CameronJ

Haven’t got one yet despite it being over a year since I first saw them! But I’m still considering one, mainly because it would double up nicely as both a very rugged case and a very rugged stand. I need to get some measurements on the width of the Enki and the width of the gap it would hypothetically slot into in my bedroom studio before I make a decision. The alternative is a Gruv Gear Kapsule (possibly a Duo version) which wouldn’t serve as a stand at all but the storage space could be a godsend with how frequently I’m on tour - I might be able to replace a suitcase + single bass case with a Kapsule Duo 🤔

I’ve heard nothing but good things re: the reliability and quality of the Shure GLXD16 system - it will definitely be the next wireless system I buy!

Has your amp got a dedicated “Aux Input”? That would be the best way to connect your Scarlett’s headphone output to your amp. Connecting your Scarlett’s headphone output to your your amp’s FX Return shouldn’t damage anything, but I suspect the signal level will be off, plus you’ll lose the stereo aspect of of your signal since FX returns are mono. I realise the amp will output a mono sound through your cab anyway but connecting via a dedicated Aux input will at least receive the stereo signal and sum both channels to mono properly, rather than just getting rid of the left or right channel of audio completely, which is what an FX return is likely to do. Hope that makes sense…!

+1 to this. I’ve very recently converted to LaBella LTF (low tension flats) and the feel of them is truly perfect straight out of the pack. Silky smooth with zero stickiness, and the tension is really really nice. Oh and they sound bloody excellent too. They’re my favourite flats now after having tried Thomastiks, EB Cobalts, Dunlops and the standard La Bella 760 flats.

My Wingbass NT5. Black Limba body with a flamed maple top. Birdseye maple fingerboard.

No great hardship, I’m sure

@fretmeister do the tweeter. You know it makes sense. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it…

Yep! In the audio settings menu on Zoom, just select your audio interface as the input (and output if you want to hear your teacher via the interface’s outputs) and it’ll work just fine. if your interface has 2 inputs, you can have a bass and a mic plugged in at the same time and Zoom should receive the audio from both. That way you can speak as well as play. If not, just select the instrument input so your teacher can hear you play, and use text chat to speak to them. There’s also an option for Zoom to transmit higher quality audio (for music-related situations) so you can consider enabling that, although it does warn that this will result in greater strain on all connected computers. I’ve never tried it but I imagine it will be helpful if you want stuff to sound good. Zoom is generally optimised for speech so I’d take any audio improvement I could get, personally.

This review doesn’t surprise me at all - I feel exactly the same way about my PJB Double Four. Phil Jones makes some gorgeous gear.

May as well leave it in the cavity and retain to option to use the bass in passive in emergency situations?

@dand666 what will be going through the monitor? There’s a TC Helicon Voicesolo FX150 for sale in the classifieds here which is potentially perfect if you want something compact, loud and mic stand mountable. If you’re putting a load of bass through it, it may not be ideal at high volumes but it’s a really good speaker.

Thank you sir! I strongly suspect they’ll be my default flats going forward. Good to hear they don’t mellow out too much, but I do have the delights of the Xotic onboard preamp to bring out any lost “clack” if needed. In case anyone is wondering why I rolled the tone knob back while simultaneously boosting the treble a touch, it’s because of the way the two interact. Upping treble on the pre while rolling off the tone gives me some more poke while taking the edge off of the highest highs. I find the two controls complement each other really well. Honestly, I love the controls on these basses. I know some folk will see a line of 6 knobs and run for the hills but it’s very intuitively implemented. My other Xotic has 2 mini toggle switches as well as all the knobs. …and a push/pull on the second volume knob to put the pups into series mode

So I’ve been curious for a while as to how flats sound on a Jazz bass. There are videos online but there’s nothing quite like trying it out for yourself…so I finally but the bullet and ordered a set of LaBella Low Tension Flats to put on my Xotic XJ5 Lite. Long story short, I love em. I’m still in the honeymoon period as they’ve barely been on the bass for 24 hours but I reckon they may actually take the top spot from my beloved Thomastik flats…! The tension is very similar to TIs (perhaps a tiny bit less flexible) but they seem just a bit smoother to the touch out of the packet, which combined with the slightly higher tension makes them a bit easier for me to get on with immediately. Obviously this is down to personal taste. The tone of the LTFs is more of the “flatwound sound in my head” straight out of the packet, compared to the TIs which take a while to break into that thumpy, woody tone we all love. Thought I may as well record a little video to commemorate the occasion - neck pickup solo’d, tone knob at 75%, Bass knob flat, Mids +50%, Treble +25%. No other effects or processing. Excuse the white noise at the beginning, it’s from my Rode Wireless transmitter which I used to beam the audio from my interface’s output to the 1/8” minijack input on my phone!

Ignore the “1000 watts” marketing speak. For the most part it means nothing as just about any bargain basement PA speaker these days can claim 1000 peak watts. What’s your budget?