Funky Dunky

A Genz Benz amp. Those things are the absolute cherries. Curious about the Squier VMPJ too - has anybody played one? I'm also admiring Lakland and Overwater basses from afar.

Edster, any idea where to go for a setup in Glasgow? I only know Strung Out do it for £65 but that's not including your new strings. £80-£85 seems a bit steep to me, but I don't know how that compares to other places.

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1381332579' post='2237768'] [url="http://www.fender.com/squier/series/artist/squier-troy-sanders-jaguar-bass-rosewood-fingerboard-silverburst/"]http://www.fender.co...rd-silverburst/[/url] Fender 7250M Nickel Plated Steel .045 to .105 strings. If you want thinner I would suggest .040 to .095/.100 if you find them too zingy then probably best to go for a straight set of Nickel strings, they tend to have a bit more thump and not as much zing as steel core or steel wrapped strings. I am sure loads of folks will chime in with string recommendations but frankly you can't go far wrong with Ernie Ball or Roto's [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/p/912579/ernie-ball-2835-4-string-nickel-wound-40-95-long-scale-bass-guitar-strings-40-95-extra-slinky/"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/p/912579/ernie-ball-2835-4-string-nickel-wound-40-95-long-scale-bass-guitar-strings-40-95-extra-slinky/[/url] [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/p/912290/rotosound-sm66-swing-bass-stainless-steel-roundwound-bass-guitar-strings-40-100-long-scale/"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/p/912290/rotosound-sm66-swing-bass-stainless-steel-roundwound-bass-guitar-strings-40-100-long-scale/[/url] You say you want smoother? I am guessing that the strings feel uncomfortable under your fingers, this is NORMAL for a novice! You have not built up the tough finger tips that come with regular practice, one would guess from your choice of bass you like rock and generally (although I am sure someone will be along with a list of rock stars who use flats!) for rock round wounds are the way to go. Persevere with it and you will soon forget the pain! [/quote] I've only been playing for a year, but had no such problems with an old Jim Deacon I been learning on. No pain on the old bass or the new, just the feel of the strings is weird. I will happily try 0.45 gauge nickel strings though, and thanks very much for solving the mystery of the stock strings, that's really helpful in my quest to improve the playability :-) Really glad I joined this forum - the help and advice is invaluable to me as a beginner :-)

Excellent guys, some great advice there, thank you. I will take it to Strung Out Guitars in Glasgow and have it set up and decent strings put to it.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1381313609' post='2237288'] a neck reprofile could be done too given you like the sound and look of it? [/quote] Tell me more......what does this procedure involve, and what kind of money are we looking at?

I've emailed Andertons to see about an exchange, but not optimistic. Failing that I'll just get a set up and try to adjust to the C-shaped neck.

Okay, so it came yesterday, bought from Andertons. It's a great sounding bass and I love the pickup configuration. Great range of tones. Looks awesome in the silverburst. But here's the thing.... The neck isn't to my liking. It's a bit thicker than is comfortable for my gimpety hands. When I initially tried one out, I thought, ah, it'll be fine when I drop the action a bit. So I dropped the action just a tad, and it buzzes and flaps horribly. The action is lower, but by no means low. I also hate the stock strings - they're too 'zingy' and a gauge up from ideal. Sadly I'm a novice and don't rightly know what gauge these are, or what to replace them with. All I know is I want them a bit smoother and thinner than the ones that came with it. Given the neck situation, I've half a mind to exchange it. But here's the thing......took the dog a walk, and when I came back in, my Mrs cheerfully announced that she'd given the packaging to her auntie, who very kindly took it to the fooking council tip for disposal. Now, while Andertons have a 30 day exchange policy, they do not accept returns unless they are in the manufacturer's original packaging. So I'm up the bloody creek, sans paddle. My questions are thus: Given my ridiculously vague description of the strings, can anyone recommend a different type of string (smoother - would it be flatwounds?) to try? And would a pro set-up help in any way to lower the action but do so without the buzzy flappiness? Finally, does anyone have a Squier bass box kicking about? Lol Look before you leap. Know a bass inside out before you buy it, especially if buying online. These are the painful lessons I have learned in the last 24 hours. That, and tell your missus that, under pain of death, she must NOT throw out the fecking box your bass came in. I feel like a bloody fool.

Seriously? £169 for a Tobias designed bass? Saw a demo on youtube, sounds alright for that kind of money. What's the catch? Anyone got one/tried one? Opinions?

Everything.

Would I be anywhere near correct in saying that this bass is essentially just a VM Jaguar Bass Special in Silverburst? I compared the two and, unless I missed something, they're more or less the same doggies. Good doggies, mind you. I have no idea why I called them doggies either. If anything, I shoulda said kitties, what with 'em being Jaguars. Look, it's been a long week ok?

I was for buying a Sub Ray 4 - the slap sound is really close to the Stingray (well, for £319) but what put me off was how limited the rest of the tonal range is. But if you want Stingray on a budget, the Subs will do a good job. As Dandelion says, the Ibanez ATK is a good approximation, and even cheaper. Try 'em out.

Okay, I'm still learning here.... The physical act of changing batteries is not a hardship in my view. The expense of replacing battery every few weeks, if that were the regularity (and apparently it's not, so that's grand) is one I'd rather avoid, but buying in bulk would obviously be the route to go so again, problem solved. As for the instant death - sound to silence - a supposedly informed salesman said that this happens with some active basses. If this is false information, I believe I am well within my rights to slap him across the chops with a live trout. Thanks for clearing things up, I'm grateful to everyone who has taken the time to share their opinions and experiences so far. Cheers all :-)

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379537919' post='2214034'] Some basses are designed to be active , some are better passive , some work fine either way . I used to favour active basses , probably because when I started playing in the very early 1980's active basses were de rigueur and received widsdom was that they were superior and more useful than passive basses . Fashion is , however , always cyclical and nowadays " retro" basses that you couldn't give away in those days sell for silly money . In truth , though , the whole active-passive debate is a bit of a red herring in so much as all active basses are not alike , and not all passive basses are equal either , so you would have to subdivide each category . The original high-powered , low-impedance active systems developed by Alembic are incredibly dynamic with a very wide bandwidth and create a sound which is unique to those particular kind of active basses . As active caught on as a marketing byword , the simplified circuits that most manufacturers adopted were a poor relation in sonic terms to the the original active concept pioneered by Alembic with such spectacular results . The naked truth is that a great many active basses have very average-sounding electronics in them , and some manage to squeeze much better results out of them than others . The Music Man Stingray , for example , has a crude but effective and very musically satisfying preamp . What people have come to realise in recent years is that in the final analysis ( i.e what comes out of the speakers when you play them ) the sound of passive basses can be just as pleasing as that from their supposedly more sophisticated active counterparts . Passive basses can give the impression ( be it real or imagined) of a more immidiate and less processed tone that seems more directly linked to the player and the way he ( or she!) is attacking the strings . In terms of high-end basses , there is an interesting trend towards what you could term " super-passive" pickups that are specially designed to have the high output and wide frequency response of active basses but are in fact purely passive with all the perceived benefits of that more simple approach . Some of the custom -wound Aero and Seymour Duncan pickups that Fodera are using on their upmarket signature basses are examples of this approach , or the awesome -sounding pickups on the Yamaha BB2024/25 basses , and also the Lakland Chi Sonic's and Hammond Dark Star ( currently not in production ) pickups . Myself personally , I will play any bass , active or passive, and accept or reject it on its' own merits . [/quote] Great post, very insightful and helpful. Cheers :-)

Norris - this is exactly what concerns me about active basses. I understand some run as passive basses when the battery runs out, but most just die completely? This is a REALLY bad design, surely? I don't fancy changing batteries every other week, and you dunno how long batteries are gonna last until you get the bass and find out the hard way, huh?

I apologise if this has been done to death, I did use the search function but I ultimately decided that I wanted the opinions of experienced (and hopefully fussy) bass players, rather than just a straight "Here's the difference between active and passive basses". On paper, it seems really straightforward - you have more tone-shaping options with an active bass. But of the active basses I've tried out to date, the tones have lacked the immediate warmth I hear from a passive bass (except - and don't laugh - the Squier Troy Sanders Jag bass, which had some really nice tones). Bear in mind I'm a bass virgin and operating at the budget end of the gear spectrum, and so I undoubtedly won't have tried the better actives basses. What I want is to hear YOUR opinion on why you prefer either one over the other. As many pros and cons as I can obtain, before I splash my decidedly meagre amount of cash. It ultimately comes down to what I like best I guess, but I would like as much info as possible on the active v passive argument. Thank y'all!

I just couldn't get a tone I liked from them. I would take a passive Squier VM Jazz every time.

I had the privilege of playing a Wal at the superbly-named Ayr Guitar on Saturday, belonged the shop owner. I'm not up on Wal models but he said it's the same as Geddy Lee's. Anyway, it weighed the same as a fat raccoon holding a bowling ball. Just impractically heavy, no way could I wear that thing for anymore than a couple of songs. Amazing instrument, but unreasonably weighty.

Congrats on a nice acquisition OP. The ATK200 was on my shortlist, can't find anywhere selling one to go try it out sadly but saw some vids on YouTube and was most impressed with the tones. I'm not a fan of Ibanez basses per se, but the ATK is the one I would go for. Given that you got a 500 for that price, I would say you ought to be plenty chuffed!

http://m.youtube.com/#/bassguitarmag?uid=ranFvDA8I4qHg8GweBmDEA&desktop_uri=%2Fbassguitarmag In some instances, the Squier sounds better than the Fender (to my ears anyway). I dig that blue P-Bass! In fairness, Ed Friedland runs them through a Genz Benz, so they sound outstanding, and he's a wonderful bassist too, but yeah, I have to say, very very impressive for what some people would call a "cheapo".

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1379448915' post='2212910'] I'm hoping so, it sounds pretty mean in the videos, just hope the pre amp is voiced nicely. [/quote] There are videos? I could only find vids with Troy talking about the bass, none with actual soundclips.

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1379434923' post='2212676'] I'm dying to try the fender. [/quote] The Squier is really good, so I'd imagine the Fender will be the absolute cherries!

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1379434889' post='2212674'] I did want a bass with a passive tone, how does the active Squier sound? Good enough to not care about it being active rather than passive? [/quote] Pretty good. It still does the classic Jazz and Precision style tones without any tomfoolery.

I just tried one of these today in Glasgow. I was very impressed. I really like the silverburst finish, and the P/J pickup configuration makes the bass super versatile. I'm big on Fender-style tones and they're pretty much all available from this beast. I plunked, slapped and twiddled knobs for ages and kept finding new tones, all of which I really dug. I was initially after a Squier VM Jazz, but this brute has well and truly made me rethink things. I have to say, this is a helluva bass for the £255 they were asking. Now, if I can just make peace with the Jag body shape (barf!), I might go ahead and buy one. If you are in any way curious about this bass, go and try it. I'm a relative novice and so maybe I'm easily impressed, but of all the basses I've tried below £400, the Troy Sanders has impressed me most. I'd also contend that it spanks a Fender Modern Player Jazz. The tones are really that good IMO.

A quick forum search revealed very little about this amp has been discussed here, the most recent thread I could find was by bigsmokebass over a year ago. Looking for opinions and setting suggestions if anyone has one of these little puppies. I've had mine about4 months and will need to marry it to a decent bass to get the best of it. It's certainly versatile and plenty loud for my needs, but is it a mark of my using a reeeeeeally awful borrowed bass in bad condition, or do these amps have a tendency to bury the real individual voice of the instrument?

It's a funny one this, it's subjective to an extent but not entirely when you see how masses of bassists tend to agree on the great basslines of all time. See, I agree with you on loud and busy, but then I listen to a bassline like "Good Feeling" by Reef and it's just a groove on an octave that DOESN'T even move with the chords and is stupidly simple, yet somehow works an absolute treat. I'm kinda of the opinion that it's horses for courses to an extent, I dunno that there's a formula - but then, I'm a novice and a more experienced bassist would no doubt see it completely differently. But I'm typically drawn to a busier bassline with a groove or a swing to it.