Musicman20

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Try both amps first. I have personally tried a few different all tube amps, like the normal Ampeg CL and VR, and luckily they had an Orange AD200 Mk3 on hand to A/B them.[/font] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Orange, IMO, ticked all the boxes. It just seemed to be a much more 'exciting' tone compared to the Ampeg, which sounded quite dull, and was when Ampeg had problems with their Vietnamese untis. [/font] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I have heard of Matamps superior build, but its is down to personal taste. Each unit is usually built around that customers needs, so some won't sound like what you want. I tried out a bands Matamp (GT200 I presume) and the drive on it definitely wasn't for me, but it did sound good, and looked superb. There is a youtube clip with a demo just of the GT200, and that again didn't excite me in terms of dirt/tube grind. I pretty much know for a fact that if I went to Matamp, which I might do in the future, they could build it so that drive is SPOT on.[/font] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]In terms of volume, they are all loud. I used my AD200b Mk3 with an Orange OBC115 and NOTHING else with a P bass with an extremely heavy hardcore band, and it sounded stunning. The whole band said 'that low end is insane'....it just buzz sawed through the mix (because I cranked the gain to 2/3) and also provided a fat pillow to the quite 'toppy' sounding guitars.[/font] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]This makes me want to go home and play it....[/font]

Supply/demand. They have a large waiting list. Bear in mind the majority of Fodera owners are either professionals who play for a living, or those who are on extremely healthy salaries, (unheard of these days!).

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1328476029' post='1527813'] Bongos def do not do the ray sound [/quote] Not dead on, no, but its in the same ballpark (basically it sounds like an EBMM Humbucker!)

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1328458182' post='1527326'] HS and HH gives you the jazz and P sort of sounds but if you wanted those you'd get a P or a jazz right??? [/quote] Its close, but still Musicman DNA...lets face it, all Musicman basses sound like a Musicman no matter what the pups/EQ configuration. The bridge H sounds EXACTLY the same no matter what with a Stingray H, or HS, or HH...the extra pups don't make any difference. What they do is give you more tone and flexibility....which is not a bad thing considering the upcharge isn't much.

[quote name='Skezza' timestamp='1328458430' post='1527332'] The one Im most drawn to is the Bongo and I assume the HBs cannot be split as there is only a blend control. Do the bongos do the stingray sound? skez [/quote] The HH Bongo has different pickup placement to the 'Classic EBMM' tone...the H bridge is further back thus sounds more bitey, mid-rangey, etc. It does still sorta do a Stingray tone IMO....you can tell its a Musicman no problem! The H Bongo only has a 3 band EQ (I say only....its just a different flavour) so the H Bongo is basically very Stingray-ish as the pickup is in the classic sweetspot. It will sound much more modern and clean compared to a Stingray as it has a massive 18V pre-amp and neo pups. Very very clear tone! If you get the Piezo single H, then you get a 4 band EQ as well. All HH and HS Bongo's, whether Piezo or not, are 4 band. You can't get the single coils from the humbuckers on a Bongo...unless you get the HS...and that's only the neck pickup....as you cannot get the bridge humbucker to split into a single. The problem with 2008-onwards Stingray 5's in H (and H only) is that the selector isn't as exciting as it used to be. That selector now does series, parallel, and something else....but NO single coil at the bridge. A Sterling 4 and 5 WILL allow you to do this in single H...just because of the way they are. To give you a brief rundown, the Sterling uses ceramic magnets and the Stingray 4 and now 5 uses alnico. The Stingray 5 used to use ceramic as well for a period. When they designed the Sterling 5, they essentially took the Stingray 5 ceramic pup and elecs and put it into the Sterling, thus making the whole Sterling series 'match', and the whole Stingray series 'match'. This is when its useful to know which year of Stingray 5 you are testing. Anything 2008 - = classic alnico tone. BUT, make sure you pickup a HS if you want to be able to use single coils for Jaco type stuff or a P bass type tone at the neck.

The H versions of Ray 5 and Sterling 4/5 all have pickup selector switches. The Stingray 4 H does not. Once you get into double pups, they have selectors anyway. The Bongo has a blend control to go between the two pups. The best Stingray 5, for me, would be a Stingray 5 HS or HH; the single H does have a selector but the changes aren't as significant as it doesn't allow a single coil alone at the bridge. On the other hand, the Sterling 5 H will! There is a lot of differences...what tone and shape do you want?

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1328390557' post='1526436'] At 30, I'm probably among the last age group to really 'do' record shops. I remember loooking for rare bootlegs at Kensington Market, or waiting a month for HMV to get in that single I ordered. Of course, you can find them in seconds on the internet, but it does take out a lot of the fun. [/quote] +1, I'm the same age. I miss the excitement.

Everything that is good about a Jazz is there....

The MAX amps seem to be priced really low in the USA.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1328308005' post='1525486'] Ah right couldn't watch Max and Paddy thought it was sh*te. [/quote] Can't beat M&P or Phoenix Nights. Well, Partridge edges it suppose.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1328304865' post='1525402'] Was VAT not like 15% in Tatchers day? [/quote] Tis just a joke...somewhere on here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Xd7e14FHA

Thatcher's Britain!

I don't know why I'm imagining owning one...very bizarre! Back to the topic...new Dingwalls!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1328275681' post='1524776'] I insure all my stuff [/quote] As do I, but there is a limit as to what they will payout. So i'd have to 'up' the insurance.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1328275356' post='1524770'] Bass worth more than the takings in till [/quote] ...I figure if you play bass as a living, or have it heavily insured, that absolutely fine. But I still wouldn't bring it out to some of the pubs I've played in the past.

[quote name='Toasted' timestamp='1328269620' post='1524656'] Basses are for playing [/quote] True, but £4K might be a tad on the risky side depending on the venue!

I wouldn't dare gig it unless I knew I could replace it! Would look a bit too flashy for a local pub gig!

Its a great idea, was it mentioned that these will be cheaper than the Bass Terror?

Woah, looks futuristic! A bit too much for my tastes, but stunning none the less. I quite like the Super P shape.

[quote name='mcgraham' timestamp='1328087546' post='1521451'] Mm20, can I urge you to look at the Microkorg [u][b]XL [/b][/u]rather than the Microkorg? I was going to do EXACTLY the same as you but the shop assistant in the store who also happened to be a bass player and had more experience with both models (price difference was about a tenner before you ask) showed me what else the microkorg could do, and also explained the lineage of the two models. The XL is the successor to the standard Microkorg, they just haven't discontinued it. The XL has an internal synth module that is a marginally reduced size version of their fully fledged RADIAS engine in their larger £1-2k priced keyboards. The standard Microkorg has MIDI, as does the XL, but the XL ALSO has USB-midi so you can connect directly to your computer without a MIDI interface for software editing of the patches. It has more up-to-date software for software synth editing of the patches - search on YT for demos of it. The software is very very useable and is graphical enough to make it easy to visualise what you are actually accomplishing with the sounds. The XL is also easier on the eyes and more pleasingly tactile in operation than the standard one. It genuinely does EVERYTHING the standard does, but has a bit more under the hood, despite having slightly less on the dash. For the sake of a few quid I'd strongly recommend getting the XL. I can also talk you through how I've been tweaking mine, share patches, etc. I'm sure we could do that even if you got the Microkorg standard, but there may be instances where you won't be able to do something on the standard. Re: Moog little phatty - it's great, but it's not exactly small. If all you're looking to do is fulfil the role of the bass in a band (as I am most of the time, though the bass is often a driving force and the riff-maker in a lot of my groups) then I can assure you the Microkorg standard or XL will do a fantastic job for far less money and something around the size and weight of a PT mini. [/quote] HI! Thanks for the advice. I don't know why I didn't put the 'XL' next to my description, as it definitely seems to be the one to opt for. As I will be looking to get a recording interface in the near future, a synth like the XL is definitely more suitable. I don't currently have a laptop, and I wouldn't want to have to take one to a gig all the time anyway. We will eventually get a nice Macbook, but for now, the iMac is doing everything brilliantly. Appreciate the advice. It seems you are taking it from the same position as I would...eg a bass player playing synth for certain lines/songs/sets.

[quote name='Legion' timestamp='1328127434' post='1522410'] Here we go.... [/quote] It's alright, Im safe...money tied up with a P bass return so not going to happen. Probably a good thing!