Passinwind

4 hours ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

I don't even use an amp anymore, I think you're on to something with the idea that there was too much going on, Stingray straight into a mixing desk sounds awesome, for me with anything passive I'd need to send the signal through something first, as most people do. 

I do that too sometimes and love how it sounds and feels. I also build my own amps and all of them are optimized for my active basses, which have my own preamps in them. For me it's all about having a tightly integrated system.

Excellent!

My old living room bass rig, missing another rack or two:

DIY bass head and DIY preamp/power amp:

Another old bass rig, big blue thing is a homemade tube preamp:

1 hour ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

I find passive basses lifeless, even my double bass goes straight into an active preamp.

Yep. None of my basses even have a bypass to passive switch installed. And the closer the preamp is to an URB the better, in my book.

On 05/03/2019 at 12:47, skankdelvar said:

Is it my imagination or am I seeing fewer reliced instruments out there? Fewer manufacturers offering 'road worn' options? A shortage of eBay chancers with belt sanders?

Just wondering.

 

I think it's mostly your imagination, although I'm definitely not a big fan. One luthier friend of mine charges less for his relic models, since they take considerably less time to finish. The first time I took one back to my shop for some electronics work he handed it to me without a case or bag: "What are you gonna do, scratch it?" 

On 08/03/2019 at 03:10, wateroftyne said:

How many bass heads use Powersoft technology?

Tec Amp used to, but found other Class D solutions to work better for them.

9 hours ago, Soledad said:

Pleased I asked this - some very fine examples of applications here. Could be some really nice alternatives to bubinga to be had. I don't like bubinga - it stinks when you work it (like zebrano) - it's the wood's way of telling you it was happier where it was, in the forest. And it appears several species are protected now anyway.

 

My friend Marco also uses dyed and stabilized wood quite a bit. One of my Marco Basses has a spalted maple fingerboard that looks a lot like ebony, for instance. That might just drive CITES inspectors mad, is that a plus or a minus?

6 hours ago, Bass Culture said:

Question from an ignoramus here - are 'torrefied', 'roasted' and 'thermally modified' all one and the same thing?

Ad-speak mostly, as someone else already inferred. Throw in "pyrolyzed" or "pyrolized" as well.

7 hours ago, converse320 said:

Well we need to start using local timbers, and that neck looks great.    Wincing at the sight of that bass facedown on the concrete though.

Marco takes a lot of flak for how he does those promo pics. He has little foam pads that he cut out specifically for that purpose, the basses are not scratched up from it at all. But yeah, it still makes me wince too, even though I've seen how the sausage is made!

My friend Marco Cortes (Marco Bass Guitars) has been messing around with torrefied wood for a few years in his bass builds. Here's a roasted ash neck on one of his Fender-ish models:

I had that bass here for a few weeks for a preamp install, it sounds and feels quite fab.

On 26/12/2018 at 02:29, chris_b said:

You buy a bass and it either works for you or it doesn't. If you bought the wrong thing, don't bother to hate it, sell it and make a better choice next time.

 

Yep. Here are my only non-keepers, over 45+ years of playing:

60s EB-O

70s Guild Starfire

Early 70s Fender Jazz

None of those hung around for even two years. The Guild and the Fender both had substantial neck issues, and I didn't like either one nearly enough to pony up for the needed repairs, or even to try buying another example of those brands.

And then my '77 Travis Bean fretless, which I always loved the sound of, but eventually the weight just got to be too much for this old geezer. Sold it after 40 years of great enjoyment, with no real regrets.

56 minutes ago, ped said:

Bit weird how they think anyone would need an Elf combo, it’s not like the amp doesn’t fit in your pocket anyway - a combo just makes it less portable surely?!

Yep, but some of us would just like a single unit to sit at a practice space somewhere, be super easy to lend out, etc. Personally, I'd rather have the head section live in a cab rather than a fabric bag of some sort. But for me that only applies to practice gear, which is what the Elf would potentially  be for me, especially if only coupled with a single 8 or 10.

19 hours ago, ahpook said:

Wow, what a singer !

 

Reminds me of Flora Purim quite a bit.

22 hours ago, ChrisLovatt said:

Hi all,

Thought this might be an interesting discussion, does anyone else name their instruments?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nope, and I don't assign gender to them either.

On 29/01/2019 at 23:49, Rich said:

Negative GAS? So that means you really really want to get rid of it..?

Close...I would be quite happy to get rid of two others now. Two or three bass guitars is the absolute max I could ever see wanting for myself. I didn't ask for the new one, although if it had already been made like that and I saw it I just might have been GAS afflicted. And now that I have it, it's clearly already my #1. My friend knows me very well and he also played my former #1 a few times before he started this project.

3 hours ago, tauzero said:

Ah, got it now. I was indeed looking at the Forte. So, an extra 300W that I wouldn't use and three times as heavy and as bulky as my Puma 900 - not one for me, but we're all different. Mostly.

Yep, different strokes. I've shown a few amps at NAMM that are similar in size to the B|Amp and user feedback was extremely positive. Not all of us want to put our amp in a gig bag with an instrument.

Several years ago the Forte HP or your Puma would have been quite attractive to me, but now even a 300 watt amp is pretty serious overkill for my playing situations. In any case, the B|Amp I heard at NAMM a year or two ago was truly outstanding, and I can't think of many company owners who know their market better than Jim Bergantino. The fact that he does so much of the engineering himself is just icing on the cake.

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

Looking at the Forte, isn't it basically a B|Amp without the bits that made the B|Amp unique, ie. another lightweight bass amp that doesn't manage to be as light or as small as its competitors?

 

He's talking the Forte HP, not the older Forte. If you don't count 400+ extra watts and actually want deep menu driven programming, perhaps so. It's not exactly a big heavy thing for being a 1200 watt unit though, really. Personally, I greatly prefer that form factor, the controls are just too cluttered and close together for my taste on many of the "micro" ones.

10 minutes ago, ped said:

Yeah a bit. Never really go for the 'hype' though. 

One thing struck me as amusing though - the Chinese company who make copies of loads of basses had a stand there... one copy they produce is a Rickenbacker. I hope they were near the Rickenbacker stand. I'd love to have seen JH's face.

The vast majority of those knockoff vendors are downstairs in Hall E. Different ones come and go year to year, nothing really new there. But yeah, one kind of has to wonder about how well Mr. Hall's blood pressure meds are working.

I skipped going to the show this year, three in a row was sufficient for my wants and needs. I watched a lot of people playing through stuff I built via live vids from my friend's booth, and greatly enjoyed having access to a volume control. My friend gave me a really nice fretless a few weeks before NAMM, so I'm in negative GAS mode if anything.

On 15/01/2019 at 01:45, Bluewine said:

Well, you were 10 years old when they hit big world wide, that's old enough. However, if your not a fan of or have an interest the White Album, I think it would be boring.

Blue

I was a fairly avid fan up until the White Album. It's still a great album, but nowhere near my favorite, and after that I completely tuned out. I generally tend to like the first 2-3 albums for most rock acts more than later ones, for whatever reason. But with the Beatles that didn't really hold true. Anyhow, might as well get the T shirt too:

Fretless 4, fretted 5 if bass guitars. I can do much less on the fretted 5, since I've been playing fretless 4s for upwards of 45 years and only got my first 5 last year, which was also my first (and only) fretted bass in around 35 years.

Although in truth I'd prefer fretless 4, acoustic upright 4. All basses active in any case.

On 09/08/2018 at 06:05, kieranhogarty said:

Thanks for the replies, I will have a chat with my friend about the likelihood of getting hold of a different fretboard wood.

In the meanwhile, does anyone know rough prices of CITES import/export certificates before I start researching?

That varies quite a bit from country to country. In the US it is a huge hassle and I would never even consider doing it again. The two required certs were "only" a few hundred dollars but the trip to get it inspected took all of a very long day, a pretty big slap in the face after having already spent 2 1/2 months waiting on permits to be processed. And then the buyer hadn't handled the permits on his side properly, but fortunately the processing on that end was very quick and he didn't just lose the bass, which easily could've been the outcome.

Just one of many offending rigs I've used over the years. I've come to really love messing with other people's OCD.

On 19/12/2018 at 22:17, Sibob said:

Regarding trades, it’s still seeking and acquiring new gear, it’s not necessarily about the money :).

Trades remain illegal   

Si

Great idea. But for better or worse a luthier friend just gave me a new bass a couple of weeks ago, which I never asked for, and I can't see waiting a whole year to get a bag for it.

Update on my Marco Bass Guitars MV4 model, which is now just waiting on new EQ knobs and a preamp install which I am still working on the final specs for. It'll be one of mine, just not sure which one yet.

9 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

American Music have a bass I'm very interested in and they won't ship internationally. 

Just looking for someone to help out.

Thanks.

 

Please PM me with the details and I'll see if I can find you someone to expedite if that actually makes sense. I'm just a bit too far away, the last time I shipped something out of Seattle that needed a CITES clearance inspection it was a 13 hour day after a nearly three month wait for the permits. But I know the manager at AM and have a few friends who live in that general area.