wired in series, but it was too late to change the tone control configuration?

PS I don't think my bass is faulty, as I've seen a few mentions of this issue elsewhere. No cure or explanations though...

Yes, there is a PU selector switch. It's quite busy, as it allows for each pickup individually as either single coil or humbucker (so total of 4 positions), plus another two positions with both pickups in either SC or humbucking mode. They all sound good - the only bummer being a fair bit of buzz/hum in SC mode. I'd love to be able to eliminate (or greatly reduce) this noise, as having both PUs on in SC mode sounds great, just like a P-bass. Because of the SC noise, I generally use the BOTH Humbucker position, which thankfully is pretty great too. Anyway... here's the schematic for this particular bass. You'd think the tone controls would be independent - otherwise what's the point of having two of them? https://www.hagstromguitars.com/fileadmin/_hagstrom/downloads/wiring-diagrams/Viking-Bass-Wiring.pdf

I recently got a Hagstrom Viking Bass, and am very happy with it - sounds great, very playable, looks cool. It has two pickups, each with its own volume and tone controls. The volume controls work as they should. HOWEVER... adjusting the bridge tone control also affects the neck pickup tone. Similarly, adjusting the neck tone control also affects the bridge pickup tone. So EACH tone control works as a master tone i.e. one of the tone controls is totally redundant. Surely it would be simpler, cheaper, and less confusing for Hagstrom to make this bass with a single master tone (as on a Jazz or Tele). Why didn't they? Or am I missing something?