basexperience

Can we get in touch with the fella from TE, the designer? I noticed the circuit boards actually have names on!! And a Union Jack. incidentally, while researching yesterday I discovered that there’s a place in the USA which sells parts, including the blank PCBs for the preamp board and the power board for the V8, so theoretically you could actually build a new V8(!!) - I’ve got all the schematics of the amp, which was useful as I was able to supply them to the valve amp specialist I took mine to for checking over. He was astonished it had survived all that abuse: they’re wonderfully engineered. Even the chassis on mine needed attention - the bottom edge had rusted from all the sweat, beer, vodka and red bull (drummer was an animal) etc. I had to carefully take back to bare metal and used black smooth hammerite in place of the enamel. Looks good: she wears her scars with pride.

@VTypeV4 - I'm late to this thread, but that's an epic review. Just epic. I'm lucky enough to own a V4 chrome-knob head, but the tale of the amp is a long, and hard one, with a happy ending. She was bought in Andorra (in Pas de la Casa) by Breeze (from Oxford), who were playing the ski season in Soldeu that year. They had no idea what they were buying was quite so special: they just knew it was one hell of an amp. A V4 Mk2 all-valve 1x15 combo! They used this amp for many, many years and when I depped bass for them (we played as Janeiro in the Aspen Bar in Soldeu in 2007) I brought a 2x12 TE cab I had at the time (they helpfully lugged it all the way there in the van). An absolute monster of an amp, they'd never so much as had it serviced in all that time: the covering was already off in places, and during the season I had to repair the speaker cone with superglue and duct tape(!). She ate up night after night with huge tone, barely running and filling out the whole bar (no PA feed required). Fast forward a decade from there, and the guys finally managed to completely break the combo, purchasing a small TE one to replace it as a stage monitor: by this point their PA was much, much better. They then realised how rare the amp was, and the drummer tried dismantling everything, removing the head from the combo, etc (the speaker was long gone), but he didn't get very far, and the pieces were cosigned to a draughty, leaking(!) shed. I did a couple more gigs with them, and they told me about the V4, so I told them I'd love to do the amp up for them. When I costed it out (there were busted tubes, it needed professional help) they got a little less keen, but then stunned me by asking if I just wanted to have the amp, as they said I knew how special it was and I would look after it. I spent a month or so stripping the cabinet, but sadly it was completely shot: the top had come off and no amount of woodwork was going to bring that MDF back in a way which would take those earth-shattering lows. Deciding it might be a good idea to turn it into an amp I could use at gigs without needing a van (the V4 combo was a 2-man lift!!) I decided to turn it into a head, furiously researching how the V4 heads looked. I didn't have a front grille, so I decided to get Zilla Cabs to do something which would approximate that - and they came through strong! I also took the handle arrangements from both the V4 and the V8 heads and now have 3 handles on top - one in the middle, 2 on the edges - which makes for much easier lugging about. Zilla worked totally remotely from schematics I made of the head unit, including valve clearance and position for the heat grille on the top. Electronically - to my astonishment - the amp had actually survived all the abuse, the beer (2 power valve seats actually had dried beer caked around them.... I AM NOT KIDDING), and even the capacitors were still good. This thing is just immortal. And now she's gigging again. The result is a beautiful, amazing amp, with more volume than the Warwick Pro Bass IX 900w head I have (it's ridiculous though a 1x15 and 4x10 at 4 ohms). The studio mode is very welcome, and the compressor, as you point out, is really nice, very musical. I've got an aftermarket footedal which works a treat on the channel switching and compressor on/off. Here's some pics of what Zilla did, and the amp ready for a function gig a couple of years ago. I think the approximation of the front grille is pretty cool, like some kind of boutique amp. Either way, she sounds amazing. Thanks again for an amazing review. I had no idea these were so rare.

Here she is! I’ve got a new set of D’addario Chrome flatwounds so I can restring them fretless side EAD. If I had bigger hands I’d be able to solo at the top of the fretless board, but that was never my plan anyway: the bottom 3 are going to be used for proper bass (and maybe the odd midrange excursion). the tone off those fretless strings really is quite striking! I’ve taken the thumb rest off: I don’t use them, and it just got in the way - hell of a job getting it off!

Well, I've had it for a day, and I can say it's definitely growing on me a lot. The fretless side really does sound a lot like an upright (I have an NXT 5-string electric upright). And you're right - above the 15th fret or so, the fretless side gets pretty hard to play on the lower 2 strings. However - my plan is to restring the lower strings to E - A - D as I want to use it as two basses in one (effectively), I'm less interested in soloing on the fretless side - after experimenting with walking bass a bit inside a 5-fret area on only 3 strings, I think it's definitely going to work. I don't have huge hands, but I seem to be able to play the bottom 3 strings fairly well without any issues - I am wearing the bass higher than I would usually, though, to help with left hand position. All in all, I'm really impressed with it, it's an excellent instrument. And it's had so little use, the original battery is still in there(!!)

I keep my studio humidified with a LeVoit auto-humidifier set at 45% (I work in here as well) - comfortable human range, and it seems to keep the basses stable. I don't have an EUB though. The humidifier has a huge tank, but in winter with the heating on it'll only last a week or so (trust me, the room's not damp, no mould, bad smells etc - this house pushes moisture out like nothing else I've ever lived in!)

Look out for the Behringer UMC22 interfaces on Amazon - they're dirt cheap, the cream is actually really good and they're amazingly solidly built, too. Bus powered, so nothing else hanging about. Stereo in, stereo out.

Thats a great looking bass mate, nice choice 🙂

Just quickly resurrecting this topic as I just got hold on one of these, and by the looks of it it's never been played, let alone gigged - not a scratch on the back, no fretwear, even seems to have the plastic on the rear control covers. Liked the idea when they came out, and spotted it on eBay at a ludicrous price for a bass this "new" - I don't think anyone who's owned it has really known what to do with it. Proper Ibanez 7-string hard case with it too, not a cheap item. Did anyone else get one? If so, I'd like to ask if you restrung the fretless side to a low E - I'm considering this so the fretless side can be used for actual basslines and not just soloing. Dual truss rod makes it look like it shouldn't be a problem tension wise. Fascinating thing, the most amazing woods (I've got the dragoneye burst model, which is just gorgeous).

Dude, that's excellent. I'm always happy hearing about people who have come to the Low Side 😉

Mate, this is a very cool. idea. I did some digging and cucumin, the "active ingredient" in Turmeric, is pretty good at a number of things, including (it appears, in research on rats, anyway) inhibiting the formation of collagen fibrosis. I'm going to take it for a few weeks and see if the growth rate of the lump in my palm slows (at the moment it's way too quick for my liking). Thanks again for this. If anyone is interested - here's a paper on cucumin and its effect on induced pulmonary fibrosis in Rats - https://dupuytrens.org/DupPDFs/2003_Punithavathi.pdf - it looks like it worked there: indeed Cucumin can actually work as well as ibuprofen to reduce inflammation if taken in high enough doses. Available capsule forms I've found seem to include black pepper and ginger in there to help counteract the digestive system effects of the cucumin - we'll see how that goes.

I bought a Rikkers a few years back, after I tried one at the LBGS. I was lucky enough that the whole process took more or less exactly a year, so I picked it up and the show, which I suspect meant the bass could be classified as a show bass (although it wasn't - I had my hands on it within minutes of the show opening 😁). Has your purchase progressed yet?

What do you make of the research Neal Millar is doing? Would you (as I would) consider collagenase injections and needle aponeurotomy (using a needle to break the fibre strand) before any kind of open would surgery? I think I'd rather have some kind of minimally invasive procedure, with less risk of side effects and fast recovery (a week for these procedures with no limits on using the hand afterwards apart from your own judgement on pain levels). That research into using anti arthritis drugs as a cure sounds promising. If my condition moves at the same fairly slow pace as yours has, I hope I can get on any study they put together. Good luck to you, hope you can continue as-is for as long as possible.

Hello all, I got my diagnosis this week, one day before I turned 50, which was a bit of a plopper. Right now I don't have anything impeding my playing, but I'm living with a sense of dread as I play most styles, including 2-hand tap. That being said, reading your posts has offered some hope here. Thanks for sharing your information. I've done some research and there's a promising line of research on something approaching a cure using existing approved anti-arthritis drugs - https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/health/arthritis-drugs-can-cure-hand-deformity-2910754 - I got in touch with Neal Millar, the fella running the study, and there could be some kind of trial in a year. I've volunteered and he said he'd put my details on file and get in touch if/when. Meantime, I'm eyeing up potential non-surgical interventions (the idea of having the skin on my hand removed is completely out, that's an ancient approach which doesn't work and isn't worth the risk for the result) - needle aponeurectomy with ultrasound guiding appears to work well to free existing constricting fibres. The collagenase injections appear to be risky if used on the fingers themselves as there's a real risk of accidentally dissolving a tendon, which means big surgery afterwards, but use in the palm is a lot less risky. Again, I'd want it guided by ultrasound to avoid breaking down the wrong collagen. I guess the only plus to this is I have some time to do some research before anything needs doing. Right now I can still get my hands flat. I have a great consultant too, works out of the Dunedin hospital in Reading. Thanks again and best wishes to all you guys Andy W

My god, you’re not kidding. I’ve had the LWA500 for a few years now - it’s an excellent little amp.

Aha - thanks for this: I’ll check and see if I can get hold of a new gold tailpiece for the fretless... in the long run it’ll be cheaper than buying single 135s with tapered ball ends, I reckon.

If you can find one, the old Tobias Toby Pro-6 is a great bass.

Exactly. It’s a HUGE bargain. The 500 has plenty of grunt for a pub gig, and I’m running it into an 8 ohm 2x10 markbass traveller. Into 4 ohms it’ll be huge! Also - the LWA gets you an onboard compressor. It’ll run without load as a headphone amp, too, and IIRC there’s an aux input...

Hi all, I've got a 5-string streamer fretless which I love for the combination of warwick mid-growl and fretless - but it's got one problem: I moved to D'addario XLs a while back, love the strings on the other 5-strings I've got - but the tailpiece of the bridge won't hold the low B in the string retention slot - the way the windings are tied off means the ball won't slot in. Anyone else have this problem? Did you find a solution? If it's just "find a different string", then that's OK too... it's just that I didn't want to use Warwick strings on it any more... Cheers! Andy W

Very nice! I'm wagering that's some serious cash for 2 custom builts. I'm lucky enough to have a 2002 Ltd jazzman (the swirly bubinga one) and I do love warwick 4-strings for the tone - with D'addarios on it it absolutely pokes at gigs. I did use Warwick black strings for years until moving to D'addario XLs (nickel) - the difference is huge.

I bought an LWA500 a few years back at the LBGS - definitely never regretted that. Fits in an amazon basics tablet case (neoprene) beautifully! It's a backup amp which has been pressed into service mid-gig, and I've used it countless times on small gigs and jam nights with a 2x10 Markbass Traveller. Really loud for 16Kg of total weight, and the perfect height to sit on. The old-school lighting under the controls on the LWA is welcome too... I'd get the 1000, but I still have a Pro Bass IX which I do use occasionally (despite the massive weight!).

Did you seriously manage to break a trussrod? I've had 2 warwicks for nearly 20 years and adjusted the rods a fair few times: they never need more than a tiny turn anyway, and seem reliable enough... what did you do??