Drax

Sounds counterintuitive but like @Lozz196 I was up for the idea in principle but in practice found 2 separate single bags much easier to carry, fit in a car, stash at gig etc.. 

Some backstory - the bass started life as matte black. I didn't appreciate the default Maruszczyk matte finish is without grain filler, and to me it looked and felt like a 1980's MFI sideboard. Terry Chapman (TJC Guitars) did the excellent refin. He's the reason the M logo is parrallel with the tuners, not the neck

2 hours ago, aldude said:

Drax you absolute legend!!!  I guess you are the original commissioner of this bass?  Thanks for the spec list, I would have had no idea!  (Save for what I remember, but my memory is terrible.)

 

And you're right, it plays like a dream, I would definitely keep it if I could, but I am at my limit of the number of basses I'm allowed to own!

No worries - yep was my build and sold thru BD far too soon after receiving.. ! Gigged it a few times and it was an absolute cracker. Sold on to fund a GAS attack.. standard. Glad it's been much loved. Have PM'd you. 

Ah there she is  

it’s a great spec worth shouting about if you’re selling .. 

Haussel JJ, John East uni pre 4 

Hipshot ultralites, A-style bridge 18mm 

24 fret, roasted birds eye maple neck, carbon rods, Ebony board 

Swamp ash body, 8lbs ish 

Built Feb 19. 

Was the last 4 string I played.. if I’d specced as 5 would still own it.

Recently found all the documentation , folder etc. Buyer PM me and I’ll stick it in the post. 

Here Comes the Sun is the most played tune on Spotify.. 

One big upside today is bands who wouldn't have got a deal under the 'old' system, can self promote and sell internationally in a way no-one could before, Bandcamp etc. 

The one constant of the music industry since it started is the musicans themselves are quite far down the list when it comes to getting paid. Rare to come across anyone in the industry who pre streaming felt they were getting a good deal. 

Interesting piece by David Hepworth on Spotify payments thought worth posting, not just for the points raised but also that it's from 2011.. 10 years on and it's the same issues and debate today. 

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"Got paid £8 for 90,000 plays. F**k Spotify." That was a tweet the other day from the musician/producer Jon Hopkins. You can see how opening an envelope containing that royalty statement might catch you on the raw. Apparently an increasing number of smaller labels are removing their music from the streaming service because the revenues aren't worth it and they fear that it could have a detrimental effect on the sales of their CDs.

I'm not seeking to press Spotify's case but how big would the cheque have to be to make Jon Hopkins think it was worth persevering with them. Double? Triple? Ten times bigger? At what point does it seem about the right sum of money? Presumably at a point where Spotify decide they no longer want to deal with the Jon Hopkins of the world and will stick to Lady Gaga.

This kind of thing's happening all the time at the moment. In the days of scarce physical product prices were high and the winners could make money. Now we're in the world of digital product, frictionless communication and limitless supply even the rest of the field are achieving numbers and numbers make people think they should be earning money which is commensurate with those numbers. But it doesn't work like that. Writers are getting paid far less money (if they're getting any money at all) to have their work read by far more people on a blog than they would have got for having it read by a relatively small readership in a paid paper product.

Nobody knows anymore what the numbers signify. Presumably those 90,000 plays aren't the equivalent of 90,000 plays on a radio station big or small. (With traditional mechanical payments you get a lot more for having your song played on Radio Two than you would for having it played on a small local station.) Presumably 90,000 represents the number of times any one individual has accessed the stream on which the artist's song can be found. What's the average number of individuals it would take to generate that kind of activity? This 90,000 presumably includes a handful of people who listen to one song obsessively and a lot more people who just click once out of curiosity and never go back. It's not 90,000 fans. It's not even 90,000 listeners. It's 90,000 clicks.

If you sold 90,000 records you might expect to have done quite well. And you'd have reason to believe that you might be on your way to selling 250,000 records. You'd be some kind of a hit. If you'd had your record played just once on a radio station with 90,000 listeners you'd expect to get, well, eight pounds?

There'll be a lot of opinion on here, popular basses. 

Owned few 1st and 2nd gen, also P7. Best for playability has been V3 2nd gen 5er by some margin. Luck of the draw but also the lightest of all Sires I've owned. 

Differences; Standard vs 'Super-J' pickups. Standard vs Premium tuners. Std vs Heavy Mass bridge. None of these to my ears move the dial. Also prefer the dots not blocks. 

Same pre amp. Same neck and body build. Identical finish , my V3 had the best fretwork of them all. 

For £320 it's the same bass day to day on sound and feel. Passive with flats as good as any MIA jazz I've owned. 

If you're set on the look of V7 go for it, but from what I've played that's really the only reason to spend more. 

7 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

I can't think of another industry where a manufacturer could make basically the same product for 70 years with nothing more than minor tweaks. 

Bic biro ! 

11 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

That is the logic of a luthier I know. Tape up the bass case and hope the courier isn't a belligerent idiot.

That's some hope 

36 minutes ago, Ian McFly said:

How can one prove that a truss rod issue is a manufacturing issue? And not the consequence of some mis-usage? It is impossible, it’s usually your word against theirs.... 

You assume serious truss rod fails early on are so rare for any manufacturer they will fix on goodwill, not debate blame with their customer.  

*Not saying Maruszczyk don’t do this btw, have not trawled past examples 

Also , gig volume demos?! 

Over the years I’ve had pedals sound great at home but then totally different (worse) once cranked to proper volume. 

A lot of work to execute, which I guess is why no one does it. Would be great USP for someone’s channel. 

When you’re in the market for a particular pedal the most useful reviews are the A/B shootout, switching between different variants of the same pedal - be that from different manufacturers, or different editions from same manufacturer. Janek did a good one like this on the OC5 against OC2. 

Having someone demo just a single pedal in isolation is ok, but with so many other variables (bass, strings, recording chain , playing style ) it helps to have the direct comparison all in one setting.  

Also always have the pedal settings permanently displayed in a corner window. 

Some interesting stuff in there, not seen that before. 
Won’t be long before we see ‘one of the sought after Ash bodied..’ appearing in second hand ads. 

Genuinely never heard someone on here say they wouldn’t buy a bass because they don’t like how the brand runs it’s sales and marketing. 

Can’t help feel this entire thread and strength of opinion would not have surfaced if they’d only launched with a regular Sadowsky headstock logo! 

4 hours ago, Daz39 said:

So many pole pieces!!

Well it is from Poland .. 

Have that beer 🍺 

You couldn’t buy a bass today with a ‘flimsy’ bridge if you tried, and you’d have to be especially unlucky to have any reliability issues at all. 

Rest assured you really won’t use the extra frets, that’s what your guitar is for  .

Safest bet starting out is just buy the bass you like the look of the most. 

Anything is worth it if you can afford and it makes you happy. 

Great basses, you don't see these come up much. GLWTS 

On 24/02/2021 at 08:41, horrorshowbass said:

Drax, how do the super doubles sound? Vintage/modern? Aggressive or warm etc?

So.. terms all very subjective but they're just well balanced, quite neutral. Fat punch when you dig in, not scooped. Slight cop out to say you can get a blend P / J / MM out of them. 

Ibanez preamp is more clean, modern. Also had them in a Roscoe with OPB3 and they were warmer. Not better just different. 

This review was helpful when I bought the Ibanez, good example of how they sound in it. 

More +1s here for Bill Withers Carnegie Hall and Live After Death. 

Jaco , Birthday Concert is a special album. 

So many great jazz albums are live. Bill Evans , Montreaux 68 a regular favourite here. 

Had one of these for a while. Aguilar SuperDoubles are killer! GLWTS 

1 hour ago, inthedoghouse said:

  I seem to remember that Joan Armatrading was supporting and I enjoyed her set.  She had a heckler that she dealt with very well, if my memory serves me correctly.

Joan Armour-plating as she's known in the industry. Doesn't take any sh*t from her band either.. 

So many gigs.. More gigs left early than stayed to the end I reckon. 

Notable - and these are all bands I love 

Motorhead, Hammersmith, 2000 ish. Just boring, didn't even make it to Bomber.  

Primus, Brixton. 2 sets, greatest hits (half full) , then the entire chocolate factory album. Walking out at start of 2nd half past crowds coming in thinking they've only missed the support band. 

Gong, many times. You never knew what Gong you were going to get.. 

Also in the age of stadium / arena gigs, and Setlist.FM, depressingly you can see exactly what the set is going to be before you go, so there's no surprises to hang around for.. not like leaving a football match early..