Al Krow

I wonder if any retailers would do a replacement with the Black Label pups without charging for existing unwanted / surplus Sandberg ones or Delanos? Anyone had any positive experience of this. 

1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said:

Just trying to get close to a Thumpinator. 

Set "Low Eq" to 30Hz.

Just need to know if it's best to use two in series to get similar performance to the Thumpinator. I use a Thumpinator on my large board so I appreciate it's benefits. 

On my MS-60B  I use two or even three "Ac Bs Pre" to get close to the Thumpinator. 

I've taken the really lazy option of...just using a Thumpinator (but then I only have a large board). 😀

In lieu of your mini board - I'm really tempted by the B1 Four X as a stand alone mini gigging board. I think your earlier post about it having the same DSP as the B3n has got me a little excited about this forthcoming pedal (out mid May??). It seems to have combined a compact form with a decent interface and decent DSP i.e. it takes some of the best features of the MS-60B and and B3n and puts them into a very affordable package. Oh yes the X rated version has an expression pedal.

...Shame: I've discovered it's got a plastic chassis which puts a bit of question-mark over how rugged the B1 Four is going to be.

Not sure why it's taken so long for me to spot this but the Mooer GE 300 also does Synth! (Probably 'cos Mooer seem to be taking forever getting this launched?)

"There’s also the Synth Engine, a new tri-voice polyphonic synthesis module with options for wave form, pitch, filters and arpeggiators - with no special pickup or guitar modifications required."

If my current pedal board could (theoretically) be replaced by a Helix Stomp and a Panda Future Impact ,then it seems to me that the GE 300 could, in turn, potentially replace both those and it comes with the bonus of an expression pedal.

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

My preference would be for any of the 112 cabs (Mesa, Genzler, Aguilar, Bergantino, the Greenboy cabs in the classifieds or Barefaced ) on the market rather than the Suitcase.

£600 budget?

He's going to need a decent amp to pair with any of those cabs and nice as they are, they are going pretty much blow the entire budget methinks.

This, however, could seriously tick a lot of boxes! They're selling for nearly £900 new.

4 minutes ago, obbm said:

Not at all possible.  I use a remote 9-volt supply which power all these pedals satisfactorily. 

When I get it out to use on Wednesday evening I'll take some more photos if anyone is interested.

Ok cheers. I guess the Nano is likely going to be the smallest board to let you get a PSU underneath. 

What are the above two boards like for putting a 'flat' isolated PSU underneath e.g. a Ciocks DC5 or a 1SpotCS6?

That would be an important feature for me with any board I was getting.

13 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I was tempted by that as a stand alone pedal when I am not using my pedalboard, but I still have my B3.

Can you recall when the B3 first came out?

I know it predates the Zoom MS-60B with which it shares the older chip set. I got my (first!) MS-60B when they first came out in early 2013...seemed like a lot of pedal back then, particularly for the size but feels a bit like ancient history now with advent of the Stomp - which I must work out how to switch on some time soon 😄

39 minutes ago, operative451 said:

I've failed. Finally got fed up with the level of fiddling required with digital and have pedal versions of the things i use most coming from amazon...!  Fortunately just a decent compressor (Electro Harmonix bass preacher) and a joyo california sound (that i had but sold..!).  And there was the speaker replacement in the amp. But i consider that maintenance...

And the Zoom B3n is up for sale on the effects forum, so that cancels it out, right?

Don't do it...don't do it...don't do it! Don't get rid of your beloved Zoom B3n! 😂

Unless you're gonna be replacing it with the Zoom B1 four / x 😉

Must admit for £70 I really fancy getting that piece of kit as a neat and amazing value headphone amp, with the same DSP power as the B3N; and for another £15 getting the X-rated version with an expression pedal!**

(Btw no pics, even the cut down one of your B3n is showing on your FS thread?)

**ok I guess I need to self-declare as being a gear abstinence troll after that (and several other) comments on this thread. Soz Sibob. Not sure what the punishment is. Probably need to buy an Alembic bass or something...

1 hour ago, krispn said:

If I recall correctly the black labels have bigger pole pieces!

Ok thanks. In which case they must be the original Sandberg pups.

Just found details of typically used Berg pups from his highness, on a related thread, which is a good summary of the options (although tbf there are a lot of former Delano pup users who would say that the description below is being a little kind i.e. they were sterile / tame. But 'hi-fi' works if one is being too polite which those pups definitely were).

On 07/02/2019 at 07:08, Cuzzie said:

Delano - yes more hifi, but not sterile in anyway, transparent in a good way with plenty of oomph.

Haussel - Little German manufacturer, very meaty and quite hot mid focussed jazz pick up, neck solo’d it’s as close to a P as a jazz pick up will get.

Old Sandberg - more vintage sounding, less output, very very nice pick ups. Especially nice if you like pedals with pre-amps in as they are hot enough to be good on their own, but not too hot that they do not then fight with a pedal to over power it if that makes sense. Very easy to sculpt a sound.

Black labels - blew my socks off - it’s like the Old Sandberg’s with More chutzpah, very punchy, great sound - sort of like all the best bits of the aforementioned ones rolled into a pick up. Played a TM2 before and after - transformed it.

If those had been Black Label pups, I'd have been very tempted to get the VM5 advertised as Bax are currently retailing them for £1,175.

[duplicate post]

Sandberg-experts (S-experts? 😉), and that certainly includes you Mr C(!),  are these the famed 'black label' pups on this VM5?

The retailer provides a pretty useless description accompanying the description on their site!

Hmmm...I'd best go quickly get myself a 'Berg then 😂

Btw - don't include me in the anti-Ric camp. I was actually very impressed when I picked one for the first time a couple of years back. Certainly blew the other leading bass (ok it was a couple of Laklands) that I was comparing it to, out the water in terms of tonal versatility and simply really good sound, and not what I'd gone in expecting. 

1 minute ago, prowla said:

I mean the lacquer. 

But I would put my 2010 4003 against anything else for quality too. 

Hah! Well you've laid down the challenge and I guess we've got a budget of up to around £2k to play with, if we're comparing like with like.

So how about a Sandberg California TM4 then for starters? In terms of lacquer and, in fact, finish generally, it was pretty flawless!

4 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Before going too far, get some requirements nailed down from the guys that are going to use this.

I think with a 'cutting' edge product it's going to be hard to get folk to engage until they can see what a prototype is capable of.

This will, I suspect, evolve with time into the Mk II and Mk III.

1 hour ago, prowla said:

Rics have the best finish of any production bass.

When you say 'finish' do you mean the 'look' of the bass (on that subject, each to their own) or did you mean the quality control / way it's been put together? In which case I'd say that was a BIG claim!

15 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I am sure that may be true, but I had a VM Jazz before and it wasn't as good as the CV P. But then this CV P i picked over a mexican P fender, so maybe I just got lucky with this one. Obviously the other option is finding a neck but I think that is even less likely

Would you consider getting the neck (professionally?) 'trimmed' to give it more of a Jazz neck feel? 

1 hour ago, Allaboutthebass said:

Missed it. That will teach me, I should have got it before we had the BBQ. Oh well, i'm sure another will turn up.....

Snooze over a BBQ... but what a great way to be spending Easter on a day like today! 😎 

Well you could maybe console yourself with an almost new BB734A in the FS,  which is on for a good price. I suspect you may love it

Interestingly the BB5000A that Andy mentioned a few posts back doesn't seem to be shifting quite so quickly... 

1 hour ago, M@23 said:

My BBP35 is up for sale, if anyone is looking 😭

If I could afford to keep it and get something else I would, but early onset OA at the tender age of 32 means I need to get a bass made of helium. 

Gutted! 

Really sorry to hear about the OA Mark, that's rough.

On 20/04/2019 at 13:50, Cuzzie said:

Here’s a question for you - what’s the difference between an active bass and a passive bass really, especially considering there may be pre-amps used after the actual bass. Is there much of a difference between a passive bass and external pre-amp and an active bass and internal pre-amp except twiddling knobs on the bass or on a pedal with potentially more powerful parameters? Pretty sure it took myself or another couple chaps I know wiping your nose that a bass you owned worked in both active an passive mode - forgot that now makes you the don on all proceedings active in the bass world

Is owning a Yammy bass a pre-requisite to be on the thread? One could argue that although you ‘own’ a lot of stuff, the amount of use it gets you may as well not, so maybe you shouldn’t be on those threads (I love the amount of patches and tips you’ve uploaded to the Future Impact and Helix treads by the way - stellar work) or even considering advice on your myriad of ‘creative’ things. FYI had a fiddle around and helped to repair a Yammy bass recently.

Gigging - yep, you gig more than me 👏🏿. I’ll ask your advice on how best to set the EQ flat if I need it.

When you stop copy pasting and regurgitating other peoples opinions often incorrectly, and form some of your own that aren’t reading a spec sheet, happy for you to toddle back.

Otherwise - yes dear....

Be nice to Cuzzie. Be nice to Cuzzie. Be nice to Cuzzie. Be nice to Cuzzie... 

1 hour ago, Marcoelwray said:

All these SR's.... I want one back so bad... I had one for 15 years.

First thing I'll change on it the pickups... These new Times Square are so good! Should fit a SR like a charm!

Swapping the Nordstrand pups out on the SR Premium range would be an expensive and totally retrograde step in my opinion. YMMV etc.!😎 

6 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

I forgot you knew exactly what I did and what my gear is, you must remind of your stuff again, not sure I’ve seen it.......

Of course you could be honing your craft and sound or perpetuating errors we’ll never know

Haha, you must be getting old if you're forgetting so quickly. 

But seriously Cuzzie, correct me if I'm wrong on any of the following: you play your basses almost exclusively in passive mode, you don't own a Yammy bass and you're not actively gigging?

So dishing out advice to someone who's doing the opposite on all three counts would seem a bit odd to me. 

On a more serious note: being able to tweak EQ knobs beats presets on a Stomp, every time, when you have several gigging basses plus a couple of different cabs and here's the killer point: different venues and three different band line ups. 

Try programming that on a Stomp! 

32 minutes ago, krispn said:

Your epitaph would be more fitting if it read

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it program a Stomp!"

Haha! (Except I've avoided horses as well. Apparently 4 times deadlier than motorbikes in terms of serious injuries). 

58 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Yep, having different EQ’s/set ups even for the same bass at the push of a button, instead of twiddling dials to find the ‘sweet spot’ can take an immense amount of time.....

When you play more than one gig a year, get back to me on that. 

1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

Not sure how many paper rounds are left now, certainly in rural areas such as where I live.

I loved my Alembic dearly, and it pained me to part with it, but I had too many 4 stringers, and storage plus insurance costs are a problem. That's the second gig I've played with the 1206 (we don't gig too often) and it feels quite a natural bass to play, and sounds great. Would be even greater with an East pre in it, but even John East had to admit defeat on that one. He told me that he has something in the pipeline that ought to fit, though.

Yeah know what you mean about lusting after a John East Pre. 

Seems that the Ibby 1206 isn't the only bass that's defeated ol' John boy from installing his preamps from my recent discourse on the Yammy thread! 

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

This is why you should stick to passive basses Al. If I'm not happy with my preamp I just use a different pedal and don't have to concern myself with what will fit inside my bass!

27 minutes ago, krispn said:

I’ve maybe mentioned this before with access to the parametric eq on the Stomp you could ‘recreate’ the on-board preamps of all the major after market manufacturers if you know the set points of their preamps. Then a patch could be made with eq only and saved as per each unit i.e. ‘East Uni-Pre’ etc. Or alternatively in snapshot mode you could save the same basic eq but have the mid set point differently so you have access to perhaps a 250Hz or 440Hz or 700Hz bump with a few dB’s boost already applied and have these names to a particular bass so on a gig you have instant access to the boosted eq. Snapshot mode is very clever!

Based on what you already like and use it should be a pretty straightforward exercise to set up a boost at 700Hz on a eq patch - a quick a/b test should let you hear how close the two sound and off you go! So for example if you Yamaha PJ benefited from some bass cut or mid boost or you Ibanez sounds better with some high mids tamed just a/b until it’s there and Bingo!

The more elegant solution is of course to buy a new bass, buy a new preamp, pay to (have the cavity potential dug out) fit said pre and use it at the occasional wedding gig.

Banter aside I found the Stomp eq and basic tube preamp to be really useful in getting a great time right off the bat. Snapshot mode enables slight tweaks to suit a different room, different bass etc. if one is happy with the core sound. 

Yup - getting a programmable pre-amp with a setting for each bass I'm using does sound like a good way forward, although less tweakable on the fly, as the Cuzz entirely correctly notes. Helix Stomp, for sure.

Fortunately my post Stone Age (and also post Stone Roses) active basses all have 3 band EQ and they do work well for me.

I appreciate some may question my lack of a decent Attitude here.