Pirellithecat

Excellent! Bloody typical for me - the old adage "if all else fails .... read the instructions" strikes again! Thanks very much everyone - everyday is indeed a School Day!!!

Sound guy wanted to DI my rig at the weekend. However, he raised an issue about using my inbuilt DI out, as he was using the phantom power setting on his desk and didn't want to put 48 volts into my DI Out. He wanted to put my bass directly into a DI box (and then into my amp for stage monitoring). This would have bypassed my effects (Ashdown ABM 600, with Effect and Tuner in FX Send/Receive) which I didn't want - so to avoid hassle I just played without PA support. (Which from my point of view was OK and, more importantly from the audience point of view it, apparently, sounded great. However, the sound guy wasn't happy as he couldn't turn me down!!) So - how does one get around this issue? Thanks from a complete technophobe!

Thanks - that is certainly a bit different - I'll have to check who stocks them in the UK ........ I can feel a road trip coming on .......

Interesting .... and on the scale of Old School to Ultra Modern how would you describe the sound? Played one briefly - fantastic neck, but couldn't really assess the tone etc (as it was a dreadful amp/combo). If it would do a bit of old school P on the neck pickup it'd be a winner (for me that is!)

The Jam Nights we are lucky enough to have in the area are in pubs and are chaotic. (We actually host one and the deal is that we provide the instruments if needed - luckily no-one takers so far!). It's probably just me (and my level of incompetence) but how/what I play depends to a very great extent on being able to hear myself. From the comments so far it seems that PJ/ or Jazz would work better than a passive P and active might be worth a go (or tone pedal). And probably better to go for roundwounds rather than flats for a random Jam Session. So, if the price was right, something like a second hand MIM Fender Deluxe Active P Bass Special or a Sire P7 might be worth a look??? Thanks all

Thanks all. I think its a particular problem with the "House Band" rig - which I've played through at several different locations. Best sound in terms of me hearing myself, is always my VM4, worst is the P and somewhere in between is the passive PJ. However, not really keen on the Humbucker on the VM4 and trying to decide whether to go for a better PJ (Active) or a Jazz for these live gigs. Had also thought of getting a tone pedal and seeing how that goes. For obvious reasons I'm not that keen on taking my VM4 along to Jam Sessions/Open Mics so a pokey controllable PJ/Jazz workhorse is on the cards. But which ..........

Yep - I've also tried the P with Rounds - better but not by much - I think the "House" bass must be naturally extraordinarily bright!!

Lot's of debate about PJ's but .......... aren't these discussions really about whether 2 pickups negatively interact, rather than whether PJ's work well or not? The whole interaction thing eg, cancellation of a range of frequencies due to different positions along the string and insertion loss etc. would apply equally to a J bass wouldn't it? I have a P bass, and some two pick-up basses. I prefer the tone of the P when I'm noodling at home, but playing live it's a different story. Having taken the P bass (with flats) along to a local Open Mic/Jam Session, it was impossible to hear my bass - just boom, (not even a hint of tizz!). The set up was a fancy Bass/Guitar processor/pedal set up for a Jazz style Bass with roundwounds. Not possible to tweak the tone etc. on the amp/processor on the fly ('cos of terror and lack of technical ability) so the whole thig was a disaster .... never again! However, done the same session with a PJ (with flats) and I could pretty much compensate for the "in house" tone settings, using Bridge pickup and lots of treble. Still not good but better! So, my question is, PJ or J - what's to choose between them? Or is there a much better single pick-up option which can get you out of trouble in dire acoustic environments? Hopefully others will have had similar experiences and I'd welcome "the knowledge" !!

Great - thanks for that - really helpful! Cheers Ian

The ones I'm thinking of are probably earlier models without the HiMass bridge and fretboard "Blocks" etc. But thanks - interesting. What would be your alternatives?

I've seen various discussions on the Fender Deluxe P Bass Specials over the years, but just can't remember what the verdict was and why? Am I right in thinking that these MIM models are very well regarded, and would one fill the craving for a P Bass with Jazz(ish) neck (plus a bit of additional tone flexibility when needed)? Is there a good reason not to go for the Passive rather than Active version? Any pointers gratefully received. Ta

I've made a template! And "Yes" it's 7.5 inch So, (my) Squier Silver Series P Bass from 1992/3 would appear to have a 7.5inch neck radius - I'm guessing its the same all the way up/down the fingerboard i.e. its not a compound radius. So that's possibly why it feels a bit odd compared to my other basses! Cheers Everyone - mystery solved!

Thanks - it's a 1993 model, so I'm not sure how "modern" that is - I'll get drawing!

All in the title really! I've been spoiling (as in lavishing affection, not wrecking!) my Squier Silver Series MIJ P bass to see whether I can get to "love" it ... and it's definitely getting there. I've a spare Seymour Duncan SPB 1 pick-up so I've added that, got a new wiring loom from Kiogon - and that has made a big difference (250 Ohm pots). I've sorted out a bit of a hum (which I seemed to add with the Pick-up!) and it's now silent and, just for fun put some brass saddle into the original bridge. It now sounds very nice, but I can't work out the neck - on the one hand it's nice and relatively small for a P, but it feels very different "in the hand" to my old P Bass , my newer Sandberg (also a 40mm neck), and, unsurprisingly my PJ Squier. So I'm thinking it might well have a 7.25inch radius neck rather than the 14 and 9.5 that I've been used to. Anyone know the radius or where I can find it? Cheers Ian

Deluxe = 20 frets as well.

Thanks for this - looks pretty similar to the Boxer both in terms of design and price I think (?) - 22 frets rather than 20 though - not sure which I'd prefer - I know I get on well with 20, but unsure about the extra 2 ..... I'll have to go and check a Deluxe to see how many frets that has just for completeness!

Anyone experience of these two basses? Tried the Boxer "accidentally" the other day and the neck is really comfortable to play - pretty much perfect for me. I had been thinking of getting a MIM Deluxe P Bass Special, as I like the P bass elements with the a Jazz Neck. Sadly I can't actually try one of the Deluxes so it would be a case of buying "blind". I'm particularly interested in how the necks compare and which might be best in a Rock/Indie Covers band. Any info would be very welcome (although not by my "Financial Controller"!) As an aside I did also try out a Charvel San Dimas PJ - and the neck on that was divine! Overall though, I thought the bass might be a bit on the "modern" side for me (so might require some electronics/Pup changing). Cheers!

Plus 1 for the reliability of the Ashdown ABM 600 - I have one, I've done a few gigs with it and a lot of rehearsals - has a cover, but just transported in the boot of the car each week. It's around 3 years old, it's good from the tonal flexibility point of view without being too complicated, it's loud, is "hefty" enough, and it's not too heavy. I've been tempted by others but so far not moved this on. And the service from Ashdown is really really good!!

Will do!

Thanks Martin! Yep the Standard Series is definitely "an odd bird" - nothing on it is Standard! But mine is really rather good - I bought it as a "scrap" bass and have tweaked it into a nice-to-play instrument. I was looking for a slightly smaller pickup for the very reason you identified, but thought I was just being a bit faint hearted about things - so your intervention has probably saved me an expensive mistake (as I'm not going to route out a bit of the bass which lies outwith the pickguard! ). I've measured up the Armstrong Bridge pickup and it might just fit - the Neck one would fit easily. However, the combination of (currently) a Fender Custom 62 P Pickup, with the Duncan Seymour bridge pickup leads to a pronounced effect on the volume/tone controls, exacerbating the insertion loss (if that's what it is). So if I could get a better matched pairing (eg Fender Custom 62 jazz pickup) it might avoid this issue - just need to find out the measurements for these - maybe it's a trip to a guitar shop with my digital calliper to do a bit of sneaky measuring! Thanks for you help though... Ta!

Thanks Dan Dare! I'll check out Armstrong and keep measuring! Anyone have the dimensions for a Fender Custom 62 Jazz pickup or similar?

I've been bad. I had a "spare" Fender Custom 62 P Pickup and stuck it on my much loved P Bass Special. And it's really really good! So much better than the outgoing Seymour Duncan SPB1! So ........ would the addition of a similar spec J Pickup in the Bridge position (to replace the current SJB1), generate more "betterness"? I know it's not worth doing from an investment point of view, but this Bass is really rather special - after various set-ups, string changes, upgrades to the Bridge and Tuners etc etc it plays like a dream, the necks great, it's not overly heavy of bulky, it balances well but, until now, its been great for practice but falls short in the band context (doesn't "cut through"). But the addition of the new P Bass Pickup has made a real difference. Fender Custom Shop 60's J's don't appear to be sold as singles and the bridge version seems a bit too big for the Squier aperture. Does any one know whether they are available separately, whether one could use the Neck version (which is a tad smaller) instead of the Bridge version, or if there is a better/cheaper alternative out there which would fit and be a match for the new P Pickup? I only use the J Pickup to add bite to the P and rarely, if ever, solo it so it's in this context that I'm looking for options. Happy New Year!

And another one for the Ashdown ABM 600's. They go for around £300 ish ... on eBay and their service department is really very very good.