Osiris

I've posted on the Harley Benton Mustang thread a picture of my new custom scratch plate from Scratch-It! fitted to my HB.

I've had my HB Mustang for around a month now and around an hour ago my new bespoke scratch plate arrived from Scratch-It! I cannot recommend Tim and Scratch-It enough - first class service, excellent communication, most importantly a good sense of humour, plus prices that are a good chunk cheaper than the couple of places that quoted me for a bog standard plain black plate. My original plan was to get a plain 3 ply black/white/black plate for it as I don't like tort, and the stock plate looked particularly hideous against the sea foam green finish, IMO. But for £40 delivered I have something totally unique and looks fantastic too!

I had the same issue on mine, only a couple of frets mind, and only very minor rough edges, certainly nothing significant. I used some fine grain sand paper and a sanding block, applied it to the neck at a 45 degree angle applying no real pressure, more just making contact with the neck and a couple of passes back and forth, check the rough edges and then a couple more passes. 2 minutes later it was all sorted, no specialist tools required and the neck binding (which I thought might get chewed up by the sand paper) felt silky smooth.

It's up on the Thomann website for order at a reasonable £241 although the date suggests that it won't be in stock for 3 or 4 months yet - https://www.thomann.de/gb/zoom_b2_four.htm As has already been speculated, it looks like a slimmed down version of the B6, which from what I've read, people are saying is a step up in terms of sound quality over the cheap and cheerful B1 Four, no doubt down to it having the latest chipset. But with an XLR output and 6 DI models, and if I understand the display correctly, you can choose up to 6 fx blocks which is more than enough for my needs and probably the majority of us too for usable bass sounds and the off effect or two.

Tort in general makes my eyes bleed upsets my delicate sensibilities but I appreciate a lot of people like it. And yes, it looked particularly nasty of the SFG so I'm waiting for a (mostly) black custom design from Scratch-It, who so far have been nothing but fantastic in terms of customer service as well as significantly cheaper than the quotes I was getting for a bog standard 3 ply black from other companies. I ended up using some fine grade sand paper and a sanding block. Took it slow and easy and after a couple of minutes the rough fret ends - of which there were only a couple and they were only very mildly rough, certainly not to the point that it was worth the faff of sending the bass back - were sorted to my satisfaction. No issues to the neck binding afterwards either. I obviously can't speak for all of the Harley Benton Mustang-a-likes but mine isn't overly heavy, it's noticeably heavier than my Sandberg but not as weighty as my Mustang. Never weighed it so can't give you a figure but mine at least is about what I'd expect in terms of weight, and HB are notorious for some churning out a few heavy instruments, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I picked up a sea foam green one at the start of the year and am really pleased with it. There was a couple of minor issues with mine, it was a bit noisy and there were a couple of rough fret edges, but an hour so's work and it's spot on now - and I tend to be a bit kack-handed when it comes to doing jobs like that but it's perfect for my needs now. I'm just waiting for a custom made scratch plate to arrive before gigging it as I think tort looks hideous, but each to their own. It'll be gigging alongside a pair of other basses that each cost 7 or 8 times as much but in terms of feel I think it holds its own, and I won't be so precious about it on the more lively gigs either! Several people have bemoaned the lack of pickup blend but I really like the sound of it, I dropped the bridge pickup a bit so the tone is more 60:40 neck:bridge and really like the sound, it's very clean and clear and has its own voice. I did intend to add a blend pot to mine too and although I might do just that at some point I don't feel any pressing need to do it ASAP.

I've had several Sandbergs over the years and all have been consistently excellent in terms of construction, feel and tone. A few years ago a knackered nerve in my wrist forced me into playing short scales exclusively of which I now own 4. The Sandberg Lionel short scale is lightest of the bunch by a noticeable margin, it has a ash body which I'd guess is what keeps the weight down. No idea what it actually weighs but I'd guess it's not much more than 3Kg. This isn't a super light model either! Build quality and playability are all top notch. While it has a traditional split coil P pickup it sits 10-15mm closer to the bridge than on my Mustang, as such if you want that classic Precision sound you need to play over or to the neck side of the pickup. Playing in the traditional just behind the pickup gives a more modern tone, still with a P-esque vibe but very much it's own voice, it has more clarity and definition but without sounding sterile like some modern basses do, IMO. At the risk of making the lovely @Adeecry, it has a hint of the clarity you get from a Stingray but without the overbearing nasal mids you get from a ray. @Lozz196if you're ever in the Wellingborough area you're welcome to drop in to take it for a test drive 👍

Just received a mixer bag from Simon that he was graciously giving away. Can't fault him or the transaction 👍

You really need to understand compression to apply it and use it correctly. That is the important thing to remember with compression. You need to really understand it, the interaction of the different controls and what they are doing. My suspicion is that people buy a compressor pedal and assume it will be as obvious as a drive or delay, and when they don't get night and day results they dismiss them. But it's not an effect as such, more of a way of controlling your signal, so it's better to think of it more like a tool like you would EQ and high pass filtering. So can I respectfully ask you go and do your homework and then try again. You'll be amazed what compression can do for your tone, dynamics and feel once it is properly applied.

PM'd.

The Boss CS3 Compression Sustainer is misleadingly named, it's not a compressor as such, it's a sustainer. A sustainer is a compressor with a really low threshold which means that even at minimum settings it flattens your entire signal - and you only add more squash by cranking it up. It's designed to add extra sustain to your playing, so ideally suited to guitar solos but not a lot else, unless you like that super flat feel as an effect. A compressor with an adjustable threshold that goes high enough to only control the peaks is a very different beast altogether and way more useful on bass.

Unfortunately that's an urban myth that refuses to die. See this very insightful article by a chap who knows way more about compression than many of will ever know - Killed my tone (ovnilab.com) Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be antagonistic or out to upset you, it's just a common misunderstanding that keeps rearing its ugly head Compression has been covered to death on Basschat and is a very divisive subject but let's not open that can of worms again.

Just received a foot switch from Christian in a quick and easy deal. The foot switch itself was immaculate and a bargain price, he was prompt and friendly on comms and it was on my doorstep in no time!

I've just received one of the new cheap and cheerful Harley Benton Mustang basses and am really pleased with it, first impressions are great. The only gripe is a couple of very minor rough fret edges on one edge of the fretboard, nothing serious but there none the less. When I've encountered this on a bass before I've simply taken one of those little sanding blocks to it and a minute or two later it's all sorted. But as the neck on the HB is bound, is this likely to affect the binding in any way? Is there a more scientific method for dealing with this issue on a bound neck? Just to be clear, this is to do with a couple of rough fret edges on the 'floor side' edge of the fretboard, not high frets that require levelling. Indeed the fretwork is otherwise flawless on this cheap and cheerful bass, pretty much like the rest of the instrument going by first impressions!

The Magellan preamp is an excellent, extremely versatile but really simple to use and virtually impossible to get a bad sound from. I say that as someone who has been using the amp since 2017 and have gigged and rehearsed with it numerous times with 3 different bands, and it has never failed to deliver an excellent sound. And I can't see how this pedal won't deliver the same flexibility and sound quality. Unfortunately it lacks the fantastic drive channel of the Magellan 800 which would have been the icing on the cake for me, it's arguably the most convincing valve emulation out there rather than a typical pedal style overdrive or distortion, but Genzler currently offer two different drive pedals and they have added an adjustable HPF instead which is a more than generous trade off. Most of my gigs are using IEM's these days and while I'm happy with my current preamp pedal I'm still tempted to pick one of these up at some point.

Me again, I've just received another quality cable from John and as before it was a great price with speedy delivery. I can highly recommend his cable making services to other Basschatters.

Lobster has just posted the first of his mod videos for the new Harley Benton PJ Mustang style bass, this mod allows you to solo the P pickup without needing to undertake any major surgery, just adding a new pot that a quick look online suggests will cost you around £15.

I have one of the diddy Broughton always on units and can't recommend it enough. No idea what the slope is and don't really care either because it works brilliantly but not too abruptly that it sounds unnatural. The always on version doesn't have the frequencies marked on the case like some of the other versions he makes but I run it between 25-35%~ish depending on the bass and room, and it really tightens up and focuses the lows.

I keep eyeing one up too, don't need one but I'm still tempted 😃

Yes, I'm sure I have read somewhere too (although I can't remember where) that it can be used as 2 independent compressors so you could have one at the start of the signal chain, then another at the end. I think that's pretty standard with these SA pedals in that you can configure 2 effects independently that can either be run in series or parallel.

Yes, the black is cool but I currently own 3 basses and they're all black so I fancy something different Not sure the shell pink is me, the baby blue looks like a cheap JMJ Mustang - which it is, and sunburst is hideous, IMO. So that leaves the BM or SFG, I'd be happy with either, or both if they're as good as I hope!

It's good to know you're (mostly) impressed, I can see one of the new HB shorties heading my way in the new year, either a burgundy mist one like yours or a sea foam green one

There doesn't look to be a huge amount of information online about these but the product page for them on the Ashdown website lists them as 34", shame as I'd love one in a 30" scale! https://ashdownmusic.com/products/the-saint

Is this an extract from the 2023 National Socialist manifesto?

Giving someone recommended settings for a compressor is always a tough one as there's so many variables such as how hard you play, the output of the bass, whether there's anything else going on in the signal chain, plus loads of other factors. But I'm happy to try to give you some pointers but these are generalisations and you'll need to fine tune them to optimise them for your set up. First up, the Enhancer control. I personally don't like it, it adds an artificial edge to the treble, scoops the mids, and adds a fair bit of hiss. I keep it off but if you like what it does then adjust to taste, but less is more with it, IMO. Volume, I set mine to unity so that it's the same volume whether on or off. I leave the pedal on all the time but don't want to overload anything further on by adding a volume boost. Ratio and Threshold are the tricky ones. For me and the way I play the optimum ratio setting is at around 10 to 11 o'clock~ish, this setting keeps the signal consistent, adds some weight to the overall tone but still allows plenty of dynamics. The Ratio controls how much the signal is compressed once it hits the threshold. I've no idea what the actual ratio is at these settings as it's not printed on the pedal but having used lots of comps over the years it feels like it's around 3:1 to 4:1~ish which is perfect for most bass applications. Threshold is the most difficult to get right as this sets the point at which the compression works on the signal. With the Threshold fully counter clockwise you at the lowest threshold which will squash everything you play. The more you turn the control clockwise the more the threshold is raised, meaning the hotter the signal needs to be to cross the threshold. In short, the minimum control position, 7 o'clock, is the threshold maxed out flattening everything, and the control fully open is the minimum/off setting. A good rule of thumb is adjust the threshold so that it catches the peaks but lets the 'normal' signal level through. There's no metering on the LMB so you need to do this by ear and that's something you have to get a feel for. Keep playing with it until you feel the sound tightening up but not getting overly squashed. For me this is around 3 o'clock~ish on my hottest bass, closer to 2 o'clock for my other basses. But the right setting for you is something you'll need to work for yourself, keep tweaking until you get there Hope this helps 👍