thegummy

Looks almost identical to my guitar except mine has a tremolo bridge and strat style selector. Good choice!

My guitar has humbuckers with a coil split so can get reasonably similar tones to a strat's neck and bridge settings but I'm going to actually buy a strat for positions 2 and 4 because they have such a nice sound that you can't get from any other guitar (because it's 2 pickups together that are really close to each other so gives a distinct tone). So those 2 give a darker/brighter version of that tone respectively, bridge gives very bright tone, neck gives a nice open warm tone that you'd expect. Not quite sure about the middle by itself; not sure what people use that for but the other 4 are definitely useful.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1464480349' post='3059806'] Thanks for the clarification; that looks to be just fine and dandy. No, you'll not need a dedicated bass amp, but be a little bit cautious in the volume levels used. Hifi gear is not as tolerant as gigging stuff when subjected to extreme playing conditions. At 'normal' domestic volume, it should be fine. That's pretty decent gear; t'would be shame to abuse it. Enjoy. [/quote] Volume level won't be a problem unfortunately, have to be courteous of neighbours. One day when I win the lottery I'll build myself a big house up the hills in the middle of nowhere and play so loud I get through around the room with the sound waves lol

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1464477754' post='3059801'] You may need to be a bit more specific in how you intend to do this. Could you indicate which amp you're using, which monitors and which sub you're looking at..? Usually, they'd need to be some sort of filtration in the chain, so that the sub gets the low frequencies only. Is this part of the plan..? Simply coupling a sub, along with the present speakers, may not be at all good for the amp. More detail, please..? [/quote] The monitors are active KRK RP6 (built-in amps) and the subwoofer would be the matching one. It would all be set up properly with the subwoofer feeding the audio above the cutoff to the 6-inch speakers. Just to clarify, I'm not using a bass amp of any kind either currently or in this hypothetical setup. The bass goes into an audio interface which then feeds the active monitors.

I hope this is the right forum, I couldn't see one that looked more appropriate. Has anyone experienced playing their bass through a system with subwoofer as opposed to an amp? At the moment I'm playing the bass through a couple of 6" studio monitors and it sounds okay but to get a heavier low end I'm thinking about getting an actual bass amp. Then I thought maybe if I add a subwoofer to the speakers (a matching studio monitor one rather than a home entertainment one) it would produce the lows just as well as a bass amp would. Any thoughts?

[quote name='Grahambythesea' timestamp='1464083966' post='3056355'] Like the tricolour sunburst, not so wild about the headstock shape. Assuming those pickups are single coils, do they suffer from hum interference from some types of lights like many Fenders? [/quote] They hum when the two volume pots aren't at the same level

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1463987648' post='3055458'] Seems like this method would dampen the outside strings more than the inside strings. [/quote] I got some felt from a little haberdashery stall and this is exactly what it did. So I tried just rolling up the felt and putting it under the strings but I didn't like that sound either. Think I'm maybe doing it wrong. I'll try one of the other methods.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1463835414' post='3054448'] Pic broken! [/quote] Sorry what does that mean?

For a while I was planning on getting a Yamaha BB424 as it is highly recommended on the internet. Couple of things made me change my mind though; I wasn't able to actually play one anywhere as nowhere local had them in stock and also the unorthodox pickups that would limit upgrading in the future. Then I saw this Schecter Diamond J in an end-of-line sale from £500 to £300. It's made at the World Musical Instruments factory in Korea; same place as my PRS guitar and which has a great reputation for quality instruments. Also, although it's superficial, I do love the maple neck look! Very happy with it, I like the thin neck. Unusually flat neck radius but seems fine. One weird thing is that the tone knob is a push-pull and came with a label on it saying to pull for coil split/push for humbucking but the pickups aren't humbuckers, they're single coil. Turns out the push-pull is a phase switch that I can barely hear any difference with and the label was wrong lol.

Thanks for the replies. I'll see what they have at the haberdashery for felt. Might try out some of the other tips though, see which I prefer. Cheers!

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1463767437' post='3053976'] You can do the same thing with a bit of washing up sponge or similar. Lots of photos here: [url="https://www.talkbass.com/threads/carol-kayes-method-of-muting-open-strings-with-felt.701308/"]https://www.talkbass...th-felt.701308/[/url] [/quote] Thanks for the reply. Do you think that would have the same effect as the felt taped over the top? She says to use foam under the strings if you finger but if you only ever pick then felt over the top. That made me think there was benefit to using the felt over the top.

I want to try taping a piece of felt over the strings as a mute a la Carol Kaye. Does anyone know what type of felt to use? And where I could buy a small amount of it in Britain?

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1459494699' post='3017036'] Can't agree. There are a million shades of white. Get the wrong shade it looks awful. [/quote] Definitely. When I mentioned white, it has to be the slightly off-white like "Olympic White" rather than the bright clean white that's available on the Mexican Standards

White P-Bass with tortoise pickguard and maple neck is the ultimate in beauty IMO

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1456612374' post='2990851'] Isn't this kind of name transfer the same as when you "Hoover" the floor with your vacuum cleaner, or ask a friend to pass the "sellotape", or cover a cut with a "band-aid". Most folk see this as free advertising. I guess it iss possible that you could refer to your Dyson vacuum cleaner as a Dyson vacuum cleaner copy, if you want to be accurate about it? [/quote] Definitely but it is interesting that it didn't happen with guitars, only basses.

Yamaha Pacifica The CV Tele is supposed to be great but don't know if you'd find it in your price range

When I tired the sub-300 pounds 5-string, the E on the 5th string did not sound good to me. Obviously that isn't any indicator of how it would sound on a higher quality bass but that's my budget. I was impressed with how the 4-string sounded and felt at that price though.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1455093179' post='2975710'] Thanks all, useful info. I'll give your most kind offer some serious thought MrBB. What are the neck dive issues like on these basses? Are the necks firmly in P bass territory for general lack of slimness? [/quote] The Yamaha BB425 has a nut width of 43mm which is smaller than the Precision and Jazz

Heads up on the Yamaha BB425 - Gear4Music are selling the black one for 249 at the moment which is cheaper than the 4 string version even

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1454923844' post='2974108'] This is why I suggest not swapping back and forth between 4's and 5's while you're getting your 5 string technique together. The size of the neck and weight of the bass is a problem? I'd say that sounds like the OP isn't ready for a 5 string bass yet.You buy a 5 because of the sound, tone and flexibility. You can get 8lb 5's but they'll cost more. Never mind there are a lot of good 4's out there. [/quote] The size and weight weren't a problem, I was just surprised how much of a difference there was. Like I said, the reason I'm going for 4 is because I didn't like the tones from the lower notes.

Appreciate all the advice. I was in the guitar shop today and they didn't have the Yamaha BBs so I tried a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz in 5 and 4 string versions. First thing that stood out was how much heavier the 5 was. Couldn't believe the difference. I think it must have also been a different material because it really was so much heavier. Neck was also much wider. Main thing I found was that the notes lower than E didn't sound to my taste which is pretty much what I was looking to find out so I'm going to go with a 4. Something that surprised me was how nice the Squier Jazz bass is. I had a Squier guitar for a long time as a kid and it isn't so good but this bass was decent. Shame nowhere around here has the Yamaha BB in stock, I'll need to buy blindly online if I'm going for that.

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1454370350' post='2969171'] The problem is that so many other companies are doing very good modern P and Js. People generally seem to want classic Fenders, myself included. [/quote] Fender definitely seem to base themselves on their vintage reputation. Pretty much their entire top-line range - the Custom Shop - is guitars that have been artificially "relicked" by chipping away the paint job to make it look old and tatty. I don't understand it personally. Vintage Fender tone, yes please but give me a nice new paint job and I'll try my best to avoid chipping it lol

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1454236177' post='2967650'] I think this is a great example of you being conned by the manufacturer - selling it as a version of a popular 4 string bass, It may be the same model and same colour with an extra string but unless they have approached the construction as a 5 string bass then it could be a real Lemon. [/quote] It's the Yamaha BB425 - seems to be quite popular with people online; maybe someone will have some input on how it compares to its 4 string brother? Just to note, the manufacturer's selling price isn't cheaper than the 4 string, it's just that a shop has a sale on the 5 string version at the moment.

[quote name='Jazzjames' timestamp='1454147710' post='2966868'] Read this before you buy. [url="http://www.recordingmag.com/resources/resourceDetail/134.html"]http://www.recording...Detail/134.html[/url] At the end of the day though, the yamaha 5er will probably do a super job. Try before you buy! [/quote] Thanks for the link, it's swung me back to undecided when I was heading in the direction of the 5

Thanks for all the advice, few things have came up that I didn't think of. Unfortunately there are no shops here that stock both versions of this specific bass but I might try out some 5-strings just to get a general idea of what they can feel like. I'm not used to 4 strings as I've not really played that much bass at all but I am used to the bottom string being E so not sure if that would play a factor. At this point I'm leaning towards getting the 5 since it's actually cheaper anyway and I'll have the option of playing lower notes for recording. I don't think the ringing-out issue will be a problem for me since, when I have played bass, I tend to mute the E with my thumb when playing the A string anyway. Cheers