Painy

Well I got to gig this setup for the first time so thought I'd better give a quick review as promised. So first up - the bass. Well fit and finish is all excellent with a nice tight neck pocket. Weight is 9lbs 5oz. The body appears to be made of 4 pieces of wood but there's some nice grain showing through. The tort guard is printed but looks fairly decent and is an inoffensive dark brown tort rather than red. All frets seem to be well levelled with no sharp ends. Hardware is simple but functional in true precision style. The tuners held their tune perfectly all night and I was surprised at how smooth the gears are for what will obviously be fairly budget units. The setup straight out of the box was very playable with a decent action and no fret buzz anywhere along the neck. I was able to drop the action even lower though and keep the notes ringing out clearly. Our lead guitarist even commented on how easy it is play when he tried it out for himself. For me the star of the show on this bass is the neck. Obviously neck profiles are a very personal thing but I can honestly say I've never had a bass neck feel more comfortable in my hands although of course, as always with these things, YMMV. Electronics also seem surprisingly good and it certainly sounds how a P-bass should. Both the volume and tone controls give a good, smooth linear response with no crackles and the jack socket holds the plug firmly with no wiggle and again no crackles. The pickup sounds exactly as I would hope a split coil would and has a surprisingly hot, but not overpowering output. In fact it puts out a touch more juice than my twin humbucker loaded (but also passive) Jazz. Overall I'd say I can't fault it at all but there is a touch (and I do mean just a touch) of neck dive. Nothing a set of lightweight tuners Wouldn't sort out but it's really not bad enough that I'd actually bother. Having now played it in anger I can honestly say that it's love. It sat in the mix exactly as a precision should but every note was clear, defined and punchy. I'm loving the traditional look too which for me is really refreshing after spending the best part of 20 years playing active 'coffee table' basses (for about 15 of those years I played Warwicks exclusively). It may have Squier on the headstock (which to be fair doesn't carry any shame anyway these days) rather than some fancy boutique brand that makes its trussrod cover screws from a secret blend of Kryptonite and Unobtanium but I think I may have finally found a bass I can love as much as the Warwick Steamer Stage 1 five string I had to sell for financial reasons a few years ago. And now - the amp. Straight off I have to say that this thing is loud. Bowel disintegratingly loud in fact. Fortunately all that volume is controllable with the volume knob so all is good. The other striking thing about this set up is just how damn sexy it looks IMHO. The Chocolate Thunder (and I'm still giggling to my self every time I say that by the way) colour looks very classy and coordinates nicely with the sunburst finish of my new bass too . I'm not gonna give a technical rundown of all the figures and inner workings (yawn) as they're all online anyway and I don't have them in any case. In a nutshell, it's a 500W, 2 channel (one clean, one overdriven) head running into 2 8ohm 1x12 dual rear ported cabs each with a tweeter (I opted to have the top one on full and the bottom one off). Soundwise I think the descriptions I've been given of the Aguilar sound as being a more modern sounding Ampeg are a pretty fair assessment - although the AG500 being a bit cleaner and more Hi-Fi than its stable mates also seems likely true. It is certainly more mid-focused than my old Ampeg rig but very much in a good way. Our lead player's fears that such a small rig might not deliver enough low end were soon allayed when I punched in the deep switch and he pooed himself a little bit. I also found the treble control gave a more (while still not harsh or glassy) cutting and defined sound than I was expecting - again, very much in a good way. The distortion channel I think I need to spend a bit more time with to get the best from it. I used it on Ace of Spades and there was easily enough gain on tap to push right into full on fuzz so at about 1 o'clock it was getting Lemmy- like levels of drive. Just need to work on the eq a bit yet to get the clarity in the mix. Overall, again I'd have to say its love. I may have to find something to get it up closer to ear level though as when I initially had what I thought was a nice onstage level sorted, our singer who was out front for the soundcheck had to get me to turn down. Or as he put it " That bass is sounding bloody visceral out here"!

Wouldn't have been the only Yin Yang bass not made by Fodera.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1455567517' post='2980338'] Look forward to seeing it next week in Basses For Sale. [/quote] Oh the cynicism! I've no idea where the idea a Basschat member could be fickle in their choice of instrument could have possibly come from. People will be coming up with a neat little acronym to describe the process next like maybe EPD for Equipment Procurement Disorder or something like that.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1455483674' post='2979547'] That Mrs Painy is most definitely a good sort. Nice set up, will look forward to the proper review. [/quote] Well I can already confirm the Squier is a definite keeper. I've owned basses that cost well over 4 grand and played basses costing up to 3 times that on plenty of occasions and this bass is, for me, the perfect example of how all those big price tags mean absolutely nothing. This bass just sits in my hands in a way that no other bass ever has and I've managed to get the action down to a fag-papers thickness with no fret buzz and without having to touch the truss rod. Can't wait to hear it at full gig volume now

(See below for reviews) Now I actually had to go and pick these up myself - the bass 2 weeks ago from PMT Norwich and the amp and cabs last week from BCer Riddler down near Brighton (bit of a trek from Norfolk and back in a day but well worth it and a very friendly reception - thanks Graham) so knew in advance what I was getting but finally got my grubby little mitts on it all today. I'll do a bit of review after I've tried it all in anger at next week's gig but for now here's a quick (rubbish quality phone pic - sorry) snapshot. Squier Vintage Modified Precision 5 string, Aguilar AG500 and 2 x Aguilar DB112 cabs in Chocolate Thunder.

Well currently my main gigging bass is actually a Fender 'Modern Player' Jazz 5 string and I just bought my first lightweight rig. On the other hand, this Saturday night I will be playing a set which will include The Boys Are Back In Town so where does that leave me?!?

I've just had the great pleasure of buying an awesome Aguilar AG500 head and a pair of matching DB112 cabs in Chocolate Thunder finish from Graham. Despite some delays, which were entirely on my part, he remained incredibly patient and was really friendly and communicative throughout. I honestly couldn't recommend Graham any more highly - the very epitome of everything that makes the Basschat marketplace great to use. Deal with absolute confidence! Thanks again

At present I'm using my VT-Bass as my main preamp through a switchblade+ straight into the poweramp inputs of 2 Behringer BVT 4500H heads each driving a separate cab. It certainly sounds a lot better to my ears than running through the heads' own preamps and it did give me complete control of my sound at my feet which I've found handy a few times on cramped stages where it's not always easy to get back to my amp to adjust it. That said, I'm looking forward to picking up a new (used) Aguilar rig next weekend which will do away with the need for it!

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1454251707' post='2967840'] Nope, you got it backward...OCD or not, the top one is ugly. [/quote] Gotta agree here, the headstock on that Brubaker looks like a deformed foot!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1454241562' post='2967733'] Not cool ... [/quote] Dammit!!! I just bought one of these yesterday - although in my eyes it is extremely cool. I think that what is cool or not is obviously highly subjective and personal, in broader terms I'd say cool is defined more by a general consensus of the populace than by individual opinion (and I'm guessing this is more what the OP is looking for). I'd say Blue's Thunderbird and Gold Top are both pretty strong contenders for the title. They are both classic designs and therefore elegant and stylish, not so common place as to be innocuous and commonplace but familiar enough that their appeal is effortless. For me though, the Les Paul wins out of the two simply by virtue of being a bit less 'try hard' than the T-Bird. I play a jazz and a precision though (both fivers) so what do I know?

I've been playing for 21 years and the last 17 have been exclusively (apart from a brief dalliance with a 6er that ended last year) playing 5 strings. I actually find 5 string necks to generally be more comfortable as my preference is for a wide but shallow neck. Other than that I can't see any good reason not to have the extra string there when I want it both for positioning and extended range reasons. If I found the extra width of the neck or tighter spacing in any way to be a negative then I might reassess it but for me personally, 5 strings genuinely are all pros and no cons.

[quote name='danbowskill' timestamp='1453644112' post='2961306'] https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=limelight+p+bass&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3u-r6zcLKAhUJVRQKHZUKBIAQ_AUIBigB#mhpiv=3 [/quote] Oh FFS!!! Now I have GAS! I'm picking up a new bass next weekend and an amp and cabs the following weekend and that was supposed to be me GAS free for a while. I guess I should have known better really.

I didn't think Limelight did sunburst?

In case anyone is interested. Not sure EHX are exactly renowned for their compressors (the half hearted on/off only compressor built in to my old Bass Metaphors is certainly nothing to get excited about) but at least looks to be fairly inexpensive as you'd expect (£61 from GAK). http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gGqx_MCi5ew

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1453154330' post='2956991'] Not sure about the horn part though... [/quote] You've obviously never played a Warwick Corvette then!

Cort Artisan basses come with MK1 Bart pre and pups. I had an A6 which was an amazing bass for the money. I'd think the A4 should certainly be worth considering.

Nice job! I think that looks loads better with the plate - somehow looks classier.

There is something particularly pornographic about the picture of those 2 basses in the 69 position!

For me the best amp/cabs and best bass I ever sold, I owned at different times so never got to use them together but would have been Trace Elliot AH400SMX into the 410 and 115 cabs and the bass would have been my German Warwick Streamer Stage 1 5 string.

[quote name='gs_triumph' timestamp='1452270206' post='2948369'] They rattle a little when sat down. Not at all with the weight of the bass on them. I couldn't get cocktail sticks in any of the local ' convenience' stores... Not very convenient! [/quote] I'm now picturing all the poor unfortunate dinner jacketted toffs in your area sipping martinis with the olive speared on a Swan Vesta!

[quote name='FretNoMore' timestamp='1448099557' post='2912997'] A piece of wood or particle board, sprayed black and with Velcro on both sides ... works great and likely a bit cheaper than store bought risers. [/quote] I do this (actually I don't even bother to spray it black as its covered by the pedal anyway). Works for me.

[quote name='gs_triumph' timestamp='1452165651' post='2947123'] Not keen on bastardising my new bass just yet... Might come to that tho Cheers G. [/quote] No bastardisation required. Just put a matchstick or toothpick in the screw hole and break it off then screw in the smaller screw. Job done!