Bridgehouse

PMT in Nottingham. PMT stock both Yamaha and QSC. They also have basses handy to plug in

Experience of a bunch of flats on my 64 has led me to a few conclusions - those older Fenders like a bit of tension (the TIs didn't work as well). LaBellas were nice, but the Chromes gave the best tone - but only after about 3 months once they had dulled a bit...

I put Chromes on my 64 - 45-105 and they are really nice. The nut needed a bit of filing, but only a tiny bit to taste - I lowered the slots for an easier playing action. If it's going to be a player then get it set up for your chosen strings - don't worry about getting it to fit the nut as is - it won't affect the value a whole amount. In fact, in the real world even a swapped out but won't do much to the value. Keep the old one in the case. It could be refitted. For vintage I would always prefer something playable rather than original - so frets, nut, saddles, wiring etc are fine by me. I personally wouldn't spend that sort of money on a bass that was just to look at..

The k10.2 is 14kg. So the K8.2 will be a lot less than that. Another of my band mates (keyboards) uses a k10 gen 1 and the differences are quite large. The digital display on the back of the 10.2 is great - you can see exactly what's going on - no silly switches to look at in the dark before a gig It's actually very easy to carry about - the 8 will be even more so. It also just felt a bit better made than the DXR10. There is an irritating blue led light on the front - but guess what? You can turn it off in the settings! As with anything tho - it's worth going into a shop and hearing one...

To be honest, I've not experienced any f**ting out - if you go direct in from a passive bass you can set it to instrument level input (as opposed to line) set it to Bass Amp (which is some digital sound processing - i.e. a preshaped curve) and tweak EQ I've had it at 12 o'clock on the volume setting for that channel and had my preamp at about 75% volume - there was no f**ting out - I had to stop there as the radiator was rattling off its brackets and books were falling off my shelf.. any more and the windows would have been out. No f**ting out at all.

Having just got the QSC K10.2, how about the 8" version the K8.2 - it's real compact and has a Bass Amp DSP programme built in..(er, and it's 2000w peak/1200w constant....)

There are separate DI through connections for each channel to connect to FOH with no colouring by the amp, and a summed post-eq DI connection giving the output for all channels for running to another powered speaker/mixer etc

Well now. Check my other thread. I got an FRFR for use with my helix, and I think I might use the damned thing for this too.

I've fancied an FRFR for my Helix for some time. Always had my eye on a Yamaha DXR10 - for both guitar and bass duties. Mostly I'd DI Helix to front of house so the FRFR became a monitor - and it's useful at home too. In the local music shop today I decided to have a look at a DXR10. Yeah. It's quite nice. Over pops the assistant. I explain the setup and my need. "I wouldn't have the DXR10 personally. I'd have the QSC K10.2 instead. It's a bit more but..." The what now? Ok, I think. Prove it to me. Let's hear them side by side. So he did. Set them up for me. The QSC was louder. A lot louder. A lot lot lot louder. And it was a more natural reproduction of what you hear through headphones on Helix - much less coloured. "It's on the default flat DSP setting." He said. "Here, try the bass amp DSP setting" Uh? Well, not only was it interesting as a setting, but I plugged the bass in directly. There's 3 channel input - two have combi XLR/jack and one small 3.5 stereo. Channel A can be set as line or mic, but B can be set as line or instrument. So jack into B with inst straight from a passive bass and it does a pretty damned good impression of a decent bass amp - there's even eq on it to tweak it. Crikey. So I bought one. Got it home and tried my mini pedalboard straight in. Signal chain is smoothhound - tuner - Ampeg SCR-DI - QSC k10.2 I would say realistically it's about as loud as a 500w head into my BF Compact. Possibly a bit more, and with slightly less heft but a bit more top. But, it's 14 kilos and really very compact. And it's one less thing to drag to a gig. It's also a wedge so I can angle it and use it as a proper bass monitor with DI out to FOH. So this is my live rig (to be trialled!) Now I'm wondering whether it's worth bothering with another power amp for use with the BF cab for the board, when it looks like the FRFR I bought for the Helix can pretty much do both.

Yep! Thanks

Will do. There will be a lot of posting about wood stain and tru oil first I reckon, and then lots about pickups. I will get there tho

Oh don't worry - I know it's a rabbit hole In some ways, I think I'd prefer a shorter sustain on a semi - one of the reasons for looking at a wood or nut material saddle was to shorten sustain. Maybe. Or maybe not. Either way, I'm just going to have a play about. First priority is decent weight and balance, finding a decent pickup to match and getting the basics sorted. Then I'll think about messing about with needle files

I think a lot of it is the language to be honest. Brass is more twangy (hence brass saddles being a good thing on a Telecaster) and steel can be more "metallic" - but depending on the strings, twangy or metallic could mean either are "brighter" At the end of the day you have to pick a combo that works for what you want to hear. I'm actually most interested in the effects of the different materials on sustain..

CTS pots and a switchcraft jack make a huge difference I find..

You know, I have no idea - it will be an experiment! I know the steel saddles are a bit brighter - I wonder if a wood or nut material saddle might be a bit more "acoustic" - thought it would be good to try on a semi-acoustic build. I'm sure there's some science here but I don't know

Yep. I'm tempted to fashion some custom saddles for the kickass. Not sure what yet. Maybe rosewood. Maybe ebony. Maybe even nut material.

Yes, ultralight tuners and a slightly heavier bridge I think.. I will assess balance as I go. As it will be a gigging bass then balance on the strap is very important.

Ah but one of the reasons I enjoy being in a band is the creative input. I don't think I could cope with a dreary band

This is very true. Kinda all sounds a bit soulless tho doesn't it?

I've always thought, with an originals band, writing decent bass lines is more important than technical prowess.

Nobody here would bother joining if the singer "wasn't interested in what the bass was doing" In fact, why is he bothering to recruit at all?

Well I'm glad you have been a stuck record cos I totally missed these and they do look rather tasty... I'm off for a proper read up now.

5 piece. Drums, bass, guitar, keys and singer who usually plays acoustic - so yeah. For monitoring it should be fine. I notice the 350 has an aux in (not FX return) - is it's volume controlled by the master volume?

Yeah - it is - doesn't mark quite as easily!

Obeche is another wood for lightness - I did a telecaster out of it which came out about 6lbs Just over 8lbs is about my limit for comfort..