CameronJ

Update: It became rather quickly apparent that I feel most at home on 5 stringers now as a result of playing 5s exclusively for about the past 2 years. The upshot is the Saratoga Deluxe went back today and has been replaced by a Phil Jones Double 4 and an Emma Discombobulator V2. Definitely the right move methinks, and now I can sell all my other basses leaving just the Super 5 and my trusty Ibanez BTB33! I should probably edit the thread title now...

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1508697724' post='3393889'] Mine's 20 years old , no idea what make. My mc stand tip would be buy a straight stand and fit a gooseneck. Most boom stands I'm forced to use from time to time spin round taking the mic away from you. My gooseneck stays put. [/quote] I’ve always wondered why goosenecks aren’t more popular? They really do solve a multitude of problems.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1508668914' post='3393607'] Do you want it for octave up or down? For a simple Digitech octave up with both a volume and tone control for the wet signal, they do the Mosaic pedal. Most likely the same algorithm as the Whammy/Drop/Ricochet. See if you can try one out on your travels, and if you like it, you can buy mine! [/quote] Hmmm, I’m intrigued. Is that a constant upper and lower octave at all times?

Well the Whammy Ricochet is going back to Wunjo today. The reason? No volume/balance control for the octave signal. So it’s either fully on or nothing. Bit of a dealbreaker for me I’m afraid.

Got the chance to play about half a dozen different Maruszczyks this week. Every single one was gorgeous. The fit & finish is exceptional on these things. You won’t be disappointed!

[quote name='Daz39' timestamp='1508620252' post='3393425'] The Super 5s look awesome; esp the satin? finish. [/quote] Satin indeed. The finish is called “Dr. Brown’s Burst”. I Compared the Super 5 against the AG5 Andrew Gouché Signature which cost about £500 more. The result? I preferred everything about the Super. To be fair, they felt identical in the hands but sound-wise the Super just crushed the AG IMO. Just a powerhouse. I actually think the Super in this finish looks prettier than the AG too. Nicer contrast of colours vs the all round mellow purple of the AG. And I say this as a man for whom purple is a favourite colour!

So today I did a terrible thing: Paid a visit to BassDirect and came home with 2 gorgeous MTD Kingstons - A Super 5 and a Saratoga Deluxe 4. I’d been after the Super 5 for a while and I wasn’t disappointed. Great tone, very useable EQ, coil switching for both of the MM pickups, very comfortable thanks to the lovely asymmetric neck. Also, just [i]look[/i] at that finish - what more could a man wish for?! Then, out of curiosity, I asked to have a go on a couple of the other MTDs they had hanging up. Picked up the Saratoga and MY GOD. I haven’t played a 4 stringer in about 2 years but wow. As soon as I got this thing in my hands it was just effortless. This is probably due to having one less string than I’m now accustomed to and therefore being able to really fly around the fingerboard. It’s just seriously [i]fun[/i] to play. This threw me somewhat as I came in looking specifically at 5’s and I definitely didn’t expect to fall in love with a 4! I had the opportunity to try out a few lovely Maruszczyks which were superb, particularly a handsome short scale passive Elwood (Jazz) 4 which I liked the feel of, but the single coil hum drove me nuts when soloing either pickup. What sold me on the Saratoga is that its pickups are hum-cancelling, along with the active/passive electronics with dedicated tone knob for passive mode. So I can go from a zingy and articulate active tone to rolled-off fat passive tone instantly at the flick of a switch! I absolutely love this feature. I Bought a couple of the MTD cases too - a single and a double - put both my new babies in the double case and slung it over my shoulders for the journey home by train. Carried the empty single case by hand. I guess these cases are comparable in protection to a Mono Sleeve or similar kind of slim case/bag hybrid. Leather handles which feel great. Lightweight design with enough padding for day to day lugging but probably not enough for the back of a truck or van amongst other heavy gear. They’re really well designed though in that the shoulder strap positioning means you can sling them really low without the case feeling odd on the shoulders. I’m 6’7” and was able to get it so the top of the case was just below my head height whilst remaining very comfortable the whole time. I only had to duck for the tube (which I do anyway) but, provided they were high enough for me anyway, normal doorways required no ducking or change of posture at all! This is a bit of a revelation for me. Can you tell I’m excited? The double case loaded with two basses is actually lighter than my trusty Protection Racket Deluxe with just one bass and a few cables in the pocket. Crazily it’s not much deeper either but, again, we’re not talking about the same level of paddding here. I’d happily sling my bass in the Protection Racket case on the back of a tour truck. I wouldn’t do that with the MTD cases. Some photos below for comparison. Single MTD vs Protection Racket Deluxe: Protection Racket Deluxe vs Double MTD: So, all in all a fantastic day and a happy Cameron! My bank balance is quite a lot lighter now - definitely worth it though. If you’d like to help fund my GAS, please feel free to purchase some of my gear in the for sale section . Luckily (or unluckily) I don’t have another half pressuring me to get rid of any basses to make room for the new ones but my own conscience is telling me I should!

I only use Hercules stands. They aren’t cheap but they are utterly excellent and will last a very long time.

There’s a Tecamp Puma 300 for sale here at the moment which is very small, very lightweight and sounds fantastic IMO. Worth checking out.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1508366812' post='3391801'] I’ve gone for putting mine first, but that’s with a low threshold and ratio for general smoothing, and a blend to keep my attack intact. I’m not using an envelope filter but I have tried one after the comp and it’s still perfectly playable. I think using a comp to even out volume levels from other pedals is the wrong application for a compressor. It’s a band aid that makes you ignore the fact your volume knobs just need tweaking, and you can end up with an overly squashed tone because one of your dirt pedals is set too high for example! [/quote] I largely agree with your sentiment here, but for certain pedals (particularly envelope filters with aggressive characteristics) a compressor is the most practical means of retaining the tone you’ve dialled in without running the risk of slapping woofers against grilles. I’m exaggerating a bit obviously!

After having sold my Boss PS6 a while back, I’ve just purchased a Digitech Whammy Ricochet. Rock solid digital tracking in a compact form. Really nice intuitive control layout, much more immediately logical than the Boss equivalent. Gonna use it for octave up in a parallel chain.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1508240310' post='3390718'] I prefer to buy on here, I do definitely find that items sell better and faster on Facebook though, and often for more money. I was threatened with getting banned on here recently for adding an item to a sales advert. I genuinely didn't realise that you couldn't do that. Anyway I put the offending item on to Facebook and it sold within 10 minutes, for more than I was asking on here. [/quote] Yeah I had a similar experience myself re: adding items to a sale thread. Had no idea it was against the rules!

[quote name='Quatschmacher' timestamp='1508328392' post='3391374'] Cameron, how do you find the tones of the Octabvre (mini in your case) compared to those in the Octo-Nøjs, both on the Octo and the Nøjs sides? [/quote] They're both OC2 based, no doubt, however the Okto is deeper and rounder throughout its tone knob range. Even with the tone open (fully clockwise) on the Okto is slightly fatter than the Octabvre with its tone rolled all the way anti-clockwise. So they can feasibly coexist on a pedal board as, for me at least, they're just different flavours of the same tonal "family".

Ah man, now I’m GASing for a wingbass big time!