adamg67

I've mainly bought and sold on Basschat over the last few years, but there are few smaller more specialist dealers where trading in can be a good option. Just recently I traded in a bass with Classic and Cool. In this case I didn't want to miss the bass they had as it was exactly what I wanted, and the one I was trading in was their kind of thing, and although very nice not everyone's cup of tea. I probably could have got more on here but could have been waiting weeks or months. As it was I got 85% of what I paid for it and ended up with a bass I like much more. I maybe could have found one a bit cheaper here but would have been waiting a while. So in this case I'm very happy with the deal, but I doubt that would have been the case with one of the big chains.

Series / parallel on a push/pull as suggested by @itu is a good option. Unless it's a quad coil humbucker (like two split coils together) single is the one that will give the hum, so series/parallel means both will still be humbuckingh. Series / single is an option as well and gives the most difference between the two sounds, but also the most difference in volume, and maybe hum on the single.

Yes, that's the thing. It gives me two setups, one with just the iRig, lightning cable and some ear bud headphones which is good for practice or taking with me if I'm away ( remember when that was possible ). The other adds mains power, an iPad holder and a blue board and is good enough to rehearse and jam all day if I need to. It's my rig for guitar (or baritone guitar or bass-vi), I don't bother with a guitar amp any more and can use my my mb multiamp and barefaced cab as a power amp if I need it loud. It works really well and I've used it for practice quite a few times, but as these things go I've moved away from guitar a bit so I've hardly ever used the full rig in anger. I keep thinking it should go in the for sale section.

My iRig HD 2 is powered from my iPad, then there's an extra thingy that will power it all and charge the iPad for longer stints.

That looks right to me, I've always done it this way: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/guitar-wiring-explored-adding-a-blower-switch Which looks the same but using slightly less wire. I used a push / pull pot last time I did it (on a Tele)

I think I posted the halfway stage of this conversion before, but I’ve finally got the pickups on my main (or one of two anyway) bass sorted. It’s a Maruszczyk Jake, and maybe I caught them before they got big but it’s just right, no quality issues and from messing with it all the hardware is good. Unfortunately, when I ordered it I took a bit of a chance on the pickups and got a pair of Delanos, a PMVC 5 FE/M2 (split coil P) and a MC 5 FE/M2 (humbucker). I know now that Delanos are a bit Marmite, and I also know why. I love Marmite but it turns out I don’t love Delanos, for this bass at least. One of the problems was that the two pups were actually really similar in sound - a very well behaved neck position P and deeper twin coil at the bridge ended up being only subtly different in character and not far apart for the end result tone. Fitting a series / single / parallel switch for the bridge humbucker helped, and made me realise why a P/J works so well, but i still felt like everything sounded too similar. I could try and explain how I ended up thinking of a Nordstrand as a replacement but there’s no real logic to it. it just sounded like it would sound different to the Delano and nearer what I wanted. So, I went for it and stuck a Nordstrand NP5 in there, with the Delano MC 5 at the bridge. That’s when things started getting a bit weird. I could not get the NP5 to work properly with the Delano, and after what I would call a bit of a learning experience I know that this is because they really don’t work together. Delano, for some probably good reason (being kind), have a load of split coil pickups that don’t work like what I would call a “standard” split coil. What I’d expect on a bass is half a coil magnetised one way, half the other, with the coils wrapped in opposite directions as well. That’s pretty much how a humbucker works, but across the strings instead of in the neck/bridge direction, if you see what I mean. It turns out that Delano have some pickups that are split coil, magnetised the same way but with opposite coils, so they’re hum cancelling but the two halves of the pickup are out of phase with each other. This obviously does not play well with “normal” pickups. You can’t even rewire the pups to work together (as I found out), because if you change the direction of one of the coils on either pup you sort the phase issue but lose the hum cancelling. Delano even have triangles and square symbols next to pickups that work in each of the different ways so you can match them - maybe everyone knows this but I didn’t! My solution to the problem, after some mostly helpful but also sometimes confusing comms with Nordstrand was to go for an NP5 at the neck end and a Nordstrand BigSplitMan at the bridge. The latter is a monster of a pickup which is basically two Nordy big singles squashed together into a humbucker. I’ve already got the series / single / parallel switch in there so this gives a big single, or two big singles in parallel, or two big singles in series... yes, I needed to hear what that sounded like On top of that each half is split coil so every combination is hum free. This really works for me. I’ve got it all fitted and tested and I like it so much better than the Delano setup. I think with this bass I want to be able to stick it straight into a DI or desk, which maybe means having the character in the pickups is a good thing. That seems to be what the Nordstrands give me. The NP5 is different enough from the BigSplitMan as well, so switching (well, blending) between the two makes a nice difference. Switching between the different options on the BigSplitMan gives even more range. I’ve set it up so the volume is the same between the NP5 and a single half (like a single Big SIngle), which also means the parallel configuration is about the same volume but with a nicely different tone, and then the series monster gives a volume boost and another fatter tone. At this point it’s time to get a bit less factual and just say that this all sounds amazing. Deep P style sounds from the NP5 that can be blended with a nice clear Big Single at the bridge, or two of them! End result: what I should have ordered in the first place! And a big plus for me is that both pickups are custom pole spacing to suit the bass (17.5mm string spacing), so my OCD is fine with the strings running nicely across the (pairs of) poles. I did think about posting sound clips, but it’s so subjective, especially when it’s not a “known quantity” bass. It’s a Maruszczyk with ultralights, mono rail bridge and an ebony board with Thomastik flats. All a sound clip will tell you is what that exact bass will sound like with these pups. I can tell you that, it sounds fantastic

I was about 22 in 1990, and not much I was listening to was on TOTP. Chilli Peppers, Faith No More, a bit of metal, a bit of rock... a bit of post comeback Aerosmith was probably as mainstream as it got. Live and local there was some good blues stuff in there, that definitely wasn’t on TOTP.

After a couple of glasses of cheap wine on a Friday night, the answer is obvious. Just put the cab in a big padded box.

I upgraded, and everything works, I posted about it here: I just had to copy the presets from the A4 folder to the A5 one. All the gear works. It's not very obvious but all you need to make all your A4 stuff work is Amplitube 5 SE which is free if you own Amplitube 4. 5 works alongside 4 and won't cost you anything (apart from disc space) so you might as well do it, you can keep using 4 in the meantime anyway. I just installed the new IK Product Manager and used that to install Amplitube 5 SE, then it's just a case of finding the presets and copying them over.

Well, I have learnt something today

Are there amps with an effects loop that doesn't do series?

Just found this: https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-amp-attenuators-loadboxes/jhs-pedals-little-black-amp-box-attenuator It’s basically just an extra volume control that goes in the effects loop. An EQ pedal on flat might do the same job. If you’ve got an effects loop after the preamp and it’s the preamp sound you want, that idea would work. Edit: Just realised that is what @fretmeister meant as well.

There are plenty of good load boxes about, they’re not that cheap though. I’ve got the 8ohm Palmer Power Pad, as one if my few gripes about my Multiamp is it doesn’t turn down low enough, but they’re often used for valve amps for recording or just home use. Some have a DI out which can be handy for recording. Just google “speaker attenuator load box”

Yeah, I never understood that one either. Putting something between the strings and the neck maybe. Never seen a shop do the string loosening thing, including people who I know know their stuff.

👍 Cheers for that, the room stays the same temp so should be fine. Thinking back it was a geetarist that told me the thing about not leaving strings off, I should have known better than to believe him 😄

My take on it, which I think is quite similar to a few others, is that it should be clear what service someone is providing. Courier and parcel companies are making out that they provide one thing, and actually providing something different. As has already been said, for most business the onus is on the business to insure themselves in case they screw up, not on you. I'm not one to trust any big business, but parcel companies don't stack up against other businesses in terms of what they actually do versus the service most people would expect from them. Yes, buyer beware etc but they try and present themselves as companies you can trust to get your stuff from A to B. The truth doesn't match up to that, they probably will get your stuff from A to B but you have less and less comeback if they don't and they won't care much about it.

Another nod for the Crown XLi from me.

I went to swap pickups on a bass today and as expected I need to just make a little bit more space in the bottom of the pickup cavity, which shouldn't be a problem but I'm a bit stuck for time, want to do it carefully, need to sharpen chisels... all of which is fine, but now I'm wondering if the bass will be okay with the strings off for a few days? Or should I loosen the truss (which means setting it up again afterwards)? Whenever I start jobs like this I always get reminded how little I really know.

This is straight from TNTs current terms and conditions, and DPDs are identical: Amplifiers And Speakers - maximum Parcel Protection value for damages is £200, up to £2,500 for lost items. Apple Mac/Macpro - maximum Parcel Protection value for damages is £200, up to £2,500 for lost items. (iMacs are protected for loss only) Banjo/Guitar/Cello/Violin - maximum Parcel Protection value for damages is £100, up to £1,000 for lost items. All musical instruments must be sent in a hard case and boxed. Computers - maximum Parcel Protection value for damages is £200, up to £2,500 for lost items. (All in one computers are protected for loss only) So, as mentioned in other threads, if you send a bass via either of those or others with similar Ts&Cs, pack it so it will survive anything. And don't send anything worth much more than a grand at all and expect your money back if they lose it. How they can do that is mind bending.

I'm another Studio One user, it came with my hardware (since upgraded, but still to PreSonus hardware), and I havn't tried anything else since Sonar / Cakewalk which is going back a while. I do have cubasis on my iPad but I do very little with it. What I'd say abvout Studio One, probably like a lot of DAWs, is that there are some concepts in there which have been well thought out but it helps if you understand them. The way that tracks, channels and VSTs interact, things like that. Once you get that stuff, I think it's a really nice DAW to work in. Lots if info online etc, it's up there now as a contender and apparantly considered a "rising star" (as opposed to a "falling classic"). There's definitely lots of development goes into it, including recent-ish things like the arranger track which can be really handy. PreSonus bought Notion as well and the musical notation editing is in there now and I expect that to improve. It does more than I use, but I'd rather it was that way round than the other.

I like Nordstrand pickups too, I'm just fitting an NP5 and a Bigman to another bass with flats. That and the Forty-Eight should cover a lot of ground between them.

I've been gassing for a 4 string Forty Eight for a while now, for me they are a total modern classic and the black with creme stripes and the matching headstock is just what I wanted to fill the "rock bass" slot. It's not just down to the looks, I was after some good playability and quality and I liked the sound of the sound of these. I saw a couple on here but without the matching headstock, then this one came up at Classic and Cool Guitars and as a bonus it has an ebony board and block inlays. I had to trade my Stingray 5HH (stealth black, also a looker) for it, but somehow I never gelled with the 'ray so that wasn't too tough a decision. The only thing I wasn't 100% sure abour was the white pickguard, so I've ordered a black one with creme stripe. First impressions are good. Very very good. Looks amazing to me, I wouldn't have had one of the "hard core aged" ones but this is just right. It plays really nicely too, lovely neck, sits nicely on the strap and it's nice and light. I like the pickup covers as well, I play floating thumb when I do fingerstyle so they are good for something to rest on when I'm on the E string. After a brief blast through a few different amp models the tone is just spot on, it sounds great on everything I try it on. I always seemed to be struggling to get the 'ray to sound how I wanted, and this just does straight out of the box. It's not over bright either, even with new strings on, I won't get into trying to describe it but it's right where I wanted it anyway. Mark at Classic and Cool was super easy to deal with, and I'm a very happy customer.