Beer of the Bass

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1319058627' post='1409558'] Ha, I saw this thread and clicked on it because I thought of your bass! It sounded very nice and growly I thought - guess it depends how much that's just the bass - what does it sound like with other pickups in, you ever tried? [/quote] Hi Lawrence, at the gig where you heard the bass, I'd have been using the toaster pickup at the neck on the majority of the songs, both pickups together on one tune, and the Darkstar soloed on only one song. From the sound of the toaster I reckon I'd be as happy with two of those, but I'd need to make some kind of surround to cover the huge rout. The bass started out with just one pickup, an old japanese Maxon single coil mudbucker lookalike in the mid position. This sounded good but was too microphonic. I replaced that later with a Dimarzio model one, which didn't have the upper mid "clank" I like. I changed that for the Darkstar as it was the only quality single coil I could find to fill the huge rout in my bass. Then later I added the toaster at the neck for a bit more versatility. The Darkstar does have a bit more presence in the very high treble than most passive pickups do - I can hear that when I record direct, but I tend not to like using cabs that go that high, so it's kind of lost on what I do. Since I'm now using my five string (there's a thread on it in Build Diaries) for gigs, I'm thinking I'd be as well to move the Darkstar on and stick another Kent Armstrong toaster in instead. Hope I haven't drifted too far off topic...

I've got one in my four string - it's a good pickup but I don't think there's anything magical about it. I wonder if I should eBay it for silly money while they're still scarce!

Although my Highway 1 Jazz didn't have it, and would have been fine without a pickguard. So there is at least one cheaper option for those who want to look like Jaco.

I feel like the acoustic sound of a bass does have a bearing on how it sounds plugged in - not so much in the timbre of the note but in the envelope. My home-made four string has a fast attack which can come across as quite aggresive, plus very slow decay/long sustain. This character has persisted through several pickup changes, though the balance of bass/mids/treble has changed with the pickups. In a mix, those kinds of subtleties of character may not always be noticeable, but it does affect my playing. Though there are so many factors involved that the "X wood will give Y sound" approach of the link posted by the OP is of little use IMO.

I know some people change to a 12AT7 (or ECC81) to tame the overdrive a bit. Any 12AT7 will have less gain than the stock 12AX7 (ECC83). The two different names (12A*7 and ECC8*) are just the US and UK numbering systems for the same valves. I don't have a Terror Bass, but I've swapped preamp valves around in a few different amps. The difference between brands of the same type are pretty subtle, so you're not going to radically change your sound with another brand of 12AX7. Hot Rox have always been pretty good to deal with, and their prices tend to be OK, so I'd recommend buying from them.

This looks pretty good for anyone in Edinburgh; [url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/vintage-hondo-professional-2-bass/88995517"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/vintage-hondo-professional-2-bass/88995517[/url] It looks the same as the Westbury basses, and has a Dimarzio. Not bad for £90.

One of the cabs is empty. You'd think the listing would mention that! And I usually go by the assumption that when sellers say "unsure if it works" they mean "It doesn't work, but I'm not telling you that".

Am I missing something, or are the bridge pieces further back on the G than the E string? Unless you string it left-handed, that'll limit the intonation adjustment a bit, surely.

If you're up for a bit of soldering, the original pre-EB 2 band preamp is quite a simple circuit. There's just one opamp and a handful of other bits, so it'd be easy enough to assemble one on perfboard, or there was a guy on Talkbass with a batch of PCBs.

They're quite well thought of by guitarists, so you might be best selling it somewhere other than a bass forum. I've seen them priced at up to £250ish for tidy examples, or less for scruffy ones.

Thanks for the input. Foam cases seem not to be an option then. Rental is looking the most likely at the moment.

I'll maybe explore the possibility of a rental then - the organisers say that expenses are covered, so hopefully they'll stretch to that. Unfortunately EUB is not an option, as there is some unamped playing involved.

My band are talking about a potential gig in the spring - not confirmed yet but it's going to involve a plane journey, and the gig itself is doing several sets a day outdoors over three days. If the gig is confirmed, I'm thinking about picking up a cheap laminated bass as a knockabout travelling/outdoor bass for the situations where I don't want to use my old German flatback. It would also be handy for busking in dodgy weather. So, what I'm wondering is whether people would trust the styrofoam type cases (as supplied with Gear4Music basses, for example) when flying with a laminated bass. I've not seen this type of case in the flesh, so it's hard to be sure.

The Sunn guitars and basses were in all the home shopping catalogues in the 80's when I was a kid, so they're probably the equivalent of a squire affinity or similar in terms of their value at the time. At £400, I'd run a mile.

Agreed, Ken McDonald is the guy to speak to.

From experience with the torch cleaning files, they're fine for minor shaping on a plastic nut (like lowering existing slots or changing string gauge), but a bit useless if making a nut from an unslotted blank, particularly with harder materials like bone. So they're useful to have around, but don't totally replace the fancy nut files.

You may find you're OK even with individual pole pieces. Rickenbacker toasters for both guitar and bass have six polepieces under the cover. I've got a Kent Armstrong copy of one on my four string, and have no problems with string balance. How the tone of a guitar humbucker would translate to bass would take some guesswork, however.

I had a similar issue on a fretless, and found that the neck relief also makes a big difference to getting that sound. A flatter relief seems to maximise the "mwah" qualities, so it might be worth checking it and adjusting the truss rod if necessary.

I'm not really an expert, but the shape of the body around the heel suggests it is blockless (i.e with the ribs set directly into the neck, rather than using a neck block). Along with the hatpeg tuners and decorative purfling at the heel, this often a characteristic of older Germanic basses - around the late 19th to early 20th century would be a rough estimate. With a decent ebony board fitted and the cracks sorted, it'll probably be a good sounding bass, the sort of thing a lot of working jazzers seem to use. A full restoration on any bass tends to be expensive, to the point of exceeding the value of lower end basses, but it may be possible to get it into a playable state with less than that.

Mind you, who wants to go on stage in their slippers? Nothing wrong with a good Fender, but there is definitely a place for the more wild & interesting stuff out there!

Nice and compact for a valve amp! I wouldn't think the value would be massive, but this would be a nice little studio/rehearsal/small gig amp for somebody.

Largest; packed 900 capacity venue on new year's eve. Smallest; erm, 0. We kept playing, too!

It's a long shot, but if you have the number from the sticker on the side, why not email Eminence and ask what would be the closest replacement from their current line? I've heard they don't give out specs for OEM units, but will tell you if it's close to any of the retail drivers.

Another one completed. Cheers, Martin