Marty Forrer

Just stunning. His little melodies are so accessible.

Sheets of pickguard material are very cheap from aliexpress, and come in every colour known to man. I've made quite a few, it's not difficult, just have to be methodical and patient. Also a previous poster's recommendation for the Puretone 4 contact output jack socket gets a big thumbs up from me.

My latest tinkerer toy is a cheap as chips Aria Pro II 313 Detroit. I bought it new solely to be a modder bass. It has a great roasted neck and rosewood board and is under 8lbs. Mods are: Hipshot Ultralite USA tuners, Dunlop straplocks, Seymour Duncan P pup, DiMarzio UltraJazz J pup, replaced 500k pots with 250k pots and black pearloid pickguard I made, although I've since gone back to the tortoiseshell original. I've also since gone to Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Flats. I also gave it a fret level (although it didn't really need it ) and rounded off the fret ends.

A GK MB200 head with a Barefaced 1x10 works for me. For big gigs a GK MB500 with a Barefaced 2x10 will handle anything, and still light as a light thing.

Got mine from Gollihur Bass about 6 years ago. Done a lot of gigs since, and still in pristine condition.

FWIW: I have tried all 3, and I found the Gnome best, Bam 2nd and I didn't like the Elf. The Elf had this built-in compression that increased as the volume came up. I ended up with a GK MB200, better even though it was used.

I have a Studiomaster 16 channel which has two aux outs, with two aux controls on each channel strip. My drummer has his own mix for his IEMs and the rest of us have a mix for conventional monitoring. Studiomaster is a UK brand, and the guys there are very helpful.

This thread has nothing to do with Jeff Berlin. It's about the Rhythmic V bass. How about getting back on track.

I bought a used first gen, and had none of the problems stated in previous posts. The frets were all good, fit and finish was spot on. The pickups were good, and I fitted a VTC preamp. However, the VTC was really a waste of money, the difference it made was minimal.

Yes, I did.

I had some parts laying around so why not. I put an Artist (el-cheapo chinese) 34" roasted 5 string neck on a 4 string alder SX P body using a chisel and a sanding block. The only "good" parts on this are Hipshot Ultralite tuners and Dunlop straplocks. The pickup and bridge are generic cheap chinese things. I had some CTS pots, a Sprague Orange Drop cap and Puretone 4 contact output socket in my stash so threw them in too. Well b****r me, it's great. The B string is awesome, better than most of the 35" scale high end basses I've had, and it has 18mm string spacing at the bridge, which is my ideal. Plus, it weighs 8.4 lbs.

Me too. Plus the PA is mine, and I prefer to keep bass out of it.

After two gigs, and experimenting with the setup specs and strings, I've got the MTD Z5 playing and sounding awesome. The B string is now perfectly focussed and balanced with the other strings, and I've found the sweet spots for the pickups and eq. I can't see me needing to change the preamp after all.

Hi petebasssist. No, it's a 1989 Musima (East German) solid top.

My rig. I'm loving it.

I remember those conversions. I tried one once but way too narrow for me, even with my arthritic fingers, but a great idea for those that don't mind the spacing.

The MTD Kingston arrived and after cleaning the previous owner's DNA off it, I did a light fret level, dress and polish, oiled the beautiful rosewood board, new strings and a setup to Mike Tobias's specs, and installed a pair of Dunlop straplocks. Plays like butter, I'm digging the assymetrical neck profile and the 19mm spacing. Despite the position of the bridge saddles, the intonation is perfect! It weighs 3.8kg (8.4lbs).

I have recently purchased an RM500 C210 Evo II combo. Used it for its first gig the other night, sitting on an Ashdown 115 ext cab. Holy moly! Seemed fairly quiet on stage but when I walked out front with my wireless, it was loo loud for the balance. I ended up with the gain on 10 o'çlock and the master a tad over 9 oçlock. Don't think I'll be needing the ext cab very often! Used the sub harmonic on one song and the drive on one song, and they sounded pretty good. Happy camper here.

My upgraded Metro Express was a nice enough bass (VTC preamp, Hipshots, Di Marzio pickups etc) but I was really missing that B string... so off it went to a new owner and I have an MTD Kingston Z-5 incoming. Lightweight, 35" scale, asymmetrical neck, 3 band eq ticks all my boxes. Maple burl top, rosewood board, looking forward to it.

Hahahaha!!! More than once, I'm afraid. I'm as old as dirt.

I just pulled the trigger on a Rootmaster 500w 2x10 combo, as an upgrade from the 300w Studio 15. Hoping for a bit more clean headroom. I have a 1x15 cab to go under it if I need to, but I'm hoping to run it as a stand alone. I guess I'm a convert to Ashdown, I dig the punch and flexibility.

I was playing in a 6 piece swing band with a residency (on bass guitar) in 1990 and the band leader told me I had to get a double bass. I did, but then he said I have to play it live the next weekend! I did, and I was terrible, but I got better over a few weeks. About a year later I went and started lessons, but the damage was done. My improper technique had deformed my lefty pinky finger and it gives me grief 32 years later.

I believe Laura Lee's SX has DiMarzio pickups. She is a fine player and always has a great tone, and has been using that SX for a long time.