JoeEvans

In general I think you want a stage sound which is brighter and less bassy than the out-front sound. That helps with both feedback and intonation. So it can be good to send a clean DI to the desk for out front, then use a stage amp that lets you roll off the bass while still sounding ok. You definitely want stage volume as low as can be managed - if there's a kit drummer that's a problem. In-ear monitors would be a big help.

I've been very happy with using a Turbosound ip300 powered PA speaker instead of a bass amp for double bass - I go through a mute pedal and a valve preamp and it sounds great to my ear. Bigger gigs seem to work fine just DI into the PA.

What difference does the triode/pentode switch make to the sound?

I actually really like this idea. You could have connections on all four sides and a couple of rotary selector switches to choose which side is in and which is out. And routing boxes to build up send/return loops, split signal chains etc, and DI boxes... I think you might have reinvented the effects pedal!

I like the black pickguard a lot. Better than tortoise to my eye... It's looking amazing, great to see an actual, genuine relic!

Nearly every desk has an auxiliary out on each channel, you can use those to send whatever mix you want to a cheap headphone amp then into your IEMs. As it's only you using them, you can put just vocals or whatever else you need in your mix. My partner just bought the bits for this (she plays the fiddle) and after one gig she described it as a total game changer. Can't remember exactly what she bought but it was a cheap and cheerful headphone amp and wired IEMs from Thomann. If you wanted to run direct from the mic, I think you might need a mic preamp to bring the level up a bit before it goes to the headphone amp.

Fenders are far and away the most copied basses - in a way, all basses could be said to be copies of Fenders - so it's no surprise that there are plenty of basses out there that are close enough to be indistinguishable, and a good few that do the same thing even better than the originals...

What's the argument for calling that a bass (with extra high strings) and not a guitar (with extra low strings)?

Strings can potentially make more of a difference to the sound of a bass than any amp or pedal, so if paying £50 over the odds makes your instrument sound amazing, it might seem cheap at the price compared to a £400 preamp or £2k amp...

In my early teens I heard a cassette copy of 'Green Bullfrog' and the bass playing on that was probably the single thing that most drove me to start playing the bass. 'Walk a mile in my shoes' in particular is just a pure exuberant blast. I only much later found out that it was Chas Hodges of Chas'n'Dave, which was unexpected to say the least. I haven't listened to it in years though, tastes move on...

It's hard to shift them but on the other hand, the sale of one CD generates about the same profit as having 1,377,339 people listen to the album on Spotify.

You can't help but suspect that the luthier had an otherwise nice batch of timber that had got ruined by woodworm, and decided to make the best of the situation...

Stunning bass!

I think a unique bass that someone has carefully assembled has another kind of mojo.

There are some gorgeous basses in this thread! I don't know why but I find a nice bitsa bass much more appealing than an equally nice off the shelf one...

Aguilar's website seems to suggest that the AG preamp pedals are super transparent, whereas the Tone Hammer aims for valve amp character, does that sound about right?

Ooh that's interesting. Thanks!

I'm after something that will work for just DI but which I will probably also use with an amp. Warm, clean or nearly clean sound, nice solid low end. Ultimately I suppose the kind of sound I used to get from a large, cranked-up Trace Elliot, in a package that weighs about 50kg less... But I'm also more broadly interested to know what's out there and to hear some user experiences, I find it hard to hear subtle tonal differences in YouTube review videos ...

I've tried a few that were good at adding eq, drive etc but seemed pretty transparent in themselves. I want something which adds a bit of warmth and solidity ideally, but just interested to hear people's experiences about what's out there.

I think I'm just interested to hear about any preamp pedals that successfully give a specific character to a clean-ish sound. Obviously lots of them promise that, but which pedals have you plugged in and heard a definite, useful, specific tone?

Which preamp pedals would you say have a distinctive tone, even with fairly neutral settings and clean sound? A bit like the channel strips from certain older mixing desks, which imparted their own vibe to whatever went through them, so much so that they now get stripped out of the old desks, mounted in racks and sold as high-end mic preamps.

Is anyone using a Trace Elliot Transit B preamp? Any thoughts if so?

I think there's a pretty broad zone of solid, playable basses that are better than basic cheapies without being stunning deluxe coffee tables. Something like a Reverend would be at the lower end of the zone, good enough for any actual musical function but under a grand new. For £1500 you get pretty much anything in that zone if you're happy to go secondhand.

Buy a secondhand ACG. Simple.