Steve Browning

I have a fretless one of these. Wonderful basses. Great sounds from the piezo pickup in the bridge. Doesn't say if it's had the Cafe Walter buffer fitted which helps address the fact that the piezo is a fair bit hotter than the Lace Sensor (which I am not sure is active).

I think it's a slow burn. I'm not a fan either but it starts to get really odd/funny as the 'interloper' (without wanting to ruin it for you) becomes more involved. It is a good watch.

Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 600 and 2 x Subway 1x15 cabs This rig has replaced the Bass 400 and Diesel 2x15 I had used (without fault) for about 28 years. They have been going (faultlessly) for about 3 years now. The sound is very similar to the Bass 400 (to my battered ears) and the weight is far less. Nothing else to add really. Rehearsal/tiny gig set up is Mesa Boogie Walkabout 15 Had this one for about 6 months and a previous one for a few years. Again, both played faultlessly. All are typical Boogie. All the sounds you want are there if you can figure out how to find them (the eq is interactive by design) and build quality is always brilliant. Bought my original rig unseen/heard when it was described as the Rolls Royce of bass amps in a review. It was completely right IMHO.

Warm up with Rhythm Stick and then play a 12 bar shuffle in A for the actual soundcheck itself.

I think this is the second year that the singing of Auld Lang Syne, after the fireworks, has featured someone who can't say forgot. WTF???

They used to and Alex started out saying a 15 was the perfect size but science seems to move on. I am like you and don't like anything but a 15 but I accept there may be no real basis for that other than long seated prejudice!

I recently replaced my Hercules rack with the K&M one for the very reason stated above. Basses are more upright in the K&M and take up less space.

Wonderful sounding basses though. Used my A/E fretless (same bass with usual headstock) just last night.

Not sure what you mean here. Do you mean by-pass the amp head (to distinguish it from the active cab) pre-amp? If so you are left with the same issue.

I would say not unless you could get an input straight to the speaker. Most actives seem only to have the mic/line input and so plugging the back of an amp into that is going to embed the speaker voice coil into the wall opposite it, I would suspect. Other may have a different way to make it work but I haven't seen one that would allow for this without modification.

I had a Hondo Rick copy which I pretty much couldn't play (fingerstyle) and later had a Rick 4000 with the same problem. The sound was wrong for the stuff I play in any case. I so wanted it to work!

See, I was right!!

Tghis was a talk he gave at the S E Bass Bash a few years back. Sylvie recorded it and put it up on the site. An excellent talk about simple pre-gig routine of subtle stretches. A-framing was standing with your legs slightly apart and trying to pull your legs together as you stood. I see Jack is responding.

I suspect Sting should get his intonation checked.

I have to confess that, prior to managing to find another Walkabout, I did very seriously think about a PF-50 and PF115. I'd had the same cab and a PF500 before and had been very impressed with the sound. My original plan was for the Blue Diamond Portaflex (having recorded through one) but they just weren't to be found anywhere.

That would be an ecumenical matter.

Well, the B15 came into its own in the studio so you would think home would be fine. I used to have an early 70's one and used it very happily at home.

I use Rotosound Jazz and the Nickel Swing Bass strings and am perfectly happy with their feel and tone. They are always consistent and I have never had any issue with them over the many years I have been using them. I guess I should come clean that I am a Rotosound endorsee but that does not influence my opinion. I was using them before I got my deal.