HowieBass

Can't you use something like an EQ stomp box, such as the Ashdown 12 band graphic EQ DI pedal and drop everything above about 5Khz? A cab sim will colour the tone which you might like, but there again you might not...

I've got Fender flats on two of my basses, the Squier VM P and the Cort B4FL and they sound good on both (one's passive, the other active). The tension's fine and they're pretty slick for fingerstyle. And a great price too!

Welcome to Basschat - I wonder if we should run a sweep for when the bass GAS starts for you again

The Squier VM P basses come stock with a Duncan Designed branded pickup and the neck is 41mm wide at the nut - the amber/maple combination comes with a black scratchplate.

According to the manual I've found online, the blend pot is the one at the back of the bass next to the bridge, the volume is the pot nearest the neck and the three tone pots are in a triangle between the two pots I've just mentioned. Looks like an odd layout because I would have put the volume and blend next to each other in a line and the three tone pots I'd also have put them in a line too but the Millennium AC seems not to favour this arrangement. http://assets.peavey.com/category/manuals/780_25563.pdf

If it's only just appeared and the string seemed reasonable before then the only thing I can think of that might change is the amount of neck relief (with the advent of much colder wetter weather). Your low B needs more room (in terms of action) than any other string so it could be choking on the higher frets which suggests maybe a touch too much relief. I'd raise the action a little bit more to see if that improves matters; also check the neck relief again and maybe just a slight tweak to flatten it could help.

Having read another thread about compression (the one that was a bit "oh no you shouldn't" vs "oh yes you can") I decided to experiment a bit more with the in-built compressors available with my Zoom B9 - obviously not exactly expensive as compressors go. What I did find out was the settings I'd used for a patch I've created for my Curbow 5 were doing two things; making the low B rather quieter than when uncompressed (which I didn't particularly want) and making the G and D louder (matching the A and E for volume, which I like). It was at this point that I realised one very good use of a compressor is to balance out any unevenness in volume across the strings. I've now dialled in a two band compressor which allows me to retain the volume of the B and up the G and D to create a balance across all strings. I guess this is something like the TC SpectraComp TonePrint that many people seem to like using.

[quote name='Johnm93' timestamp='1420128008' post='2645872'] Ta. Woke up at 11:00... [/quote] That's 10:45pm. Repeated tomorrow morning at 2:30am.

Isn't it in Notification Preferences? I have mine set to 'None' so I don't get any emails at all but you can decide whether to have a summary email sent daily or weekly.

Another BCer had a similar problem recently (though probably not the same type of pickup) and it turned out the pickup was at fault - presumably the poles had lost some of their magnetic strength on that side of the unit. He put a new pup in and everything was good again.

Isn't it the case that an active bass also buffers the signal so you don't need to worry about long guitar cables or cable capacitance which can affect the tone from a passive bass.

Sounds like some problem with the wiring, you could have a short to ground somewhere but if it's a new instrument I'd be inclined to take it/send it back and get the retailer to sort out the issue.

Great looking cabs! Happy NCD

Nice little jig there for getting the holes drilled

I'm pretty certain at least one BCer has invested in one of these recently - maybe they'll be along soon to comment on their purchase. I've read that the top end Ibanez basses used to be made in Japan, not sure if this is still true. CNC machining of the body and neck wouldn't bother me in the least - all basses at some point are hand assembled; I assume the high cost of these SR basses comes down to the smaller production run and higher quality/more expensive materials used plus a greater attention to detail in the hand-finishing. If it feels right and sounds right then that's a good reason to buy. Having said all of that I keep looking at ACG basses and having very lustful moments!!!

Great looking bass and even better that you love playing it! Happy NBD

In... Squier Vintage Modified Precision Out... nothing! (EDIT: Just remembered I got rid of a Vintage V900 on the basis of my 1-in-1-out policy!) What I've learned - that flats DO sound great on a passive P bass (on the Squier VM) and that a great set of roundwounds (La Bella) has let me fall back in love with my good old Westone Spectrum LX

I'll be upfront and say I'm no Kiss fan either so it looks uncool to me also; as it is, I think the chrome ashtray rather spoils the look.

I saw a camera review blog recently where apart from cameras they happened to mention what they used for audio recording (for their blog videos) and the make Rode got mentioned - the model of Rode mic they mentioned needs a preamp so I've just looked for info on your model and if you read the reviews on Amazon a few owners do mention needing to run it 'hot' which is what you're finding. One guy mentions the following: "If you don't own a pre amp you will have to get one for this microphone as its a dynamic and quite allot of gain will need to be added in order for this microphone to shine!" and then "If you want to build a studio or run a podcast and you want to do it all on a tight budget then I'd definitely suggest to get this microphone and the PreSonus 22VSL and a nice PreAmp like the PreSonus TubePre V2, this combo of products will produce a beautiful sound" Reviews/user experience here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rode-Procaster-Broadcast-Dynamic-Microphone/dp/B001IPUJJI

I've read a few comments from people on here and on Talkbass that they've ditched their more expensive basses (including MIA Fenders) and happily gig Squiers.

I imagine there might be some aspect of work hardening involved with played-in strings too.

The John East claims to deliver the best of both worlds, with the mids set flat there's supposed to be no colouration so you have the classic 2 band Stingray sound; dial in either mids cut or boost with a sweepable mid frequency for additional tonal control - expensive though compared to something like a Stinger old school sounding 2 band preamp.

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1419676288' post='2641766'] Can't polish a turd [/quote] Are you sure? http://youtu.be/yiJ9fy1qSFI

When I asked "Are you taking up the slack (on the saddle intonation screw) as you push it backwards" I was asking if you're turning the screw round as you push the saddle back. Pushing a saddle back without taking the slack up on the intonation screw itself means the saddle isn't very stable. Sorry I couldn't have been any clearer.

Are you taking up the slack (on the saddle intonation screw) as you push it backwards? It could be just general grime or corrosion clogging the screw threads or you might have run out of available adjustment on the intonation screw itself. Without seeing your bridge it's hard to say for sure. The traditional BBOT Fender style bridges with saddles where the screw passes right through the saddle shouldn't suffer from running out of adjustment - unless, as we've already postulated, the string is bad. You'll probably find it easier to move a saddle if you slacken off the string a little. With a bridge design where the intonation screw 'disappears' into the saddle you've got a limited amount of intonation adjustment - I had a problem with the intonation adjustment available on the saddle for the B string with my Curbow 5 (it's a chunky high-mass style bridge) and I had to shorten the intonation screw in order to get the saddle far enough back to intonate properly - however the saddles now all align as expected for the 5 strings.