Treb

I beg to differ. Have you ever tried a 30/50/70/90 set? Such a set has a lot of twang but lacks in grunt IMO. The difference between 45-100 and 45-105 is negligable, tried both gauges. I usually buy 45-105's.

Fusion 550's rock the house. Great amp, it powers my twin 4x8" setup. I've got it on a short leash though, it being my home rig... The neighbours must hate my guts. 😀

I recently bought a NOS 2016 Japanese Will Lee 4 string. Fit and finish-wise my Sire V5 and Skyline DJ4 can't touch it. The Sadowsky almost plays itself. Coupled with the preamp and VTC it's possible to dial in a range of useable sounds. Mine is the only Sadowsky I have played so I can't compare, but the Japanese basses appear to have a good reputation. Japanese basses can still be found new BTW, though depending on model they aren't exactly a bargain...

Really nice bass by the looks of it. Love the white perloid PG with that red, much better than the bog standard black PG.

Never use series or single mode, only parallel because to my ears it sounds the best.

I just installed a Nordstrand MM4.3 in mine... It's too late to test it full bore though (but considering the curfew going on at the moment it would be a nice opportunity to see which of the neighbours (not strictly next-door!) has the balls to come and complain 😀). But what I'm hearing is a lot more StingRay in sound signature.

Nice bass! Looks like a one piece body. Which Nordstrand MM pickup is in there?

Sterlings are underrated basses IMO. They are of equal quality and constuction when compared to StingRay basses. The Sterling by MusicMan brand doesn't help, people can mistake these basses for an affordable Asian product. I bought mine for its slimmer neck profile and smaller and thus lighter body. Does it really sound all that different from a StingRay? Dunno, never played a StingRay... Sterlings do have that unmistakeable MusicMan tone, no doubt about it. Alone in your bedroom one might hear differences. Playing live I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Pics or it didn't happen, here's mine.

I wonder how long it's gonna take for the "new" MarkBass Mark King 8x10" signature combo to be released. 🤨

Must be an older item, check the URL: www.ebs.bass.se Their current URL is: ebssweden.com Prototype perhaps? Why not ask EBS support?

The Sterling has a narrow, Jazz-like neck. The StingRay can also have a neck like that, these are called "StingRay SloSpecial" (these are rare, as they were made by special order only). Normal StingRays have a wider P-bass like neck. The Sterling has a small-ish body, much smaller than a Jazz bass. Hence these tend to be lighter than the average StingRay which can be on the heavy side. If you want "that MM sound" go StingRay. For "that MM sound on steroids" go Sterling. Do not confuse the Sterling with the more affordable Asian made Sterling by MusicMan range of basses and guitars.

Here you go: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/ken$20sadowsky$20bridge$20fundamental/alt.guitar.bass/wVRC_ZiYcj4/E45uRR7AdioJ I remember having read something about cheesy bass bridges. Don't take my word for it but I believe a bridge can make a difference. Even Roger Sadowsky switched from the Schaller 3D bridge to another design because it sounded better (to his ears I assume). The guys at Sadowsky know a thing or two about basses.

Always wanted one of those with the nice wood cabinets. Couldn't afford one back then, now hardly ever one turns up for sale.

Bo Hansen's DI perhaps. It's a DIY DI-box with a choice of three transformers. Can be made on a tight budget or you could really push the boat out and go for a top quality Lundahl transformer. Info here: https://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=36569.0

I haven't tried the one you mention but can vouch for the quality of my DJ-Retro preamp, also a John East preamp. If it's anything like that, I'm sure it is, you're in for a treat. John East knows a thing or two (or three) about designing a great bass preamp. Not cheap but quality rarely is... Good luck deciding!

Thank for clarifying the Mk1/Mk2 differences. Not a fan of the pointy Mk1 Cruise. That LPB one above, would love to own one of those. Either one like that or a CAR one.

What's the difference between the different cruise basses? The 2Tek bridge?

The idea of a Cutlass 1 with a smaller body sounds appealing...

BTW it will not sound like a Stingray as you know it. The preamp is an important factor too.

And for a no holds barred sound in a sleek package choose the Sterling bass.

Replace if the mirror silver top inside the tube shows discoloration or turns milky white (vacuum compromised). it produces high pitched ringing sounds when tapped (gone microphonic). it has been used 10,000+ hours (end of life)

Yup. Two (preferably identical) 8 ohm cabs or a single 4 ohm cab. Those are your options. Hook up two 4 ohm cabs and now the resulting load will drop to 2 ohm. Your amp wasn't designed to run at 2 ohm. It will either refuse to work or it will work for some time and then perform a thermal shut down or do a melt down.

She may play my low B string anytime... I think they removed the gain and bass knobs of the ELF just to get it to fit in her back pocket.

There's not a lot of room left, the amp is crammed. There are some fuzzy pics of its guts, Google's your friend. A small sized amp appears to have been the major design philosophy. Hence no speakon and the butt-ugly hump.

I don't know what kind of class D module the ELF uses but I assume it's got some protection (current, temperature, short-circuit) but as a general rule cooler is better with regard to electronics. I hope they spec'ed 105° capacitors instead of 85°C ones...