chickenjames

One of my knuckles is always “clicky”. On my right hand index finger, the second joint from the top. If I don’t move it for a few minutes and then flex it, it will click. It’s been like this for a few years, doesn’t hurt, and none of the other joints do this. Should I be worried?

All my basses have flats: P, J and StingRay. I do think those green Fenders are quite rude though - I put some on my Ray and they are super rude and scrunchy. I don’t think I’d put them on the P though, d’Addario chromes on there. I don’t like playing with rounds any more, just feels weird.

MB801 is too quiet I’d say. I have one for personal practice and acoustic sessions in pubs* but I wouldn’t use it for anything bigger than that. CMD121P is a completely different beast, it’s a serious and loud combo. I rarely use mine without its friend, the NY121P extension cab, but for quiet gigs the combo alone should be more than enough I reckon. It’s quite sensitive to EQ and if you get it wrong it’s possible to make the treble sound quite scrunchy. Some people actually disconnect the internal piezo tweeter for this reason. If you wind up the VLE knob it will suit you quite nicely I think. The sheer smallness of this is quite compelling but I would like to look at the taller one with a horn tweeter - I don’t think they’re a lot more £££. HTH, ymmv, ianal etc *I play a fretless U bass through it so I think morally that’s just fine.

I have one. I bought it as a spare for my Markbass (CMD121P + NY121P). I have it wired so that it can drive both the speaker in the combo and the extension cab. It’s a good match, both do 500W into 4 ohms. I’ve used it a couple of times as a test and once for real. The real time was when I was playing outdoors with a crap generator and the Markbass head is only able to run down to 200V but the TC will tolerate 110V! general comparison - it sounds fine. I prefer the MB as it has more EQ options. I haven’t really used the built in compressor - normally I go with either a Trace Elliott transit or a -massive- board depending on whether it’s folk or funk. It’s easy to get a good smooth P bass thump. Re total loudness I haven’t tried very scientifically but I’d say that the TC has less headroom. You can get it to fart out or clip more easily than the MB, particularly if only going into a single speaker. The active/passive switch is wired backwards but IDGAF. Slight pity that the speakon out is speakon only rather than combo speakon jack, but not a big deal. overall a great simple basic head, good to have as a spare. Nice and small and light and a steal at the price - I think I paid £180.

Thanks all, I got this adaptor from Amazon, all works fine https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CEYI2O6/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_3p_dp_1

I wasn’t really serious about plugging into the socket on the amp... just wondering if anyone had tried it! That amazon cable doesn’t work though - the 1/4” jack end is the wrong gender! What I really need is one with a Speakon at one end, and a 1/4” SOCKET at the other end. Anyone got any ideas?

Hello all I have a CMD121P and a NY121P. I’d like to be able to use an external head to drive both speakers in case the built in head (Combo II = LMIII) packs up. So - suggestions welcome please on cabling. I have a TC BQ500 and I’d like to drive both the 12” in the combo and the 12” in the extension cab in one go. I’m not worried about impedance matching or power - this question is purely about cabling Here are the connectors: BQ500 has Speakon out NY121P has a pair of combined Speakon/ 1/4” jack sockets CMD121P has a captive 1/4 lead connected to the internal speaker, which plugs into the output 1/4” socket on the internal head. (The internal head also has a Speakon out). So I can run a Speakon-Speakon from the BQ500 to the NY121P, fine. But what cable would run from the NY121P to the 1/4” plug on the CMD121P internal speaker? It doesn’t seem possible to buy a male speakon -> 1/4” socket cable. If anyone knows of one (or even a combination with adaptor and cable!) please can someone suggest it? Ideally with links to a UK shop where I can buy one. OR - dangerous - can I run a speakon - speakon from the NY121P to the Speakon out on the combo internal head, and leave the captive 1/4” connected? Has anyone tried this? help please.....

I have gone halfway on this - I have a fretless U bass which I play through a Markbass 801 for acoustic sessions. or through a 500W stack for big gigs...

Thanks fellas! (Sorry for radio silence, I was in San Diego. I managed to take in a tour of the Taylor factory which was looooovely) ok this is all helpful stuff, what I think I’m hearing is that all of these little amps are pretty good. I should have mentioned that I had an Ampeg PF-350 for a while which sounded nice but I was scared by the reliability burps and also it was far too easy to get a pick stuck inside it! Any love out there for the basic TC, BQ350 or 500?

Hello all i have a MarkBass CMD121P with NY121P extension begins, and I’m looking at options for a spare head. Needs to handle a fairly wide range of styles. Electrically this is straightforward- my current rig is effectively a LM3 which can drop 500W into 4ohms, and each speaker presents 8 ohm and can handle 350W. I want to have a backup in case the combo fails (not that I’m particularly worried about this) It seems like the simplest and cheapest thing would be to get one of the very small class D heads eg TC BQ250 or BQ500, Trace Elliot ELF, etc. I could simply run the 112 cab on its own straight off the micro head and that would work A couple of questions then. Do I need to think about driving the speaker in the combo as well? How easily could I connect the internal speaker to a different head? I like the clean Markbass sound but I’m wondering if it might be fun to have something as well that sounds different. Something valvey might be fun. Built in compressor or tuner would be good. I normally use either the Trace Elliot B3 all in one board or a big board with lots of things including many flangers, choruses and phaser with a compressor. Styles - jazz fusion (with Sire) - folk or rock with flatwound P - disco funk with Stingray budget - well, id like cheap ideally. Not too much more than £300-400 would be good what would you do?

They’re new. I suspected that someone was making someone else’s strings, but really they feel completely different.

I’ve been using Chromes on my StingRay for a couple of years. Just tried some Fenders (flatwound, 45-100) for the first. ICR the exact model but they have green silk. First impressions compared to Chromes Feel like slightly lower tension Less polished so feel slightly rougher Sustain is much longer (but that might just be because the Chromes had been on for a while) and then the sound.... these are RUDE. Much more top and high mid. Sound amazing on the StingRay - very happy with them. By comparison, the Chromes sound flat and dull. What would you put on my Fender P next time it needs strings?

well here's my 0.01p. I have 4 basses: EBMM 2010 2EQ 4H, rw neck USA P 4, maple MM Sire v7 4 rw Kala u bass fretless And it's horses for courses. I play in kilcannon.co.uk - Irish folk. That gets the P and the uke. And for supernatural-band.co.uk - party funk and disco - the 'Ray is the only thing that does it. I agree with the other posters who've mentioned the need to be very careful with the treble though. I always run with volume and bass on full, and treble could be anything from 0% up to about 70%. Usually it's on 10%-20%. All the basses have flatwounds (apart from the uke obviously). I love them all and wouldn't be without any of them. The P is solid and completely reliable for sound. The Ray is riskier. It's possible to get it wrong but it's the only way if you are doing disco stuff. I haven't mentioned the J - nothing else will do the growl that you get with the pickups blended. I love the MM Sire, it really has a sense of occasion, but the active EQ is too complicated. Usually I just run it all flat. Sorry, I've gone on a bit but the summary would be - the 'Ray has lovely character, feels special, and has a unique sound that none of the other basses gets anywhere near. I think if I had to restrict to a single bass it would probably be a passive US Jazz, for the versatility, but actually the 'Ray is the one that gets the most use. YMMV, etc I'd love to hear comments, what don't you agree with here? what am I missing out on?

Thanks, I think you’re right. Next time (if there is one) I’ll know to check carefully before accepting the bass back. It’s just disappointing, I mean I know how to do the basic stuff like saddle height, check the intonation, truss rod etc, but I had thought that there might be some magic that a pro would be able to do.

I had my Stingray set up by a shop last year, and I was a bit sad to realise that, when filing the frets, someone must have been a bit sloppy because there were quite a few file marks on the fingerboard. I frankly couldn’t be bothered to take it back, because it’s a bit out of my way and also even if they said sorry and fixed it f.o.c., any repair shop that’s capable of sending a bass back in that state is never getting my future business. I’d never paid anyone ever to set up any of my instruments and I don’t think I’ll be rushing to do it again. Anyway - point of the story is that actually it was quite easy to fix the damage. First if I tried putting insulating tape over all the frets but that proved to be a bad idea... after that I used a kitchen scouring pad and ran it back and forth in the same direction as the grain. And fairly quickly the scratches basically disappeared. I had some super fine sandpaper and fine steel wool ready and waiting but they never got out of the blocks. The reason that the tape was a bad idea is that it resulted in some parts of the fretboard being rubbed and others not, so in the end I just took all the tape off and that worked much better. I finished it all off with a sensible application of Dunlop lemon oil, and now we’re happy. Comments welcome!

I have a StingRay 4H 2010, moved it over to rounds a couple of years ago, and it’s the business. I’ve only tried Chromes - love them

Hello all I have done 3 gigs now with a Kala U-bass (mahogany, fretless). I bought it a month or so ago from Bassdirect (very happy with them). I noticed an annoying problem where the E string appeared to be stone dead at G and A, and I started worrying that perhaps I might have a dead crystal (a few other people have complained about this). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I changed the string (just the E) and now it’s good as gold. New strings are Aquila Thunder Black. I LOVE this bass - looks great and sounds completely amazing, much more different from a regular bass than mine are from each other. (I also play a USA P, EBMM and MM Sire v7). that is all

It’s standard. I love having the choice between Bass Clone, Vortex and Small Stone. Small Stone is smooth, Bass Clone thickens things up and the best word for Vortex is swoosh + crunch. YMMV!

You little BEAUTY well actually, dear reader, I mostly play funk disco and jazz through that board. For folk I use my U bass :-)

Here’s me messing around with it A51D838E-181F-4D65-9F7F-201D7A35667D.MOV

Hello gang here’s my micro-review of my new Kala U-bass! I’ve had it for just over a week now. Model: Kala U-bass mahogany fretless Well, it’s just completely lovely. Feels great to play. Sounds like a double bass plugged in. My 2 bands thought I was having a laugh until I plugged in and started playing. It has a huge, deep sound. Think deep, old-fashioned thump. Sustain - miles less than a P-bass but that’s part of the fun. Playing in tune (I haven’t been near a fretless for 25 years) - challenging but as long as you listen you get the hang of it quickly. Don’t try to go too far up the neck. After about the 10th fret it gets weird. Strings do need to get stretched. The G tended to droop a bit but it’s hanging in there now. The socket is a little stiff. I’m guessing this will loosen over time but it has led to the strap button coming unscrewed a couple of times. I got it from Bassdirect - they had lots. Their website talks about a strap button needed to be fitted - ignore this. The U bass strap comes with shoe laces, just tie this round the nut. The button at the other end is end - except that I had to open the strap hole up a lot with a knife before it would go over the button. Both bands completely loved it and the sound, and I can’t wait to play it live.

I’d like someone to guess what style I play in, based on this...

Wrong but funny